RAISING YOUR DEPARTMENT`S STANDARD
TIM L. HOLMAN
Scenario 1. The fire department was in trouble. Projects were not being completed. Morale was very low. The turnover rate was 22 percent, and absenteeism was at 18 percent. Customer complaints continued to increase.
Scenario 2. Eighteen months later, the situation was almost reversed. Projects were up-to-date. Morale and attitudes were greatly improved. The turnover rate was down to one percent; the absentee rate decreased to less than two percent. Customer satisfaction was rated a 9 on a scale of 1 to10.
What happened within those 18 months to bring about such a transformation within the department? The department embarked on a five-part “Power Point” program that involved all department members and officers and effected far-reaching benefits that extended beyond the department to the community.
THE POWER POINT PROGRAM
#1: Be value driven.
Members of the organization sat down together and identified those values that are most important to them. They examined issues such as the following: What values do we as employees exemplify on a daily basis? How do we wish to be treated by our fellow employees? How do our customers want to be treated? What are our rules for daily operations? What principles should drive our organization? What should be the consequences for those who violate these principles?
#2: Communicate the focus.
Mission. The organization must have a clear focus. First, it should have a mission that describes the organization`s purpose in two sentences in language that can be easily understood by a 12-year-old.
Take a close look at your department`s mission statement. How long is it? Some fire departments have mission statements that are two pages long, making it very difficult for members to retain the meaning of the mission. Organization members must be able to buy into the mission, remember it, and live it every day.
If your department`s mission needs revision, get all members involved in the process. Full membership involvement will help members feel that they are “part owners” in the mission and detect a sense that the organization is evolving.
Once the mission statement is completed, it should be prominently displayed–perhaps be typeset, framed, and placed on a wall. Having all members sign the mission statement will validate their commitment. Some organizations have had their mission statement set on 4- 2 6-foot banners and displayed in their stations, making all who visit their station aware of their mission.
Vision. Next, there is the vision. Vision describes the future. Where will your organization be in three years? What will the organization look like? What would the ideal organization look like? What future opportunities are there for the organization? What kind of people would make up the future organization? Vision is important because it helps move the organization forward.
Vision provides department officers with a roadmap for leadership. It is hard to lead when you have no idea of where you are going. Vision serves as a compass that constantly points the way to the future. Without vision, the leader becomes lost. When the leader is lost, the followers become lost as well. Vision creates tomorrow. Without vision, everything becomes stagnant and has no meaning. The vision determines the department`s destiny.
Goals. Goals tell you how your department will achieve its mission and realize its vision. Whenever possible, employees should participate in the establishing of goals–helping to achieve ownership by the employees, thereby increasing employee involvement.
Goals must be SMART–Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time dimensioned–to be attainable.
A specific goal is well-defined. It describes exactly what needs to occur for the goal to be met or exceeded. It portrays vividly the steps that are needed for successfully accomplishing it. Specific goals should be clearly defined—any department member should be able to pick up a goal statement and immediately know what it means.
A measurable goal establishes a mechanism (numbers or percentages, for example) by which the degree of success can be measured, making it easy to track the progress in achieving the goal. This approach also permits the opportunity to adjust the goal as needed so that it can be met as originally intended.
Another way to measure goals is to set a time dimension. A time frame keeps the organization working to beat the deadline. It also make it possible to complete the goal early, which motivates department members to set additional goals.
The goal must also be achievable. It makes very little sense to set a goal so ambitious that it cannot be met. Unachievable goals set the organization up for failure, frustration, and discouragement. On the other hand, however, goals should not be so easy to achieve that they will have little impact on the organization`s vision or mission. In goal setting, it is far better to aim high and miss than to aim low and hit it.
Make sure the goal is realistic. Setting a goal to purchase all new equipment in the next year would not be very realistic for most fire departments. Unrealistic goals cannot be achieved, creating an environment of fear of failure and unwillingness to try again. Make the organization stretch, but keep it realistic.
Remember, it is not enough to develop the mission, vision, and goals. You must keep the people focused on these concepts and integrate them into daily activity for them to have meaning.
#3: Develop a winning attitude.
All organizations have members who have good and bad attitudes. The problem is that negative attitudes are very contagious. Even one individual with a negative attitude can quickly affect an organization. When these negative attitudes are accepted as the norm, morale decreases and productivity drops.
One way to foster a winning attitude in an organization is to make sure everyone knows that this is the attitude that is expected. Teach behaviors that support a winning attitude. Be specific. Be certain that all members know what constitutes a winning attitude.
Have you ever heard people in your organization say about a department member: “Don`t worry about it; she always acts that way”? If you answered yes, chances are that bad attitudes are acceptable behavior in your organization. Change that thought process, and change it fast. Otherwise, bad attitudes will spread rapidly.
Most people are afraid to deal with bad attitudes because they feel the issue is very subjective. Although the term attitude may be subjective, bad attitudes are exhibited by concrete behaviors. Therefore, identify the inappropriate behavior(s), and then coach and counsel to improve that behavior. The bottom line is, don`t let bad attitudes run wild. Make a winning attitude the norm. Attitudes are teachable. Remember, when attitudes go down, morale follows and when morale is low, productivity will suffer.
#4: Create partnerships.
It`s much easier to change things when you have help. Developing partnerships with employees demonstrates that you`re in this together and that everyone can benefit if all work together to solve the problems. People are our most valuable resource, and we need to start treating them as such.
Developing partnerships with the various groups of people with whom your department interacts regularly means developing cohesive teams focused on moving the organization closer to the vision. This may necessitate teaching personnel group dynamics and problem-solving skills, which will make it possible for your organization to accomplish more than you had ever imagined it could.
Customer. Understanding the customer`s needs and doing everything possible to meet those needs is much easier when you partner with the customers. How do you determine the customer`s needs? First, you have to ask. Send out customer service surveys. Hold meetings with small focused groups made up of business owners and residents. Assessing the data collected from these activities will enable you to determine your community`s specific needs. When the organization and the customer work together, a greater understanding develops and customer service is enhanced.
Suppliers. By partnering with the vendors, the organization can obtain more personalized service, which might result in better pricing or more service for the same price. As competition increases, more and more vendors are looking to strengthen relationships with the customer. Meet to determine the needs. Then work together to develop action plans that will accomplish those needs. Again, understanding is the key to success in this area.
Organizations. Are there other organizations with which you can work on community programs? Can you engage in joint promotional projects? Joining forces with other organizations can help you to increase your capabilities in many ways.
Recently, our department joined forces with the local police department. Just before the high school prom, we visited the school as the students were leaving at the end of the day. We stopped each car as it was leaving the parking lot to check for seatbelt usage. Students in cars in which all passengers were buckled up were given a candy bar and a safety brochure. Individuals who buckled up when asked to do so were still given the candy bar and brochure. The school, students, and community were receptive to this project.
If we think about it, there are many ways to partner with organizations to accomplish some of our goals. When partnerships are developed, resources are immediately increased, and so is the potential for accomplishment.
#5: Empower the people.
Many departments are afraid to empower their employees. They think empowerment will develop a bunch of mavericks who will go around doing whatever they want. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth.
Empowerment is a very structured process: Parameters are set, and members function within those parameters. Once they are successfully working within those parameters, the officer can then expand the parameter limits. The potential for broadening the parameters is limitless.
Empowerment builds ownership while enhancing the other four Power Points. Empowerment involves two types of education: Officers must be taught how to empower the employees, and employees must be taught how to use this new level of authority to move the organization forward.
Empowerment has three components: responsibility, authority, and accountability.
Responsibility is a good motivator if it is accompanied by authority and accountability. Unfortunately, many officers like to give people responsibility without giving them the authority to make decisions. This is a no-win situation in that the individual is held responsible for something over which he has no control. That is the reason many employees resist taking on additional re-sponsibility.
The objective here is to make the empowered individuals successful–for example, by training them in decision making, they develop the ability to make sound judgments.
Granting authority does not mean giving department members the farm. At first, instruction is given with small degrees of authority. As members grow and mature in the required areas, authority is increased commensurately.
Accountability involves teaching de-partment members to be more accountable to each other–in other words, if I drop the ball, how would that affect other members of the organization? If everyone can see the impact they have within the organization, their daily activities will take on new meaning. Discipline is used only when an individual drops the ball repeatedly.
The Power Point system is simple but requires time and patience to implement. Remember that you are changing a culture. If your department is having problems accomplishing the tasks that have to be done, try implementing the Power Points. Don`t try to implement all of them at once. The process is an evolving one. Be patient. It will take some time. The current culture didn`t establish itself overnight; it won`t change overnight, either.
TIM L. HOLMAN, a 23-year veteran of the fire service, is chief of the German Township Fire & EMS in Springfield, Ohio, and sole proprietor of Holman Training & Development, specializing in health care management, fire service issues, and organizational development. He is the author of The Ten Commandments of Highly Successful Leaders and The Building Blocks of a Winning Team, both by Morris Publishing.
