Calendar

Overview

 

A 60-minute training webinar presented for CSAC-EIA

by Dr. Robert May

Audience:

 

The Supervisory and command staffs of fire agencies; Human Resource Directors and managers; city and county attorneys, and Risk Managers.

 

Objectives:

 

This webinar seeks to ask and answer these important questions:

• What makes the fire station culture healthier and better than the police station culture?
• What makes the police station culture healthier and better than the fire station culture?
• How can we create ways to eliminate typical (and long-time) first-responder hazing behaviors without completely alienating the fire fighters?
• How can the command staff protect the proud cultures and heritages of their first-responder agencies without allowing hazing, harassment, or bullying?  
• How can we explain the real definition of a “hostile work environment,” as it pertains to protected class characteristics?
• What legal issues do these situations create?
• What roles and responsibilities must first-line supervisors (captains, lieutenants, battalion chiefs) take on to make certain their employees understand the seriousness of hazing, bullying, pranks, racial and sexual harassment, and harassment of sworn and non-sworn employees based on their being in protected classes?
• What new or existing policies need to be created or enforced?
• What new or existing training programs need to be created, updated, and implemented?
• What roles and responsibilities should front-line supervisors (lieutenants, captains, and battalion chiefs) take on to enforce policies and enhance morale?
• What roles should supervisors and managers play to support their supervisors and enforce a healthy culture?
• What is the health impact to employees experiencing bullying i.e., insomnia, depression, anxiety, irritability, isolation, illness, and poor work performance and job satisfaction?
• What are the fiscal impacts to organizations who experience out of control cultures, i.e., employee development, productivity, and effective engagement of employees?
• What are the business impacts to the department’s reputation and overall effectiveness?
• How do community members perceive these issues?

Premise:

 

A weary fire chief once told us, “We change the culture around here one retirement at a time.” It shouldn't have to be that way. Some fire departments have lost their way and put their agencies at significant risk of litigation and reputation failures by allowing their employees to twist their culture out of control. What used to be described in days of old as “boys will be boys” or “what happens on the (fire) floor, stays on the floor” is now replaced with subpoenas, depositions, and lawsuits related to harassing, bullying, or even illegal hazing activities that create the provable perception of a hostile work environment.

 

Fire agencies go back over 150 years in the US and their members have every right to be proud of their culture and the life-saving work they do. However, these employees can’t fall back on comments like we hear today, “I miss the good old days, when we weren’t so politically correct” or “I’ve been here a long time, so I have the right to say or do whatever I want.” There is a fine line between good-natured and job-directed teasing that many of us have went through during the difficult probationary training periods in the fire service and law enforcement (some of which starts at the Academy level) and outright hazing and harassment, The latter leads new employees to feel attacked, targeted, picked on, and it can lead them to want to leave or worse file litigation.

 

Considering the #MeToo movement and the shift in this country toward seeing events from 30 years ago as actionable today, city and county fire agencies need their employees to have better boundaries, better behaviors, and to respect the concept of brotherhood and sisterhood as it relates to supporting each other and not hurting each other. This session offers the participants prescriptive tools and techniques to make that possible. There is a need to hold Supervisory and command personnel accountable for the conduct of their assigned staffs.

Need More Info or Help?
We hope you can join us. Feel free to contact Doug McGill for more details.

Phone: 916-850-7300
Email: dmcgill@csac-eia.org