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Want help with your
bibliography? Go to Research Advice Howell, M. (1996) Fire service culture, asset of burden?, dissertation for BCC: Moreton in Marsh: The Fire Service College, fitting-in.com A Research Project on Attitudes of Firefighters and How Management Style Affects Behaviour Michael Howell Brigade Command Course 2/96 |
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CONTENTS
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This research project was undertaken to test the hypothesis that the
culture of a workforce within a fire service model has a direct impact on
attitudes towards change. Analysis was also undertaken to determine if there
is a link between culture and attitudes in two further issues: The first is
the apparent resistance to women firefighters that exists amongst men and
secondly the seemingly high level of dependency placed on training. Research was undertaken by firstly examining what is meant by
culture. Following this an
examination is made to determine the criteria or influences on forming culture. These findings were used as a basis for
comparing the cultures that are formed in bureaucratic and hierarchical
organisations with those of apparently successful organisations. Consideration was then given to the type
of structure and management style in existence in U.K. fire brigades and the
culture that had been formed within them.
A comparison was then made with the type of culture in existence in
the Phoenix Fire Department, Arizona, U.S.A. The research concluded that Phoenix firefighters generally were more
relaxed and receptive to change and change programmes. In contrast, U.K. firefighters appear more
suspicious and resistant to change. Where the issue of equality is concerned,
and specifically in respect of the attitudes of male firefighters towards
women as co-workers the hypothesis was not proven. Although Phoenix firefighters demonstrated a greater compliance
with equal opportunities policy, when it came to the acceptance that women
they a similar lack of commitment, to
those expressed by U.K. firefighters. Nor did the analysis prove that there was any significant difference
in attitudes towards training. Whilst
there is a marked difference in the actual amount of time spent undertaking
training in the two countries, there is still a high level of dependency, in
both cultures, for training needs to be identified by managers. There was evidence that Phoenix
firefighters would prefer to spend more time on training than they do
currently although it was not established whether this was based on a feeling
of inadequacy or lack of competence or whether this reflected a desire to be
more actively engaged in a meaningful task. The research concludes that although factors other than culture must
play a greater part in forming attitudes towards training and women
firefighters, there is nevertheless a number of positive benefits to be
derived from looser management control and flatter and more “customer
focused” structures. These benefits include the potential for greater
involvement of staff in the development of the service, therefore increasing
creativity and innovation. |
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Inevitably, when undertaking a research project such as this, a great
deal of help and co-operation from a wide number of sources is vital. This project is no exception and I am
especially grateful to a number of people who have put up with my demands, my
questions and even my moods whilst undertaking this assignment.
In no particular order, I would like to acknowledge the help, support
and guidance given by the following people:
Fire Chief Alan Brunacini and Assistant Chief Dennis Compton who welcomed and facilitated this study. I am also grateful for the fact that they, and many of their colleagues, spoke so openly and frankly despite some probing questions about their personal attitudes and principles. I would also like to say a special thank you to Firefighter Ray Martinez who hosted my visit. His tolerance and understanding throughout my stay was truly outstanding and despite having to meet his operational shift obligations at the same time. Ray’s friendship and good humour made a very interesting study also a very enjoyable one, and provided yet another reminder of just how vast the Fire Service “family” really is. Our shared love of good food also ensured that my stay added a few inches to my waistline, and probably his too.
I would like to thank my U.K. colleagues, particularly in Hertfordshire
and in Cornwall, who assisted my research with discussions and by completing
questionnaires. My observations of their attitudes should not be seen as
criticism, but rather as a comment about the way in which we managers have gone
about their business in the past.
I benefited greatly from the wisdom of fellow Brigade Command Course
students in the compilation of the report, particularly Damien Walker for his
patient instruction on the mysteries of word processing and other computer
technologies.
I would also like to recognise and acknowledge the guidance given to me
by staff at the Fire Service College, particularly Lena Wanford, for her
patient feedback. In addition I am extremely grateful to my Technical Assessor
Ian ‘Eddie’ Edwards for his guidance and discussion on the subject of our
common interest, equality. I appreciate
that the demands made on Ian came at a particularly inconvenient time for both
he and his family.
My special thanks go to Alison Farrer for her invaluable assistance in
the compilation and presentation of this report.
Finally, I would like to thank my two Chief Officers for their
forbearance: Graham Edwards and my wife Patricia. Without their patient understanding and endless encouragement,
this onerous, though enjoyable task might have been a severe headache.
INTRODUCTION
The
management style and structures within which the British Fire Service is
managed has probably been continuously evolving, certainly since the formation
of Local Authority Fire Brigades in 1947, and possibly even before. In the early days of the Services’ life this
style was already dictatorial, this was probably exacerbated through and after
the 2nd World War, when there were strong links between the Service and the
military. The behaviour and culture of personnel within fire brigades is
arguably a product of the styles and structures in which they have
operated. The single tier entry system,
which allegedly has some advantages, and certainly many supporters, also
ensures that intermediate and the most senior officers are also products of the
same system and therefore in the main, perpetuate the organisational culture.
Recent
decades have seen a variety of changes to legislation and national guidance in
a number of areas: Amongst these
subjects which have received a great deal of documentation are equal
opportunities and training. It can be argued that the progress made however, is inversely proportional to the
amount of interest and writing on these two subjects.
In
respect of equal opportunities, despite over two decades of equality laws, the
U.K. Fire Service still has a relatively low number of women firefighters
within its ranks, latest figure show this to be under 1% Her Majesty`s Chief
Inspector of Fire Services (HMCIFS) (1995).
Although this number is increasing, there is a still long way to go
before workforces are balanced enough to reflect the gender profile of the
community and the modern labour market. Perhaps more realistically the target
ought to be to have a gender mix and image that reflects a truly equality and
fairness based service. The number of high profile cases of harassment against
women firefighters have been featured in the press and media in recent years
reinforce the current position. Whilst
they may be seen as isolated cases, there is a body of evidence that suggests
that these cases are only exceptional in that they expose only some of the
problems, but not all.
In
the second area, although increasing workloads in some areas, notably fire
safety, has meant a shift in balance, operational firefighters still spend a
considerable amount of time undertaking routine refresher, and new skills,
training. Such is the hazardous nature of the operational work, it is a job
where continuous learning should occur and training is rightly an extremely
important aspect of preparedness.
Nevertheless, it can be argued that training has almost become an
obsession within the service. Minor
errors, accidents, injuries, damage to equipment and, at the extreme, fatal
consequences, all contribute to quests by national bodies, representative
bodies, managers and individuals for training solutions.
In
the following chapters, an analysis is carried out to determine what is meant
by organisational culture and to examine which cultures, if any, are more
conducive to successful organisations.
These findings will then be used to consider the culture of the U.K.
Fire Service as compared with that of the Phoenix Fire Department, Arizona,
U.S.A. and in particular, to examine attitudes in respect of change in general,
women firefighters and training. The purpose of the analysis and comparison is
to test the hypothesis that the
management style and culture of a workforce influences the behaviour and
attitudes in these three issues.
METHODOLOGY
The
research methodology chosen was primarily qualitative, although ultimately
hybrid (Bell 1992) since some quantitative and ethnographic methods are
utilised to provide supporting evidence. Research began with a literature
review to understand and define the subject area and to determine what factors
were considered important in developing a culture and whether there is a
relationship in the achievement of a successful business culture. Further
reading was then undertaken to establish opinion on the influences on culture
particularly in a workforce dominated
by one gender.
In
respect of the attitudes and behaviour of
firefighters towards change, training and women firefighters, a series of interviews was conducted and
questionnaires completed in Phoenix Fire Department and in two brigades in the
UK in order to validate the findings of the literature review. The author
changed workplace after the research had begun, this proved to be convenient
since it enabled an examination of organisational culture to be undertaken at
first hand in two brigades. Further evidence was also obtained by literature
review of journals and newspapers to determine whether other practices and
experiences were to be found in other brigades in the U.K. on these particular
subject areas.
The
visit to Phoenix Fire Department lasted 10 days during which time several
different fire stations and, in some cases, different watches within fire
stations, were examined. The time spent
enabled free discussion with firefighters at different locations and attendance
at incidents allowed an examination of service provision at first hand. Questionnaires were completed at the various locations.
Further
information was gathered in Phoenix through a series of interviews with key
officers and union officials. These
interviews were semi-structured but conducted in a loose and informal manner in
order to establish the rapport necessary for an open and honest
discussion. Interviews and discussions
were also conducted with trainee and probationary firefighters at the Training
Academy and with their instructors.
A
visit was also made to the Despatch Centre and, again, interviews and
discussions took place. At various
locations, women firefighters were specifically and deliberately singled out
for discussion on equal opportunity issues.
Reviews of PFD literature were conducted to gain understanding of how
the Department operates and to obtain samples of relevant documents for further
analysis and/or inclusion within the appendices.
Finally,
informal discussions were conducted with a number of officers representing a
number of different brigades whilst attending courses at the Fire Service
College, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire.
This was undertaken to test attitudes towards organisational structures
and management control practices and to gain some reaction to the Phoenix
model.
With
the benefit of hindsight, the hypotheses may have been proven or more objective
conclusions may have been drawn if more quantitative analysis had been carried
out and if a more detailed questionnaire had been used. It had been expected
that more easily identifiable differences in attitudes would have been revealed
and that the more progressive management style of PFD would have produced a
more positive attitude towards women firefighters. More probing questions with
more in depth statistical analysis may have produced a different result.
Conversely it may have equally revealed
a more serious and deep rooted resistance. It is also possible that some
readers might have been more persuaded by a quantitative argument.
ANALYSIS OF
CULTURE
Introduction
Since
F. W. Taylor (Taylor 1947) set down his views on divisions of labour and
“scientific management” there has been a great deal of interest into what
extent, if any, people in organisations can impact on the success, or otherwise,
of an organisation. More recently,
industrial and commercial successes of nations such as the United States and
the former West Germany have attracted
much scrutiny particularly on
how their relative successes have been achieved. Perhaps more significantly, the undeniable success experienced in
Japan, particularly in the field of electronics, has occupied a great deal of
thought on the part of many a writer on this subject. The Japanese experience is made all the more interesting because
of the condition the country found itself in after the Second World War.
Whilst
there is clearly a number of factors contributing to commercial success, such
as marketing, the economy, quality, etc., a major area of scrutiny has been the
cultures created within organisations in various countries. This section considers some of this research
and the conclusions made on the type of culture more likely to be conducive to
commercial success. In so doing,
consideration is also given to different styles of leadership and management
and how this factor contributes to the development of organisational culture.
The differing (in some cases opposing) cultures that exist in the workplace
are then considered as a basis for comparison between the UK and USA experiences
later in the report.
What is Culture?
To
begin with it is necessary to understand what is meant by the term “culture”.
Culture has been defined in many ways:
“A unique configuration of norms, values, rituals and beliefs, ......
ways of behaving and so on, that characterise the manner in which groups and
individuals combine to get things done” (Eldridge and Cromby 1974). They go on to say that the distinctiveness
of a particular organisation is “manifested in the folklore, laws and in the
ideology to which members defer, as well as the strategic choices made by the
organisation as a whole”. It has also
been said that the fundamental concept of culture is that it consists of
“shared meanings and understandings which influence members’ perceptions of events
(organisation and otherwise) and it is out of that filtered perception that
meaningful action arises” (Johnson and Gill 1993).
Culture
has also been described metaphorically (Morgan 1986) from the idea of
cultivation and working the land.
Morgan suggests “when we talk about culture we are typically referring
to the pattern of development reflected in a society, system of knowledge,
ideology, values, laws and day to day ritual”.
He goes on to say more modern application of the word culture is to “signify
that different groups of people have different ways of life”. This definition is helpful and simple and
provides the basis for comparing different types of culture, i.e. how a group
of people in one company, country or organisation behaves when compared to
another. Comparison alone, however, is
of little importance unless a comparison is also made of the different outcomes
produced by the different cultures.
In
this respect probably one of the most famous pieces of research into the
behaviour of people is now commonly referred to as “The Hawthorn Experiment”
(Mayo 1933). The main experiment was
with a group of female workers in Western Electric Company in Chicago,
approximately ten changes to working conditions were made over a five year
period and, in each case, productivity increased. Even when change was made to the original working conditions,
which were pretty poor, output still went up.
The behaviour of the workers enabled Mayo to discover what he called the
‘informal organisation’. Equally important was the fact that both the workers
and the supervisors felt involved by the process of the experiments and
consequently developed a new working pattern. Mayo also believed that where
high output and co-operation are established because of a feeling of importance
and involvement, the physical conditions of work have very little impact.
In
their day, the findings of the Hawthorn Experiment were at first perhaps
mystifying but subsequently proved to be radical and provided a stimulus and
reference point for many other researchers and writers. Although primarily seen as a study on
motivation, it also provides some useful evidence showing how people in groups
can behave and, how cultures can be formed.
It
has been suggested that a key issue in the development of culture is the
relationship between leaders or managers and the workforce. According to Scheine (1980) leaders play a
key role in maintaining and transmitting culture. He says that they do this by a number of mechanisms, e.g. “what
they pay attention to, measure and control”.
He goes on to say that this “creates a pattern of basic assumptions” in
terms of behaviour within an organisation.
Many of these basic assumptions are developed when the organisation is
in a period of change or experiencing something new. He also says that the way in which an organisation functions and
the way that people behave in relation to these basic assumptions is how a
culture is formed.
Despite
this for many Drucker (1954) provided something of a landmark for the
management of organisations. He too placed great emphasis on management, and in
particular, “management by objectives”.
According to Drucker this objective setting phase “enabled the
organisation to develop its most important resource: management”. Having said this he acknowledged that
management by objectives does increase the motivation of managers and also
develops their commitment to the organisation, this is obviously an important
issue for the people they lead and in turn hope to motivate.
In
the much acclaimed book, ‘In Search of Excellence’, Peters and Waterman (1982)
in examining what made excellent companies the authors concluded, apparently
reluctantly, that all of the successful companies they examined had associated
with it a “strong leader who was instrumental in forming the culture of
excellence in the early stages of the firms development”.
Another
important issue in the development of a culture, particularly in the discussion
on leadership and management is the
matter of power and authority. The
structures which can be formed within
an organisation to control power and authority can vary from very bureaucratic
and hierarchical to a very loose and flat, some might even say a chaotic
structure, at the other end. According to
Weber (1947) authority is exercised in one of three models, these being the
“charismatic”, “traditional” and the “rational-legal”. The later which is dealt with here was seen
by him as being the dominant institution in the then, modern society. He apparently referred to it as being rational because it had specific
objectives, that is to say it was a hierarchical structure designed to perform
certain functions and legal comes
about because authority is exercised through rules and procedures set by managers. Interestingly, at the time Weber believed
the bureaucracy which comes from this system was technically the most
efficient.
Today
however this system is seen more negatively and often as synonymous with
inefficient public sector administration. As Lawrence and Lorsch (1967)
suggest the appropriate organisational
structure “will depend upon the environmental demands” and that such a response by an organisation
is termed as taking a “contingency” approach. The evolving structure
apparently supersedes any choice for a
particular alternative that the organisation may have otherwise had.
Other
writers suggest that as a nation Britain’s development since the Industrial
Revolution, has been largely in the mould of the classical theory of management
Mullins, (1993). The advocates and
practitioners of this theory or style put greater emphasis on organisational
structures, hierarchical management, status, duties and responsibilities. This
style makes clear separation between the workers’ responsibilities from that of
the apparently higher intellectual positions of management. According to Mullins classical writers such
as Fayol and Erwick apparently saw management principles as “a set of rules
offering general solutions to common problems of organisation and
management” Rule making in this context
therefore also reinforces pluralist cultures in that it separates the rule
makers from the rule followers.
It
seems that some organisations have no choice but to determine a structure to
meet the environmental demands, it is possible to link this to an observation
by Morgan (1986) who says “.... it is possible to understand the structure,
process, culture and even the environment of an organisation in terms of the
unconscious defence mechanisms developed by its members to cope with individual
and collective anxiety”. In this
context collective, anxiety or even individual anxiety possessed by key persons
in authority can be caused by the
demands (or perceived demands) of the people or customers the organisation
serves. Morgan goes on to explain this
defensive response as a reaction “when problems that challenge the group’s
functioning arise, the group tends to withdraw its energies from task
performance and use them to defend itself against the anxieties associated with
the new situation”.
Bion
(1959) suggests that in anxiety provoking situations such as change, groups
tend to revert to one of three basic styles of behaviour, the first being
“dependency” where the group believes that it needs a leader who will then
resolve the predicament it finds itself in.
This can be a current leader or even a past one, in which case excessive
reverence to the past will also form part of the behaviour. The second is “pairing” where some sort of
Messiah figure will emerge to resolve the difficulty, this in itself seems to
be another form of dependency. The
third one described by Bion is the “fight/flight” tendency where the group
projects its fears and anxieties onto an “enemy”. This enemy could be the boss, the Government, the environment,
but is seen as “them” and “someone who is out to get us”.
This
latter concept might even strengthen the group’s feeling, even towards its
leaders, provided they are seen as part of the group. However, by virtue of this pre-occupation with “the enemy” it
also tends to distance them from the reality of the situation. Where reality demands change, then this so
called “defence routine” will then act as a powerful resisting force opposed to
change. In such cases the group or the
culture response will be to leave things as they are. Morgan goes on to suggest that out of this process evolves
“organisational scapegoats” who serve the function of people within the group
to create someone to blame for everything.
Stacey
(1993) also suggests that the type of culture created by that the bureaucratic
management style in the workforce is
often one of “high dependency” and at worst, “learned helplessness”. He suggests that it can also be
confrontational and create low levels of morale and motivation.
The so called high dependency which can be
created in bureaucratic organisations particularly on discipline and rules, can
also mean that managers spend some of their time carrying on token actions as a
cover-up or disguise for lack of real action, e.g. policy statements and
procedures written but not enforced.
Frequently, members of the workforce in such organisations will also say
things such as “what is management, the Chief, etc. doing about ...........?”
thereby fulfilling the persecutory need for someone to blame.
Summary
It
appears that the hierarchical and bureaucratic form of structure and management
style is associated with high levels of dependency, resistance to change and
for providing a blame culture. Whilst
it can be argued that environmental considerations make a major contribution to
style and structure, there is strong evidence that such systems can create
cultures which are pre-occupied with defensiveness, perhaps at the expense of
progress. Organisations operating such systems
may be seen as traditional and outdated and also unresponsive to the demands
for change and improvement. An important feature of the concept of culture is
that it is influenced by the behaviour of leaders and managers and the way in
which they regard and treat the workforce. These and other issues are
considered in the context of successful business organisations in the next
section.
What makes
a successful business?
In contrast to the bureaucratic structures
and management styles and the cultures they produce, it is necessary to
consider alternatives which may contribute to developing a learning or
progressive and developing organisation.
Authors Peters and Waterman undertook a study of 43 major American companies. The companies were chosen on the basis of
their financial achievements and included many household names such as Levi
Strauss, IBM, Kodak, Hewlett Packard.
Their research concluded that there were eight key elements or
attributes which each of these companies had in common.
These attributes were identified and advocated as being those which
could make for any company to be successful. These attributes include; “
productivity through people” - this refers to the attitude of companies towards
their own people or employees.
Companies also follow a sort of family atmosphere. “ autonomy and
entrepreneurship” - companies encourage local initiative taking and taking
risks; people are empowered to make decisions in their own job areas, failures
are not penalised. “Hands on, value driven” - companies place great emphasis on
cultural values and beliefs, as a consequence, the leaders in these companies
preach their own values and beliefs and convert others to them. As a
consequence, there is a great deal of harmony and commitment to the organisation
or company objective, indeed they exist without question.
Others
are “a bias for action” - this means companies are more interested in
results than lengthy reports. A continuous improvement and
dynamic approach is
the by-word. “Simple form, thin staff - this means a lean headquarters
with greater autonomy in front line or autonomous units. “Simultaneous loose - tight properties” -
this means that although companies exercise a great deal of autonomy and use
structures which are fairly loose fitting, at the same time they have tight
constraints to work within: normally financial controls or performance outputs.
Some
of the attributes centre very heavily around ideology and vision. The significant part of the Peters and
Waterman analysis was again, the importance of values, culture and belief and
how they play a part in organisational success and in turn impact on how people
actually behave in an organisation. It seems that, whereas managers who
exercise control through hierarchical structures and bureaucratic management
practices can create a situation where employees adopt a dependency on rules:
conversely the practice of more relaxed and looser styles of management can
liberate a more creative, innovative and involved workforce. Whatever style is
in place, Stacey suggests that as the culture which evolves then underpins the
management style, a cyclical process can develop which is very hard to
break. Perhaps it needs a particularly
critical event or set of circumstances to bring about a break in the cycle.
In
looking at successful businesses, Stacey also suggests that the strength of
both culture and management style within the organisation is further reinforced
when personal and organisational values match up or are closely knitted
together. If the values in an
organisation are changed - for example because of new priorities or objectives
- then a resisting force, either equal or stronger than forces in favour of
change, may exist. Where the resisting
force is lower than the driving force, Lewin (1958), then change is
possible. With change programmes can
come a shift in values and beliefs and therefore culture can also occur. A sceptical or cynical workforce, fuelled
perhaps by suspicious representatives, can have a key influence on the strength
of the resisting force. This could be a
greater problem when change is radical.
Other
writers have put their weight behind the lobby for developing greater trust and
creating a more devolved, enabled and empowered workforce. Peters (1988)
advocates involving everyone in everything and the removal of bureaucratic and
humiliating conditions. In terms of linking the empowered staff with the common
goal of customer care and high quality service, Freemantle (1993) espouses the
virtue and value of front-line ownership. Freemantle cites companies such as
BMW who have reshaped their operations to give more autonomy to those staff
closest to the customer, particularly those who are in a position to
resolve customer difficulties or
complaints. According to Kanter (1984)
entrepreneurial organisations innovate at the leading edge of their own known
competence. Such companies have an integrative approach built on a culture of
pride, reduced layers of hierarchy and greater lateral communication especially
on issues such as corporate plans.
Further
evidence of successful cultures can be found by looking at the Japanese style
of management. According to Ouchi (1981) by comparison to many Westernised
organisations, Japanese management and therefore culture, is based more on
trust. It seems that upward trust as well as downward trust is acknowledged to
be a key factor in the productivity and success of many Japanese companies.
Ouchi says that “greater subtlety in relationships is demonstrated by superiors who know the personalities of their
staff and can use this knowledge to put together work teams of maximal
effectiveness without being hampered by professional or trade union work
rigidities”. He goes on to say that “intimacy is shown by the caring, the support
and the disciplined unselfishness which make possible an effective social life,
even at work”.
Ouchi
also makes the important distinction between companies in the West who try to
model themselves on the Japanese style, he refers to them as “Theory Z”. This
is related to McGregor`s Theory X and Theory Y
and Ouchi refers to American “Z” organisations as having long
term employment but not necessarily life long
and is the case in Japan. He goes on to suggest that “Z” organisations
make many of their decisions on the basis of “whether or not things fit
in”. As a consequence, they create more
homogeneous organisations and management groups take a more holistic and
egalitarian view of the workforce.
However,
Ouchi also suggests that managers tend to look to employ people like themselves
to maintain this homogeneous concept.
As a consequence “they tend to be more sexist and racist in
recruitment”. Sexist is also partly
based on the long term employment issue, as they see women as being less reliable
or committed to long term employment, and racist on the grounds of white being
the predominate colour in the existing homogeneous group. Having said that, Ouchi also recognises that companies frequently head hunt from
Theory Z organisations because they have become renowned for developing a very
high proportion of their younger people into successful managers.
Summary
If
the analysis of what makes a successful
business is correct then the path to being a truly successful organisation is
through empowering and enabling the workforce. Emulating the Japanese model may
not be without its problems however. Care needs to be taken to ensure that in
generating a trusting family type culture, that a narcissistic system is not
created. This is even more important in a workforce that is already somewhat
stereotypical in terms of gender race or age. This may mean the
abandonment of some established working
practices and behaviours. It may also mean giving up sacred cows and
traditional icons especially those which are associated with bureaucratic or
outdated organisations.
To
become more successful and engender creativity and reduce dependency on leaders
and prescriptive systems of working, then the adoption of greater trust and
openness seems to be a useful starting place. Matching personal and
organisational values is also likely to help create a positive and progressive
rather than resistant culture. The next
chapter explores the type of culture currently to be found within the UK Fire
Service.
UK FIRE SERVICE CULTURE
The
high dependency culture referred to earlier has to some extent examples in the
public sector including the Fire Brigade.
The environmental consideration referred to earlier is particularly
relevant in this context. The blame culture that exists within modern society
means that public services have learned
to protect themselves with hierarchy, bureaucracy and defensiveness. They frequently function in a world of
excessive rules, procedures and policy, and create a culture where the
consequential dependency and learned helplessness which is created means that
innovation and creativity is largely stifled or considered unnecessary and
therefore viewed with suspicion.
Recent
evidence suggests that maybe the UK Fire Service is beginning to head in the
right direction. There are examples in
a number of brigades that the values and principles advocated in a number of
the so called successful businesses, are now being used. The management and therefore “control”
structure in place in Kent Fire Brigade (“Fire” Magazine May, 1994) supported
by the Chief Fire Officer’s philosophy, is such an example (Appendix 2). The association of the development of the
organisation with strategic planning, and therefore vision, is also recognised
by the Chief Fire Officer in Somerset (I.F.E. Journal May, 1996). (Appendix 3).
There are other examples of action
taken, particularly in flattening and de-layering organisations` structures in
an attempt to empower and delegate.
Some
experiences indicate that the UK Fire Service probably still has a long way to
go before it makes full use of the skills and abilities of all the people in
the organisation. Breaking down
bureaucracies, allowing mistakes, delegating and allowing greater autonomy
would all help create this. Having said that, care is needed: Consultation and
empowerment can raise expectations and there is nothing more frustrating for
a empowered member of staff than being
given autonomy then to have ideas dashed because of insufficient briefing and
guidance. Even worse is where managers
espouse philosophy of releasing control but actually practice the reverse
behaviour.
This
occurred in one brigade which enlisted and empowered
the use of working groups to examine specific functions such as the rota
systems, fire safety, operations, etc..
The remit was to determine real brigade need within the functions which
would contribute to developing the best organisational structure to support
those functions. The result was a clear
recommendation for the abolition of Divisions and the introduction of smaller
Areas or Districts closer to the customer and which would, in theory, allow
greater autonomy for Area Commanders.
When the Management Team for the Brigade met to consider the
recommendations, after much soul searching it was decided to remain with the
existing Divisional set up. This caused
a great deal of resentment among members of working groups who felt let down
and that their ideas had simply been ignored.
Their dissatisfaction was further compounded by the Management decision
to remove a particular rank out of the structure. This suggestion had not appeared in any of the recommendations
and it was neither understood nor accepted by the majority of employees.
Another
brigade undertook a similar review but did in fact have the commitment to
pursue the recommendations which came out of the findings. Smaller, semi
autonomous business units in the form of an Area structure was the result. A paring of officer structure also meant a
very lean system which, again, was designed to assist autonomy and
empowerment. Area Commanders were
selected on the basis of their hunger and quest for such autonomy so that
everything was in place for the system to work. However, traditional dependency
behaviour on the part of individuals on all levels prevented true
empowerment. As a result, orders and
procedures still emanate from the Management Team, particularly in respect of
solutions to administrative and control
problems which occur at service level, and
key Area officers also continually refer the decision making up the line
to senior officers.
Clearly
future service demands and increasingly tight budgets will require even greater
flair and imagination within brigades. Coming up with new and more efficient
and effective working practices will probably be easier to achieve if more
employees (not just managers) were engaged in the activity. It follows that whilst a change in culture
at shop floor level may be necessary to meet the challenges of the next century
it is probably more important that the management style changes to allow the
workforce to make contributions to the development of their organisation and
thereby bring about a shift in culture.
Such a change in management style really needs to be an active process
rather than just a philosophy, the examples given above demonstrate that an
active and continuous process is required if the hearts and minds and the
traditional working practices are really going to be changed.
It
can be seen in these examples that defensiveness often begins with the most
senior members of the Service. This
is also true on the National scene; when threatened, for example as in the case
of The Audit Commission report “In the
Line of Fire”, the behaviour of the
Fire Brigade professional was to decry many of its findings. This is evident in the reaction to the
suggestion that £millions of savings
could be made. In this case even The eminent body, The Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers
Association (CACFOA), issued numerous statements criticising the Commission for
its ill-informed findings.
This
defensiveness and pre-occupation with tradition and even outdated standards and
philosophy exists despite a fairly positive public image and could also be seen
as the reaction to a number of other reviews of Fire Service activities over
the last 20 years or so. Holroyd,
Cunningham, Adam Smith, Audit Commission, et al have taken it upon themselves
to scrutinise and re-scrutinise the inner most workings of the Fire Service perhaps
to try to break down what they perceive to be traditional working practices and
thinking. The attractive elements of
these reports, such as under-funding are seized upon by Fire Service
professionals, whereas those which would
bring about new practices or radical change are frequently opposed or
other factors are blamed.
There is also examples of traditional, perhaps static or helpless
attitudes on the `shop floor`. As a uniformed service with strong historical
links with the armed forces, it is not surprising that the Service has
developed a high level of formality and discipline. Practical examples of these concepts include firefighters
parading at change of shift, standing to attention and saluting senior Officers
and conducting business in a semi-military style. Typically, new recruits undergo a form of cultural indoctrination
where the emphasis is on discipline and obedience. This conduct is justified on the grounds that high levels of
discipline are vital to ensure that orders given at the scene of a fire are
obeyed quickly and without question.
On fire stations and watches, “rituals” have evolved where there is a
high level of repetitive training and routine work, mostly carried out in
preparation for emergency operations. Such emergency work, in reality, represents a fairly small proportion of the use
of their time, nevertheless, firefighters pride themselves on their state of
preparedness. When called upon to
attend emergency incidents they frequently refer to “good jobs” which normally
means that it was a demanding operational situation in which their skills were
used or tested well, either collectively or as individuals. Perhaps more
significantly when things do not go quite so well, or at the extreme where
there is a tragedy in which a firefighter looses their life, the natural and
instant reaction is to look for someone or something to blame.
More often than is perhaps necessary the scapegoat is ‘lack of
training’. This has been the case in a number of recent incidents where both
the Fire Brigades’ Union and the Home Office have issued bulletins advocating
changes in training. Whilst it would clearly be irresponsible to ignore gaps in
knowledge or skills, it could also be that issuing yet another ‘prescription’
only perpetuates the dependency on someone else to come up with the definitive
solution to the particular issue or any number of other situations or
circumstances. It may be more effective in some cases to promote greater
awareness of the vulnerability and susceptibility of firefighters, to death and
injury, rather than default automatically to finding a training solution.
Another often referred to element (or ritual) of fire brigade life is
humour. On a fire station, humour is
sometimes used as a resistance to the
bureaucratic rules and procedures that exist and also to the routine work that
is less appealing and less exciting than being involved in an operational
incident. Humour used as resistance in
this way has the additional bonus of providing
“a paternalistic device which provides subordinates with a feeling of
belonging to the family” (Pollert 1981).
Joking may transcend general horseplay and may also be seen therefore as
group conformity that combines to resist the control mechanisms which are part
of the bureaucratic processes. Although
humour also provide an important element of Teamwork, (Freemantle 1993), it can also be seen as a tool
to be used for conformity, control or importantly self-differentiation, thus maintaining the
group status.
The function of firefighters at an emergency incident also relies very
heavily on teamwork and the use of combined skills in an effective manner; failure can be life threatening either to
victims of fire or indeed to each other.
At firefighter level, therefore, a great deal of trust is required for
the team to work effectively. Failure of an individual which threatens the
safety of a colleague is seen as a heinous crime and one that is not easily forgiven. The high level of dependency on
each others` skills creates a strong
team spirit. When this dependency is
successfully put to the test at an operational incident, special bonds can be
formed which go beyond those normal in other occupational relationships. These issues also provide a feeling of being
different or special - compared to other organisations, jobs or roles. In these
circumstances paradoxically the interactive dependence is normally on each
other, not on managers.
The status that firefighters may have
developed is also influenced by other external and internal factors. For
example, according to Collinson (1993) “individuals are placed on a
hierarchical scale of legitimacy and value to the community ...”. As an occupation, fire fighting can be seen
as an important service, as a result a “group think” (Morgan 1993) has formed
whereby the Fire Service as a whole, has elevated its position and status. In
so doing, it has developed a group culture and shared identity in which the
workforce is seen as highly valuable
perhaps even special. Whatever the reason for this ‘self-differentiation’, Hern
Shepherd, et al (1989), it could be said that firefighters have formed a
culture that is both dependent on authority but also in which, paradoxically,
individuals have a high opinion of themselves.
Summary
There
would appear to be evidence that some of the apparently negative features of
less successful organisations can be found in the Fire Service. Defensiveness
exists even at the highest level, where suggestions by outsiders are seen as
simply a threat to budget rather than recognised as a call for changes to
improve service provision or management.
Managers have built up perhaps less than trusting working relationships
by the introduction of rules and controls; sometimes as a defence against
external and internal pressure, sometimes just as token actions. When managers
do indulge in the practise of trust they either fail to carry through with the
outcomes or underestimate the ingrained dependency that contributes to the
responses. Firefighters and officers alike possibly see themselves as special
or at least doing a special job and resolve
demanding situations by flexibility, team work and improvisation. In
contrast to the successful operational dynamics, in the day to day
organisational functionality there can be defence against real change,
preoccupation with blaming others and a pluralism that perpetuates dependency
within the workforce. The family culture is in evidence and control mechanisms
used to check or rein in deviants and some elements of the so called ‘Z
organisations’ may also be in place in some cases.
The
next section examines working practices and management styles in The Phoenix
Fire Department, Arizona, USA. Following this, evidence of differing attitudes,
in the form of responses to questionnaires
obtained in two UK Fire Brigades are compared to those obtained in the
US. Further supporting evidence comes
from reports of interviews and discussions. Specific comparisons are also made
in attitudes to women firefighters and training to provide evidence to support or disprove the hypothesis that
the culture of the workforce is an influence in these issues.
PHOENIX FIRE DEPARTMENT
Introduction
At
the time of writing, Phoenix Fire Department (PFD) is enjoying both a national
and an international reputation for being one of the most progressive fire
brigades on either side of the Atlantic.
Such is the interest in how the Brigade runs that they have in place an
officer assigned to managing visitor programmes. Although assigned also to operational and command duties, this
officer is frequently called upon to manage and host visitors and delegations
from departments across the United States, Europe and the Middle East.
Phoenix
Fire Department did not always enjoy such a positive reputation. In the early seventies problems between City Hall and both the Fire
and Police culminated in industrial action being threatened by both
departments. Eventually the Fire Department
chose not to go on strike and, as a consequence, gained a great deal of respect
from the citizens and politicians of the City.
Despite this, internal wrangling had caused a great deal of entrenched
pluralism between Management and the Trade Union. The extent to which this pluralist environment had developed was
considered by some as surprising, bearing in mind that the City had at that
time an “employment for all” policy.
This
significant low period in the history of the Department had a number of root
causes. These have been described as: a
very repressive management style, lack of trust, lack of recognition, the
political process and lack of investment in the Department. The turning point
seems to have been when the opportunity was taken to build on the more positive
image which had been generated through not taking industrial action. The consequence of which was a number of
specific actions or developments.
The Development of PFD
One
of the most important and deliberate actions was that carried out by the
Firefighters` Union. The United Phoenix
Firefighters Association (UPFFA), under the leadership of Patrick Cantelme,
embarked on a strategy to change the political structure and therefore
complexion at City Hall. Making use of
Union muscle and their own political skills, the UPFFA was successful in
influencing the change from the previous electoral system to one where nine
Councillors were elected to City Hall and whose constituencies were based on
representation of the nine geographical districts in the City. So successful were they in their campaigning
that the UPFFA achieved having elected to office, seven of the nine
Councillors, that they had backed.
Clearly, a large majority of the Council now had a debt of gratitude to
the Firefighters Union.
This
development occurred around the mid to late seventies, around the same time
that the new Fire Chief took up his post.
Chief Alan Brunacini had risen through the ranks in Phoenix and although
he had also developed personally within its constraints, he had also fallen
victim to the militaristic regime which Phoenix Fire Department had operated
under. These two factors: the change programme that followed and the
relationship between the Union Leader and the Fire Chief were probably the most
important reasons for the progress the Department was to make.
There
were a number of other influences at the time including something of an
internal scandal involving a number of members of the Department and low morale
caused by declining wages and conditions. These issues also combined to create
disquiet at City Hall. The City itself
was growing very rapidly and it was
clear that the Department needed to shape up to meet the challenges of the
future. As the Chief explained, “ if we had stayed the same we would have been
OK, but we really needed to stay ahead of the game”. It appears that a similar realism had evolved within the Union
hierarchy and which combined to transcend traditional boundaries between the
Union and the Fire Chief.
Such
was the improvement in the working relationship between the two organisations
that progress eventually culminated in the launch of “relationship by objectives” (RBO) at the end of the 1970`s; a
platform based on the “management by objectives”
philosophy. This so called
“relationship” element further provided a focus for developing partnership working arrangements which
would be built on mutual trust and respect between the Union and Management and
their respective principal officers.
To
help start the programme off, Managers and Union representatives gathered for a
relationship building seminar at an out of town hotel. Despite the investment in time and effort,
on both sides, the initial get together was not successful. Several further facilitated get-togethers were necessary before a more open,
trusting and supportive relationship began to emerge.
An
important decision in building trust was the establishment of a committee
for each of the five functional activities of the Fire Department. These functional activities referred to Fire
Protection, Medical Services, Human Resource Management, Physical Resource
Management and Urban Services. These activities are now known as “The Big Five”
(Appendix 4) and provide for the strategic planning and direction that PFD is
taking. Each of the five has a
management committee which comprises an Assistant Chief Officer and a Union
Vice President co-Chair. As a
consequence, all policy and decision making evolves from a joint
consultative and working committee with full participation on the part of the
Union. This apparent surrender of ultimate power and control is probably the
most radical decision made by the Chief and clearly calls for a great deal of
trust. The trust, openness and frankness that has since been generated in
retrospect appears to be at the heart of the culture which has now evolved.
These observations are tested and examined in the documentation of interviews
which follow and later in the responses contained in the questionnaires.
Interviews
Interviews
were conducted with the Fire Chief and a number of Principal and Intermediate
Officers. A loose interview framework
was set and designed to be flexible and generate trust and free dialogue. However, general principles were
consistently introduced in each of the discussions. These were: what were pressures for change? What was the main
element on which the future management was built? What are the dangers of the
Union having so much power? What stops the Union abusing power? How significant is the part of the Union
President and Fire Chief? Can the Department sustain change when leadership
changes? Does the relaxed atmosphere provide a breeding ground for
anarchy? And has the transition brought
success?.
Interview with Fire Chief
As
suggested earlier the PFD as it is today owes a great deal to the way the
relationship between the Chief and Union President developed. It is therefore
appropriate to consider how their individual attitudes and values have shaped
today’s culture.
There
are two major factors underpinning the Brunacini style of management. The first is service delivery and the second
is his strong concern for the welfare of his employees. The significance of these features becomes
more relevant later in the report. For his part, the Chief refers to having
inherited a Department when he became Chief which had very “negative labour
relations”. He acknowledges that this
problem had been in the “in basket” for some time and probably could have
stayed there, but he felt it had to be dealt with. Although this was achieved in partnership with the Union
President, the thinking at that time and the style of the Chief are worthy of
examination.
A
key element of Chief Brunacini`s own earlier personal strategy was to return to
school and continue his academic study to “fill in some gaps” and prepare himself for the role of a senior
manager. He believed that the Department had a good base, despite the problems
it was still an excellent employer and was enjoying some growth. When he became
Chief he possessed what he described as a great deal of “liberation energy” and refers to the
changes as creating a “freed slaves” environment. Promotion within the Department had previously been based on self
defence to give principal officers more control and subordinates even less. He
also says that and whilst the Organisation was enjoying growth, generally it
was to some extent still traditional and resistant to change.
Chief
Brunacini describes himself as the least political and least power crazed of
any Fire Chief that he knows. He also
describes himself as being very operationally focused, particularly in respect
of customer care a point that will be referred to again later. He validates power in what he describes as a
descending way; as a firefighter and
therefore as a Fire Chief. He does not consider that he has any external power
either in the community or in political processes.
Despite
this latter point, Chief Brunacini
takes pride in the fact that the Organisation is one of the highest ranked in
terms of public standing (this is confirmed through local research). He also acknowledges that because of the
growth that was occurring within the City, the PFD had already overcome some of
the inertia and was “growing to fill
the space”. That said, he believed PFD
was not necessarily ready for change and at that time it still delivered
service in the traditional way and did so in line with the way that it had been
managed for years. He also points out
that the expansion had provided opportunities for promotion which had motivated
some personnel but not all.
A
key operating imperative of Chief Brunacini is that he believes one ought to
have fun at work. In this respect he also appears to practice what he preaches:
when interviewed, Chief Brunacini was wearing training shoes, denim jeans and a
rather loud shirt The atmosphere that
pervaded his offices and headquarters
complex, was relaxed and gave the
impression of a “laissez-faire” style of management. He comes across as fairly laid back about control and power. He
admits to being totally opposed to “petty chicken-shit rules”. In response to
this remark it was pointed out to him
that his fire station book shelves contained some very weighty tomes covering
management practice, standard operating procedures, et al. He was quick to point out that these were
procedures not rules. He included
within the petty rule scenario such issues as work routines, dress codes and
oppressive discipline. He pointed out
that the work that people do is what is really important and so is service
delivery and customer care; ....“ otherwise it is irrelevant what people are
wearing or doing”.
He
believes the Fire Service is and should be, an absolutely locally driven
service and to achieve this he has deliberately taken and used the capability
of workers in PFD to enhance service at all levels. He reinforces this through
the management style and philosophy
that he advocates. He talked a great deal about trust and stated that as far as
workers are concerned, “not to trust is
too dysfunctional. By this he meant that the organisation becomes so
preoccupied with rules and controls that meaningful progress is impossible.
Chief Brunacini also believes that things should be kept simple for employees
and uncomplicated; not because staff do not understand, but because it fudges
the issue. In support of this the Chief
practices straightforward communication. As well as his own personal
communication style, a number of internal documents give testimony to this principle. The Chief also meets regularly with the Captains reinforcing
corporate messages first hand.
Officers at station, battalion, and principal levels were all asked
whether they felt this action marginalised intermediate Officers, particularly
Deputies and Assistant Chief Officers.
None felt that it was a problem, indeed, all felt that it not only
achieved its objective but provided a good face to face communication between
the Chief and key Officers.
Chief
Brunacini was questioned about the very relaxed style of dress and discipline
that existed within the Department and whether he feared anarchy. He quickly countered, saying that Phoenix firefighters were the most
disciplined firefighters on earth when it came to the real issue of service
delivery and when doing their job. He did acknowledge that from time to time
the system does get out of balance and there is a need for him or his Officers
to “become the Boss”. When this becomes
necessary, it is accepted and creates no problems. If action culminates in formal disciplinary action being taken
against a member, this too is accepted “and balance is restored”. He states that he strongly resists the
practice of introducing new rules when the system does get out of balance.
Furthermore he doesn’t even believe there is a temptation to do so, either for
him or his fellow officers. Evidence to this is provided in a later interview.
In
respect of control the Chief was also asked if he had any concern about the
Union misusing their power to oust him or to further their own particular
interests or agenda. His reply was “Why
should I be concerned? ....Why would they do that ? ....In whose interest would
it be? The shrug of the shoulders and the somewhat puzzled expression suggested
that not only was the Chief unconcerned about such a threat, it was also seen as an absurd idea.
The
Chief was also questioned on the relationship between himself and the Union
President, Patrick Cantelme, particularly since in other discussions this had
frequently been referred to as a “father and son” type relationship. When he
spoke Chief Brunacini remained relaxed and objective. He said “Pat cares as
much about as PFD and the people in it as I do, so it is easy to work with
someone who starts from that position.........I have a great deal of respect
for the guy.......yes we argue and disagree and sometimes have to go our own
way , but it doesn’t change anything, we both still want to the best for the
department and for our people and that’s what matters...... “
Finally,
the discussion with the Chief focused on the sustainability of Phoenix Fire
Departments position and reputation for innovation and creativity when he, or
the Union President, or both, retire.
He commented that the regime in any organisation is determined at the
middle and at the bottom, not at the top.
“Change of leadership is just another change. A dynamic organisation can sustain the change and importantly, a
change in these areas can be good for the Organisation”. He believes that the values and culture, and
therefore the regime that had been determined both in the middle and the bottom
were now so well established that it would take more than a change of
leadership of either the Union or the Department to disrupt it.
Interview with Union
President
An
interview was also conducted with the Union President, Patrick Cantelme. As with the discussion with the Fire Chief, a semi-structured
interview was used in order that the researcher gained the trust of those being
interviewed.
The
Union President (UP) admits that in the late seventies and even into the early
eighties there were major splits with Management. He points out that in 1978 both he and the Fire Chief were
appointed and that there were other demands for change going on at the same
time: increased demand in service delivery, new roles such as the emergency
medical service and paramedic roles and higher expectations on the part of the
somewhat dispirited firefighters. He
suggests that if there was a coming
together of minds at that time, it was based on the fact that both he and the Chief were very service and
welfare orientated; albeit priorities were addressed from very different
angles.
The
Union President acknowledged that the Union role in the changes to the
political structure had meant that they had become very powerful. Looking back
he believed that because they were already developing good working
relationships with the Chief prior to that time, the potential for abuse was
avoided. The President points out that
because of the power which they had then acquired, the partnership type of
working between Union and Management was not really needed by the Union. They
considered at that time, however, that it was in their own best interest as
well for the benefit to the service they were providing to the community, for
them to help create a more cohesive system.
It
was pointed out to the Union Leader that by wielding so much power at City Hall
they could oust the Fire Chief quite easily.
The President replied “but why should we, in whose interest would
it be? ......“We have seen that sort of thing go on in other states and nobody
gains”. Importantly, the UP says that
when the problems of the late seventies existed the Union “knew who the enemy was” and it wasn’t the Chief. It seems reasonable to suggest therefore
that had the Union seen the Fire Chief
in any other light, the relationship and therefore the culture that exists
today may never have been born. He went
on to say that because the Fire Chief had come up through the ranks and was
well known, they knew they could get along with him - “credibility is very
important”.
In
acknowledging the power and influence that they now have, the Union seems well
aware of the dangers of misusing that power.
The President, in referring to the publication of “Big Five” agendas and
minutes, said that they are providing a very important communications
medium. He also points out that the Committees are managed democratically by
both sides and that any member of the Union can ask a Union Vice President to
agenda an item of business. The Union
President says he does not have to allow this and whilst he would intervene if
an item were being placed on the agenda that could be damaging to either the
Union or the Service, this is rarely exercised. The President goes on to suggest
that “the Union has now matured” and recognises the benefit of
involvement in the political process and getting on with management. He states that they recognise the
difficulties that lie ahead, particularly with regard to privatisation, tight
financial controls and funding, but nevertheless they believe that they are
ready for these challenges and pragmatic about the probable outcome.
Despite
some provocative questions about power bases, personal achievement, ambition
and potential for abuse of power, Cantelme remained professional, stoic and patient.
It was also interesting to note that during the interview, the UP maintained a
similarly relaxed style to that demonstrated by Chief Brunacini.
Interviews with other
Officers and Union Representatives
In
order to validate some of the philosophies and determine whether `what they
said was actually what they did`, a number of shorter interviews were conducted
at HQ, stations, Union HQ and at the Training Academy. The significant findings
have been included here but not attributed personally. Whilst all personnel
generously gave of their time and spoke freely, it is not considered
appropriate to assign quotes to individuals.
In
line with some of the findings from meetings with the Fire Chief and Union
President, the interviews conducted
with other staff confirmed or
underlined many values that the others espoused. Reference was made to “too much goofy control in the old
days”. One Officer also suggested that
the current management style was not so much relaxed as more relationship
orientated. It was also pointed out
that the tight control exercised in the past had created a culture that was in
fact opposite to that espoused or desired; “since people rocked the boat more
subversively”.
A
number of people were able to consistently recite key values of the current
management and partnership style, these being: Sense of direction and
commitment, Leadership - both formal and informal, Trust and caring within the
system for people, Forgiveness -
look for balance in the cycle of life, rather than correct through rules and
Standards that are acceptable internally.
One
the point about rules an Officer also anecdotally referred to a case where the
then newly appointed Chief, had sent
him a list of new Department rules.
Thinking there were more to follow, the Officer did not respond. Eventually the Fire Chief rang him and asked
if he had got a copy of the rules which
he had sent. The Officer
replied, “I got a document but it only had twenty rules on it so I obviously
didn’t get the complete report”. The
Chief advised him that it was the
complete document. The Officer questioned whether this was enough, to which the
Chief replied “Why did you want more
than twenty rules? You can get to heaven on only ten!”. A copy of these rules
is shown at appendix 5 and emphasises the management philosophy of the Fire
Chief.
In
this matter of rules, procedures and control, personnel felt that greater
control was being exercised at the present time, than had previously been under
the more repressed regime. However the “control” was not necessarily imposed by
Management - it was more self imposed or self regulatory. Peer group discipline
and the use of informal leaders combine to achieve an alternative and perhaps
more effective form of control. A frequently referred to principle was, that
acceptable behaviour within the Organisation is defined by the stake holders,
not by rules and procedures and not by oppressive management. The focus for
acceptable behaviour seems to be the emphasis on mutual respect and customer care,
this is dealt with in more detail below.
With
regard to the use of rules, personnel generally felt that procedures were
designed to cover an issue and to be used as a source or resource for reference
purposes, in other words to consult. As one Officer put it “safe managers simply
follow the rules”......”thankfully, we do not have too many of them”.
In
terms of the sustainability of the
current working environment an important point that was stated, was that
the “system is fragile”. The Officer
then stated that if you stop the problem-solving process which thrives on
dialogue and interaction, the principles on which the Relationship by
Objectives concept is based, could soon fall apart.
The
philosophy and ideology of the organisation clearly need to be underpinned
by the work, style and priorities of
the department and the people in it. The document that sets down the working practices, methodology and
values, therefore behaviour and culture, is dealt with in the next chapter.
“The Phoenix Fire Department
Way”
The
enviable reputation that Phoenix Fire Department now enjoys, owes much to the
culture which has been generated within the Organisation. The purpose of this analysis has not been to
debate whether or not the reputation is deserved but instead to examine the
culture that underpins or perhaps creates this apparent success.
As
stated earlier, culture is very much a matter of shared values and
beliefs. An important shared belief
that now seems to exist in PFD is the apparent pragmatic view that it is in
both the Unions and Management’s interest to work together. This principle also
exists in the Swedish philosophy, Baglioni and Crouch (1992), which is based on
a “peaceful, rational, pragmatic, willingness to foresee the outcome and the impact
of the effects of industrial actions”. A principle underlined in that country
by the “Saltsjobaden Agreement 1978”
which sets down rules for settling negotiation and was specifically designed to
avoid the knock-on effect on third parties. The process of setting down the
philosophy could be seen as a step towards cementing principles.
In
1992 the values and philosophy that had
emerged within the Phoenix Fire Department, which reflected the culture, was
set down, and perhaps cemented, in a document entitled “The Phoenix Fire
Department Way”. This is shown in full
at Appendix 6. Although the document
starts out as being a description of current organisational philosophy and
practice, it also serves as a benchmark for
employees entering the department.
As a consequence, this document which was “built a piece at a time” now
acts as a statement on the behaviour expected of employees, not only for today,
but also for the future.
Most,
if not all the personnel interviewed, agreed that the values advocated in “The
Way” were held dear to them. Trying to do the best possible job and have
respect for one another was a given
in all conversations. All firefighters and officers alike whom the author met
were enthusiastic and seemingly well motivated. There were, however, one or two
examples where some cynical attitudes or comments were found or made. In the
main these views centred around recurring themes such as the direction in which
the paramedic service was taking the department. Despite this, experience was
that morale in PFD was high. One
indicator of this could be the incidence of sickness. Within the City the PFD
sickness levels are the lowest of all City Departments. Considering the higher levels of physical
fitness that are required, this is even more significant. The latest statistics show that they have a
sickness rate on average of five lost duty days, per firefighter, per year.
In
respect of the self esteem of the workforce, an important development has been
the notion of the “specialness” of Phoenix firefighters. Officers boast that they do not hire
firefighters, they hire people who they then help to become Phoenix
firefighters. They also boast that
recruit applicants present themselves with high levels of knowledge about the
work of the Department, its structure and its services. Despite the growth economy, with low
unemployment, joining the Fire Department appears to be seen as exceptionally
prestigious. There is also recognition, including on the part of the Union,
that with this specialness comes a responsibility to behave in an acceptable
and professional manner both within the Organisation and in dealing with its
customers.
Whilst
“The Way” is largely a philosophical statement it does also give a number of
points of guidance to staff and in particular, to managers. Examples can be
found in section four; the supervisors role.
It states that “Positive
motivation is the preferred method of guiding members to be effective and more
productive. Positive reinforcement, ‘catching someone doing it right’ and citing positive performance as an
example for others to follow, have proven to be much more effective than
identifying negative behaviour or performance, punishing it, and expecting that
to serve as the example from which others are to learn”. It also says “It is
important to understand that supervisors are paid to solve problems, and when
they don’t, problems get exaggerated”.
These
two statements give a clear indication of how managers are expected to perform
and behave. The combination of the demand for action in problem solving and the
emphasis on positive guidance rather than punitive or negative feedback provides the ingredients for generating a positive attitude and
atmosphere in the workplace. Further endorsement of a people centred attitude
comes from another passage in “The Way” which says, “All supervisors, no matter
what their level in the Department, are expected to carry out their
responsibilities in a considerate, respectful manner”.
Summary
What comes across clearly is that Phoenix Fire Department has a philosophy
based on trust, loose control and openness. There is little if any evidence of
a preoccupation with rules as a form of control, indeed the reverse is true. It does however have high
expectations in terms of behaviour and performance, both towards internal
customers and service provision. This latter point also provides the goal
congruence or common aim that is synonymous with successful businesses. A key
element in demonstrating both trust and recognition of individuals` potential
contribution is the shared power with
the Union that has been established. It also appears that the use of customers
as the focus of the department combined with peer pressure and recognition of
the power of informal leadership have enabled a much looser control system
being employed by management.
Evidence
of whether managers are practitioners of these philosophies together with
examples of the effects of the management style on attitudes towards change,
training and women firefighters, in comparison with that found in the UK, are
considered in the next section.
COMPARISON IN ATTITUDES
TOWARDS CHANGE, EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES AND TRAINING IN THE U.K. AND THE U.S.A.
Change
From
the responses in the questionnaire (appendix 1) it was found that in general,
attitudes of firefighters towards change and their managers is clearly very
different in the two locations tested. PFD firefighters demonstrate a more
relaxed and self determining style and attitude
in a wider range of issues and are more comfortable about change and progress
than their UK counterparts. In PFD they also appear more relaxed about working
relationships and communications (Q’s 1,2 and 3). In Phoenix firefighters do
not appear threatened or intimidated when it comes to asking for further
information (Q 4). They also demonstrate more confidence and probably less
suspicion about management and being involved in change making and seem to
recognise their own value in the process (Q’s 5 6 and 7).
PFD
firefighters also make fewer criticisms of how their department is managed and
seem more supportive of their Chief. In respect of discipline they seem equally
cognisant of the need for some controls but not as preoccupied with the symbols
and tokens such as rank markings and rules (Q’s 8 and 9). As evidence of their
greater belief in self discipline PFD firefighters scored highly on the belief
that making mistakes was seen as unacceptable (Q 10). This may be testimony to the sense of self control that
exists but may also be a reflection of the strong sense of customer focus, and
for providing a high quality service, that exists in the Department.
In
the UK firefighters consistently scored
higher in what could be described as traditional issues. Emphasis on discipline
and knowing ones place come across as does the pluralism in those responses
which examine role and relationship with officers.
Women Firefighters - Phoenix
In
PFD the Departmental Equal Opportunities Procedure is a simple statement. It is laid down on one page of A4 and
although an integral part of management procedures, it is framed and hung on
the wall in every fire station. A copy
is attached at appendix 7. Analysis of
the effectiveness of the equal opportunities policy and practice and, indeed,
whether the respect philosophy advocated in “The Way” actually works, centres
around discussions with a number of
women firefighters, male firefighters, managers and the response on this
subject contained in the questionnaire (Q 13).
There are 50 female firefighters in PFD in a
workforce of 1300 firefighters, (just under 4%). Discussion with women
firefighters and managers reveals that
problems associated with sexual harassment are apparently non-existent. Some may see this as meaning there are
therefore no problems for women within the workforce, although the reality may
be very different. In one interview it was suggested that this statistic simply
means that no cases had been reported which,
“is not surprising since we are used to covering up the problems”. Another
said “we have been taught to hide the
problems....” and went on to comment that PFD
has not lost a law suit based on harassment and “little will change
until it does”. Another woman firefighter suggested that harassment in the form
of jibes and put downs “is continuous” and nobody does anything about it.
Perhaps the most significant comment on the subject of harassment was made by a
woman firefighter who said “there is nothing wrong with the system..... it’s
the people who screw it up”.
In order to set what could be considered as a
few isolated remarks into context, some additional observations are
appropriate: The first and probably most important point to make is that none
of the women interviewed seemed particularly concerned about treatment they
received from their male colleagues. A general atmosphere of pragmatism seemed
to exist which is strengthened by a belief that they “can dish it out as well
as the men”, whether they should be expected to tolerate such treatment is
another matter. The second point is that the general atmosphere observed
amongst colleagues on shifts where women formed part of the crew was quite
relaxed and no tensions seemed to exist. The values of “The Way” were very much in evidence during
the visit. Mutual respect and concern for the well-being of fellow workers was
clearly a common undercurrent.
When
male firefighters were questioned on the issue of sexual harassment against
their female colleagues, a consistent response was that since it would not be
tolerated, it was not worth taking the chance.
This response strongly suggests that the male members of the workforce
are generally compliant with policy rather than committed to the notion that
women can perform the task just the same as men. The responses in the questionnaire
(Q13) reveal that this likely to be the case. Although there were a significant number of believers
that women have an equal part to play in the fire service, there was still was
a similar number who at this time are seemingly unconvinced.
Changing attitudes on such an emotive subject
as equality, obviously takes time, probably generations. It was not possible
during the visit to determine whether or not PFD is sitting on an equality time
bomb. The fact that there seems to be a general agreement that the existing
policy needs to be tighter, may mean that potential problems can be avoided. It
is also a matter of further research and ultimately, judgement as to the
sustainability of the existing pragmatism or tolerance of women firefighters. Hopefully
the current threat of severe sanctions, maybe even dismissal, will act as a
control device long enough for policy and practice to be reviewed, amended and
reinforced.
Women Firefighters - UK
Although
some doubts may exist about the sustainability of the ability to keep any
potentially serious problems in check in the US, evidence suggests that there
is even further to go in the UK. Experience in a number of Brigades in recent
years has been of a series of cases where harassment and inequality have led to
some major problems, both internally and through the judicial process. More
importantly, for every case there is a victim, someone who is harmed in some
way and perhaps even scarred for life.
Each case of unfair treatment also further labels the service as a male bastion
in which pretenders will not be tolerated: underlining the paradox of the carer
who is also a bully.
Interviews
conducted with British women firefighters by Howell (1994) reveals some
alarming experiences, not only in terms of their treatment by peers but also by
the officers who women firefighters expect to be supported by and whom they should be able to rely upon to
enforce the policies that are designed to protect them. In this research,
Howell identifies a number of key
issues which combine to create a resisting force that is opposed to accepting
women as co-workers. He also raised a number of important failures on the part
of managers to address the problems on the shop floor. A summary of his
conclusions and recommendations is shown at appendix 8. However some of the
themes are worthy of closer examination:
The
main behaviour and failings issues which Howell raised can be generally
categorised as - a failure to recognise the true value of a diverse
workforce, policy statements that are
espoused but not actioned ( which itself discredits the issue ), not providing
a code of conduct which embodies commitment to equality as a principle, not
initiating swift and effective action where abuses occur and
a failure to introduce value systems for all firefighters which do not
perpetuate gender differences.
It
would appear that in a number of issues the UK could benefit from implementing
some of the practices that are in place in Phoenix. The mutual respect, and
value, which appears to exist in the workforce in PFD may be the reason why
there is somewhat less opposition to women. There is also a shared view in PFD
that abuses of equality will not be tolerated and that they would be quickly
and severely dealt with. Whilst the effectiveness of current policy in both
locations is questionable, at least in Phoenix there is some recognition that
the policy needs to be reviewed and reinforced. Consequently PFD has actioned a
number of the issues raised by Howell.
In contrast, in the UK, many senior officers are still of the opinion
that either there is no equality problem, or that litigation will not happen to
them, or that the Service has already done a great deal and that it should now
stop beating itself with a stick.
On
this latter issue it would appear to be unlikely that any meaningful progress
will be made until managers at least wake up to the existence of a real
problem. This failure may be in part due to the fact that white males have very
little experience of being discriminated against. As such they have no comprehension of how it might feel to fall
victim to some the experiences endured by women and other under-represented
groups.
An
area where there may be some commonality between PFD and the UK is perhaps in
the failure to recognise any real benefit in having greater diversity in the
staffing profile of fire brigades. It is likely that in both countries
compliance with legal and social pressure for change has been the key
motivator. As a consequence little thought may have been given to the unique or
more plentiful qualities that are possessed by women or how a greater abundance
of these attributes might benefit the service. In this discussion it is common for commentators to refer to the
so called softer qualities of the ‘fairer sex’. However, there is a fairly
strong body of opinion that suggests that one of the key strengths of women is
that they are more process minded than their task orientated, ‘bottom line’,
male counterparts. As Helgesen (1990) proposes, in what she describes as the
“web of inclusion”, women have a greater sense of being part of what has gone
before and of what might follow in the future. She also suggests that women are
more relationship orientated and more skilled at creating networks and communicating
through them, than the more hierarchical, top down men. Women also create more
cohesive and better informed teams than males who are more into the ‘knowledge
is power’ mindset.
It
is not intended to develop this specific argument further since the objective
was to test the hypothesis that looser management control was more conducive to
creating a positive equality based working environment. Suffice to say here
that many of the criticisms directed at the Service in recent years and
certainly the thrust of ‘improvement
notices’ served by the Health and Safety Executive, have been aimed at failures
or inadequacies in systems or processes. It may well be that a greater
propensity of process thinkers within the Service might have prevented some of these
shortfalls and may also further liberate the combined creativity of a more
involved workforce.
Training - Phoenix
During
the visit, the author was given the
opportunity to examine training from a number of different angles. At the same
time evidence was also gathered to try to determine whether or not the
philosophy of the Chief, senior managers and “The Way” were reflected in the
attitudes of personnel. Specific activities included visiting and observing
training with new recruits and more advanced probationary firefighters, discussions with Officers at station,
battalion and headquarters levels and an examination of current training policy
and practice. Attitudes of firefighters
towards training were also examined through the questionnaire, (appendix 1).
By
comparison to the UK, Phoenix firefighters seem to enjoy a high level of
status. The strong emphasis on customer care and the expanding role of the
emergency medical service seem to have created a high level of dependency among
citizens on their firefighters. This was evident by the observation of, and the
frequency with which, members of the public engaged in conversation with
Phoenix firefighters in the street. Positive comments were frequently made,
many referring to them as “Phoenix’s finest”. Being associated with the image
and status of a Phoenix firefighter comes across as being very important. As a
consequence, applicants who wish to join come to interview “very knowledgeable and well prepared”, many
have taken the trouble to establish a mentor relationship with a serving
firefighter. Accordingly from interviews with instructors they all regard
recruits coming into the organisation as being intelligent and highly
motivated. They make use of these existing qualities by operating in a relaxed,
mentoring, rather than prescriptive, style and thereby practise and promote the
principles contained within the “The Way”.
New
recruits, approximately six weeks into their training, talked freely and
casually with the author. They felt
that officers, particularly instructors, practised very supportive methods and
they believed that the instructors were there to help them achieve or reach
their potential. Recruits were allowed to contribute on how best to achieve a
task and enter free discussion on procedures and technical issues. Evidence of the atmosphere that exists is
typified by a recruit’s spontaneous invitation to the author to join them for
their barbecue lunch. The invitation was on behalf of all of the course and
instructors despite no prior knowledge that they were being visited by an
officer from England and with no consultation amongst them.
Further
anecdotal evidence of a similar attitude was found in a group of probationer
firefighters who were at the training academy for interim tests. After several months assignment to different
fire stations they appeared to have lost none of their enthusiasm, nor had any
detectable cynicism crept in; their attitude was consistent with that generally
found to exist amongst experienced
firefighters, officers and newest recruits alike.
The
basis for recruit and on-going training is by the achievement of what is
referred to as “minimum company standards” MCS`s. Some examples of the style and format is contained in appendix 9. These standards cover a wide range of
practical and technical skills and knowledge.
In British Fire Service language these might be referred to as minimum
competencies.
After
successful completion of initial recruit training, all firefighters are
required, once a year as a
crew/watch/shift, to attend the
Training Academy for evaluation against
minimum company standards. To some extent this can be seen as an audit
inspection or evaluation. A measure of
preparedness, competence and therefore acceptability of the individuals in the
group will be based on this evaluation.
“Instructors” for these tests are drawn
from the Captain ranks whose normal base is on an operational watch. As well as
evaluation, coaching is also an important part of the process and this peer
group form of feedback seems to be particularly well received. Those
interviewed at the Academy who were being assessed, commented that they were
there to learn and improve so that they could do their job better and therefore
provide a better service. No anxiety or resentment, about having their
performance scrutinised in this way, was found.
Because
MCS`s are checked annually interim station/watch training routines as a
consequence are flexible and in some cases almost non-existent. The important
issue, and the only reason for undertaking watch training or practise, is to ensure that MCS’s are
being maintained. The regularity and frequency of practise is therefore
determined by the group or individuals` performance. Discussion with firefighters about the frequency with which they
undertook routine training drills at station level was met with the typical
response “oh! We don’t do things like that! ”. Providing evidence that
firefighters are competent, once a year, is all that is necessary; how it is
achieved is, to a large extent, irrelevant.
Periodic
thematic training is however provided in addition to meeting MSC`s. These are
co-ordinated by districts or battalions and targeted at individuals and
stations who need that particular training.
The author attended one such lecture during the visit which was given by
a firefighter (paramedic) on signs, symptoms and treatment for heat
exhaustion. Importantly the lecture was
being given because it was felt that all those in the audience would at some
point find themselves in a situation where this knowledge would be used. Conversely, if the training was not relevant
to a particular crew then they would not have received the training. An example where this would be the case
was for brush fires: firefighters in
the City centre never go to brush fires so they do not receive that sort of
training.
The
attitude and practice in respect of training perhaps further underlines the
comments made by the Fire Chief about petty control mechanisms and oppressive
management style. As stated earlier,
emphasis is placed on whether firefighters can do their job rather than
how it is achieved. As one Captain put
it “why waste time finding if you can
do things you already know you can
do?” The attitude of firefighters on
the frequency of existing training routines, as measured by the questionnaire
(Q11), suggests that some may feel that greater time should be devoted to
training and could imply that they do not necessarily feel competent. However although not tested by the questionnaire enquires on this matter
indicated that it is more likely to be
a reflection of boredom or an enthusiasm to practice their skills rather than
as a result of a real training need. Since an even greater number felt that
training is the best way of maintaining skills (Q 12) it is also possible that
this is a reflection of how important being good at one’s job is seen to be.
Training - UK
By
comparison to the regime in Phoenix the delivery of UK firefighter basic
training is extremely regimented and militaristic. There is evidence in some of
the more advanced regional training centres that the service is moving away
from the conditioning style to one that treats recruits as clients or
customers. It is not clear if this has evolved from a recognition of the
potential benefits to the service and the individual, or a business imperative
driven by the need to sell training to prop up diminishing budgets.
Nevertheless there is still a number of basic training centres where the
emphasis is on discipline and obedience.
Squad
drill, numbering, doubling, marching, saluting and standing to attention are
included in the Fire Service Manuals and Drill Book. They are also included in
most, if not all, syllabi currently in use. Other rituals such as not speaking
unless invited to do so, standing to attention for officers, the title Sir and
the promotion of the concept of instant obedience (lest they should forget the
urgency and precision with which all fires need to be extinguished) also add to
the sense of knowing ones place. Such rituals also separate the experienced,
the knowledgeable and those with authority, from those who have none of these
commodities and are therefore dependent upon those who do.
Once
basic training is completed, apart from regular doses of new skills, refresher
and development training, personnel train
regularly on their watch or station. The frequency varies but most
brigades’ work routines or policy documents will require periods set aside for
practise of skills or improving technical knowledge on an average of at least
once in a shift. Some traditionally minded officers in charge will only excuse
a day without training if there has been unavoidable operational interference
in the programme.
The
content of these training sessions can also be unimaginative. Despite the
preoccupation with ‘realistic training’ in recent years, officers in charge
still, through lack of time for preparation or lack of time spent preparing,
gravitate to the drill yard for ladder pitching and hose running exercises.
Presumably this is also done in an apparent quest for a demonstration of the
‘perfect drill’ which will hopefully then be repeated in front of a
visiting supervisory officer who himself has been conditioned to believe that
this is a meaningful performance indicator and an accurate predictor of how
effective a crew will perform in a real fire situation. Often the important
issue of safety becomes secondary to the achievement of the task with greater
emphasis therefore being placed on speed rather than the quality and safety
with which the task is completed. An example might be where the donning of a BA
set is judged as satisfactory because it was completed in ‘x’ number of
seconds, whereas true successful completion would also include ‘y’ in the equation,
where ‘y’ = according to best, safe, practice.
Perhaps
not surprisingly the high dependency culture referred to earlier that exists in
some UK Fire Brigades means that training, or management, or both, become the
culprit whenever there is a system failure. Such failures can be a loss of life
at one extreme or dissatisfaction of an officer at the other. In between there
is also a wide range of accidents and injuries from serious to relatively
minor. Whichever the reason, training will frequently be reviewed and revised.
This revision element will again frequently
be orchestrated at high level, possibly at National level, and will take
the form of an edict or command. Although these days, greater use is made of
personnel from differing levels in the service, ultimately training needs are
determined by managers. Some even go to the extent of writing programmes which
dictate the what, where, when and how that training is performed.
The
attitude of firefighters in the UK to the issue of training, provides an
interesting comparison with their US counterparts. On the first point UK
firefighters generally felt that they trained too much, whereas in the US there
was a tendency towards a desire to train more. There was no evidence, however, to show that they actually needed more or
less. In the issue of determining training needs there was a somewhat unexpected response from the US: It was
found that whilst evidence in a number ways suggested that they were more liberated,
involved in determining working practices and very self motivated towards
providing a good quality service, there is still a high level of dependency on
managers to identify training needs on their behalf. On this point therefore
the hypothesis fails.
In
the UK a similar response was found:. Despite
individual’s responsibilities contained within UK safety laws there is
still the high level of dependency that others will determine and prescribe any
training requirement. The attempt to separate attitudes on the basis of the
culture of the workforce has not been achieved. As suggested the findings in
the training need identification process were unexpected. However, when this
was discovered it was not known if it was a valid conclusion and whether or not
a different behaviour occurs after a training gap has been identified.
Summary
In
respect of change in general it would appear that firefighters in Phoenix are
more pragmatic and less suspicious than their UK counterparts. They also
recognise that they as individuals have a valuable part to play in change
programmes and enjoy greater levels of trust in their managers.
The
research found that in respect of the acceptance and treatment of women as
co-workers again there was a surprising similarity in attitudes. Whilst there
is evidence to suggest that firefighters in Phoenix are more compliant with
equality policy than their English colleagues, there is only some evidence that they are any more committed to
the principle that women can equally be competent and accepted as firefighters. It is also possible that underneath
their apparent tolerance of this concept they maybe no less resentful and of
the legal requirement that creates the policy and current situation.
The
expectation that a more loosely controlled culture would produce a more positive
attitude towards women as firefighters was not found, therefore a null
hypothesis has resulted. It is contended however that the evidence suggests
there is more middle ground opinion in Phoenix which may be an effect of the
culture that exists there. Nevertheless it does seem that fire brigades in both
locations have still failed to grasp any tangible benefit in
increasing
the number of women in their respective departments. Greater focus on the
unique skills and style of women could provide more commitment.
As
well as having very different attitudes in terms of change, firefighters in the
UK and the US, also appear to differ on the issue of the frequency with which
they undertake training. This, however, may not necessarily be associated with
a perception of lower levels of skill. However the hypothesis that levels of
dependency, on training needs being identified by ones manager, would be found
to be higher in tightly controlled bureaucratic and hierarchical organisations
was not the case. It seems that even in a more empowered and loosely controlled
workforce there is a high expectation that managers will identify training
needs on their behalf, even if
practical evidence suggests that individuals would play more of a part in
filling any training gap.
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusion
In
respect of the acceptance of women as co-workers; the hypothesis that the more
liberal management style would be more conducive to a shared commitment to this
principle was not proven. There was perhaps slightly less resistance found in
Phoenix however, although there was evidence that the workforce may be more
compliant on this issue, it seems equally likely to be because of the threat of
sanctions against them.
Recommendation
Until
such time as true commitment to accepting women as equally competent in the
role of firefighter evolves, the most effective management strategy would at
least be to gain greater compliance. Initially managers themselves have to be
champions and advocates of fair recruitment and retention best-practice, at all
times.
However
resistance may be strengthened among male firefighters unless action is based
on fairness and respect for all, not just women. In this respect the impact of
the behaviour of managers on attitudes of personnel, should not be
under-estimated. Caring, sensitive and fair and consistent treatment should be
practised by all managers at all times and should not be seen as weak or
ineffective management. In reality the effect will be to provide a role model which
others will copy.
Conclusion
Whilst
there may be slightly less resistance to women in Phoenix there still seems to
be a lack of recognition of the potential benefits of increasing the number of
women firefighters in both PFD and the
UK.
Recommendation
Greater
understanding of the qualities, working styles and thought processes of women needs to be gained by those (men) who
can influence the staffing profile of fire brigades. Once this has been
achieved greater awareness of these attributes, together with the promotion of
the tangible benefits to be gained in the service, should be undertaken.
This
action may sound too obvious to have any success and may therefore be
dismissed. However it is unlikely to be as simple as it sounds. Overcoming the potentially
extremely powerful resisting force amongst existing managers will call for
considerable patience and energy. It may even take someone with the vision and
personal commitment, within a brigade,
to champion the subject before any significant progress will be
made.
Conclusion
In
a second element of the hypothesis,
although firefighters in the two countries differ on their view on the issue of
the frequency with which they should undertake training, it is not clear
whether they have different attitudes on training need. However the hypothesis
that higher levels of dependency, on training needs being identified by ones
manager, existing in more tightly controlled organisations was not proven. It
seems that even in a more empowered and loosely controlled workforce there is a
high expectation that managers will identify training needs on their behalf.
Practical evidence suggests that individuals in PFD would however play more of
a part in filling any training gap identified.
Recommendation
Despite
the null hypothesis in relation to the organisational culture there is still
much to be derived from the practices in use in Phoenix. The minimum competency
approach has clearly created a situation where time and effort are not
unnecessarily wasted on continuously proving that which is already known. The
benefits are clear: more efficient use of time and the opportunity to be more
focused on areas of real training need.
Conclusion
Hierarchical
and bureaucratic organisations generate higher levels of dependency, resistance
to change and blame cultures, than more loosely controlled and flatter
businesses. Although environmental considerations may contribute to management
style these types of cultures seem to
be pre-occupied with defensiveness
which may inhibit progress. Such
organisations are seen as unresponsive to the demands for change and
improvement, sometimes with justification. It would appear that some of the
apparently negative features of less successful organisations in terms of
culture and behaviour exist in the Fire Service.
Recommendation
Consideration
should be given to the real needs of the Service and then structures and styles
should be developed to suit the demand for more progressive organisations.
Recognition of the benefits of looser controls in generating a more involved
and innovative culture needs to be created.
Conclusion
Managers
in the Fire Service have built up perhaps less than trusting working
relationships; emphasised by the introduction of rules and controls, sometimes
as a defence against external and internal pressure, sometimes just as token
actions. The culture of a workforce is in turn, influenced by the behaviour of
leaders and managers by the way in which they regard and treat personnel.
Recommendation
Chief
Officers and senior officers need to seriously question their own motives and
examine the effects that their style of leadership is having on the culture and
attitudes of their workforce. They should also reflect on the real need to
introduce new policy and avoid token actions which are not sustained or
followed through. Managers should also consider the extent to which it is necessary to maintain the notion
of a “disciplined Service” and therefore the balance of conformity and
creativity.
Conclusion
The
experience of Phoenix is that keeping
rules to a minimum provides a focus for values, priorities and behaviour within
the Department. The limited number of rules, backed up by guidance and
procedures, enables these principles to be learned, memorised, confirmed and
actioned and thereby reinforcing behaviour and culture.
Recommendation
Chief
Fire Officers should consider redesignating “Brigade Orders” and sift out the
unnecessary and over prescriptive documents. Consideration should also be given
to creating a looser regime of procedural documents to enable key operating
principles to be clearly understood.
Conclusion
There
are a number of examples of good modern management practice which
emphasise the strategic theme and
structures and styles designed to provide more opportunities to involve staff
in the development of some UK Fire Brigades.
Recommendation
Consideration
should be given to the effectiveness of the cultures being developed in
Brigades such as Kent and Somerset and that reported on in Phoenix Fire
Department. Determination should then be made of the mechanisms that need to be
put in place in individual brigades to create
less pluralistic and dependent cultures and in which greater trust is
developed.
Conclusion
The
pragmatic principle that it is in both the Unions and Management’s interest to
work together, is reinforced when there
is a common focus. In Phoenix the focus is provided by a mutual respect within
the workforce and the strong belief in customer care and service provision.
This also provides “super-ordinate” and binding goals. The culture and
management style within PFD is further reinforced because personal and
organisational values are well matched.
Recommendation
Management,
representative bodies and individual employees need to re-focus on their
purpose. The common denominator ought to be providing the best possible service
that matches the customer need: This means at the right time, in the right
place, and at the right price. The internal disharmony caused by suspicion,
lack of trust and the continuous need to deliver within tightening budgets is
dysfunctional and needs to be put in context if a unitrist, rather pluralist
environment is to be achieved.
The
importance of strategic planning and the involvement of personnel from all
levels in the process, in providing direction and focus, should be recognised.
This calls for a more sophisticated approach to business planning which
utilises a wider range of inputs and also links to personal appraisal and
action planning of key members of staff.
Conclusion
Documents
that set down core values such as “The Phoenix Fire Department Way” can play an
important part in influencing behaviour.
Recommendation
Chief
Officers should employ statements of expected behaviour but should exercise
care to ensure that the message is reinforced and not discredited by lack of
commitment or action.
Conclusion
Although
firefighters and officers alike possibly see themselves as special or at least
doing a special job and resolve
demanding situations by flexibility, team work and improvisation, they
also resort to high levels of dependency and conformity in day to day
organisational function. The family culture is in evidence, as are control
mechanisms, to check or rein in deviants. Some elements of the so called ‘Z
organisations’ may also be in place in the UK fire service particularly those
which militate against real acceptance and commitment to non family
stereotypes.
Recommendation
The
high status that is currently enjoyed by firefighters, is an important feature
of the culture of the Fire Service and should be maintained or even be
improved. Recognition by managers of individual skills and contribution will
not only assist this but also provide a transition to a different, although not
new, reward and value system. Less critical and negative corrective action, by
managers, together with an acceptance of the principle that unimportant errors
or mistakes do not always need action,
would also aid the process.
In
respect of “ the family”, action is clearly necessary to maintain the positive
elements of this feature of the Fire Service, whilst at the same time
eliminating those practises which perpetuate the stereotypical male and macho
image and which exclude new “ family members”. Actions should include active
rather than passive equality policies with the emphasis on mutual respect and
making any form of bullying unacceptable. Managers’ biggest obstacle in this
subject is their own complacency and naiveté and lack of commitment.
Conclusion
The
trust, openness and frankness that is synonymous with more successful companies
may often be espoused or ritualised, but not always practised. Tight controls
through petty rules perpetuate and emphasise the lack of trust and create a
cyclical process which reinforces behaviour and can create dysfunctionality.
Recommendation
Managers
simply need to really practice what they preach and not change the rules on a
whim, where delegation has taken place.
Clear guidelines, parameters and controls must be communicated if confusion and
disappointment is to be avoided.
Conclusion
Peer
group control mechanisms and the use of informal leaders as experienced in
Phoenix can combine to achieve an alternative and perhaps more effective form
of control and self discipline than management led systems.
Recommendation
Trusting
personnel to exercise their own self controls is a critical success factor if
the latent talent in the organisation is to be fully utilised. Managers should
develop a much lighter touch if they genuinely support the principles of
empowerment.
Conclusion
Philosophical
statements about behaviour, relationships and leadership are more meaningful
when they are agreed upon, written down and practised actively by managers and
stakeholders.
Recommendation
Managers
should resist the usual practice of simply writing policy documents and then
filing them. Again greater involvement in policy making at all levels, backed
up by true commitment and active participation is vital to avoid discredit to important issues.
Conclusion
PFD
firefighters demonstrate a more relaxed and self determining style and attitude in a wider range of
issues and are more comfortable about change and progress than their UK
counterparts. PFD firefighters are also less critical of how their department
is managed and more supportive of their
Chief.
Recommendation
Involvement
in working groups and user groups will add to feelings of involvement,
therefore commitment, to new or change programmes: but only if the conclusions
and recommendations are accepted and followed through. Managers should ensure that terms of
reference are made clear, together with information on parameters and
constraints. Managers also need to be aware of just how fragile credibility can
be. Their behaviour and actions either reinforce or destroy their standing in
the eyes of colleagues.
Implementation
It
is not intended to go into great detail on how best to implement action plans
to address the issues raised above, suffice
to say here that probably the single most important element of any
implementation strategy will be the commitment. Overcoming organisational and
individual defence routines is a separate study entirely but a subject
nevertheless, vital for sustained action and success. Principle officers in
particular need to reflect seriously on the type of manager they say they are and the type of manager
they actually are. Many espouse the
science and the art of empowered workforces, but frequently practice the
reverse. The same can be said of equality issues: officers again often claim to
be “equal opportunities employers” but ignore and even participate in breaches
of best practise.
Recommended
reading, for any officer serious about tackling the issues raised in this
study, is Argyris (1993). It is likely that many, if not all of its readers
will be able to identify themselves within its pages.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
|
AUTHOR |
YEAR |
TITLE |
PUBLISHERS |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Her Majesty`s Chief Inspector of Fire Services |
1995 |
Annual Report of the Chief Inspector |
HMSO |
|
Bell |
1992 |
Doing Your Research Project |
Open University Press |
|
Taylor F.W. |
1947 |
Scientific Management |
Harper and Row |
|
Eldridge J.E.T. and Cromby
A.D. |
1974 |
The Sociology of Organisations |
Allen and Unwin, London |
|
Johnson P. and Gill J. |
1973 |
Management Control and Organisational Behaviour |
Paul Chapman |
|
Morgan G. |
1993 |
Images of Organisation |
Sage |
|
Mayo E. |
1933 |
The Human Problems of an Industrial Civilisation |
Macmillan |
|
Scheine E.H. |
1980 |
Organisational Psychology |
Prentice-Hall |
|
Drucker P.F. |
1954 |
The Practice of Management |
Harper and Row |
|
Peters T.J. and Waterman R.H. |
1982 |
In Search of Excellence |
Harper and Row |
|
Weber M. |
1947 |
The Theory of Social and Economic Organisation |
Free Press |
|
Lawrence P.R. and Lorsch J.W.
|
1967 |
Organisation and Environment |
Harvard |
|
Mullins L.J. |
1993 |
Management and Organisational Behaviour |
Pitman |
|
Bion W.R. |
1959 |
Experiences in Groups |
Basic Books Publishers |
|
Lewin K. |
1958 |
Group Decisions and Social Change |
Holt, Rhinehart and Winston |
|
Peters T. |
1988 |
Thriving on Chaos |
Harper and Rowe |
|
Freemantle D. |
1993 |
Incredible Customer Service (The Final Test) |
McGraw Hill |
|
Kanter R.M. |
1984 |
The Change Masters: Corporate Entrepreneurs at Work |
Allen and Unwin |
|
Ouchi W. |
1981 |
Theory Z: How American Business Can Meet the Japanese Challenge |
Addison-Wesley |
|
Pollert A. |
1981 |
Girls, Wives, Factory Lives |
Macmillan |
|
Collinson D. |
1992 |
Managing the Shopfloor |
Walter Degryter |
|
Hern Shepherd, Tancred-Sheriff, Gibson, Burrel |
1989 |
The Sexuality of Organisation |
Sage Publications |
|
Baglioni G. and Crouch C. |
1992 |
European Industrial Relations - The Challenge of Flexibility |
Sage |
|
Howell M.A. |
1994 |
The Inequality Gap |
Unpublished MBA dissertation University of Hertfordshire |
|
Helgesen S. |
1990 |
The Female Advantage (Womens` Ways of Leadership) |
Doubleday Currency |
|
Argyris C. |
1990 |
Overcoming Organisational Defences |
Allyn and Bacon |
|
Stacey R.D. |
1993 |
Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics |
Pitman |
|
Handy C. |
1989 |
The Age of Unreason |
Arrow |
|
|
May 1994 |
Fire Magazine |
FMJ International Publications Limited |
|
|
May 1996 |
Institution of Fire Engineers Journal |
I.F.E. |
|
|
STAFF QUESTIONNAIRE
There has been a problem
converting this questionnaire and it is being worked on. In the meantime I have left them as they are
because they provide some insight to how the questions were formed.
Please read both statements
and indicate which, if any, you agree with.
The further towards a statement that you tick the more strongly you
agree with that particular statement.
|
Q1 |
|
|||
|
It is easier to discuss
work related issues with my Station/Shift Leader. |
! ! ! ! ! ! ! |
I do not find it easy to
discuss work with my Station/Shift Leader. |
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
Q2 |
|
|||
|
I like to see Officers
visit my station so that I can express my view on the way the Department/ Brigade is developing. |
! ! ! ! ! ! ! |
There is little benefit in
discussing my views with Senior Officers. |
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
Q3 |
|
|||
|
I find it easy to get
information about developments in the Brigade. |
! ! ! ! ! ! ! |
Getting information about
anything is almost impossible. |
|
|
|
Q4 |
|
|||
|
Asking questions provides
answers. |
! ! ! ! ! ! ! |
You never get a straight
answer to a simple question in this Brigade. |
|
|
|
|
|||
|
Q5 |
|||
|
I am sure that changes are
in the long term interest of the Brigade/Department. |
! ! ! ! ! ! ! |
I think Management are up
to something when they keep making all these changes. |
|
|
|
|||
|
Q6 |
|||
|
Involving the workforce in change programmes is the
most effective way. |
! ! ! ! ! ! ! |
Change should be dealt
with formally between Unions and Management. |
|
|
Q7 |
|
|||
|
We keep changing things in
the Brigade/Department and it is not necessary. |
! ! ! ! ! ! ! |
|||