Expectations Of Different Generations In The Fire Service
Different generational expectations in the fire service? What’s new!
I read a short article yesterday about the phenomenon of “quiet quitting” in the fire service. Quiet quitting is when people basically do the bare minimum and put no effort into their craft. In some cases, we used to call it retired on duty. The author correctly pointed out this is not just a fire service problem. The article was very well written and talked about some excellent points related to the problem, as well as potential solutions.
Lack of Recognition an Issue?
One of the causes of quiet quitting was a lack of reward or recognition. This is what I want to talk about today. The fire service today is a mix of up to four generations starting with the baby boomers and ending with generation z.
Fire service leaders need to recognize that each generation has different work values and motivators. The younger firefighters and officers of today want recognition and instant rewards in the workplace, including rapid advancement.
When some of today’s employees don’t get these things, along with other factors, it can lead to lower morale and less output, or in short, quiet quitting.
Wanting recognition or reward is not good or bad, it just is. I’m not judging people for the way they view things. I understand we are all products of our experiences.
A Short Story of My Experience with Recognition vs. Appreciation
I once had a captain tell me that I didn’t “praise my people enough.” My question back to this captain was “what for”?
During my time as a fire chief, I made sure I thanked my people for all the work they did and when something extraordinary happened, I would praise those involved. Outside of that, why should we praise people for showing up and doing their jobs?
I do understand there is a difference between praise and appreciation, and people doing their jobs should be appreciated for that work.
Another Short Story to Drive A Point on Generational Expectations
Many years ago, I had a relatively new firefighter take out a book in the kitchen during what he thought was downtime. The book was a study guide for what he wanted to do in his part-time job.
I politely brought this person into my office and asked him what was going on. I explained to him that he still had an awful lot to learn about his job, having only been on for about 18 months, and studying financial management was not appropriate.
He disagreed with me, so I told him he was going to be quizzed the next morning on basic things he should know. The quiz consisted of 10 questions on what was in the apparatus he was assigned to and major driving routes in our district. He correctly answered 7 of the 10 questions and thought that was wonderful.
I put it to you as the reader. Is 7 out of 10 acceptable and worthy of praise, or even appreciation?
What Is The Fire Service? What Drives It?
The fire service is a results-oriented profession. I believe too much praise for ordinary work leads to complacency.
One could argue that I’m just a grumpy old retiree, and maybe they are correct, but that doesn’t mean my theory is wrong.
If you are in a dangerous situation where you may need to fight to save yourself, your partner, or a civilian – you need to fall back on your training and experience. If people are constantly praised for day-to-day work with no honest feedback provided, how will they improve and build up that resilience they may need to draw on?
One may argue that praise will help keep morale up. My counter would be how will morale be with a serious line of duty injury, or death?
How Did We Arrive At This?
How did we get to where people feel unappreciated or not rewarded for the work they do? Well, the easy answer may be that many of today’s employees were part of the everyone-gets-a-trophy group.
While that may or may not be true, I think our issues are more complex than that and they can lead to poor morale. Some of the explanations I found for poor morale in the fire service are:
- Unrealistic expectations– when we conduct hiring processes, we usually put out our flyers and posters with firefighters battling a raging fire, extricating a patient from a mangled car, or setting up a landing zone for a helicopter. The reality is that unless you work in a very select few of the metropolitan areas of the country, most of your time is spent responding to emergency and non-emergency medical requests, training, or housework. It’s not as glamorous as the recruitment poster. It becomes easy to get frustrated feeling that you are not doing what you signed on for, but still working hard at it.
- Lack of communicating clear expectations– in many cases I don’t think we are setting a clear picture of what is expected of new recruits, and what the work really is. More importantly, we are not conveying why those expectations are in place and how important they are.
- Lack of opportunity for advancement– many people today consider advancement in their careers a major motivator. This is certainly understandable, and if I’m being honest, one of the reasons I left my first fire department for a larger one. The problem we face in the fire service is that we just can’t create opportunity out of thin air. Our structure is what our structure is. If there is no opening for a firefighter to move up, you can’t just award a promotion, even if it is deserved. Fire departments can certainly be creative in setting up steps, or small promotions like driver/operator, master firefighter, or other options, but they may also be bound by the collective bargaining agreement or department budget.
- Comparing employees– having people at the same pay rates or ranks may negatively impact morale when people see that going the extra mile doesn’t reflect differently on the pay scale as the person who just shows up.
What Can We Do To Improve?
There are many things we can do to improve the situations we face. Here are just a few things we can do to improve morale.
- Acknowledge the problem-The first thing we can do is acknowledge the issue is real and accept that we cannot 100% “fix” the problem. Some things are just out of our control.
- Set expectations– This starts with the hiring process. Be honest with people about what they will be doing and what the leader expects from them. This also means telling people to expect feedback, both about the good they are doing, and the areas for improvement. If the only feedback we give is praise, what is the incentive for improving as a firefighter and as an employee? Honest communication and expectations include telling the new employee what to expect in the way of reward and promotion. Again, be honest. Maybe the prospective employee will say the job is not for them saving everyone time and money.
- Solicit immediate feedback from new employees– each person has different expectations of the job of a firefighter. Everyone also learns a certain way or communicates differently. Find out what they prefer, or how they learn best. This starts with the organizational leader and certainly works its way down to the individual company officers. I certainly wish I had done this more in my different leadership roles. It can prevent a lot of misunderstanding and in some cases, negative feelings. In my role as fire chief, we used to ask probationary firefighters having trouble learning the job if there were any barriers to their success. In hindsight, maybe if we had asked that question from day one, they wouldn’t be in trouble.
- Understand when praise is warranted– this starts with understanding what your job is, and what your organizational role is. As a fire chief, I was appreciative of all the work my firefighters did, However, that doesn’t mean I followed them around all day giving them high fives and telling them about their great work. The organizational leader expects people to show up on time, train, be in the right uniform, be courteous to the public, and be competent when responding to emergencies. If you are expecting praise for that, you may be in the wrong line of work. We should remember that work is appreciated even if it isn’t being praised.
- Communicate – there are times when the organizational leader gets caught up in things the firefighter on the floor doesn’t see. This may cause the leader to overlook something or someone who may deserve some recognition. I know I was guilty of that more than once, and a prompt from a company officer allowed me to correct it. If you are that organizational leader, be approachable so people can tell you when you’re missing the boat. If someone has an idea about how to improve service delivery or improve department culture, hear them out. Everyone is on the same team.
- Train, train, train– this is controllable and has no downside. The more you train for a job that can be dangerous, the more prepared you will be for when you need to be. Understand that the job may not be as glorious as the recruiting poster or the television shows, but that you can make it better by becoming better. Set your own expectations of where you want to be as a firefighter and map out how to get there. The rest will take care of itself.
A Quick Note On Setting Expectations
In other articles I have written I have talked about setting explanations. The expectations a leader sets are the minimum standard they are willing to accept. If those expectations are exceeded, then maybe praise is warranted. If they are met, then people are doing their jobs.
In the case I outlined before about the firefighter studying for financial management, I had to reiterate the expectations I and the department had for him.
Takeaway
Maintaining a positive culture in the fire service is not easy, but it is crucial.
Working to remove causes that create low morale is certainly a step in helping shape and maintain a positive work culture.
The fire service is not perfect and never will be. If we are honest with ourselves and set realistic expectations, we can better understand our individual and group roles and work to make the whole situation better.
Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach for the Green Bay Packers once said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence”.
The more we can do to make ourselves and our organization excellent, the less chance we’ll have of creating a situation that leads to making the bare minimum the standard.
Deckard & Company