Every department to some extent has a succession plan in place, whether it’s a formal or informal process. Some departments operate under a seniority-style succession (like mine), where the person with the greatest seniority gets that coveted position when a retirement occurs. Others have a system for testing and establishing a promotional list. Hopefully you have a system that works for your department.
However, there will come a time when such a system will be put to the test. Example: My department has about 45 personnel in suppression and 5 in administration. Let’s suppose that seemingly all at once, we have 10 retirements, all from the top. We replace them with 10 probationary firefighters, and promote 9 lieutenants, 3 battalion chiefs, an EMS coordinator and a fire marshal. So then we have 50% of the department on probation. Needless to say, that would cause heartburn for most administrations!
Let’s continue the scenario: Our current system guides each new employee through their acquired position. Due to all the turnover, the new hires are being evaluated by probationary lieutenants, who are being evaluated by probationary battalion chiefs, with a green fire marshal and EMS coordinator to boot. You think you have all the bases covered, and for the most part, you do–but there’s someone you forgot: the man in the middle.
How’d That Happen?
Somehow, amidst the whirlwind of making sure your department does not unravel at the seams, you forgot the man in the middle–the “senior man.” He’s the individual who was on your EMS rig running day and night on EMS calls, occasionally rode the back of the truck and now in a flash he’s fast-forwarded to the driver’s seat, literally, of that big red truck.
Because your system is seniority-based, the senior man is now in line for the acting lieutenant’s role when the situation presents itself. You weren’t prepared for him to hit this spot for a few years. And this can lead to some potentially risky situations.
Example: You have a day when there are enough senior people off to cause upgrades for–you guessed it–acting lieutenant. You know, the one who just landed in the driver’s seat days prior? Next, you have an upgraded driver/engineer, one of your medics, but they’ve only driven the fire apparatus in non-emergency situations. Oh, and I forgot to mention the firefighter on the back of the rig is probationary with minimal experience.
Now they get a call for a mutual-aid response to a structure fire and are asked to report to “C” side for exposure protection. Keep in mind they are now out of their element in more ways than one. Some minor things transpire, nothing tragic, but it causes you to re-evaluate where you went wrong. You wonder, how could this happen?
You forgot the man in the middle!
What to Do
So how do you address this? Put a systematic process or succession plan in place. My department has attempted to gather as much information as we can about key positions within the department. We’ve created a separate binder for each of the following positions:
- Probationary firefighter
- Driver/engineer
- Lieutenant
Each binder includes the needed knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) for the position, as well as relevant information from training resources such as FireRescue magazine and others. As an individual gets into a position where they might have to act in the next level, we give them these books to help them prepare.
The book for probationary firefighters deals with everything from daily routines and expectations, street maps and tests, to telephone/contact lists of every member of the department. Everything you would need to know as a probie! Checklists are included with timelines for meeting the requirements and expectations of officers and the administration.
The next levels, driver-engineer (D/E) and lieutenant, become a little more complicated. For the D/E we’ve compiled a variety of material pertaining to our daily maintenance sheets, our standard operating guidelines (SOGs), basic hydraulics, hydrant operations, drafting, standpipe operations, foam applications, and how to operate the quint in an easy-to-follow step-by-step manual. We also encourage them to look periodically at the lieutenant’s probationary book to prepare them in case they’re upgraded to that position.
The lieutenant’s book contains common situations every officer might face in day-to-day operations. Now don’t get me wrong, we still follow a formal process that requires all newly promoted officers to receive training in the NFPA 1021 Company Officer qualifications. This book is just a guideline for the individuals who haven’t been through the company officer series. The book contains a description of duties as outlined by our SOGs. It also contains some basics on how to deal with discipline, dealing with the public from a professional perspective, and other expected administrative duties. Note: We haven’t specifically designed a binder for the battalion chief position, we just expound on the lieutenant book, kind of like Fire Officer III.
Final Thoughts
Being prepared has always been the mantra of the fire service, and as company officers, you want to be confident that your personnel are prepared for anything. Take it upon yourself to make sure you don’t miss anyone in the process. Utilize every opportunity to groom your successors to be able to fulfill the role–your role–when called upon. Run training scenarios where you move everyone into different roles. It is an eye-opener for most; some will say they didn’t know what their officer really went through until they were in his/her shoes. This is a great way to expose them to the real challenges of the position above them while still within a controlled training environment. It will allow them to identify their areas of needed improvement and also identify their strengths. All of this, combined with the reassurances offered to them by their superiors, will hopefully make them thirst for the knowledge needed to better themselves.
So the next time you’re thinking about your succession plan, or facing multiple retirements, don’t forget the man in the middle!
