What does the career trajectory of a firefighter actually look like? How do we measure career success? Is it via promotion all the way to the top or is it via the accrued certifications we obtain? No matter what metric you and your organization use to define the trajectory of a career path, there is one certainty: Our organizations must provide ample opportunities for growth and education.
The recent What Firefighters Want survey, which focused on fire department leadership in 2024, posed the question, “What is the No. 1 thing your fire department could do to support your personal leadership goals?” The answers spotlight an unfortunate reality – that many firefighters and officers feel that not enough is being done to support them in training. At the individual department level, we must do better to ensure that our members are being groomed for their career paths, whatever that path may be. [See the quotes below, organized by topic, for a snapshot of some of the responses.]
Career paths
For years in my organization, we only had one career path – up (or out). You could ascend the ranks from firefighter to a company officer, and then to a chief officer position. This same concept plays out in departments large and small across the country. As our membership changes and we continue to evolve as an emergency response agency, we must shift our mindset in order to develop defined career pathways for specific jobs.
Take for instance a driver/operator. Each of our organizations likely views this role differently. Some departments will have a promoted driver position while others may look to the most senior member. Still other departments will just pick a random firefighter to drive. The role of the driver/operator is a critical function, and firefighters must have intimate knowledge of apparatus operation, pump theory and practicum, and fire behavior.
How does a firefighter get to be a driver in your organization? What are their job performance requirements? Shouldn’t we have this well documented somewhere? It appears that within the survey results that many departments do not have defined roadmaps to success, which hinders firefighters from pursuing promotional opportunities at any level.
Time off and pay for training
When viewing the responses from a leadership standpoint, it goes further than having clearly defined expectations and pathways. Two major themes from the survey results are time off and pay for training. When analyzing the results, it becomes clear that firefighters want more training and education, but the opportunity simply is not there. Naturally we have an obligation to our community first – we simply need to have firefighters staffing the stations and making the runs. We can’t send everyone to training and close up shop for the week. Yet it appears that a situation has been created within many organizations of not having enough firefighters in general to cover runs and allow members to attend outside training.
Pay incentives also seem to be an issue with many members. This rings true within my own department. The organization will pay for the class, but members are not paid to attend unless the class falls on their duty day. The exception to this rule is if it is mandatory training regarding their job certifications, such as paramedic school, hazardous materials school or fire inspector. We have had these rules in place for over 20 years, but perhaps it is time to look at new options.
Some organizations will allow for training time within their union contracts. Others will take units out of service and cover calls with mutual aid or other apparatus during training. Other avenues include online training (when done appropriately) and offering courses within your organization. While there are certainly other viable options out there, it becomes evident that we need to review and revise what works and be on the lookout for new and innovative approaches to training delivery that also maximizes work-life balance. Simply put, members attempting to better themselves have to sacrifice to some degree. But, members should not have to always sacrifice their family, off time and their paycheck to meet minimum standards. Departments must begin finding new ways to fund and find training programs to push their departments to be better.
Succession planning
It’s important to consider how succession planning plays into this as well. Succession planning is not something to be feared but rather embraced. Leaders who are afraid to share their lessons or knowledge are not leaders at all; in fact, it’s an egotistical and maniacal approach to management that hampers all levels or organizational efficiency.
At some point each of us will hang our turnouts up on the rack for the last time, so we had better start identifying our replacements (and potentially our bosses) early. Identify members who have a desire to train and who wish to promote – and support them. Give them the time off necessary to obtain their credentials and skills while simultaneously covering calls for service. Support and fund higher education initiatives through college education programs that will directly benefit both the firefighter and the organization. Failure to do so will lose institutional knowledge at an alarming rate to either retirement or to other agencies that are supporting their members. This loss of knowledge can lead to more dangerous operations on the fireground as the members who knew the building, the streets or the history of the occupancy will be gone with no one left to backfill them. The loss of knowledge will certainly leave the department stagnant and spinning in circles without progressing forward.
The good news is that there are many departments that are doing it right. The City of Lexington (Kentucky) Fire Department utilizes a formal officer development program for newly promoted company officers that focuses on policy, administrative issues, and fireground strategy and tactics. This standardized approach ensures that all their officers are trained to a standard and an expectation of leadership. Members are compensated while they attend training, and instruction is performed in house with advanced notice of scheduling.
Many other departments have officer schools and ride-up programs for firefighters to be mentored and developed by supervisory personnel. The use of a task book can be used to ensure that certain competencies are checked off before the reigns are turned over. Even in my department, I have a task book to complete before I can operate as a shift commander; it includes scheduling, investigations and managing multiple types of emergencies.
How do we continue to improve our personnel and develop a succession plan? It begins with clearly defined expectations and the roadmap, funding, time off and skills. It includes supporting the members and understanding that family life and off-duty time is a bigger priority today than in years past, and all this requires a new approach to training delivery and innovative ideas.
Final thoughts
We need tuition reimbursement for higher education and for executive fire officers to fight for training budgets instead of slashing them. We also need to stop promoting the “favorites” or the “buddies” by having defined processes with clear objectives and consistent goals that members can track and follow. Otherwise, we will be left with a stale and stagnant department of inexperienced personnel being led by the same mismanagement styles of yesteryear. But, if we want to lead professional fire departments with seasoned members and maintaining our traditions while simultaneously mentoring, coaching and guiding the new members, then we should start listening to the firefighters and paying attention to their needs. It’s your department, how do you want it to survive?
