Keeping Personnel Problems in Check
Company officers must intervene early to administer proper discipline
Do you struggle with inappropriate attitudes at your fire station? Have you thought about where these attitudes stem from?
Although most fire officers do an excellent job of leading our fire stations, new or poorly trained company officers often fail to put an end to inappropriate attitudes and behavior when they first arise. The result: Minor interpersonal issues and conflicts escalate into major personnel issues, and the roof blows off the fire station.
Fair Warning
We’ve all heard the expression “I’m giving you fair warning.” When my dad said it, I knew the next time I tested the limits, I could expect a grounding, a spanking or some other unpleasant consequence.
Company officers must also give warnings — for personnel who are late, who underperform or who are cantankerous with co-workers. Such warnings are not only fair, they’re absolutely necessary. If company officers don’t admonish personnel early, the station will become mired in personnel issues, and those higher up will spend a disproportionate amount of their time dealing with problems that should have been resolved at the line supervisor level.
Understanding the Issue
Inexperienced company officers may hold misconceptions about disciplining personnel. First, they don’t see it as part of their “real job,” so they grow frustrated or resentful when they must deal with employee kinks, quirks and more serious failings.
Second, officers may believe personnel make mistakes to intentionally torture us. Good or bad, employees have their “off” periods. If we catch them quickly, and respond appropriately, we can often get a valuable employee back on track.
Stress to your officers that admonishing and counseling personnel is really about motivating the employee, not demoralizing them. When handled well, a warning can lead to job enhancement and workplace commitment. But when an officer fails to engage and chooses to ignore the situation, they communicate acceptance of the behavior, which leads to further destruction within station relationships.
How to Do It
New company officers must be ready to deal with the unpleasant emotions that accompany confrontation. More often than not, however, such emotions can be mitigated with the right approach to admonishment.
Personnel should be told in private that their behavior merits a warning. The company officer should use a tone that’s firm yet empathic, taking turns with the member to allow them to talk. They should convey concern for an employee’s job and personal situation.
When warnings are presented in this way, they serve as a respectful wake-up call. The employee usually feels bad that they let down their supervisor and crew members. I’ve been on the receiving end of warnings in my career, and I was harder on myself than any punitive action the department could give. I felt terrible for what I did and made the choice to immediately change my behavior and take responsibility for my actions. These are the necessary adjustments that are essential for the officer to get their employees back on track and resolve matters at the most basic level.
An Example
Here’s a familiar situation: Two of your members are having a heated argument in front of the rest of the crew about who does the majority of the work around the station. How do you handle this situation?
Solution: Immediately bring both members to your office away from the others. Sit them down and explain to them what is wrong with the way they’re acting; why it’s wrong (is it against your policy, your procedures or your standards of behavior?); what should have been done; and what will happen next if the behavior isn’t corrected.
In this manner, you clearly identify that the behavior is unacceptable. You put the two employees on notice that the behavior must immediately stop, and you communicate to the rest of the crew that similar behavior won’t be tolerated.
The goal is to change the behavior and/or performance. If you’ve achieved this, congratulations — you are the type of company officer we need in the firehouse.
