Kent Fire Management
1. Introduction and context
Strategic management is an essential component of effective high performing organisations. In the private sector the fundamental goal of business strategy is to beat competitors, to achieve financial profit, Pearson (1999). However in the public sector the central strategic theme is focussed on providing year on year efficiency savings without any perceived loss of benefit to the Public, Government et al (1999). Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd & Walker (2005) realise that it has being the strategy of successive governments to achieve this by introducing private sector practices. However, Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd, and Walker (2005) recognise that this has not always yielded the expected improvements. Eliassen and Kooiman (1993) …show more content…
suggest that this in part is due to the greater complexity of the environment in which the public sector management operates. Therefore, effective strategy is not simply about copying what works well in other organisations. Johnson Scholes and Whittington (2006) propose that strategy should provide long term focus, and should be developed through a process of analysis. They propose that analysis must assess the external environment and against the internal environments capacity to provide the stakeholders expectations. Mullins (1999) also recognises that to operate effectively the organisation must match the external environment. Baine (2002) observed that although the Service was widely respected by the public and it provided an effective emergency response, it had fallen surprisingly far behind best practice in other public and private sector organisations. This in turn was resulting in the widespread ineffective use of human resources and the proliferation of outdated working practices, both of which were incompatible with the external environment. Earlier reviews by Audit Commission (1995) HMFI (1999) confirmed many of Baines criticisms to be long standing strategic deficiencies.
Audit Commission (1995) recommended that the service needed to change its emphasis from solely being a reactive service to proactively preventing fires by engaging in Community Fire Safety. However, Baine (2002) observed that this ethos had still not been widely adopted by all personnel. He suggested that the services traditional raison d’^etre of reducing the loss of life, property and protecting the environment had not changed, but the strategies for achieving those objectives needed to involve engaging with and educating the public, with an emphasis on prevention rather than cure.
It has been a political necessity for successive governments to address these deficiencies and improve efficiency and value for money under the umbrella term of Modernisation, but actual improvements have not met expectations due to organisational resistance, Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd, and Walker (2005).
Hoffer and Schendel, D (1978) propose that strategy can be characterised as the organisations ability to achieve a match with the external environment in which it operates. Therefore to develop an effective strategy analysis of the interrelationship between the external demands and the internal capacity to achieve them must be under taken, this is known as resource based approach, Collis and Montgomery et al (1995). This essay will determine this match in the Fire Service by evaluating the external strategic environment through a PESTEL analysis and then evaluating the internal capacity of the service to meet those demands through a cultural web analysis. The essay will then evaluate the interrelationship between the two and make recommendations based on a SWOT analyse.
2. Strategic analysis of external environment (PESTEL see appendix 1)
External analysis is important to identify the key drivers for change and future design of the structure of the service to meet those demands, Johnson Scholes and Whittington (2005)
Political
The interrelationship professionals in the Public sector and politicians has not always been a productive one, politicians have sought to control the distribution of services and conduct of its employees with rules and regulations, Flynn 2002, Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd and Walker et al (2005).
Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd, and Walker, recognise that public services have been in reform for the past 20 years and that the broad intention of the change has been to replace the previous custodial system of service provision, with a more efficient private-sector style of managed provision.
Political leaders have an electoral mandate to improving the quality, equity and value for money of the services provided to the public. Politicians have deployed two main strategies to combat the resistance of professionals namely privatisation and the introduction of managers, neither of these strategies however has reduced the levels of professional discretion, Flynn et al (2002), Lane (1997)
The Local Government Act (1999) seeks to make public services more accountable to the customers that they serve more in line with the private companies. Lane (1996) identifies accountability to mean impartiality and mutual protection of all. Performance indicators were developed to measure the performance of Public Services.
Economic
Thompson and Martin (2005) suggest that consideration of economic conditions will determine which strategies are viable. The Public Services depend on financial grants from the government funding levels must be incorporated into the process of strategic Management. The primary catalyst for modernisation of the public services was driven by the high levels of public spending as a ratio of gross domestic product in the 70s. Consequently when efficiency measures are implemented it is productive efficiency, which intends to reduce the costs that take precedence over allocative efficiency, which intends to improve the range and quality of the services provided, Flynn (2002).
The Kent fire and rescue service is currently over funded by the Kent County Council, efficiency savings of approximately 6 Million pounds are required over the next three years.
Financial constraint and political constraints make it unlikely that the short falls will be picked up by the Local tax payers, Kent Fire and Rescue (2007a). (See appendix 1 Economic)
Social
Communities have been changing HMFSI (1999) observed the Fire Service lacked diversity and consequently it did not match the communities that it served, it set targets for increased diversity. However, Baine (2002) suggested that the situation had not improved significantly and that the lack of diversity was seriously affecting the services ability to interact face to face with these groups, some of who were from the most at risk sections of society.
Kent Fire and Rescue is still under represented and has failed to meet its own low targets for increasing diversity, currently the uniformed workforce consists of only:
• 1.05% from ethnic minority backgrounds, this is up 0.20% on last year
• 3.2% Female, this is up 0.18% on the previous year
• 1.77 With a disability, this is down 0.16% on previous year
(Kent Fire and Rescue 2007b …show more content…
P.33)
Rank to Role has been Implemented this reduce the 13 ranks to 6 Roles each with a clearly defined responsibilities.
Small improvements have been made towards increasing the low ratio of women to men over the last year. However, current figures identify that 9% of the population in the South East region are from an ethnic minority background (Campaign for Racial Equality 2007), therefore, the service is far behind Baines objectives of the matching the profile of the communities that they serve.
Technological
Technological breakthroughs can produce both new opportunities and threats; they can provide new equipment, which makes the job both safer and quicker or conversely render parts of the organisation redundant, Thompson and Martin (2005). For example, the Improvements in building design and increased smoke detector usage has reduced the amount of fire deaths, can the service continue maintaining the same level of response when casualty numbers are at such low levels, Kent Fire and Rescue (2007b). Environmental
The county of Kent presents a variety of unique risks which the KMTFA (Kent and Medway Towns Fire Authority) is responsible under the fire services act (2004) some of the key areas are:
• 1.6 million people live in 681000 dwellings, widely distributed across a large area of 3700KM2
• There are also nearly 48,000 other properties such as shops, factories, schools and hospitals.
• Developing area with another 46000 planned by 20165% and a 5% increase in office and business development by 2021.
• Aging population, the proportion of elderly residents will increase to nearly 1/3 of a million. As a consequence there will be an increase in the number of citizens with mobility and disability issues.
• Increasing numbers of single parent families and house sharing with unrelated young individuals.
• There are 250 miles of motorway and major roads, six ports, four small airports and the Channel Tunnel. (Kent Fire and Rescue 2007b P.5)
While the service has always attended other types of emergency it is now on a statutory footing. In addition, the events of 9/11 have resulted in the drafting of a new order to formalise the services involvement in major terrorist incidents involving radiological, chemical and explosives.
Legal
Kent Fire and Rescue (2007a) suggest that fire service act is the most far reaching and comprehensive reform of the statutory legislation that has occurred to the service for over 50 years. The Act sets out the services increased statutory responsibilities which now covers a much wider range of emergencies and recognises the important role in ‘new dimensions’ work and emergency planning. The act also allows greater flexibility in the deployment of resources and resolves the anomaly of effective proactive fire prevention reducing the amount of money received from the government.
Health and Safety at Work Act (2004) does not differentiate between part time workers and their whole time counterparts. Baine (2002) agrees that they should be trained to the same professional standards. This has a cost implication in both times of the individual and money to provide additional training. The Fire Brigades Union legally challenged the legitimacy of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire fire and rescue services strategy of co-responding to medical emergencies before the attendance of paramedics because of their superior attendance times. Mr Justice Butterfield (as cited in the Fire Engineers Journal 2007) ruled in favour of the Union, commenting that although this was good use of the Firefighters expertise, it was fundamentally the responsibility of paramedics or ambulance crews to attend medical emergencies not Firefighters.
3. Internal Analysis using a cultural web analysis (see appendix2)
Structure and style of management
Structural design and style of management have an impact on the culture of an organisation and can even help to shape the behaviour of individuals within it, Macgregor (1960), Maslow et al (1965). Livingston Sterling (as cited in Bennis 1992) adapted the Pygmalion effect to a managerial context, he comments:
Subordinates more often than not appear to do what they believe they are supposed to do. (P.198)
Therefore the Autocratic manager gets the theory X worker, and conversely if the organisation needs independent flexible self motivated staff they should adopt a more humanistic style in line with theory Y, Macgregor (1960), Livingston –Sterling (as cited in Bennis 1992).
Baine (2002), HMFSI et al (1999) criticised the highly militaristic style of management and the strong quasi militaristic set of discipline regulations. HMFSI perceive that this approach has helped foster a:
…almost regimental pride, and a spirit of team working, which is essential to the operational role of the service. This ethos, and a strong spirit of service, pervades the fire service at both local and national levels. (P.20)
The comments of Baine (2002 and HMFSI (1999)) confirm that workers in the fire service have a strong sense of duty. Ackroyd and Walker (2005) suggest that this is a common trait among public service workers who tend to develop:
Professionalism based on public services ethos, which puts technical skill together with the provision of services on a basis of need rather than the basis of an ability to pay. (P167)
However HMFSI (1999) observed that the culture was closed and intolerant of differences, patriarchal and highly uninviting to women and ethnic minorities.
Baine (2002) identified that the watch culture was capable of socialising and conditioning new entrant to group norms because these stable small groups, individuals work very closely with each other, more like a family than a workgroup, this is consistent with the theories of Harvey and Conslavi (1960 as cited in Robbins 1998). HMFSI observed undesirable macho sub cultures, based on white heterosexual values. In addition they observed watches were highly resistant to external influence and that new managers were unlikely to challenge the prevailing culture, preferring to fit in with the group norms, they concluded that:
We are strongly of the opinion that substantial change is necessary in the management and culture of the service to achieve an environment where equality and fairness can be integrated into its whole operation and organisation. (P.55)
Baine (2002) suggested that management and the lack of governmental will to undertake legislative reform were primarily to blame for this unsatisfactory situation. (See appendix 2, Structure)
This approach has created a us and them divide between managers and subordinates at all levels, Baine (2002). Robbins (1998) suggests that sub cultures can be formed from problems in organisations. This could explain why there is a strong culture of anti establishment and stories of mavericks and villains prevail.
4. Evaluation Internal and External environments
Baine (2002) identified that change of the organisational structure of the service was vital if the governments intended modernisation agenda was to be successful. Baine, in addition identified that the Service was overly bureaucratic and too slow in adapting to its external environment. He highlighted that the primary legislation was over 50 years old and has been a constraining influence on previous recommendations to modernisation.
On the other side of the coin bureaucracies can provide control through extensive rules and regulations, which leads to consistent repeatable results, Handy (1985) Buchan and Huczynski et al (2004). Newman and Clarke (1994) du Gay (1996) (as cited in Exworthy and Halford 1999) agreed, adding that bureaucratic procedures combined with professionalism are essential components and that the introduction of mangerlialism could cause irreparable damage to the public services.
HMFSI observed the authoritarian and autocratic style did not encourage individual thinking or maximise the full potential of the workforce, Golman (2000). Moss - Kanter et al (1985) considered both these areas to be essential in the process of organisational change. HMFSI (1999) suggests that leadership and management would be far more appropriate in these circumstances.
Baine, HMFSI et al both accept that the values of professionals in the service support the organisations operational purpose of reacting to emergencies. However, Baine et al have identified resistance to modernisation at all levels of the service. Morgan et al (2000 as cited in the Patrick, Ackroyd and Walker 2005) have observed that professional public service values have been surprisingly resistant to change.
Governments have been frustrated by self serving professionals following there own agenda and have created more rules, more targets and more inspections but for all these control measures there are also negative effects, Flynn (2002). Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd, and Walker (2005) suggest that very little progress has been achieved and Pollit (as cited in Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd, and Walker ) comments that very little improvement in customer satisfaction and quality can be found despite massive disruptions to staff and the expenditure of considerable resources.
The Fire Service traditionally has always had very good levels of recruitment and excellent retention, Baine (2002). The modernisation agenda however has caused wide spread demoralisation throughout the workforce. Conley (as cited in Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd, and Walker 2005) describes this a one of the consequences of public service reforms along with lower levels of satisfaction, higher stress levels, poor retention and difficulty filling those staff vacancies.
This could be due in part to an incompatibility between values between managerialism and professionals. Stewart and Clarke (1987) agreed realising that the public services strategic values of effectiveness are centred on high quality, citizen centred public service. In contrast, Exworthy and Halford (1999) raise issue that management values are centred on economics and efficiency. Polanyi (1971 as cited in Udehn 1996) suggests that the values of economics are not focussed on honour, pride, duty or moral obligation. Polanyi goes on to comment that economics provide inadequate motivation for workers because it focuses on what can materially be achieved rather than what ideally should be done. Bennis’s – Nanus (1985) shared this ethical viewpoint when he commented: Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing. (P. 21)
However in the current climate of modernisation with its efficiency savings and increased statutory responsibilities, management will be equally important to the function of leadership.
While the watch culture with its characteristics of duty loyalty, camaraderie and professionalism are seen as benefits, its insular closed nature with its lack of tolerance to difference and widespread bullying are seen as major barriers to integration of the service in the wider community with the wider community, HMFSI (1999) Baine et al (2002).
5. Evaluation of strengths, Weakness, opportunities and threats
Baine observed that many of the previous recommendations had been not been effective. A contributory factor is that previous strategies were too one dimensional, either focusing on keeping up with the opposition and technological change or seeking to improve the internal performance, Collis and Montgomery (1995). Determining the organisational strategy is important, but so is applying it, which in its self is a complicated task involving the management of people and resources, Ellis and Williams (1993).The SWOT analysis avoids this by evaluating the internal capabilities to meet the external environmental demands. Strengths and Weakness are internal they include inputs, processes and how efficiently those internal characteristics achieve the intended outputs. Opportunities and threats are generally outside the direct control of the organisation but must be addressed, Bryson (1995).
Strengths
When considering whether an internal characteristic is a strength one must consider the strength in different contexts, such as it longevity, uniqueness its reproducibility.
Collis and Montgomery (1995). For example the current high levels of public satisfaction and confidence can evaporate, if efficiency cuts produce a product that does not meet the consumer’s needs. The image of the service is currently good we are perceived to offer an effective service and we are well respected for the work that we do. Interestingly however, the public does not have any loyalty to the public services and they do not care who provides them as long as the service is good and they are not making large profits, Flynn (2002).
Baine (1999), HMFSI (2002) see the Fire and Rescue Services ability take on and respond to an ever increasing array of emergency incidents as strengths. However, the complexity and range of the incidents requires the service to make a long term commitment to training to ensure that it is capable to respond effectively to
them.
Porter (2005) theorised about the treat from competition in the market, certainly the service has an advantage in that it has a unique range of equipment and skills, but would be unwise to consider that it is not reproducible, during the strike of 2002 the Army provided an effective although much reduced service with much fewer resources, Baine (2002).
Weaknesses
To develop effective strategies organisations make the most of strengths while minimising the effects of threats and weakness, Bryson (1995). While professional values and an autocratic style of Management are seen as appropriate whilst attending and dealing with emergency incidents, Baine (2002), HMFSI, Audit et al (1999). However, the total reliance on this style of management and culture is out of step with the external environment and what is currently considered to be best practice, ODPM (2005), Baine (2002) , Bennis (1992). It is also seen as a the main barrier to increasing diversity in the Service, Baine (2002)
The cultural web seeks to understand culture and how the organisation actually behaves examining the cultural artefacts of the organisation, Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2002). (See appendix 2). The web supports the finding from Audit commission (1995), HMFSI (1999) and Baine et al (2002) that the culture of the service is focussed on putting out fires and attending emergency incidents. This is out of step with the current service strategy and that of the Government, Fire Authority and Fire Brigades Union.
Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2002), propose that culture develops over time and achieves dominance as an integral part of the organisation and that can be self perpetuating if left to its own devices. When there is a difference between the two this is known as strategic drift it can be costly and reduce the organisation effectiveness. The ODPM (2005) recommend that a transformational style of leadership is adopted to develop the positive culture required, Schien, (1985) Mullins (1999) also proposes that it is the responsibility of the leadership to manipulate and develop the desired culture.
Opportunities
The move from rank to role has reduced the layers of management from 13 to 6 and presents the opportunity for managers to manage, (Baine 2002). According to Mullins (1999) the benefits of flatter organisational structures are that they can improve organisational communications, save money and are more compatible with a participative style of management recommended by the ODPM (2005) for all public services. Legislative change has also allowed the introduction of external managers, Baine (2002) proposes this is an advantage as it allows the service to obtain new skill and diversity.
Local Government Act (1999) requires that public services are responsive to public needs and provide their service efficiently, effectively and economically. While no business wants less money to provide the same service the Fire Service Act (2004) requires that the Fire Authority design a strategic plan for the equitable distribution of the resources under their control.
Threats
Public service has been subject to an aggressive modernisation agenda and that is likely to continue, Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd, and Walker (2005). Professionals have resisted this process by applying the services adhering to there own professional and ethical values, Flynn (2002), Exworthy and Halford et al (1999). This constant battle between mangerlialism and professionalism ensures that the implementation of strategy is highly inconsistent. This damaging cycle is a major threat; Johnson Scholes and Whittington (2005) suggest that sometimes the change required can be so great that strategic alignment can not be achieved by incremental change. In these circumstances strategic flux occurs, this is where strategies are constantly implemented revised and re – implemented this in turn leads to strategic drift, which can prove terminal.
The threat of workers leaving the service due to dissatisfaction with the constant reform program in the public services is a real one, Boare (2007) commented:
The retained can not cope with the increased paperwork and the bureaucratic training records are ensuring that even Firefighters are spending more time filling in paperwork than they are drilling. I have had three Junior Officers hand their tickets in this week. (20/5/07)
6. Conclusions
Professional values can not exist in isolation from the external environment, managers must therefore separate there own values before assessing the strategic requirements, regrettably what has worked in the past may not work in the future, Johnson Scholes and Whittington (2005).
Guest and Conway (2002) identify that levels of satisfaction, trust and employee commitment are lower in the public sector and that managerial restructuring is high on the list of causes. Kirkpatrick Ackroyd and Walker point out that rapid extensive change programs, combined with little or no discussion with professionals prior their implementation, has also reduced their willingness to participate and engage in intended reforms. Kotter & Schlesinger (1995) realise that it is essential to involve those who need to change in the process of change, as individuals are more likely to maintain commitment with something that they have helped to create.
Public sector management is more complicated due to the larger numbers of stakeholders with influence and power to slow down, change or block Strategy. Lane (1997) summarise the conflicting agendas and values elegantly:
…Not merely a matter of effectiveness and efficiency, but also a matter of legality and legitimacy and of value patterns other than strictly business patterns. Public management is not only internal, but also and primarily external management in the complex Socio - political context. (P.176)
The increased customer focus and collaborative strategy development will serve all stake holders long term needs, but it will require the relinquishing of traditional power structures and the adoption of transformational style of leadership reinforced with effective analytical management, Bratton (as cited in Heskett 1996).
7. Bibliography
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Appendix 1
Political
• Government in power with huge majority and a developing agenda for improving the delivery of fire related issues.
• Successive Governments have planned to modernise the public services, this theme has been topical for the last 20 years and appears to still be on the politicians agenda
• Strong union influence in decision making
• Range of new legislation will impact on the provision and legislative basis for a fire service.
Economical
• Rises in Council Tax are very unpopular, Kent Fire and rescue is already funded well above the national average. The national average is for the government grant to fund 75% and local government to fund the remaining 25%. However, in Kent this ratio is nearly reversed with 40% coming from the government grant and 60% provided by local tax payers, Efficiency savings of at least 5.6% over the next 3 years have been planned and changes in the way increases to government grant are awarded favouring authorities that serve less affluent areas. This means that in real terms the Kent fire and rescue Service will need to make savings of approximately 6 million pounds over this period in real terms, (Kent Fire and Rescue 2007a). These savings combined with council tax capping regulations, unavoidable pension responsibilities whilst still undertaking the comprehensive modernisation agenda set out by the government makes for tough decisions on the future allocation of resources.
• Social Justice Legislation often increases in the budget.
• Pay issues for fire service are based on a national basis. Much higher than the average wages in most of Kent. Social
• Thematic Review (1999) of the fire service
– Cultural diversity almost non - existent.
– Slow turn over of staff
• Increase ethnic diversity in the community , not easily accessed
• Family friendly working practices.
• Increased Public involvement in strategies
• Few big towns requiring a more diverse spread of fire cover.
Technology
• Improvements in building design and the increased use of smoke detectors have reduced the number of fire deaths.
• Internet developments of on-line services.
• Wireless and mobile telephony.
• Technological aids for developing service delivery allow the transfer of information on the incident ground.
Environmental
• Kent has a diverse set of risks, the Fire and Rescue Service needs to provide resources in the right locations to deal with them.
• There is an increased threat to the communities in Kent from terrorist activities, the government has placed increased responsibility on the service to develop strategies and provide resources to deal with these types of incidents.
• Concern over impact of additional infrastructure. Developments on service delivery.
• The population in Kent is increasing and many new homes are planned over the coming years.
Legal
• Fire Service Act (2004) requires that Fire Authorities make provision for the delivery of a Fire and Rescue service.
• Detail the Scope of provision for which the Fire Authority has responsibility.
• Replaces mechanistic national of fire cover standards with a Risk based approach.
• Under the Local Government Act 1999 Fire Authorities have a duty to ensure ‘Best Value’.
• Health and Safety at work Act 1994,
• HSE has issued improvement orders to Fire services causing the development of the Integrated Personal Development System, this vocational competency based system which does not differentiate between retained and whole time.
• Equal opportunities and Employment law.
• Legal challenges from the union to resist change
Appendix 2
Appendix 2 Cultural Web
Stories
It is the stories about big incidents that have helped to shape the culture of the Fire Service; Audit Commission (1995) recommended that the service move away from simply reacting to fires and start proactively preventing them.
The heroes in the stories are operational personnel who have risen to the challenges and demands and reactively achieved the objectives, even now, proactively engaging in preventative work is not perceived to be heroic or even one of the services primary functions by most.
Possibly thanks to the bureaucratic structure combined with an autocratic style of management, Mavericks and Villains who have stood up and defeated the system still feature strongly in the stories told around the mess table.
Without doubt, the work done by the Fire safety and community fire safety departments in combination with better building design and the reduction in poverty, have reduced the number of serious incidents that the service is required to attend. This has led to the proliferation of stories about the good old days, when the where more incidents and there was more freedom and autonomy to deal with them as a practitioner felt best.
Power
Handy (1993) identifies that rules and procedures which can be applied by managers who are perceived to have the authority to apply them through their situational power. Baine (2002) believed that:
…Officers gain authority because they have gone through the same recruitment, induction and training as the Firefighters (P.100)
HMFSI et al (2002) recognises that a transformational consultative style is inappropriate on the incident ground, because it is not possible to enter into negotiations to ensure compliance, and that failure to follow orders could also be highly dangerous. Buchanan and Huczynski (2004) also suggest that in crisis situations strong leadership is welcomed by subordinates. Baine agrees suggesting that while this no nonsense style was appropriate on the incidents ground, he makes the point that for at least 95% of the time the fire service was not involved in emergency work
The adversarial single tier promotional system ensured that the professional Officers had risen through the ranks to get their promotion, in pure bureaucratic style by appointment, Weber (1947). While this was far from being fair or a modern approach the officers generally did have credibility. Baine (2002) however criticised the quality of the management at all levels. Nevertheless, the relationship between rank, rules and situational power is strong, and has value in operational contexts as it does not require lengthy debates.
Flynn (2002) identifies that this is seen as a problem in the public services which leads to operational inefficiency, due to them developing independent strategies in line with the desires of their senior managers and more importantly not in line with the political will of the government.
Flynn also proposes that many professionals choose to use the situational power to maintain the Status Quo and that this has led to poor progress against the modernisation agenda. This is due to professional managers developing their own independent strategies rather than complying with directives issued by the government.
The charter mark, value for money and best value (1999) have all sought to empower the public and place them at the centre of the provision of public services. Interestingly there is little real evidence that they have any real power or influence on decisions on provision of their public services, other than the opportunity for them to participate in several cynically worded questionnaires.
Working practices
Baine commented on the working practice as being outdated, he was right some of the working practices do not belong in a modern public service. Issues like sleeping on nights and receiving extra day off as well as money when a banks holiday is worked need revising.
Also the work routines on stations do not make the best use of the time available, without putting to fine a point on it, the style of a management is laissez - faire , more like a country club than a place of work, Heresy and Blanchard
Symbols
The Militaristic uniform clearly identifies that the fire and Rescue service is a disciplined service; there are however plans to reduce its formality of the general working uniform as it is perceived to create a barrier between the service and the public. It also clearly identifies members of the workforce as being either from the professional, operational and or managerial areas of the organisation.
Rank markings identify status, power and achievement; these hard earned symbols identify the position of individuals in the hierarchy. The recent change from Rank to a role demonstrated the importance that individuals placed on these small symbols. In short some managers were realigned down but all the managers rank marking stayed the same or went up to prevent individuals having to accept lower rank markings. In addition there is still a culture of subordinates refusing to call managers by their names preferring Guv, Boss or Sir; however that’s not to say that they don’t use less euphemistic terms when they are out of ear shot.
There has been a reduction in the amount of perks that Officers (Station Manager and above) receive but they are still entitled to lease cars, a different set of personal allowances and made to measure uniforms.
Structure
Baine (2002) identified the structure of the service as highly bureaucratic as is common with most public service. Common to Bureaucracies the service is divided into divisions. Handy (1995) would describe this as role culture.
The structure of the service and the responsibilities of the Fire Authorities were determined by the Fire Service Act (1947) it remained in force for over 5O years. The Act provided consistency, which is seen by many observers as one of the strengths of bureaucracies. Buchan, Huczynski et al (2004) agree that bureaucracies are efficient and capable of producing repetitive predictable results, bureaucracies also identify who is in command and the organizations survival is not dependant on the memory of individuals, for its long term success, because the rules and procedures clearly identify what is expected of individuals. Buchan, Huczynski however identify that these types of organizations are incapable of responding to organisational change quickly, and do not maximise the full potential of the workforce, Bennis (1996), Bass et al (1985) agree.
The structure appointed authority and influence primarily by the individual’s position within the bureaucratic hierarchal structure, Weber (1970), Handy (1985).The adversarial single tier promotional system ensured that the professional Officers had risen through the ranks to get their promotion, in pure bureaucratic style by appointment, Weber (1947). While it was some ways this was far from being fair or modern the Officers generally did have credibility. Baine (2002) however criticised the quality of the management at all levels. Nevertheless, the relationship between rank, rules and situational power is strong, and has value in operational contexts as it does not require lengthy debates trying to persuade staff or the provision of additional rewards.
The divisions all have a hierarchal chain of command which appoints its authority by appointment to the position/rank/role that the individual occupies within in the service.
Staffs are divided in the following distributions main groupings:
914 Whole time personnel who work on a variety of different shift patterns and provide 24hr cover 365 day a year. They staff 23 stations and cover the larger towns and cities in the county.
814 Retained staff that work on a part time basis and protect the communities that they live in. The service is not there main employer and they attend incident subject to there other work commitments they need to provide a minimum amount of hours cover a week as part of their contract.
39 Control split in to 4 watches that work the same shift patterns as the whole time personnel they receive and deploy resources. They also arrange the attendance of other services and provides specialist information to the fire ground.
240 Professional and Administrative staff, who carry out all the other functions that make a business run.
Controls
The Fire Service Act 2004 clearly defines the services that fire authorities must provide to the communities that they serve. It also allocates new responsibilities under in the area of civil contingency and emergency planning
Politicians have sought to regain control by reducing the power of bureaucracies’, by introducing more managers and introducing performance targets to assess compliance, Flynn (2002). Kirkpatrick Ackroyd and Walker (2006) discuss that generic management in isolation from the professional context may prove highly problematic where the skills of the profession are unusual or high.
Best Value seeks to make public service directly accountable to the communities that they serve by measuring its performance against a set of performance indicators which are periodically inspected and the results published. Although it does not publish league tables Kent Fire and Rescue is one of only two fire services to receive an excellent assessment from the Audit Commission. However, making a comparison is a little like comparing apples and oranges, as the service is massively over funded compared with other services.
IPDS seeks to ensure that all staff achieves the appropriate levels of performance specific to the role that they are undertaking. This is achieved by objectively assessing their performance against specific occupational standards.
All work is subject to the requirements of the Health and Safety Act, this is an continuous analytical process, this ensures that risk is reduced to minimum at all times. It helps the Incident commanders decide and set the strategic objectives of the incident on a risk to potential gain stand point.
Paradigm
People who work in the service believe that they are already doing a good job, a strong service ethos prevails and there is wide spread commitment to all operational intervention work and providing a professional service which is free at the point of delivery. Uniformed staffs do consider themselves to be the custodians of the service and the non uniformed staff are simply there to support them. Recent changes to HR have seen a well qualified HR professional take what was previously a uniformed post, this has caused quite a stir amongst the middle managers as this is a really influential position in the service and a Station Manager Commented:
HR is already twice the size it was two years ago and they already have far to much power they are telling us how to run the organisation.
To put this in to context the individual is a first line middle manager in charge of a small station. Generally speaking he has discretion to legitimately deploy his resources as he sees fit. But the officer was unwilling to accept that the new HR Director, who is positioned at principle officer level, should have any influence over his station.
Another unfortunate characteristic of bureaucratic organisations, in the current climate of continuous public service reform, is that they are highly resistant to change due to their slow turn over of staff and extensive rules and regulations, Buchanan & Huczynski et al (2004).
This public service ethos used to spread into voluntary duties such as Red Cross and Duke of Edinburgh training, and support for local charities.
After all that is what they joined the job for to put out fires and attend emergencies. They are less willing to consider the implications that the service could be provided more efficiently, at least not in public. The front line personnel believe that simply because it has always been done that way, therefore it can not be done any other way. Workers in the Fire Service are also quite a pragmatic bunch closed to the idea that efficiency savings could ever result in a better service.
The public perception of the service is still high rising after an initial dip after the strike and firefighters in Kent believe that all they have to do is continue providing what they always have and it will simply stay that way. Metropolitan services however have a different view they realize that public opinion is determined by circumstance and situational circumstances, in some area the Service is viewed as a part of the establishment and regularly targeted.
Strategic management is an essential component of effective high performing organisations. In the private sector the fundamental goal of business strategy is to beat competitors, to achieve financial profit, Pearson (1999). However in the public sector the central strategic theme is focussed on providing year on year efficiency savings without any perceived loss of benefit to the Public, Government et al (1999). Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd & Walker (2005) realise that it has being the strategy of successive governments to achieve this by introducing private sector practices. However, Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd, and Walker (2005) recognise that this has not always yielded the expected improvements. Eliassen and Kooiman (1993) …show more content…
suggest that this in part is due to the greater complexity of the environment in which the public sector management operates. Therefore, effective strategy is not simply about copying what works well in other organisations. Johnson Scholes and Whittington (2006) propose that strategy should provide long term focus, and should be developed through a process of analysis. They propose that analysis must assess the external environment and against the internal environments capacity to provide the stakeholders expectations. Mullins (1999) also recognises that to operate effectively the organisation must match the external environment. Baine (2002) observed that although the Service was widely respected by the public and it provided an effective emergency response, it had fallen surprisingly far behind best practice in other public and private sector organisations. This in turn was resulting in the widespread ineffective use of human resources and the proliferation of outdated working practices, both of which were incompatible with the external environment. Earlier reviews by Audit Commission (1995) HMFI (1999) confirmed many of Baines criticisms to be long standing strategic deficiencies.
Audit Commission (1995) recommended that the service needed to change its emphasis from solely being a reactive service to proactively preventing fires by engaging in Community Fire Safety. However, Baine (2002) observed that this ethos had still not been widely adopted by all personnel. He suggested that the services traditional raison d’^etre of reducing the loss of life, property and protecting the environment had not changed, but the strategies for achieving those objectives needed to involve engaging with and educating the public, with an emphasis on prevention rather than cure.
It has been a political necessity for successive governments to address these deficiencies and improve efficiency and value for money under the umbrella term of Modernisation, but actual improvements have not met expectations due to organisational resistance, Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd, and Walker (2005).
Hoffer and Schendel, D (1978) propose that strategy can be characterised as the organisations ability to achieve a match with the external environment in which it operates. Therefore to develop an effective strategy analysis of the interrelationship between the external demands and the internal capacity to achieve them must be under taken, this is known as resource based approach, Collis and Montgomery et al (1995). This essay will determine this match in the Fire Service by evaluating the external strategic environment through a PESTEL analysis and then evaluating the internal capacity of the service to meet those demands through a cultural web analysis. The essay will then evaluate the interrelationship between the two and make recommendations based on a SWOT analyse.
2. Strategic analysis of external environment (PESTEL see appendix 1)
External analysis is important to identify the key drivers for change and future design of the structure of the service to meet those demands, Johnson Scholes and Whittington (2005)
Political
The interrelationship professionals in the Public sector and politicians has not always been a productive one, politicians have sought to control the distribution of services and conduct of its employees with rules and regulations, Flynn 2002, Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd and Walker et al (2005).
Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd, and Walker, recognise that public services have been in reform for the past 20 years and that the broad intention of the change has been to replace the previous custodial system of service provision, with a more efficient private-sector style of managed provision.
Political leaders have an electoral mandate to improving the quality, equity and value for money of the services provided to the public. Politicians have deployed two main strategies to combat the resistance of professionals namely privatisation and the introduction of managers, neither of these strategies however has reduced the levels of professional discretion, Flynn et al (2002), Lane (1997)
The Local Government Act (1999) seeks to make public services more accountable to the customers that they serve more in line with the private companies. Lane (1996) identifies accountability to mean impartiality and mutual protection of all. Performance indicators were developed to measure the performance of Public Services.
Economic
Thompson and Martin (2005) suggest that consideration of economic conditions will determine which strategies are viable. The Public Services depend on financial grants from the government funding levels must be incorporated into the process of strategic Management. The primary catalyst for modernisation of the public services was driven by the high levels of public spending as a ratio of gross domestic product in the 70s. Consequently when efficiency measures are implemented it is productive efficiency, which intends to reduce the costs that take precedence over allocative efficiency, which intends to improve the range and quality of the services provided, Flynn (2002).
The Kent fire and rescue service is currently over funded by the Kent County Council, efficiency savings of approximately 6 Million pounds are required over the next three years.
Financial constraint and political constraints make it unlikely that the short falls will be picked up by the Local tax payers, Kent Fire and Rescue (2007a). (See appendix 1 Economic)
Social
Communities have been changing HMFSI (1999) observed the Fire Service lacked diversity and consequently it did not match the communities that it served, it set targets for increased diversity. However, Baine (2002) suggested that the situation had not improved significantly and that the lack of diversity was seriously affecting the services ability to interact face to face with these groups, some of who were from the most at risk sections of society.
Kent Fire and Rescue is still under represented and has failed to meet its own low targets for increasing diversity, currently the uniformed workforce consists of only:
• 1.05% from ethnic minority backgrounds, this is up 0.20% on last year
• 3.2% Female, this is up 0.18% on the previous year
• 1.77 With a disability, this is down 0.16% on previous year
(Kent Fire and Rescue 2007b …show more content…
P.33)
Rank to Role has been Implemented this reduce the 13 ranks to 6 Roles each with a clearly defined responsibilities.
Small improvements have been made towards increasing the low ratio of women to men over the last year. However, current figures identify that 9% of the population in the South East region are from an ethnic minority background (Campaign for Racial Equality 2007), therefore, the service is far behind Baines objectives of the matching the profile of the communities that they serve.
Technological
Technological breakthroughs can produce both new opportunities and threats; they can provide new equipment, which makes the job both safer and quicker or conversely render parts of the organisation redundant, Thompson and Martin (2005). For example, the Improvements in building design and increased smoke detector usage has reduced the amount of fire deaths, can the service continue maintaining the same level of response when casualty numbers are at such low levels, Kent Fire and Rescue (2007b). Environmental
The county of Kent presents a variety of unique risks which the KMTFA (Kent and Medway Towns Fire Authority) is responsible under the fire services act (2004) some of the key areas are:
• 1.6 million people live in 681000 dwellings, widely distributed across a large area of 3700KM2
• There are also nearly 48,000 other properties such as shops, factories, schools and hospitals.
• Developing area with another 46000 planned by 20165% and a 5% increase in office and business development by 2021.
• Aging population, the proportion of elderly residents will increase to nearly 1/3 of a million. As a consequence there will be an increase in the number of citizens with mobility and disability issues.
• Increasing numbers of single parent families and house sharing with unrelated young individuals.
• There are 250 miles of motorway and major roads, six ports, four small airports and the Channel Tunnel. (Kent Fire and Rescue 2007b P.5)
While the service has always attended other types of emergency it is now on a statutory footing. In addition, the events of 9/11 have resulted in the drafting of a new order to formalise the services involvement in major terrorist incidents involving radiological, chemical and explosives.
Legal
Kent Fire and Rescue (2007a) suggest that fire service act is the most far reaching and comprehensive reform of the statutory legislation that has occurred to the service for over 50 years. The Act sets out the services increased statutory responsibilities which now covers a much wider range of emergencies and recognises the important role in ‘new dimensions’ work and emergency planning. The act also allows greater flexibility in the deployment of resources and resolves the anomaly of effective proactive fire prevention reducing the amount of money received from the government.
Health and Safety at Work Act (2004) does not differentiate between part time workers and their whole time counterparts. Baine (2002) agrees that they should be trained to the same professional standards. This has a cost implication in both times of the individual and money to provide additional training. The Fire Brigades Union legally challenged the legitimacy of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire fire and rescue services strategy of co-responding to medical emergencies before the attendance of paramedics because of their superior attendance times. Mr Justice Butterfield (as cited in the Fire Engineers Journal 2007) ruled in favour of the Union, commenting that although this was good use of the Firefighters expertise, it was fundamentally the responsibility of paramedics or ambulance crews to attend medical emergencies not Firefighters.
3. Internal Analysis using a cultural web analysis (see appendix2)
Structure and style of management
Structural design and style of management have an impact on the culture of an organisation and can even help to shape the behaviour of individuals within it, Macgregor (1960), Maslow et al (1965). Livingston Sterling (as cited in Bennis 1992) adapted the Pygmalion effect to a managerial context, he comments:
Subordinates more often than not appear to do what they believe they are supposed to do. (P.198)
Therefore the Autocratic manager gets the theory X worker, and conversely if the organisation needs independent flexible self motivated staff they should adopt a more humanistic style in line with theory Y, Macgregor (1960), Livingston –Sterling (as cited in Bennis 1992).
Baine (2002), HMFSI et al (1999) criticised the highly militaristic style of management and the strong quasi militaristic set of discipline regulations. HMFSI perceive that this approach has helped foster a:
…almost regimental pride, and a spirit of team working, which is essential to the operational role of the service. This ethos, and a strong spirit of service, pervades the fire service at both local and national levels. (P.20)
The comments of Baine (2002 and HMFSI (1999)) confirm that workers in the fire service have a strong sense of duty. Ackroyd and Walker (2005) suggest that this is a common trait among public service workers who tend to develop:
Professionalism based on public services ethos, which puts technical skill together with the provision of services on a basis of need rather than the basis of an ability to pay. (P167)
However HMFSI (1999) observed that the culture was closed and intolerant of differences, patriarchal and highly uninviting to women and ethnic minorities.
Baine (2002) identified that the watch culture was capable of socialising and conditioning new entrant to group norms because these stable small groups, individuals work very closely with each other, more like a family than a workgroup, this is consistent with the theories of Harvey and Conslavi (1960 as cited in Robbins 1998). HMFSI observed undesirable macho sub cultures, based on white heterosexual values. In addition they observed watches were highly resistant to external influence and that new managers were unlikely to challenge the prevailing culture, preferring to fit in with the group norms, they concluded that:
We are strongly of the opinion that substantial change is necessary in the management and culture of the service to achieve an environment where equality and fairness can be integrated into its whole operation and organisation. (P.55)
Baine (2002) suggested that management and the lack of governmental will to undertake legislative reform were primarily to blame for this unsatisfactory situation. (See appendix 2, Structure)
This approach has created a us and them divide between managers and subordinates at all levels, Baine (2002). Robbins (1998) suggests that sub cultures can be formed from problems in organisations. This could explain why there is a strong culture of anti establishment and stories of mavericks and villains prevail.
4. Evaluation Internal and External environments
Baine (2002) identified that change of the organisational structure of the service was vital if the governments intended modernisation agenda was to be successful. Baine, in addition identified that the Service was overly bureaucratic and too slow in adapting to its external environment. He highlighted that the primary legislation was over 50 years old and has been a constraining influence on previous recommendations to modernisation.
On the other side of the coin bureaucracies can provide control through extensive rules and regulations, which leads to consistent repeatable results, Handy (1985) Buchan and Huczynski et al (2004). Newman and Clarke (1994) du Gay (1996) (as cited in Exworthy and Halford 1999) agreed, adding that bureaucratic procedures combined with professionalism are essential components and that the introduction of mangerlialism could cause irreparable damage to the public services.
HMFSI observed the authoritarian and autocratic style did not encourage individual thinking or maximise the full potential of the workforce, Golman (2000). Moss - Kanter et al (1985) considered both these areas to be essential in the process of organisational change. HMFSI (1999) suggests that leadership and management would be far more appropriate in these circumstances.
Baine, HMFSI et al both accept that the values of professionals in the service support the organisations operational purpose of reacting to emergencies. However, Baine et al have identified resistance to modernisation at all levels of the service. Morgan et al (2000 as cited in the Patrick, Ackroyd and Walker 2005) have observed that professional public service values have been surprisingly resistant to change.
Governments have been frustrated by self serving professionals following there own agenda and have created more rules, more targets and more inspections but for all these control measures there are also negative effects, Flynn (2002). Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd, and Walker (2005) suggest that very little progress has been achieved and Pollit (as cited in Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd, and Walker ) comments that very little improvement in customer satisfaction and quality can be found despite massive disruptions to staff and the expenditure of considerable resources.
The Fire Service traditionally has always had very good levels of recruitment and excellent retention, Baine (2002). The modernisation agenda however has caused wide spread demoralisation throughout the workforce. Conley (as cited in Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd, and Walker 2005) describes this a one of the consequences of public service reforms along with lower levels of satisfaction, higher stress levels, poor retention and difficulty filling those staff vacancies.
This could be due in part to an incompatibility between values between managerialism and professionals. Stewart and Clarke (1987) agreed realising that the public services strategic values of effectiveness are centred on high quality, citizen centred public service. In contrast, Exworthy and Halford (1999) raise issue that management values are centred on economics and efficiency. Polanyi (1971 as cited in Udehn 1996) suggests that the values of economics are not focussed on honour, pride, duty or moral obligation. Polanyi goes on to comment that economics provide inadequate motivation for workers because it focuses on what can materially be achieved rather than what ideally should be done. Bennis’s – Nanus (1985) shared this ethical viewpoint when he commented: Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing. (P. 21)
However in the current climate of modernisation with its efficiency savings and increased statutory responsibilities, management will be equally important to the function of leadership.
While the watch culture with its characteristics of duty loyalty, camaraderie and professionalism are seen as benefits, its insular closed nature with its lack of tolerance to difference and widespread bullying are seen as major barriers to integration of the service in the wider community with the wider community, HMFSI (1999) Baine et al (2002).
5. Evaluation of strengths, Weakness, opportunities and threats
Baine observed that many of the previous recommendations had been not been effective. A contributory factor is that previous strategies were too one dimensional, either focusing on keeping up with the opposition and technological change or seeking to improve the internal performance, Collis and Montgomery (1995). Determining the organisational strategy is important, but so is applying it, which in its self is a complicated task involving the management of people and resources, Ellis and Williams (1993).The SWOT analysis avoids this by evaluating the internal capabilities to meet the external environmental demands. Strengths and Weakness are internal they include inputs, processes and how efficiently those internal characteristics achieve the intended outputs. Opportunities and threats are generally outside the direct control of the organisation but must be addressed, Bryson (1995).
Strengths
When considering whether an internal characteristic is a strength one must consider the strength in different contexts, such as it longevity, uniqueness its reproducibility.
Collis and Montgomery (1995). For example the current high levels of public satisfaction and confidence can evaporate, if efficiency cuts produce a product that does not meet the consumer’s needs. The image of the service is currently good we are perceived to offer an effective service and we are well respected for the work that we do. Interestingly however, the public does not have any loyalty to the public services and they do not care who provides them as long as the service is good and they are not making large profits, Flynn (2002).
Baine (1999), HMFSI (2002) see the Fire and Rescue Services ability take on and respond to an ever increasing array of emergency incidents as strengths. However, the complexity and range of the incidents requires the service to make a long term commitment to training to ensure that it is capable to respond effectively to
them.
Porter (2005) theorised about the treat from competition in the market, certainly the service has an advantage in that it has a unique range of equipment and skills, but would be unwise to consider that it is not reproducible, during the strike of 2002 the Army provided an effective although much reduced service with much fewer resources, Baine (2002).
Weaknesses
To develop effective strategies organisations make the most of strengths while minimising the effects of threats and weakness, Bryson (1995). While professional values and an autocratic style of Management are seen as appropriate whilst attending and dealing with emergency incidents, Baine (2002), HMFSI, Audit et al (1999). However, the total reliance on this style of management and culture is out of step with the external environment and what is currently considered to be best practice, ODPM (2005), Baine (2002) , Bennis (1992). It is also seen as a the main barrier to increasing diversity in the Service, Baine (2002)
The cultural web seeks to understand culture and how the organisation actually behaves examining the cultural artefacts of the organisation, Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2002). (See appendix 2). The web supports the finding from Audit commission (1995), HMFSI (1999) and Baine et al (2002) that the culture of the service is focussed on putting out fires and attending emergency incidents. This is out of step with the current service strategy and that of the Government, Fire Authority and Fire Brigades Union.
Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2002), propose that culture develops over time and achieves dominance as an integral part of the organisation and that can be self perpetuating if left to its own devices. When there is a difference between the two this is known as strategic drift it can be costly and reduce the organisation effectiveness. The ODPM (2005) recommend that a transformational style of leadership is adopted to develop the positive culture required, Schien, (1985) Mullins (1999) also proposes that it is the responsibility of the leadership to manipulate and develop the desired culture.
Opportunities
The move from rank to role has reduced the layers of management from 13 to 6 and presents the opportunity for managers to manage, (Baine 2002). According to Mullins (1999) the benefits of flatter organisational structures are that they can improve organisational communications, save money and are more compatible with a participative style of management recommended by the ODPM (2005) for all public services. Legislative change has also allowed the introduction of external managers, Baine (2002) proposes this is an advantage as it allows the service to obtain new skill and diversity.
Local Government Act (1999) requires that public services are responsive to public needs and provide their service efficiently, effectively and economically. While no business wants less money to provide the same service the Fire Service Act (2004) requires that the Fire Authority design a strategic plan for the equitable distribution of the resources under their control.
Threats
Public service has been subject to an aggressive modernisation agenda and that is likely to continue, Kirkpatrick, Ackroyd, and Walker (2005). Professionals have resisted this process by applying the services adhering to there own professional and ethical values, Flynn (2002), Exworthy and Halford et al (1999). This constant battle between mangerlialism and professionalism ensures that the implementation of strategy is highly inconsistent. This damaging cycle is a major threat; Johnson Scholes and Whittington (2005) suggest that sometimes the change required can be so great that strategic alignment can not be achieved by incremental change. In these circumstances strategic flux occurs, this is where strategies are constantly implemented revised and re – implemented this in turn leads to strategic drift, which can prove terminal.
The threat of workers leaving the service due to dissatisfaction with the constant reform program in the public services is a real one, Boare (2007) commented:
The retained can not cope with the increased paperwork and the bureaucratic training records are ensuring that even Firefighters are spending more time filling in paperwork than they are drilling. I have had three Junior Officers hand their tickets in this week. (20/5/07)
6. Conclusions
Professional values can not exist in isolation from the external environment, managers must therefore separate there own values before assessing the strategic requirements, regrettably what has worked in the past may not work in the future, Johnson Scholes and Whittington (2005).
Guest and Conway (2002) identify that levels of satisfaction, trust and employee commitment are lower in the public sector and that managerial restructuring is high on the list of causes. Kirkpatrick Ackroyd and Walker point out that rapid extensive change programs, combined with little or no discussion with professionals prior their implementation, has also reduced their willingness to participate and engage in intended reforms. Kotter & Schlesinger (1995) realise that it is essential to involve those who need to change in the process of change, as individuals are more likely to maintain commitment with something that they have helped to create.
Public sector management is more complicated due to the larger numbers of stakeholders with influence and power to slow down, change or block Strategy. Lane (1997) summarise the conflicting agendas and values elegantly:
…Not merely a matter of effectiveness and efficiency, but also a matter of legality and legitimacy and of value patterns other than strictly business patterns. Public management is not only internal, but also and primarily external management in the complex Socio - political context. (P.176)
The increased customer focus and collaborative strategy development will serve all stake holders long term needs, but it will require the relinquishing of traditional power structures and the adoption of transformational style of leadership reinforced with effective analytical management, Bratton (as cited in Heskett 1996).
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Appendix 1
Political
• Government in power with huge majority and a developing agenda for improving the delivery of fire related issues.
• Successive Governments have planned to modernise the public services, this theme has been topical for the last 20 years and appears to still be on the politicians agenda
• Strong union influence in decision making
• Range of new legislation will impact on the provision and legislative basis for a fire service.
Economical
• Rises in Council Tax are very unpopular, Kent Fire and rescue is already funded well above the national average. The national average is for the government grant to fund 75% and local government to fund the remaining 25%. However, in Kent this ratio is nearly reversed with 40% coming from the government grant and 60% provided by local tax payers, Efficiency savings of at least 5.6% over the next 3 years have been planned and changes in the way increases to government grant are awarded favouring authorities that serve less affluent areas. This means that in real terms the Kent fire and rescue Service will need to make savings of approximately 6 million pounds over this period in real terms, (Kent Fire and Rescue 2007a). These savings combined with council tax capping regulations, unavoidable pension responsibilities whilst still undertaking the comprehensive modernisation agenda set out by the government makes for tough decisions on the future allocation of resources.
• Social Justice Legislation often increases in the budget.
• Pay issues for fire service are based on a national basis. Much higher than the average wages in most of Kent. Social
• Thematic Review (1999) of the fire service
– Cultural diversity almost non - existent.
– Slow turn over of staff
• Increase ethnic diversity in the community , not easily accessed
• Family friendly working practices.
• Increased Public involvement in strategies
• Few big towns requiring a more diverse spread of fire cover.
Technology
• Improvements in building design and the increased use of smoke detectors have reduced the number of fire deaths.
• Internet developments of on-line services.
• Wireless and mobile telephony.
• Technological aids for developing service delivery allow the transfer of information on the incident ground.
Environmental
• Kent has a diverse set of risks, the Fire and Rescue Service needs to provide resources in the right locations to deal with them.
• There is an increased threat to the communities in Kent from terrorist activities, the government has placed increased responsibility on the service to develop strategies and provide resources to deal with these types of incidents.
• Concern over impact of additional infrastructure. Developments on service delivery.
• The population in Kent is increasing and many new homes are planned over the coming years.
Legal
• Fire Service Act (2004) requires that Fire Authorities make provision for the delivery of a Fire and Rescue service.
• Detail the Scope of provision for which the Fire Authority has responsibility.
• Replaces mechanistic national of fire cover standards with a Risk based approach.
• Under the Local Government Act 1999 Fire Authorities have a duty to ensure ‘Best Value’.
• Health and Safety at work Act 1994,
• HSE has issued improvement orders to Fire services causing the development of the Integrated Personal Development System, this vocational competency based system which does not differentiate between retained and whole time.
• Equal opportunities and Employment law.
• Legal challenges from the union to resist change
Appendix 2
Appendix 2 Cultural Web
Stories
It is the stories about big incidents that have helped to shape the culture of the Fire Service; Audit Commission (1995) recommended that the service move away from simply reacting to fires and start proactively preventing them.
The heroes in the stories are operational personnel who have risen to the challenges and demands and reactively achieved the objectives, even now, proactively engaging in preventative work is not perceived to be heroic or even one of the services primary functions by most.
Possibly thanks to the bureaucratic structure combined with an autocratic style of management, Mavericks and Villains who have stood up and defeated the system still feature strongly in the stories told around the mess table.
Without doubt, the work done by the Fire safety and community fire safety departments in combination with better building design and the reduction in poverty, have reduced the number of serious incidents that the service is required to attend. This has led to the proliferation of stories about the good old days, when the where more incidents and there was more freedom and autonomy to deal with them as a practitioner felt best.
Power
Handy (1993) identifies that rules and procedures which can be applied by managers who are perceived to have the authority to apply them through their situational power. Baine (2002) believed that:
…Officers gain authority because they have gone through the same recruitment, induction and training as the Firefighters (P.100)
HMFSI et al (2002) recognises that a transformational consultative style is inappropriate on the incident ground, because it is not possible to enter into negotiations to ensure compliance, and that failure to follow orders could also be highly dangerous. Buchanan and Huczynski (2004) also suggest that in crisis situations strong leadership is welcomed by subordinates. Baine agrees suggesting that while this no nonsense style was appropriate on the incidents ground, he makes the point that for at least 95% of the time the fire service was not involved in emergency work
The adversarial single tier promotional system ensured that the professional Officers had risen through the ranks to get their promotion, in pure bureaucratic style by appointment, Weber (1947). While this was far from being fair or a modern approach the officers generally did have credibility. Baine (2002) however criticised the quality of the management at all levels. Nevertheless, the relationship between rank, rules and situational power is strong, and has value in operational contexts as it does not require lengthy debates.
Flynn (2002) identifies that this is seen as a problem in the public services which leads to operational inefficiency, due to them developing independent strategies in line with the desires of their senior managers and more importantly not in line with the political will of the government.
Flynn also proposes that many professionals choose to use the situational power to maintain the Status Quo and that this has led to poor progress against the modernisation agenda. This is due to professional managers developing their own independent strategies rather than complying with directives issued by the government.
The charter mark, value for money and best value (1999) have all sought to empower the public and place them at the centre of the provision of public services. Interestingly there is little real evidence that they have any real power or influence on decisions on provision of their public services, other than the opportunity for them to participate in several cynically worded questionnaires.
Working practices
Baine commented on the working practice as being outdated, he was right some of the working practices do not belong in a modern public service. Issues like sleeping on nights and receiving extra day off as well as money when a banks holiday is worked need revising.
Also the work routines on stations do not make the best use of the time available, without putting to fine a point on it, the style of a management is laissez - faire , more like a country club than a place of work, Heresy and Blanchard
Symbols
The Militaristic uniform clearly identifies that the fire and Rescue service is a disciplined service; there are however plans to reduce its formality of the general working uniform as it is perceived to create a barrier between the service and the public. It also clearly identifies members of the workforce as being either from the professional, operational and or managerial areas of the organisation.
Rank markings identify status, power and achievement; these hard earned symbols identify the position of individuals in the hierarchy. The recent change from Rank to a role demonstrated the importance that individuals placed on these small symbols. In short some managers were realigned down but all the managers rank marking stayed the same or went up to prevent individuals having to accept lower rank markings. In addition there is still a culture of subordinates refusing to call managers by their names preferring Guv, Boss or Sir; however that’s not to say that they don’t use less euphemistic terms when they are out of ear shot.
There has been a reduction in the amount of perks that Officers (Station Manager and above) receive but they are still entitled to lease cars, a different set of personal allowances and made to measure uniforms.
Structure
Baine (2002) identified the structure of the service as highly bureaucratic as is common with most public service. Common to Bureaucracies the service is divided into divisions. Handy (1995) would describe this as role culture.
The structure of the service and the responsibilities of the Fire Authorities were determined by the Fire Service Act (1947) it remained in force for over 5O years. The Act provided consistency, which is seen by many observers as one of the strengths of bureaucracies. Buchan, Huczynski et al (2004) agree that bureaucracies are efficient and capable of producing repetitive predictable results, bureaucracies also identify who is in command and the organizations survival is not dependant on the memory of individuals, for its long term success, because the rules and procedures clearly identify what is expected of individuals. Buchan, Huczynski however identify that these types of organizations are incapable of responding to organisational change quickly, and do not maximise the full potential of the workforce, Bennis (1996), Bass et al (1985) agree.
The structure appointed authority and influence primarily by the individual’s position within the bureaucratic hierarchal structure, Weber (1970), Handy (1985).The adversarial single tier promotional system ensured that the professional Officers had risen through the ranks to get their promotion, in pure bureaucratic style by appointment, Weber (1947). While it was some ways this was far from being fair or modern the Officers generally did have credibility. Baine (2002) however criticised the quality of the management at all levels. Nevertheless, the relationship between rank, rules and situational power is strong, and has value in operational contexts as it does not require lengthy debates trying to persuade staff or the provision of additional rewards.
The divisions all have a hierarchal chain of command which appoints its authority by appointment to the position/rank/role that the individual occupies within in the service.
Staffs are divided in the following distributions main groupings:
914 Whole time personnel who work on a variety of different shift patterns and provide 24hr cover 365 day a year. They staff 23 stations and cover the larger towns and cities in the county.
814 Retained staff that work on a part time basis and protect the communities that they live in. The service is not there main employer and they attend incident subject to there other work commitments they need to provide a minimum amount of hours cover a week as part of their contract.
39 Control split in to 4 watches that work the same shift patterns as the whole time personnel they receive and deploy resources. They also arrange the attendance of other services and provides specialist information to the fire ground.
240 Professional and Administrative staff, who carry out all the other functions that make a business run.
Controls
The Fire Service Act 2004 clearly defines the services that fire authorities must provide to the communities that they serve. It also allocates new responsibilities under in the area of civil contingency and emergency planning
Politicians have sought to regain control by reducing the power of bureaucracies’, by introducing more managers and introducing performance targets to assess compliance, Flynn (2002). Kirkpatrick Ackroyd and Walker (2006) discuss that generic management in isolation from the professional context may prove highly problematic where the skills of the profession are unusual or high.
Best Value seeks to make public service directly accountable to the communities that they serve by measuring its performance against a set of performance indicators which are periodically inspected and the results published. Although it does not publish league tables Kent Fire and Rescue is one of only two fire services to receive an excellent assessment from the Audit Commission. However, making a comparison is a little like comparing apples and oranges, as the service is massively over funded compared with other services.
IPDS seeks to ensure that all staff achieves the appropriate levels of performance specific to the role that they are undertaking. This is achieved by objectively assessing their performance against specific occupational standards.
All work is subject to the requirements of the Health and Safety Act, this is an continuous analytical process, this ensures that risk is reduced to minimum at all times. It helps the Incident commanders decide and set the strategic objectives of the incident on a risk to potential gain stand point.
Paradigm
People who work in the service believe that they are already doing a good job, a strong service ethos prevails and there is wide spread commitment to all operational intervention work and providing a professional service which is free at the point of delivery. Uniformed staffs do consider themselves to be the custodians of the service and the non uniformed staff are simply there to support them. Recent changes to HR have seen a well qualified HR professional take what was previously a uniformed post, this has caused quite a stir amongst the middle managers as this is a really influential position in the service and a Station Manager Commented:
HR is already twice the size it was two years ago and they already have far to much power they are telling us how to run the organisation.
To put this in to context the individual is a first line middle manager in charge of a small station. Generally speaking he has discretion to legitimately deploy his resources as he sees fit. But the officer was unwilling to accept that the new HR Director, who is positioned at principle officer level, should have any influence over his station.
Another unfortunate characteristic of bureaucratic organisations, in the current climate of continuous public service reform, is that they are highly resistant to change due to their slow turn over of staff and extensive rules and regulations, Buchanan & Huczynski et al (2004).
This public service ethos used to spread into voluntary duties such as Red Cross and Duke of Edinburgh training, and support for local charities.
After all that is what they joined the job for to put out fires and attend emergencies. They are less willing to consider the implications that the service could be provided more efficiently, at least not in public. The front line personnel believe that simply because it has always been done that way, therefore it can not be done any other way. Workers in the Fire Service are also quite a pragmatic bunch closed to the idea that efficiency savings could ever result in a better service.
The public perception of the service is still high rising after an initial dip after the strike and firefighters in Kent believe that all they have to do is continue providing what they always have and it will simply stay that way. Metropolitan services however have a different view they realize that public opinion is determined by circumstance and situational circumstances, in some area the Service is viewed as a part of the establishment and regularly targeted.