Research and consultancy with the police and fire service with a particular emphasis on formal and informal cultures, modernisation, entreprenerial thinking, change management, resistance, racism, sexism and equality. Women fire fighters, women in the fire service police, policing and equality in the police and fire service - the fitting-in website where academia and the fire service can meet to discuss fire service culture and other matters- a resource for research and consultancy for the fire and rescue service and firefighters and police and policing- Organised by Dr Dave Baigent this site provides a place to share and publish your own research, to look at what others have written about the fire and police service and to ask about our commercial offerings.
Academics are not the experts,
managers in the emergency services are the experts.
What fitting-in can do is help managers to use their expertise.
Theory without practice is a waste - practice without theory may just be dumb.
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are changing at 
Since 2001 Fitting-in has provided a free space for the fire and rescue service and academia to meet and share research. This free service continues and people are invited to send their work to be published on this site.
But there is now something new on offer and this has been prompted by Chief Fire Officer Steve McGuirk who recently challenged my research as being “long on rhetoric and short on answers.” At the time, I argued that it was the academic’s role to provide the evidence and for principal managers - the leaders of the Fire and Rescue Service - to provide the answers.
I now recognise that I was wrong – there is much more that I can do to assist leaders! I can get out of the ivory tower and use my developing perspective on fire service culture (gained in moving the 180 degrees from firefighter to academic) to actually bring the evidence from academia and work with the experts – those chosen for their decision-making skills who are dealing with the thorny issues on the ground.
Can I come and talk to you about our snapshot audits our elite-briefing led workshops or about our extensive research and training portfolio?
References: I have been involved in similar work before - see what Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services and Tom Carroll (Chief Fire Officer and Past president of CFOA ) amongst others have to said.
Snapshot Audits are a new concept developed especially for the MFRS and now available for the wider FRS community.
If you want to respond to something new, carryout an impact assessement, or look afresh at an old difficulty then ask how fast we can turn around our research in an efficient, rigorous and economic way.
Fitting-in can also cater for your traditional research needs and you may wish to tap into our expertise on cultural audits.
Elite Workshops are stand alone one day packages for senior managers and authority members on a whole raft of areas. Subjects covered include fire service culture(s), the employment of women as firefighters, change management, initial training. We can offer a whole host of education and training packages. These workshops have a primary aim of seeking solutions and will be customised to your requirements - they can also be used as team building days for your senior managers.
We also offer a workshop for people who are having difficulty in understanding how equality works and what diversity means; people who may need to spend some time reviewing their attitudes
Looking at ways of meeting budget
cuts
The pressure on FRS budgets continues and is likely to continue. Whilst
FRS's will no doubt have planned for such an outcome we have something
to offer. We will individually interview your strategic thinkers about
how they think the budget can be managed. Then we will facilitate
a workshop based around our findings (their ideas) with a view to
gaining a consensus on the way forward.
Further support will always be available through research and consultancy for any projects undertaken as a result of any work we carry out for you.
EditRegion4
We are just back from working with leaders in the Swedish Fire Service and they have said:
"Fitting-in with their unique insight into real world fire service culture and a firm theoretical base in academia provided the MSB (The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency) with invaluable expert advice and assistance in developing a national action plan targeted at increasing equality and diversity in the Swedish fire service."
This is what Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service had to say about the Ethos research, communications and training project:
"The Service are delighted with the research and reports produced by "Fitting-in. We believe that your original hypothesis and work undertaken in Merseyside has resulted in a ground breaking piece of work that can only serve to inform the wider fire and rescue communities."
References: see what Merseyside Fire and Rescue, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services and Tom Carroll (retired Chief Fire Officer and Past president of CFOA ) and others have said.
For further information or just to talk about what fitting-in can provide ring Dr Dave Baigent (GradIFireE) 07802 495 329 or email
Academic theory without practice is a waste - practice without theory may just be dumb
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