乍得·科斯塔（Chad Costa）
Hiring in the fire service has changed drastically over the years. Many organizations have upgraded their services to Advanced Life Support and hired paramedics. Along with this increase in our medical services and requirements, the fire service has seen a generational change in its workforce. According to PowerDMS, by 2025, millennials will occupy 75 percent of the workforce. Millennials are roughly defined as those born between 1982 and 2000 and are now the largest generation in the workforce. For this reason, now is a great time to think about how to retain our newest generations of firefighters.
消防员护理人员的库库逐渐减少，将认证，教育和竞争的增加与技术行业相结合。此外，我们最伟大的劳动力，千禧一代，倾向于以心态接近工作场所：“对我来说有什么？”千禧一代对转换工作没有任何疑问，并且一直在寻找新的机会。
This generational and cultural change has created difficulty for departments to find qualified firefighter-paramedics to fill the massive amount of turnover. Fire service leadership, now more than ever, needs to increase the focus on the members that choose our family. It is imperative that we support and build the members from the first day of the academy. We need to embrace our members and do everything we can do to make them successful. Below are some key points to our long-term organizational success.
Welcome Them to the Family
消防部门是我们的第二个家庭，因为我们一生的大部分时间都在保护和服务上。成为消防员是世界上最好的工作，组成我们组织的个人将决定我们的内部幸福。我们需要记住，入门级新兵想加入我们的家人。如果他们成功，那么我们的组织将成为他们的。他们需要了解试用员工的角色，但他们还需要知道他们受到欢迎和想要的。他们应该意识到，他们的职业道德是赢得家庭尊重的原因，但是他们还需要知道组织很高兴拥有他们，我们将通过艰难的试用过程来支持他们。一旦成员感到支持并有目的，您将看到他们的衷心努力成功并回馈。
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I have found that the most cohesive organizations are ones where members attend events off duty. When friendships and relationships in and outside of the firehouse are formed, members will respect and treat each other on another level. Leadership, both formal and informal, should set up off duty department events such as camping trips or attending sporting events. These types of off duty get-togethers will rapidly pay off for the future of building your team. Our entry-level recruits are our future and will someday informally or formally lead. Welcoming them to our family on and off duty will help build a culture of teamwork, self-motivation, and success.
树立积极的榜样
Academy instructors and informal and formal leaders need to set the example for success. Members who witness dedication, self-motivation, and a high level of performance will naturally raise their own standards. The influence these leaders have on our newest members is substantial and will set foundational principles for our recruits. Agencies need a regimented academy and probationary process that sets obtainable tasks and performance, accompanied by a group that is positive and supports is a key to success. When our members are exposed to a motivated workforce that is aligned with our mission and values, they too will follow suit.
组织领导需要表现出牺牲。牺牲的例子是在没有预期的情况下出现的。这不是要使人们措手不及，而是要表明您的文化在各个层面上都包含牺牲。当您的成员看到首席官或部门领导层露面时，他们将购买积极的文化。至少，以身作则以与您的新兵一起跳入并与他们一起完成技能。谦虚，向他们表明这项服务与“我”无关，而是关于“我们”。首席官应尽可能地看到自己的存在并感到自己，并努力穿上曾经穿的那些鞋子。当您领导这些示例时，您的会员资格将尊重并遵循。有毒，心怀不满的环境肯定会阻止增长和成功，并最终导致我们的成员的离开，以寻求提供积极支持或更好的员工福利的组织。
Be Hard and Tough—But No Hazing
Probation should be tough as our recruits need to prove that they belong amongst our family. The firefighter job is hard, and our decisions and actions can have drastic outcomes on the public’s lives. However, hazing or treating people unethically is not the answer and has no place in our service. By no means am I advocating for letting our probationary employees slide. I believe everything is earned and no one should be allowed to pass probation without meeting the standard. However, our newest members should not be eating in the apparatus bay or be completely segregated from the crew. Spending time at the table or in the team environment allows them to express who they really are, and it allows their mentorship to truly evaluate them.
Treating people the wrong way and bullying them will destroy culture. If your department still employs these tactics, break the chain. If the chain is not broken, then it’s the leadership’s responsibility to break it. If it is allowed, then your up-and-coming leaders will not know any better. Being tough and making people work hard is important as it instills work ethic and pride. We just need to ensure we are doing it the right way by instilling work ethic but not discouraging our members to be open and honest about themselves and their needs. It is important that our recruits give 100 percent. Establishing this positive and welcoming culture will produce successful members that are self-motivated and give everything they have.
对变革保持开放
我们最新一代的消防员正在寻找一个拥有积极的组织change。这条谚语:“这就是我们一直这样做,”will cripple your younger workforce and have them seeking other opportunities. Creating a process for your membership to provide input on change will empower and instill trust and organizational ownership. Our newest generations are looking for a purpose and a connection to the organization. Creating purpose and supporting their ideas will significantly increase your overall team dynamic and productivity. Once you have created a process and embraced change you may find that some of your greatest ideas will come from the lowest level. Our current generations are data driven and are highly skilled in research and development. Allow them to open their mind and bring information to your decision-making process.
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Technologyand science drive our most important decisions and we are blessed to have generations that are skilled in those areas. Use the amazing brains that are entering our service and empower them to create realistic data that supports positive and successful change. Progressive and successful organizations embrace these data-driven decisions and use their workforce to create and carry out positive change.
When Failure Occurs, Build Them Up
We all fail and make mistakes and our newest members are no different. At some point they are going to struggle, and it is important that we accept this and allow for these instances without destroying their trust and drive. When mistakes happen, hold them accountable, but do not forget to build them up. Most members beat themselves up for mistakes. Build them up by embracing and encouraging a culture that never quits and strives for perfection. Perfection may not be obtainable in every situation, but the culture of the organization should strive to get it right every time. Accepting mistakes and learning from failure is what ultimately leads to perfection. Combine this individual drive with a team effort and your organization will soon have a positive, highly effective culture.
确保他们有必要的培训，以取得成功，并付出一切，以确保他们的成功。没有任何成员就不会失败，而没有给予所有成功的机会。我们要做的最后一件事是为可以解决的问题失去一个好员工。一旦给出了所有机会，您的领导就需要决定他或她的未来。在这些情况下，重要的是要牢记组织的整体使命。在入门级过程中忽略失败是一个重大错误，可能会影响整个职业生涯的个人和组织。
授权并鼓励非正式领导
The informal leader is the most important position in the fire service. Formal leadership sets the direction of the organization, but the informal leaders are the ones that dictate the speed of the ship. Your informal leaders will affect dedication and devotion to the department. These informal leaders have a direct connection and will lead when the formal leadership is not present. A successful dedicated group of informal leaders will do wonders for your organization and keep your newest members on track and focused on the mission and values.
To build an organization with an ingrained informal leadership group, formal leadership needs to embrace this model. By allowing ownership throughout your organization, members will gravitate to these roles. Ownership entails responsibility and these responsibilities need to be empowered amongst every rank. From firefighter to officer, your membership should be allowed to have department or mentorship responsibility. When you have members that have responsibility and a purpose, they will give another level of dedication to the organization. Examples include teaching in your academies or teaching skill sets to your membership. When you give purpose, your organization will empower informal leadership and your ship will double its speed. Successful organizations have strong informal leadership that understands the mission and helps support the leader’s intent.
职业继承和机会
我们的最新一代人的需求与我们的老一代不同。职业机会是招募和保留我们现代消防部门成员的主要贡献者。促销增长的机会加上不同的职业机会，将鼓励人们申请并保持您的成员参与。为车站移动提供机会，并提供学习多种技能的机会（梯子，救援，危险品，野生地等）将有助于这方面。我们的最新一代倾向于寻求这些变化和挑战。允许改变新挑战的变革和机会将有助于招募和保留会员。
许多较小的组织将努力提供这些机会，因为所提供的局限性存在局限性。这些组织通过提供一个积极的支持环境，使每个成员的贡献对部门有直接影响。在较小的组织中，您会发现具有较大行政职责的成员。如果领导才能接受这种授权策略，那么它的效果非常好。分散工作量和委派责任是这些机构成功的关键。大小的人，所有组织都需要尽可能多地建立自己的优势并尽可能多地支持其成员。
Encourage a Healthy Workforce
Change in the fire service is ever evolving. There have been many significant changes over my career. Two monumental changes in the health of firefighters are the renewed focus on身体素质并关心我们的会员mental health。在职业生涯的早期，我看到了关于身体健康的迅速变化。通过许多研究，确定心脏病发作是我们成员中死亡的主要原因。拥抱身体健康并将其作为我们今天的优先事项的转变鼓励了健康的劳动力。消防人员的健身和运动不仅是我们生活的重要因素，而且是我们旁边的家庭生活的重要因素。每天允许一个小时，拥抱和鼓励健身为我们的服务带来了奇迹。我们的最新一代人相信健康的生活方式，并正在寻求组织支持来实现这一目标。
Mental health has thankfully been another major positive change in our service. The mental health revolution was slower to evolve but has made an enormous leap within recent years. The September 11thattacks, active shooter incident, and devastating California wildfires are among some of the traumatizing events that have launched mental health to the front of the line. We are losing brothers and sisters at a rapid pace, but by embracing our mental health, we are fighting back. I can say with certainty that the development of our peer support team was one of the most important additions in my fire service career. I believe embracing mental health and peer support will save a tremendous amount of lives and keep many of our members healthy.
庆祝成功
不是每个人都需要拍拍他的背,但被娱乐ognized is important. Starting in the entry-level academy, leadership needs to encourage the affirmation of their members. When your members are producing and excelling, academy staff ought to acknowledge their achievements. When your newest members see or receive these affirmations, it instils an internal drive for success and encourages competition. This informal competition will drive your members to continually raise the bar of performance and in turn elevate ownership and pride.
Creating commendation awards and celebrating success is imperative to the organizational commitment. We as first responders do amazing things on a day-to-day basis. However, when a member acts on or off duty, we should praise them for their efforts. These commendations need parameters and processes established for such recognitions. Taking the time and making the effort to celebrate actions or good decisions will build strength and institutionalize those behaviors. Do not just focus on fire department-related items; our membership does many amazing things like community service or helping others in need. A member that serves on a school board or consistently gives off-duty hours to community service providers should be recognized and acknowledged as they emulate who a true professional firefighter really is. We are about service and integrity on and off duty.
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It is extremely important to place a high level of dedication to your entry level process and academies. Our newest members are the future and we need to do everything we can to support and encourage their success. Celebrating their success but holding them accountable for their failures will build character and culture. Welcoming them to the family while ensuring that they earn the right to wear the family patch will build dedicated members that contribute to the overall organizational success. Empowering and encouraging informal leadership will contribute to the success of your organization and ensure the mission and values are supported and followed. Ultimately, providing opportunities and supporting our members with achieving their goals will build a dedicated organization from the ground up. Organizations with strong foundations will live prosperously for many years to come.
Chad Costais a battalion chief for the City of Petaluma (CA) Fire Department.
