What

Does a Values-Driven Fire Department Look Like? Jeffrey D. Yergler, Ph.D. May 16, 2013

Introduction: What is a values-driven initiative as it applies to the work of a Fire Department? More specifically, what is a values-driven initiative as it applies to the Renton Fire and Emergency Services Department? There are good reasons why the values- driven initiative and all the energy around values talk can feel out of focus. How can this be so important if it seems nearly impossible to understand how it works? What follows are a series of questions or statements that people have asked about the values-initiative process at Renton. The responses shed light on what values are, how values can create a powerful organizational culture, and how the values- initiative process will continue to unfold in the Department. What will the Values-Initiative involve? How do we get from where we are now to where we want to be if we are serious about becoming a true, values-driven Department? The Renton Fire and Emergency Services Department Values-Initiative has six stages: Stage 1: Build a Guiding Coalition (GC) composed of Department members: While part of the GC is already in place, there will be need for additional participants from the Department. The role of the GC is to communicate with every person in the Department, to provide information about each stage of the process, to listen to ideas and concern, to encourage participation and involvement, to celebrate accomplishments, and to ensure that the values are preserved, honored, and continually operationalized. Stage 2: Complete a Department-wide assessment: The Assessment will provide each member of the Department with an opportunity to provide feedback and information on what he/she wants the Department to look like in the coming years. This will include getting feedback on the state of the Department as it exists currently and, more importantly, the way the Department will look in the future. This will include identifying values members feel will be vital and critical to shape the future Department.

Stage 3: Build a new Vision, Mission, and set of Core-Values: Once the assessment is completed and the data is available, the GC, the Executive Team, the Managers, and the entire Department will work to identify a vision, mission, and set of core values. This will involve a series of steps in order to build significant agreement and support. Once the new Department vision, mission, and core values are identified, there will be a grand celebration that recognizes the hard work and time that has been invested in the process. Stage 4: Integrate the Vision, Mission, and Core Values into the work of the Department: This stage represents the heavy lifting in the entire process. The newly defined core values will be used to review and, where necessary, rewrite existing policies and procedures to ensure that they reflect, support, and advance the values and vision of the Department. This will involve the GC, the E-Team, and the Managers working together to craft and shape how the Department will operate. To be sure, there will be processes, standards, and metrics that are non-negotiable and which must remain completely intact. Yet, beyond these firm and fixed processes and policies, the GC, E-Team, and Managers will work hard to integrate the new values and vision into how the work of the Department is accomplished. Members of the organization will be briefed on critical areas of the Department that have been revised to reflect the vision, mission, and core values. This will include training and development opportunities intended to prepare Department members to support the vision, mission, and core values in their work routines. Stage 5: Measure progress and make additional adjustments: Once Stage 4 is completed and after a specific period of time has elapsed, there will be another assessment to measure the actual impact or range of variation of the organizational changes on performance and operations. The information from the assessment will be used to inform the GC, E-Team, and Managers on additional changes necessary to close gaps and increase the Departments capacity to demonstrate the vision, mission, and core values. Stage 6: Monitoring and support: The final stage involves maintaining vigilance to ensure that the vision, mission, and core values continue to be honored and celebrated. It includes recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of Department members who

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 This conversation about values can be frustrating. It feels vague and out of focus! Conversations about our values are challenging for many reasons. The idea of what a value is can be perplexing. Talking about how values apply to a Fire Department can also be difficult. Why? The work of fire suppression, for example, revolves around such things as tasks, training, preparation, SOPs, and equipment. It is concrete, focused, and tangible. Conversation about values tends to focus on the intangible, that is, the way decisions are made, the strategy that goes into organizational design, the rationale behind budget decisions, and the way people are viewed, treated, evaluated, and developed. Fire suppression is about the concrete and tangible whereas values are about attitudes and beliefs that inform actions and behavior. We can see and often grab on to the tangible while the intangible is tough to understand because we cant really see it though we might be able to sense it. What is a value anyway? When a firefighter talks about what he/she values, the person is talking about ways of thinking and acting that shape his/her decisions, planning, and execution of those plans at any time and in any place. A value is a core belief that helps us determine the best way to proceed, for that matter, the best way to live our lives personally and professionally. MerriamWebster defines values as, something (as a principle or quality) intrinsically valuable or desirable. When a value is intrinsic, it is viewed as fundamental, basic, and non-negotiable when it comes to the many ways one navigates through the job and through life. I know we already have a set of values somewhere and I operate with my own values every day and so does my crew. So why do we need something like this? Seems like a waste of time and money. An organization that has a set of values means little-to-nothing if those values are not understood, embraced, and integrated into the way the organization functions and relates at every level. In fact, this is a big problem with many organizations. While they may have a set of values posted on plaques and posters in the halls and offices of the buildings, if no one knows what they are and no one knows how they are put into action, few take them seriously, and fewer still will live them out on any given day. Values are meaningless if people in the organization do not own them. People will not own those values unless they have had a hand in helping to identify those values. The result is that an organization will have an impressive list of values that, in reality, have no bearing on decisions, relationships, or services. On the other hand, the values of an organization can be a powerful influence when:
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clearly demonstrate in their work and relationships the vision, mission, and core values of the Department.

1. 2. 3. 4.

There is a broad sense of ownership of those values People know what they are and how they are lived-out in the organization Decisions, processes, and relationships are guided and informed by those values Performance standards and professional development goals are guided by those values 5. There are clear consequences when those values are ignored or abandoned If a core set of values does not exist in a Department or if an existing set of values is neither compelling nor clearly understood, then individuals or smaller teams will often take it upon themselves to define a set of values they will use to guide and direct their own decisions and behaviors. This is to be commended and celebrated. However, a Department-wide values-initiative allows the entire Department to rally under one shared vision, one shared mission, and one shared set of core values. When the same set of values is shared across the organizationwhen every member of the Department knows the values and is clear on how they are (or are not) demonstratedit creates a common standard and expectation against which all activity in the organization is guided, measured, and evaluated. How does having values make a real, tangible difference in the way we get our work done as a Department? Values are invisible until they are made visible through actions and behavior. We often will talk amongst ourselves about how important our values are to each of us and we will talk about what the Department values. However, when it comes to values, talk is cheap. Until those values are expressed or made manifest through concrete action, they are nothing more than talk. This might explain why it is easy to be skeptical about a values-initiative process in any Department. We can talk all we want about what we value in our organization (and many organizations talk a great deal about values but seldom do the hard work of building those values into decisions and processes) but unless those values are clearly identified and until those values are consistently embedded and tangibly expressed in the decisions and actions of the organization, they will represent nothing more than a hope, ideal, or possibility. In fact, the more organizations talk about the importance of values but then act as if values were non-existent, the greater the skepticism, pessimism, and level of employee disengagement, and the lower the morale in the organization. This is a very common dilemma within many organizations be they public or private, for- profit or not-for-profit. How will defining a new set of values impact our Department now and in the future? For Fire Departments, the driven in the values-driven equation means that, once a set of values is identified, those values then define or frame-up the way the organization operates from top to bottom and across the organization. A set of core values identifies the way we get our work done. These values define the heartbeat

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and soul of the organizationthey create the organizational climate in which all members operate. They inform actions, behaviors, goals, and outcomes. In a values-driven Department, a set of core values would help inform or drive the following processes: 1. Decision-making 2. Communication 3. Evaluations, performance reviews, and promotions 4. Training and development 5. Planning and budgeting 6. Organizational and department structure 7. Strategic planning 8. New hires and on-boarding For example, if one of the Departments core values was Building and Maintaining Trust, then every decision that involved organizational members or external relationships would need to preserve and enhance trust. Decisions that undermined trust internally or compromised trust in the community would not be acceptable or tolerated. To provide another example, if a core value of the Department was, Developing Competent and Capable Leaders and Supervisors, then a clear strategy would be developed to actually train and develop the members of the Department. Furthermore, this core value would call for budget dollars to be allocated for this training. In Summary: The Renton Fire and Emergency Services Department has an incredible legacy and rich history that must be honored as the Department moves forward. The values- initiative will invite every Department member to contribute toward making the change process a success. The results will be highly rewarding personally, professionally, and organizationally. If you have hopes, concerns, or ideas as the values-initiative moves forward, please talk to any of your fellow Guiding Coalition members as well as members of the management team.

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