Is Our Stagnation Hurting Us?

By Rusty Sullivan

Somewhere in the United States there is an attorney, an engineer, a doctor, or even a plumber working hard and educating themselves in an effort to advance in their chosen careers. They know that if they do their level best, seek out the best training and education, and prove to others that they are exceptional in their professions, they will be rewarded in kind. Professionals know and expect that opportunities wait across the world for the best and brightest in any profession. As the professionals grow, they may (and most likely) will change employers numerous times seeking self-fulfillment, security, and freedom for their families.

What is the difference between the fire service professional and the engineer or the doctor? Are we all truly professionals in the same vein? Does the fire service professional have the same marketable opportunities? Do we have the same abilities to advance and to seek out opportunities and greater professional challenges as any other professional? Does the fire service professional have the same free-market security as the attorney, engineer, doctor, or plumber?

The reality is that the seasoned firefighter, the fire apparatus operator, or company officers are all in a sort of an indentured service to their department or city. Note: For the purposes of this article, “firefighter” shall refer to rank-and-file members of the fire service, generally under the rank of chief officers. Once seasoned firefighters pass a fuzzy career point, they become financially locked to their department. Their real opportunities to move as other professionals might become so limited as to seem nonexistent, except for a fire chief (we will talk about this later).

Is this stagnation model working for the fire service? Has this model served the fire service in a positive manner? And, if this model is not productive why do we (everyone) continue to support it? Why do most fire departments depend on the open market (nationwide search) when searching for the best fire chief?

Regardless of our personal feelings, the free market is the economic foundation of our society. America is a capitalist nation; supply and demand is our economic battle cry. The rules and regulations by which we buy soup, sell a car, or set a living wage are set by the free market. The free market is defined by definition.com as an “economic system in which prices and wages are determined by unrestricted competition between businesses, without government regulation of monopolies.” It is difficult, if not impossible, to fairly intertwine free-market values with the socialist values traditionally found in the fire service. To understand my argument, it is important to understand the motivators and demotivators in each of these economic systems. I am not an economist, nor do I claim to be an expert on the subject, and it is not my intent to debate the intrinsic values between capitalism and socialism. My intent is simply to explain the difficulties and the injustices to the individual when working under two economic systems at the same time.

In a free-market society, at least in theory, the harder you work and the higher your education level, the more positive opportunities are available to you. The big three automotive companies found this out the hard way when they each came close to bankruptcy. The three simply underestimated the quality difference between competitive manufactures. On the free market, more often than not, the best product at the best price will rise to the top. In contrast, a socialist market has an even dispersal of goods and compensation, again at least in theory, the all-for-one and one-for-all concept. This model has a fairness schema that says everyone should have an equal part of the pie. There are very intelligent people who argue the pros and cons for each position. But one thing is for sure: History has shown that the free market is by far the best mechanism for opportunity and advancement. History has also shown that a society whose people receive the same reward regardless of their efforts will reach a mediocre set point and fail to advance (sound familiar?).     

What Does the Free Market Offer the Fire Service?

One of the hallmarks of a professional or profession is an extensive, unique, and ongoing education. This is certainly true in part of the fire service; we do have a unique education or, more accurately, unique training requirements. Most fire departments in the United States require National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Fire Fighter I and II, hazmat operations, along with EMT or even paramedic. One could argue this training is unique and maybe even extensive, but ongoing training, at least, is missing or ineffective at best. The most common complaint I heard heard from attendees at the 2012 Fire and Emergency Higher Education Conference was about the lack of fire service training; education; and, more importantly, motivation. The fire service is more often than not seen as a very good job with great pay, plenty of time off, and outstanding benefits. So why is this a common schema across the United States? One would think that, given such a good job, firefighters would be motivated to advance their education and training. 

The simple answer for this failure is the lack of self-actualization and opportunities under the fire service’s current model of ensnaredness (yes, I made that word up). Firefighters do not have a compelling motivator for excelling in their positions. For most of us, we need motivators in the areas of self-actualization and opportunities. The human mind has a natural tendency to seek advancement, to want to see around the next corner, to climb the next mountain, to move west of the Mississippi, if you will. But, this natural tendency is fragile for most people and can be stymied by repeated disappointment. Martian Seligman calls this state of perpetual disappointment and despair “learned helplessness.” It is the rare person who can resist a repeated barrage of negativity and disappointment. We see these conflicted members in our departments and throughout our profession. Often, we dismiss their behavior as career burnout, post-traumatic stress, or worse: just a disgruntled employee who outlived his time on the job. 

You might be asking yourself what the binds between psychology and economics are. Back to the plumber and doctor: they understand that they have the ability to move about the United States as opportunities present themselves. If their current employer fails or lacks the ability to offer them internal opportunities, they can (and most likely will) seek the same or greater opportunities elsewhere. They become subject to the market place supply-and-demand services to the highest bidder. The hospital must offer the doctor a continued fair-market compensation package, advancement opportunities, education, and training, or the doctor will seek these opportunities from another hospital. Even the military service offers various and more satisfying opportunities to their personnel. Service personnel often bid from one command to another, based on desires and career opportunities.  

Military personnel, doctors, or the plumber now have a reason (if they want to be marketable) to train and educate themselves; they now have a reason to be the best doctor or plumber they can be. They now have unlimited advancement opportunities limited only by self-motivation and a willingness to move. The new employer also wins: He gets a well-trained and highly educated plumber or doctor. The employer’s own employees are now motivated to train harder and seek their own internal and external opportunities.

Now, let us translate this free-market concept to the fire service’s rank-and-file. As a rule, once a firefighter has been with a department for “some time,” he becomes financially trapped at that department. Virtually every fire department in the United States will start even the most seasoned firefighter, fire apparatus officer, and company officer at the bottom of new department’s seniority list, and most fire departments also require that the new member, regardless of experience, attend the department’s basic fire academy.

In our military, once you have achieved a rank of E-4, you remain an E-4. You would not start over at E-1 simply because you changed command. Although each naval ship is independent of the other and each ship has its unique culture and rules, their fundamental missions remain the same. ABC plumbing would not hire a senior plumber with advanced skills and start him out digging ditches. An experienced doctor or nurse would not start out at a new hospital changing bedpans; each would start where his/her skills and education are most advantageous to the new hospital and its patients.    

Firefighter opportunities are almost always limited to the in-house openings created by firings (fat chance), retirements (not often), or death (also not often). They are also subject to their jurisdiction’s economic state; a firefighter’s wage can be cut significantly before moving to another department becomes the better option. A firefighter’s career is dependent on the department’s internal politics, the competency and integrity of the department’s leaders, and the ability or willingness to reward the fire service member for efforts, training, and education. The firefighter’s career can start and end at one department with little and sometimes no advancement opportunities. The rank-and-file fire service professional is truly financially bound to the department. It’s a state of financially induced servitude or captivity.   

Fire chiefs, on the other hand, intentional or not, have figured this free-market concept out. They move from department to department as opportunities for advancement become available. Along with this ability, they understand their need for advanced training and a higher education. Most fire chiefs have acquired graduate degrees, executive fire officer certificates, and the like. They sit on National Fire Protection Association committees, write trade articles, give lectures, teach classes, and much more. These activities are designed to make them more marketable in the future. There is nothing wrong with this; it is a natural part of our human behavior. When fire chiefs move from department to department, they bring with them new and, often, innovative ideas. A fire chief hired from the outside has the unique ability of evaluating internal issues from a new perspective. I am not saying internal candidates don’t have their unique perspectives also; it is just not the point of this article.

So why are there hold-ups to such an idea of movement for firefighters? Quite simply, it is a function of tradition and control. Tradition, because this is the way it has always been done–we promote from within the department; it is the only fair way; I put in my time; it is my turn. This reminds me of a story (I don’t remember where I heard it). A mother was teaching her daughter the age-old family tradition of cooking the finest roast in town. The mother instructed the young girl on the precise seasoning to add, the exact time of marinating and turning, and finally instructed her to cut the ends from the roast. The daughter, wanting to be ever so careful with the family’s tradition, asked her mother numerous questions, ending with: why do we cut the ends off the roast? The mother did not know the answer to her young daughter’s question, so they asked the grandmother, who also had no answer. The three approached the aging great-grandmother with the inquiry; with a trembling voice, she simply said, “My cooking pan was too short.” Like the reason for cutting the roast, maybe our reason for limiting movement has also passed.

The likely effect of free-market movement by firefighters is increased training and educational levels. The natural and proven trend of increased free movement, training, and education is a steady climb in employee compensation packages and less dependency on bargaining organizations. This conclusion could be seen by the governing jurisdiction as a financial or self-determination threat to the system, to long-standing traditions or past practices, or may even be seen as a threat to their personal destiny.  It will take strong leaders and confident organizations to overcome these negative perceptions for the betterment of the fire service.   

It is time the fire service profession as a whole, the firefighters’ unions, and the fire chiefs’ associations, open the door for the rank-and-file fire service professional. It is time they have the same opportunities as other professionals in other professions–the same as the doctor, the lawyer, the plumber, the fire chief. The citizens we service deserve the best and brightest firefighters from around the world working in their community; whether internal or external, allow the cream to rise. If the fire service is going to continue its goal of professionalism and education, it must afford its members a framework of opportunity. Allowing the rank-and-file firefighters to seek opportunities and advancement inside and outside their department will be the compelling catalyst to motivate and encourage firefighters to be the very best fire service professional they can be.

 

Rusty SullivanRusty Sullivan is a fire captain for the city of Grandview, Missouri, and the assistant chief of training for the Metropolitan Community College Public Safety Institute in Independence, Missouri.

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