BY MIKE CAYSE
Welcome to Mission Im-possible. Your mission, since you have chosen to accept it, is to run your fire department’s training bureau effectively. Good luck! The role of the training program manager (TPM) is not to be taken lightly; the position’s responsibilities are vast. As TPM, your decisions and the actions taken will influence not only you and your members’ careers but also the fire department’s overall effectiveness for many years to come.
 An instructor assists a student in basic pump operations. (Photos by author.) |
In departments of all sizes and configurations (career, volunteer, and combination), training has an impact. The TPM must think beyond just delivering occasional training classes to managing, directing, and meeting the department’s training needs. This goes beyond teaching firefighters how to stretch a hoseline and includes helping supervisors carry out their duties and the department to grow.
GAINING MANAGEMENT’S SUPPORT
The support of fire department managers is essential to a training program’s success. These people hold the purse strings and can say yes or no to your proposals. More importantly, through their actions and comments, they influence the organizational culture or attitude toward training. If management has a negative attitude toward training, training may be looked on as something that’s done because it has to be done. The emphasis will be on documentation instead of the use of academic and skill-based knowledge to carry out the department’s mission to the public. This attitude is contagious.
Management approval is not a problem for TPMs whose position was created because management recognized the need for change. However, TPMs who obtained the position through their own initiative or through a mandate from outside the fire department need to gain the support of department managers. This buy-in process may be more difficult. Regardless of the situation, you should consult with management to discuss the department’s training needs. Training ideas should arise from a single unified vision you and your superiors develop together. When superiors have a stake in the training plan, they will be more likely to approve it. Conflict may ensue if your ideas and management’s differ. Understand that program approval and concept buy-in can be quite different.
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
With a common vision and shared goals, you as a TPM should realistically determine your department’s training needs. A needs assessment will help identify the gaps in the present training program; it should include internal, external, and legal audits of your current situation. The following seven steps will help you do this.
- Examine your department’s mission statement, and identify all the functions members are required to fill. Although the mission statement is often very broad, it is a good place to start in determining the functions in which your department must be proficient. Usually, the department’s types of fire companies and equipment are good indicators of its duties. A heavy rescue truck equipped with extrication tools indicates entrapment and collapse-type rescues, for example. List these roles for reference later.
- Research all the laws and standards that apply to the department’s types of response. For example, if your members respond to haz-mat emergencies and isolate the area while waiting for a haz-mat team, your members need haz-mat operations-level training. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandate certain minimum training levels. Also ensure that you meet all of your state’s certification and recertification requirements. But also investigate other organizations’ recommendations for training in specific fields, such as the Insurance Services Office (ISO) and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards.
- Determine the minimum training time required for each specific task your members must perform. Do this for each department position-drivers, officers, special operations, and so forth. For example, a basic firefighter EMT may need 240 hours of fire training, 120 hours of EMT-A training, eight hours of haz-mat operations-level training, and 32 hours of refresher training annually. In addition, he may need a certain minimum number of training hours in areas such as workplace violence and diversity.
- Identify training deficiencies and their extent based on the current training program and the information gathered above. Once you know what the department’s functions are and the applicable standards require, compare this information with the training members currently receive, to identify the areas where your current training program falls short.
- Examine in-house records for apparent training deficiencies. These records should include injury reports, incomplete incident reports, legal actions filed against the department, apparatus accidents, dollar losses, and post-incident critiques. You are looking for trends and patterns that cost the department money or have resulted in injuries. With this data, you can determine the training needed to address these issues. For example, if the department had five apparatus accidents last year that cost the department $50,000 in vehicle damage, $12,000 in damage to another vehicle involved and property, $5,000 in overtime paid to cover shifts, and a 10-percent increase in insurance premiums, then it is obvious that a driver training program would be a very cost-effective investment.
- Survey members for their views on the current training program. Have members complete a questionnaire anonymously. Ask if the training they have received is adequate for the tasks they need to perform. Ask them to point out the deficiencies they think exist. Avoid simple yes or no questions-you need specific data. Members should identify their role within the department so you can determine which fire department group is affected-drivers, officers, firefighters, or management. By responding anonymously, the membership will feel freer to speak out without fear of retaliation.
- Analyze the results. Look for trends in the data. Look at what the laws and standards say you should be doing; compare that with what you discovered through internal and external audits. This will help determine where you should concentrate your efforts. Start with the minimum legal requirements your members must meet, and then address other areas recognized in your audits.
ESTABLISHING A TRAINING PLAN
Now that you have finished the needs assessment and uncovered the gaps in training, you can formulate a plan that addresses these deficiencies and fulfills your members’ training needs. Below is a six-step process for doing this.
- Create a mission statement for the training bureau based on the department’s mission statement. This mission statement should support the department’s mission statement. It should state the need to facilitate the required task-based training your members need to serve the public.
- List all the goals required to meet your needs assessment. These goals should reflect your needs assessment, mission statement, and firefighters’ responsibilities. For example, a goal would be to have a driver training program for all department drivers.
- Identify the objectives to be accomplished to achieve each identified goal. If your goal is a driver training program, one objective may be to define the scope of the driving program (i.e., which members need the training, what identified weaknesses must be addressed, and so forth).
- Prioritize objectives in descending order. Consider the urgency of the training individuals need. A good rule of thumb is to prioritze legally mandated training aspects before those that are just recommended, not required.
- Assign an individual to each goal. A common pitfall of TPMs is trying to do it all. It is impossible for one individual to perform all the tasks associated with running a training program. Be a manager: Delegate the training tasks, and keep the responsible individuals on track, but allow them leeway to see the task through. This involves members in the process, too.
- Establish a timetable for reaching objectives and goals. As TPM, put the members responsible for a specific objective or goal on a timetable, and ensure that they follow it. A high-priority program may need immediate attention; a less important program may not have to begin for several months. Set up an appropriate schedule; review it periodically to check on progress.
- Manage your training program systematically. Review your mission statement, set up goals to support the statement, and assign the objectives to meet these goals. Each goal may have several objectives. Assign a responsible party to the goal; put each recognized goal on a timetable to be reviewed quarterly to identify and address potential problems.
TRAINING BUDGETS
These step-by-step processes should be done while keeping your superiors involved at all levels because it will eventually boil down to funding. You may recognize that a program is needed, but if the funding is not there or you cannot reasonably estimate what it might cost to carry out, the program will not even get off the ground.
 An instructor overseas a student at a car fire evolution. |
To determine how much a training program will cost, look at the identified objectives needed to attain each goal, and identify the resources needed to meet those objectives. Figure these costs based on internal and external instructor fees, capital expenditures, student overtime, operating expenses, and whatever other expenses may be required. Add up these figures for each goal, and plug it into your timetable for implementation. This will give an idea of the cost to be incurred over the range of the training plan. Use this as a guide; adjust implementation dates as necessary to meet budget restrictions. For example, a safety and survival class may have to wait a year until the department training budget can accommodate the expense so that a haz-mat refresher program can take precedence. Remember, a budget is a plan; use it in combination with your planned goals and objectives.
When presenting your training budget requirements, indicate the department’s return on investment, how the expense incurred will ultimately benefit the department, financially or otherwise. These figures should show the potential savings the department can obtain through training. For example, an insurance agency may reduce your department’s premium by 10 percent if all department drivers go through a training program. This amount may well pay for or exceed the cost of the classes. Moreover, the driver training program reduces the possibility of apparatus accidents and department liability in ensuing lawsuits. This type of savings is difficult to quantify, since it involves what did not happen. Look for these returns on investments, and use them in proposing your program and submitting your budget request.
Even after doing all the research and giving the best presentation possible to your superiors, the cost of training may still exceed what is budgeted. You may have to find an alternate source of funding. Make this a training bureau goal; assign a member to research the options. Many training grants are available. A Guide to Funding Alternatives for Fire and Emergency Medical Service Departments, published by the U.S. Fire Administration, can assist in finding these funding alternatives. Some states have fire department training funds available. Donations from private corporations and the potential reallocation of existing funds can help defray costs.
If all the alternative funding methods do not provide the needed funds, it is time to consider alternate methods of delivering your program to your audience. Consider delivering all or portions of the training to the students while on-duty instead of off-duty. Borrow equipment from other departments. Open your training programs to outside agencies and departments to help defray the cost. Consider self-study methods, video modules, and cable TV broadcasts students can watch while in quarters. Follow up these broadcasts with instructor visits to answer questions and certify competency. Consider restructuring a program to reduce the number of modules it contains or possibly link it to other mandated training.
As a TPM, you must be creative and flexible. Look into all your options, and choose the ones that do the most good for the greatest number of members.
SELECTING THE TRAINING STAFF
As TPM, your most important resource is the people who work for you. Motivated, qualified, and outgoing individuals will make a training bureau successful. In recruiting members for your training bureau, include considerations such as background and knowledge diversity, self-motivation, leadership, experience, qualifications, and the ability to get along with others. Look at your goals, and find the individuals best suited for attaining them. Your job as a TPM will be more to manage than to direct, and it is important to create an environment that enables your staff to feel as if they are getting something out of the assignment to the training bureau. They need to feel as if they are growing professionally and personally. Get them the materials and training they need, and let them run their projects. A reluctance to join the training bureau or high turnover indicates that something may be wrong. In some organizations, the training staff consists of transfers into the bureau from other areas; in others, there may be no training staff, just individuals assigned to suppression companies who also perform training. Treat your staff with respect and reward them; permit them to succeed personally.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Use the technological resources available to assist you in managing your training bureau. These resources include computer programs, the Internet, and on-line discussion postings such as that offered by TRADE (Training Resources and Data Exchange). These resources are invaluable in soliciting training information from other departments. Computer software can help you with various aspects of your position including scheduling, training, and database management software.
Do not become so occupied as TPM that you forget to keep up your own training. Take classes that can assist you in your career. The National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland, for example, has an excellent course on training program management. Get additional training in budgeting, personnel management, conflict resolution, and any other area that can help you do your job better. As the TPM, you need training to do your job as much as your members need it to do their jobs.
Adequate recordkeeping is essential for a TPM. If it’s not on record, it didn’t happen. Implement an effective way to retain and recall records. Keep training records on individuals and the department as a whole. Be able to track individual members’ needs and accomplishments and the programs that the department has offered. Record keeping is a legal requirement and the key to efficiency.
Managing a training bureau is not an impossible mission. With support from your superiors and a well-motivated and supported staff using the concepts outlined above, success will most assuredly come. Remember to use a systematic approach, concentrating on programs and goals that meet your fire department’s mission. Choose your staff carefully, don’t reinvent the wheel, and keep detailed records. After outlining and implementing these ideas, sit back and watch the culture, including training, of your department improve.
MIKE CAYSE is a 15-year veteran of the fire service and has served for the past six years with the Cincinnati (OH) Fire Division. He is a fire recruit basic training instructor, is a rescue team member of the FEMA Ohio Task Force One, and has served as a training specialist with the Miami Township (OH) Fire Department in Clermont County. He has a degree in fire science from the University of Cincinnati and is owner of a company that specializes in helping industry meet OSHA standards.
