Talent Management for Fire and Rescue Services.
360, PDR and succession planning for fire and rescue services
The Challenges of Talent Management within Fire and Rescue Services
Fire and rescue services are facing a cultural shift and there’s an emphasis on the role of leadership and value in creating this.
We have seen this through our own work with services as we support leadership development through 360, feedback and coaching.
Our team has been security checked and our data handling and management practices acknowledged through the award of ISO 27001. And to make it easy to procure we are part of the G-Cloud framework for public sector purchasing and have been since 2014.
Culture within the Service
The HMICFRS Values and Culture Report demanded change across England’s 44 Fire and Rescue Services.
It recognised that leadership drives culture, and the report called for 360-degree feedback for all leaders and managers – with tight implementation timescales.
The Report sparked widespread enthusiasm for 360 feedback as a vital tool to benchmark and focus development on the skills needed for organisational progress.
But the Report’s recommendations were only the catalyst; many services were already committed to improvement and had 360 on their agenda but were not sure how best to implement. We have learnt where to focus effort to get the best implementation.
To find out how we might support your service, get in touch.
360 for Fire Services
Fire-sector specific 360 takes gives you the very latest in 360-degree feedback – and tailors it specifically for fire and rescue services.
Built on the National Fire Chief Council’s (NFCC) Leadership Framework, our business psychology team created questionnaires based on the four key behaviours: Personal Impact; Outstanding Leadership; Service Delivery; and Organisational Effectiveness.
We developed three versions – for leaders with direct reports, senior strategic leaders and operational managers. Each questionnaire is relevant, credible and straightforward, designed to overcome any negative perceptions and ensure buy-in.
Individual reports are configurable by the service and for each management level, presenting results through bar charts; strengths word cloud and visual summaries of strengths and development areas.
And, we are also able to offer a standard, off-the-shelf 360 for fire services – and support you to get up and running quickly, in as little as a couple of weeks.
Want to know more about Talent 360 – the foundation of our Fire Edition?
360 in Action
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue chose to take action following the HMICFRS Report and to roll out 360-degree feedback.
They needed a validated, fire service-specific tool backed by experienced suppliers who could handle IT deployment, process management, and facilitator training. They chose our Fire-specific 360 platform.
The results? A successful culture shift towards developmental feedback, with an internal pool of trained facilitators and senior leadership gaining valuable external perspective from our business psychologists.
South Yorkshire emphasised that 360 supports development – it’s not about poor performance. It’s about growth.
Implementing 360
Our Changing Culture and Shifting Values Report shares the experiences of five fire and rescue Services from across England as they introduced 360 into their organisations.
It shares the five critical success factors of getting started with 360: from mapping out your comms and getting buy-in, to upskilling your internal managers to provide feedback.
The Report features five case studies based on the services’ implementation and highlights their takeaways from their deployment.
An essential read for all those wanting to rethink – or introduce – 360 in their service, and avoid it becoming a ‘tick-box’ exercise.
Additional Information
The Journey Towards Cultural Change at South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue strives to create the culture, values, behaviours and leadership associated with an inclusive and respected service. As part of this, it planned to introduce 360-degree feedback across its leaders and managers.
Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service: Implementing 360 as a Change Initiative
With no track record of true 360-degree feedback within the Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, but with years of expertise and experience of 360 within the Northamptonshire Police Force to draw from, the Service was able to move from a standing start to implementation within a few weeks.
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service: Introducing 360 into a Smaller-sized Service
The HMICFRS Report into Culture and Values recommended that all Services implemented 360-degree feedback for senior leaders and managers. Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, chose to outsourced he management of and sharing resources with a neighbouring Service.
Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service: Making the Move to a More Embedded 360
Hertfordhsire Fire & Rescue Service upgraded their 360 programme, adopting the more relevant and attractive fire-service specific 360 questionnaire tool and collaborated with Bedfordhsire colleagues for training in feedback facilitation.
Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service: Building the Momentum to Cultivate Leadership Development
Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service wanted to continue its long standing commitment to using 360 and decided to adopt Head Light’s 360 questionnaire that has been developed specifically for fire and rescue services – aimed specifically at the strategic leader.