Firemen Place Wages and Security High on List of Working Conditions
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Attitudes have changed and fire fighters, at least in Massachusetts, put wages and job security at the top of the list of conditions that make their jobs satisfactory, according to a survey.
The questionnaire for the survey was circulated among members of their own fire departments by students in a leadership course at the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy. The students were from departments with 4 to 15 full-time paid men and a number of paid-on-call (volunteer) fire fighters, departments with 25 to 75 full-time paid men, and departments with 100 to 300 full-time paid men. The students represented all ranks from fire fighter to chief and those answering the questionnaire were both fire fighters and officers.
In seeking to determine the working conditions that contribute most toward making a fire fighter satisfied with his job, the questionnaire listed 10 conditions that may contribute to, or detract from desirable working conditions. Those answering the questionnaire were asked to grade each item listed in the accompanying table according to its importance. The grading was on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the most important and 10 being the least important.
Recession effect seen
Wages were first as a result of the economic conditions in Massachusetts. There was a severe recession, high unemployment rate, high cost of living and an attempt by community officials to sway labor relations by overturning binding arbitration. If successful, a fearful situation would exist for all fire departments across the state as each would be at the mercy of its community leaders.
Job security was also a result of the economic trend. With communities complaining of the economic crunch, there have been layoffs. In Newton and Worcester, Mass., entire companies were eliminated. Providence, R. I. cut manpower, not by layoffs, but by not filling vacancies as they occurred. New York had massive layoffs during its bout with “bankruptcy.”
Therefore, it is understandable that wages and security ranked as they did.
Third on the list was “work that keeps me interested,” a choice that is almost self-explanatory for anyone who would even consider this line of work. This has to coincide with achieving and the idea of dealing with many static factors, but also with as many dynamic factors and principally the “unknown.” There is a constant aura of excitement.
Fourth choice
Good working conditions warrant discussion because this issue obviously doesn’t deal with the routine, lifeendangering emergency situations, but more with benefits, job security, types of equipment and firehouses, just to mention a few. Surprisingly, most of those who answered this questionnaire were from departments with fairly modern equipment and firehouses.
The top four choices were fairly close, being separated by only 136 points. Nor far behind was “full appreciation of work done,” which is basically the recognition element from peers, outsiders and even just the self-fulfilling element.
The other conditions listed appear to be more in the area of the “how” in the bureaucratic structure. Unless a fire fighter was from a very small department, he would have really little input into processes that could change the structure.
Workers’ views change
It was interesting to note that the first two conditions in the Massachusetts survey, good wages and job security, were the same as the first two conditions listed by executives in a survey a decade ago when asked what they thought their employees would consider most important. However, employees at that time listed full appreciation of work done and feeling “in” on things as their two top choices. Employees then regarded job security and good wages as fourth and fifth, respectively, in importance of working conditions.
The results of the Massachusetts survey emphasize the need for today’s fire chief to recognize what motivates his fire fighters and to realize that the human side of management is where it’s at today and in the future.
Human resources important
As Fred Luthans pointed out in his book, “Organizational Behavior,” human resources are important to management’s future because they are significantly costly and their potential is underutilized. He pointed out that every organization’s operating budget “is dominated by human costs.”
“Compared with the management of human resources, the physical, technical side of management is very efficient,” Luthans wrote. “The simple fact is that human resources are not being used to anywhere near their full potential.”
Luthans saw little potential gain in effectiveness by increased emphasis on the physical and technical aspects of management when there is a vast potential to be gained by management giving greater attention to human resources.
Importance of Working Conditions
