This is about making strategic changes.
6 Integral Organizational Values:
1)
Integrity
2)
Value of Employees
3)
Quality Service
4)
Forward Thinking
5)
Open Administration
6)
Community Centered
In our class on organization
modeling we discuss at length how each value applies to the individuals in the
crew, the officers and the organization as a whole.
Briefly, it is about people. It is
always about people.
The crews don’t get away with it that easy. We outline the
important things that they have to bring to the table also.
8 Desired Crew Qualities:
1)
Integrity
2)
Teachability
3)
Growth
4)
Productivity
5)
Self-Motivated
6)
Honesty
7)
Transparency
8)
Authenticity
Sounds like the crews get more of the responsibility doesn’t
it?
As you step back and begin to look into the organization you
have to do it from a neutral
perspective. This can be difficult to do if you are involved
within the organization. This is why we recommend finding an outside source to
do this. It doesn’t have to be a highly polished consultant agency but a
disinterested party will certainly level the playing field. I have tried to do
it from within an organization and failed miserably. You may be able to reach
out to your state fire service oversight board and see if they can look at
things.
You have to first start this process with evaluating your
mission statement.
If you are not articulating what your common goal is
supposed to be you are setting everyone up for failure. The goal should be
established by a core group of interested people.
Everyone! Your leaders, your followers, and everyone in
between must buy in to this mission. It is the only way to make it explicitly
clear that
you are all working in the same direction. Post it everywhere!
When you have new rookies make sure that they get a copy of
it. I recommend on the first day that they report to actually give them a copy.
Frame it. Make it clear that this is the expectation.
One of the most important things that we have learned from
the people that we have worked with is that they want to know what is expected
of them. This can be difficult in smaller organizations when people hold
multiple roles within an organization but it still will need to be clearly
defined what their purpose is.
Make sure that everyone is working on the same page. If
someone needs to be temporarily reassigned make sure that they are aware of the
mission for the assignment.
Finally, we wanted to point out some of the instant killers
in organizations. These are the things that will send your people heading to
the next job fair.
The following items are things that are lethal toxins. We
believe that they lead to toxic environments and are things that need to be
addressed quickly and efficiently.
1)
Poor leadership
2)
Under Appreciated Staff
3)
Requiring blind trust
4)
Gossip
5)
Negative Environment
6)
Failed Communication
This article is just scratching the surface of what to look
into with organizational wellness. It is truly a difficult task to undertake
and inevitably not everyone will be pleased with the outcome. We are a
constantly changing community service field with more restrictions and
requirement to participate with unrealistic expectations. No one ever joined
the book club in town expecting that they were going to drag hose and climb
ladders. We are a different breed and this is why we need to stay on top of
issues as they arise.
If you want help evaluating your organization reach out to
us and we will help.
Be Ready. Be Willing. Be Present.
