Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer — Lesson 13

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer, 4th Edition

Chapter 13 — Human Resources Management

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–2

Learning Objectives

1.Match to their definitions types of plans.

2.Recall information about company-level planning.

3.Select facts about issues involving personnel assignments.

(Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–3

Learning Objectives

4.Select facts about promotion and retention.

5.Select correct responses about performance evaluations.

6.Select correct responses about specific human resources issues a company officer may face. (Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–4

Learning Objectives

7.Respond to scenarios about human resources policies and procedures.

8.Select facts about conflict management.

9.Recall information about discipline as it applies to the company officer.

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–5

Types of Plans

• Standing plans

• Single-use plans

• Strategic plans

• Operational/administrative plans

• Contingency plans

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–6

Company-Level Planning

• Can be applied to both emergency and nonemergency situations

• Emergency incident planning:– Preincident– Incident

• Nonemergency activity planning

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–7

Personnel Assignments

• First duty assignments

• Probationary periods

• Work environments

• Expectations

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–8

Promotion and Retention

• Promotion– Company officer should take interest in

career choices of personnel– Timeline should be developed

• Retention– Investment must be continuous, long-term– Planning involves determining/providing– Why do people want to be responders?

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–9

Performance Evaluations

• May be impromptu or formal

• Impromptu evaluations may be duty of Fire Officer I

• Formal evaluations are held on specific schedule

• Formal evaluations are usually duty of Level II Fire Officer

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–10

Human Resources Issues

• Duty exchange

• Vacation leave

• Sick leave

• Wellness leave

(Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–11

Human Resources Issues

• Hostile work environment

• Substance abuse

• Absenteeism

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–12

Conflict Management

(Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–13

Conflict Management

• Styles may include one or more of five types:– Avoiding conflict– Accommodating conflict– Forcing conflict– Negotiating conflict– Collaborating conflict

(Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–14

Conflict Management

• Six steps of conflict resolution– Classify/identify problem– Define/diagnose problem– List alternative options– Determine right response– Convert decision to action– Test action against desired outcome

(Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–15

Conflict Management

• Internal conflict/dispute resolution

• Peer mediation process:– Relationships maintained– External publicity avoided– Costly litigation avoided– Organization/participants control process– Participants control resolution

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–16

Discipline

• Is not punishment

• Is designed to:– Educate and train– Correct inappropriate behavior– Provide positive motivation– Ensure compliance– Provide direction

(Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–17

Discipline

• Reasons why rules may be broken:– Resentment– Boredom– Ignorance– Stress

• Investigatory review

(Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–18

Discipline

• Progressive discipline– Starts with training/education to correct first

instance– Three levels: preventive, corrective,

punitive

• Legal requirements

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–19

Summary

• Supervising a company or unit demands strong leadership and interpersonal skills from the company officer, who must be able to apply these skills to the human resources management process

(Continued)

Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer

13–20

Summary

• It is essential that the company officer know both the human resources policies and procedures and the labor/management agreement in effect.