Establishing Good Management and Leadership Style in the Fire and Rescue Service - Case Study Example

MANAGEMENT and LEADERSHIP The Fire and Rescue Service Introduction There are different kinds of style in leadership and normally, the style is dependent to the person that leads the team or an organization. This is because a leader has different style depending on the background of that person or his personal capabilities. Some leaders possess democratic character; they are normally those who often abide by the principle of equal access or believed that all members of our society is with equal to power. These leaders also believed strongly in people’s freedom and liberties where all members of our society are entitled to enjoy their rights and liberty. On the other hand, autocratic leaders tend to hold on the principle that the power is in the hands of a single-appointed ruler which they themselves represent. In general, whatever the style is management is a quest of order and stability thus this requires an adaptive and constructive change leadership (Northouse 2009, p.10). In United Kingdom, The Fire and Rescue Services are responsible for emergency situations and are controlled and guided by government through legislations. Legislative power over fire safety matters in the UK was rationalized in 2006 with the introduction of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (Furness & Muckett 2007, p.4). This has been an enabling factor for the fire and rescue service to improve and enhance the quality of the services. However, the key to the effective fire and rescue services is the understanding of the roles and responsibilities of each and everyone that involve in this kind of service. The individuals and organizations must have to ensure that workplaces are safe along with other activities and use of equipment while performing their duties and responsibilities. Generally, a responsible person must realize that commitment in the fire and rescue service is largely required as the work of the service is basically critical and often times hazardous. A leader therefore in this type of organization must know his responsibility and do his best to provide a suitable and efficient leadership (Furness & Muckett 2007, p.37). Majority of people in United Kingdom expect to have more professional and responsive fire and rescue service. For instance, the mission of Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service is to save life, protect people’s property, and make their environment safe (Shropshire Fire and Rescue Services 2010, pg.2). Similarly, for 50 years, the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service is protecting the people of Lancashire and helping the community safer for everyone (Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service 2010, About Us). It is therefore clear that in this type of organization, a leader should be adequately skilled to handle the challenging responsibilities of his organization. In general, working in a fire and rescue service is a tough job because its main responsibility is to rescue people and save lives. For this reason, the people working in this kind of organization must disciplined and recognize the importance of teamwork. However, this is not possible without a manager with excellent management skills that would lead his people to success. The Roles and Responsibilities of a Manager The Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service is responsible for providing emergency assistance to the community of Shropshire, Telford, and Wrekin. The fire and rescue service employs around 635 members who are responsible 23 strategic locations at Wellington, Shrewsbury, Telford, and Tweeddale. They have 46 operational vehicles and modern appliances such as rescue boats, aerial ladder platforms, and others. The Shropshire County Council is main administering body for the fire and rescue that also establishes partnerships and promote community engagement (Shropshire 2010, About Us). The roles and responsibilities of a manager in an organizations like the fire and rescue service is critical. This is because they are the one who would supervise, take charge of the activities, and ensure productivity and safety of the staff. More importantly, in order to carry out tasks successfully, the manager has an important role in managing the performance of his staff. During a careful study of the Shropshire Fire and Rescue service, it was found that direct implementation of the organization’s policies is the main responsibility of the duty managers. For instance, they themselves identify and list all manual handling operations and ensure that hazardous tasks are avoided. As far as reasonably practicable, duty managers tried to reduce the risk of injury from any hazard by proper risk assessment. Similarly, training in load lifting and carrying is being given along with firm supervision to ensure that no injury would come to employees. Moreover, employees who will be assigned to carry out critical tasks are properly screened to ensure that they are physically fit for the work. These include arrangements for employees with health problem or those that requires sick leave when necessary to avoid implications caused by tensions at work. More importantly, duty managers are monitoring and reviewing working arrangements to ensure that they remain effective at all times. In addition, duty managers recognize the importance of safe operation thus often making sure that any activity or equipment can affect the efficiency of the service in handling emergency responses. Lastly, managers are responsible for feedbacks or reporting of their activities, health and safety-related conditions to the service’s higher management (Shropshire Fire and Rescue 2010, About SFRS). Many argue that no specific terminology to describe the roles and responsibilities of managers in life safety organizations. However, basically these include promoting fire risk assessments to identity and reduced the likelihood of fire. In other words, they manage the development and implementation of a fire strategy, and training for their staff which include evacuation exercises and monitoring, inspection, and review of fire safety strategies, and other activities (Furness & Muckett 2007, p.40). In theory, a significant number of published works have been written about management and leadership but the logic is still the same (Lussier & Achua 2009, p.175). Generally, management was created to make the organization run more efficiently thus classical management theory requires managers to forecast, plan, organize, command, coordinate, and control the organization as in Henri Fayol, 1916 in.Northouse 2009, p.9). As mentioned earlier, the type of management is usually determined by the relevant action chosen by the leader of the organization and the good management is determined by how well the leader handles his responsibilities. One of the key characteristic is being transparent and approachable. Another is having a strong motivation towards teamwork, coordination, and cooperation. In other words, a good manager builds his team, a leader who seeks to fulfil individual and organizational objectives. This human relations approach to leadership enable individuals and organizations share aspirations for efficiency while achieving maximum results with minimum inputs. In other management and leadership approach such as the McGregory theory of X and Y, communication or exchange of ideas between the leader and his subordinates enable motivation, direction, and control as individuals are being integrated into the fulfilment of organizational goals (Rowits 2009, p.19-20). In other theory, leadership is autocratic or those who believe that power is in a single-appointed ruler like the laissez-faire leaders (Bartlett & Burton 2003, p.30). In the Fire Services local authorities or country councils are in-charge. However, the actual operation is mostly managed by people in the Fire and Rescue Service that are motivated and making each and every employee to understand the value of teamwork and commitment to the service. This is because it is enough for a manager to be motivated since the most effective managers exercise effective leadership. If every manager understands and committed in his leadership responsibilities, there would be good management as the elements would be complete. In other words, managerial leadership should be able to convert competent administrative ability into effective management. Practices in Leadership Style In Fire and Rescue Service, a leader must be knowledge synthesizers, meaning they must bring intelligence to the leadership enterprise. They must know about past events, be realistic to understand realities of the present, and have a vision for the future. A leaders need to be creative; they must ignore information that is not relevant. It is possible for each and everyone to expand their creative abilities through practice, including interacting with others. They must need to create a vision and get others to share the vision and demonstrate a commitment to the vision and the mission it represents. It is not a easy thing to do, so it requires careful consideration of different scenarios that might occur if certain problem will be present, and as they said as long as you have the enthusiasm for what you are doing, there seems to be in a natural flow. Successful leaders are system thinkers who must address the needs of complex. They must be consciously aware that everything is connected to everything else, because a systems approach to change allows them to logically analyze the dimensions of the problems and respond to it immediately. A leader must also set priorities. They have to determine their priorities in political issues as well as community concerns (Rowitz 2009, p.29) In an organization, members of the team should understand the changes occurring in the environment and the leader must be capable of implementing these changes. This is because the activities in the organization are strategic processes that enable the organization to understand and monitor their environments. In this process, it ensures that the strategic direction makes sense giving the actual organizational environments, and also to assess the impacts of environmental changes. When it is working throughout the organization, it ensures that the associates understand the potential and real impacts of changes. In developing and using the strategic direction, the organization can evaluate each member’s dedication in line with the organizational goals. It ensures that mission, goals and strategies are being driven forward and consistent to the strategic direction of the organization. Using unit-level strategic direction on the other hand ensures strategic direction in the unit level remains consistent with the organizational goals. The fourth is using strategic long-range and tactical plans where organization establishes and deploy its long-range strategic, tactical and annual operating plans. This approach ensures that all important components are utilizes to enable effective decision-making throughout the organization. The team need to discuss, update and act upon the changes in the organizational assumptions as the organization evolves. This process ensures that the consistency of the assumptions (about strategies, actual environments, the strategic direction, and the basis for organizing) is absolutely maintained. The organizational assumptions are the basis for how the organization arranged itself, therefore, they need to be reviewed and updated to maintain a good fit between how the organization is organized and what is needed to keep it succeeding. Conclusion In terms of management and leadership, the fire and rescue service in the case study in a way able to establish good management and leadership style. Management in this organization recognizes the need for a safe workplace, health, and strategic planning. They often times emphasize the need to save lives while keeping the members of the organization safe in the performance of their duties and responsibilities. Moreover, they also value partnership and community interaction that are important elements of good leadership. In general, the organization complied satisfactorily to the requirement as they have shown good managerial skills and strong leadership ability. Reference List: Barlett & Burton, 2003, Education Studies: Essential Issues, SAGE, 2003, UK Furness A. & Muckett M., 2007, Introduction to Fire Safety Management, Butterworth & Heinneman, UK Grill R., 2006, Theory and Practice of Leadership, SAGE, London Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, 2010, About Us, available online at http://www.lancsfirerescue.org.uk/lfrs/about/default.php Lussier R.N. &, Achua C.F., 2009, Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development, 4th edn, Cengage Learning Inc., U.S.A Northouse P. 2009, Leadership: Theory and Practice, SAGE, US Rowitz L., 2009, Public Health Leadership: Putting Principles Into Practice,2nd edn,Jones and Barlett,Canada Shropshire Fire and Rescue, 2010, About Us, online, available at http://www.shropshirefire.gov.uk/engine/about-sfrs/mission-statement.htm Read More