Fire and Rescue Service Management - Case Study Example

Managing fire and rescue service summarry This paper is about the leadership skills that are needed in order to manage and organise fire and rescue service in a particular place. It has been found that people in UAE and UK expect to have more professional and organisational managerial application in these types of public services. In a way these services thus needs to have proper supervision skills and typical leadership skills. As it is a tough job to rescue people from dangerous situations like fire, there needs to have proper discipline and proper amalgamation of team work. These are all possible only through absolute managerial skills in the in managing human resources in the field. This paper tries to report how the needs have shifted from theoretical versions to practical fields and had made its own niche of managing critical situations. content summary 2 1. introduction 4 2. Shift in management theories 4 3. Leadership styles 6 4. motivational skills 7 5. national and international changes 8 6. conclusion 10 bibliography 12 1. Introduction The main objective of this paper is to give a report on the whole structure of fire and rescue service management. Any outbreak of emergency gets covered by a fire and rescue service (FRS). FRS is the term that is used in legislation and by government departments, and it is directly governed and funded by a fire authority. The purpose of this report is to make an in depth analysis of the whole managerial system and the implementation of the same on International basis with special emphasis on UAE and UK. It is a kind of comparative study in order to get the best possible managerial skills for performing through the selected topic. 2. Shift in management theories The classical management theory, as initiated by Henri Fayol states that the managerial function is ‘to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to coordinate, and control’. On the other hand the human relation approach is related to the understanding of how all organizations operate. Related to these operational functionalities are the acts of contingency, which is something that can happen, but generally is not anticipated by the organisation. As contingencies are inherently not obvious they need more proper planning. A system gets determined by choosing the relevant interactions that the managerial groups or the single leader of the organisation want to consider (Peter Checkland, 1997)1. It is here that the role of the managers becomes vital. It is the way to handle the responsibilities that determines the abilities of a good Manager. His approach has to be transparent and very comprehensive to his subordinates. The best- communication method between the managers and staff can be done through the application of Mcgregor’s X and Y theory. It is here that X is considered as the De-motivated side, whereas and Y is the motivated turn. Theory X is for direction and control, whereas Y is based on the integration of individual and organisational goals. On the basis of these assumptions a good manager needs to be able to lead his staff, and be able to delegate responsibilities on an impartial way to the staff. The focus is on people, rather than on machines or economics. It believes that people exist in an organisational environment rather than an organized social context. The next implementation is of motivating people. The application of sharp motivation gets directed towards team work for co-ordination and cooperation of individuals involved in it (Walter F. Buckley, 1967)2. It refers to the skill that a good manager should have in building his team. It is through team work, that the leaders seek to fulfill individual and organisational objectives. With human relations approach, individuals and organisations share desire for efficiency and achieve maximum results with minimum inputs. The human relation approach is not only practical but is full proof. This is the reason that it got more into the organisational working structure than the theoretical application of classical management theory. All these could be achieved through the power and actual manipulation of motivational skill. For the purpose none can be better than Abraham Maslow3. According to him human beings have a “hierarchy of needs.” These are the needs that should be properly channelised in order to gain 6ynchronized working structure. “Human Relations” theory supports this idea. This gets followed by the most basic level are food, clothing, shelter, and the like. As these basic needs are met, people shift their efforts to subtler needs, such as for friendship and self-esteem. 3. Leadership styles There is a kind of style in being a leader there are various types and categories of leaders. Some are of democratic temperament. These are those who follow the principle that all members of the society have equal access to power. They also believe that all members need to enjoy universally recognised freedoms and liberties. On the other hand there are leaders who are of autocratic temperament and for them the power is held by a single self-appointed ruler that is the person in himself. It is here that the application of laissez-faire gets in (John Bartlet, 1948). 4. Literally it means “Let do”, and meant to be a doctrine that maintains a private initiative and production that are best allowed to be free of economic interventionism and taxation by the state (Oscar Handlin, 1943)5. It is all about the maintenance of individual liberty, peace, security, and property rights. In the application of laissez-faire, it has been found that there is less control of X, that is the de-motivation in autocratic and Y, that is the motivation in democratic. Thus to be a leader under this there has to be enough potentiality in the leader in meeting all the drills related to the completion of the work. 4. motivational skills Motivation refers to the reason for engaging in human behavior as studied in psychology and neuropsychology. These reasons are basically food or a desired object, hobbies, goal, state of being, or ideal. This is very important for team building. Team building; in case of knowledge-sharing often cite altruistic reasons for their participation. Whereas in case of implementing works money turns up to be more powerful and the ultimate extrinsic factor than the intrinsic motivation provided by an enjoyable workplace. It all turns up towards the best possible payment in accordance to the labour input. The same motivational implementation is found in Fire and Rescue Service Corporation. It is a corporation that works under governmental aids and has got well developed and trained managerial instruments. In 1948, the Fire Services Act 1947, led the fire services that were for local authority, but in England and Wales, it got power to the county councils and county boroughs. Among these people almost one-third are in the managerial sectors and the rest are in the employee sector along with specilised training for the basic factor of the organisation. The company has been established back in 1965 and from then it is moving with steady speed and pace towards a sustainable graphical top. The managerial theory as adopted by this company is democratic in a way. It concentrates on making every employee understand his value and thereby apply his skills with all spirits inside. From 208 -2018 the corporation wants to serve all communities to the highest standards and want to make all communities know that the Fire and Rescue Service Corporation understands their needs to the core. By the end of 2018, they want to make sure that that every community know that they are respected, supported and valued regardless of their age, disability, race, religion, belief, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity. In the recruiting sector also there are going to be certain major changes. There will be recruitment of minority ethnic employees at the same percentage or rather will be higher than the representation in the working population. Not only that, women will be made a part of the organisation in the operational sector at the least. The rate of injury and death by fire will diminish more and the sources will make sure that it comes down to zero. 5. national and international change Both in national and international levels there came up drastic changes in fire and rescue service. In the UAE the organisation is all about paving the way for quick rescue service to the population. The Civil Defense has turned more strict and dominant in the application of the rules. The declarations were made straightly by the Brigadier Rashid Thani Al Matroushi, Director of Dubai Civil Defence. He said that there are instances not yielding to fire engines and other emergency vehicles that hinder rescue operations and costs tens of millions of dirhams. These are the amounts that are invested to reduce the response time. In his words, ”the authorities concerned will take strict action to check the lack of cooperation by some motorists who do not 9ealize the losses they are causing”. ..”Our government allocates tens of millions of dirhams every year to achieve a noble goal which is reducing the response time by developing the basic structure of Civil Defence services”. (Gulf News) The absolute strategy that supports the Fire and Rescue Service is in the skill and adaptability applied in tackling current inequalities, promoting equality, diversity and fairness, and establishing a culture of inclusion. In UK these are the factors that enable the Service to meet the needs of all diversified communities. The fire service in the UK gets operated under separate legislative and administrative arrangements. The vital role is played by the efficient leadership and the corporate commitment towards the organisation6. There are two very important key elements for the Fire and Rescue. These are the implementation of ‘equality’ and ‘diversity’. These elements states that the service must drive towards the way it gets treated. It depends a lot in the process to interact with the diverse communities that get served. Any effective service depends solely on the applied policies, practices and procedures of the organisation. It must yield equality of opportunity to all employees and an appropriate and effective service to all parts of the community. 6. Conclusion Professor Sir George Bain (2002) was asked by the government to conduct a wide ranging review of the fire service in the UK. According to his report, ‘The Independent Review of the Fire Service’, gave fire and rescue services tremendous amount of growth and changes. This was later known as the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. Bain's described his research results in September 2002 as follows: "Having regard to the changing and developing role of the Fire Service in the United Kingdom, to inquire into and make recommendations on the future organisation and management of the Fire Service..."7 Under any circumstance the role played by the leader is the main issue of concern. Leadership is directly related to promoting factors and the working environment of an organisation especially those who are into Fire and Rescue. Positive leadership with the attitude to maintain commitment and ensure accountability makes the work move much smoother than one can expect it to be. The role of Fire and Rescue Authority members and senior Fire and Rescue Service managers have to be an integral part of promoting and equality and diversity. Members of Fire and Rescue Authorities and senior managers should be transparent to their stuff and should meet their commitments towards equality and diversity. These are universal demands and process of good managerial accountability. These are the international rules that are applicable to the leaders all around the globe without any diversified formulation. Bibliography Abraham Maslow original Hierarchy of Needs concept; Alan Chapman review and other material, design, code 1995-2008 Brebner, John Bartlet (1948). "Laissez Faire and State Intervention in Nineteenth-Century Britain". Journal of Economic History 8 Department for Communities and Local Government, News Release 022, New Advisory Unit for Fire and Rescue Services to be Set Up, 8 February 2007 Independent Review of the Fire Service, online press release 20 Sep 2002, Independent review starts into pay and modernisation of the Fire Service, Accessed 25 Sep 2006 Oscar Handlin (1943). "Laissez-Faire thought in Massachusetts, 1790-1880". Journal of Economic History 3 Peter Checkland,1997, Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Walter F. Buckley, 1967, Sociology and Modern Systems Theory, New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs. Read More