.::fitting-in.com::.

Research and consultancy with the police and fire service with a particular emphasis on formal and informal cultures, modernisation, entreprenerial thinking, change management, resistance, racism, sexism and equality. Women fire fighters, women in the fire service police, policing and equality in the police and fire service - the fitting-in website where academia and the fire service can meet to discuss fire service culture and other matters- a resource for research and consultancy for the fire and rescue service and firefighters and police and policing- Organised by Dr Dave Baigent this site provides a place to share and publish your own research, to look at what others have written about the fire and police service and to ask about our commercial offerings.

Academics are not the experts, managers in the emergency services are the experts. What fitting-in can do is help managers to use their expertise. Theory without practice is a waste - practice without theory may just be dumb.
Home Audit Commission Report 'Rising to the Challenge' Ethos Reports that may help in implementing the'Pheonix' suggestion from the Audit Commission Government's new Equality and Diversity Strategy One Decade On - Survey on women firefighters C&LG firefighters survey 08 Workshops on fire service culture Cultural Audits Educational Workshops Consultancy Snapshot Audits Research Problem solving by fitting-in Support for degrees and masters qualifications Elite briefing/workshops Impact Assessments Equality Action Plans Draft papers for reading Recent index of contributions Reports Main Index Contact us Older index of contributions CV & References Have you seen Ethos? Minister's speech Audit Commission on equality Melbourne DiversityConference How do I send my writing to fitting-in for publication What does fitting-in publish How do I do research - some basic tips Writing a bibliography Home Testimonials/References Reports from Government Diversity Strategy Public Service Degree online or face to face Stats Contact us Wiki	Workshop Four: Understanding the culture Whenever something goes wrong in the fire and rescue service people are quick to blame "the culture". Often that assumption is right. But what do you know about "fire service culture?" You cannot touch, see or visualise it. "Fire service culture " is a phenomenom that managers need to understand if they are ever going to change it. For the FRS to move on it needs a better understanding of how formal and informal cultures work. Two examples of the workshops we offer – these and other workshops are customised for your service One-day research guided briefing workshop on leadership and cultural change Briefing 0900-0945: Fire service culture: an overview of this ‘unique’ phenomenon. Discussion 1000-1045: What is there to understand about fire service culture? Briefing 1115-1215: What does re-reading Mayo and Maslow teach us about understanding cultural resistance – what have the consultants missed? Discussion 1215-1300: How can re-reading Adair’s concept of action centred leadership offer further understanding of working with the unique characteristics of fire service culture. Lunch 1300-1400: Briefing 1400 -1445: Setting the scene – feed back seminar Seminar 1500 until you go home: Putting the theory to practical use – implementing organisational core values with firefighters – how might leaders actually achieve change? One-day research guided briefing workshop on working with women firefighters Briefing: - 0900-0945: Looking at the data: women firefighters - their profile, age, education, previous employment, reasons for joining, promotion aspirations and a lot more. Discussion: - 1000-1045: What are the opportunities? Briefing: - 1100-1145: Spoiling the opportunities: Men at work: fire service culture as a barrier to diversity – what is happening, to whom and when. Discussion: - 1200–1300: What can we do: a list of opportunities, including data and analysis on what women are saying about their managers and the FBU. Lunch 1300-1400 Briefing: - 1400–1445: Setting the scene – feed back seminar Discussion: - 1500 – until we go home. Stopping the drip: using the evidence to provide the answers Workshops as a lever for change Workshops are offered as an intense one-day package. Should your officers need desk time or benefit from a less intense two-day delivery, then this is also available. These workshops offer a real opportunity to seek answers to very real problems from informed debate: they will also improve the way your team work together. For more information visit www.fitting-in.com , email dave.baigent@fitting-in.com or ring 07802 495 329 Theory without practice is a waste - practice without theory may just be dumb. Importantly for change and efficiency to be really embedded then the informal culture needs to be wedded to the formal culture not act as a pocket of resistance. For example have you ever wished that you could stop the way that newcomers seem to fit-in with existing customs and practices and forget much of what they offered when they were interviewed for their job? Are you aware of the complexities at work when women join - how the informal culture operates against their presence? This workshop is for everyone in the fire and rescue service who needs a briefing on fire service cultures. More importantly the workshop can be designed specifically for you to find outcomes on how to first understand fire service culture and then to work with it. The whole workshop is research lead and sets out to improve understanding of how informal and formal cultures operate alongside each other - sometimes paralleling beliefs and at other times operating in antagonistic relations. Particularly suitable for Authority Members and all staff who wish to improve their knowledge of how "fire service culture" works - ideal for those preparing for their ADC's
We are just back from working with leaders in the Swedish Fire Service and they have said: "Fitting-in with their unique insight into real world fire service culture and a firm theoretical base in academia provided the MSB (The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency) with invaluable expert advice and assistance in developing a national action plan targeted at increasing equality and diversity in the Swedish fire service." This is what Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service had to say about the Ethos research, communications and training project: "The Service are delighted with the research and reports produced by "Fitting-in. We believe that your original hypothesis and work undertaken in Merseyside has resulted in a ground breaking piece of work that can only serve to inform the wider fire and rescue communities." References: see what Merseyside Fire and Rescue, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services and Tom Carroll (retired Chief Fire Officer and Past president of CFOA ) and others have said. For further information or just to talk about what fitting-in can provide ring Dr Dave Baigent (GradIFireE) 07802 495 329 or email Academic theory without practice is a waste - practice without theory may just be dumb Bringing research in the fire service straight to you Site under reconstruction 19-9-09 please notify me of any errors Contact us Quote of the Day z