Morale: Improve It or Destroy It

Last month I talked about the terrific leadership symposium the UFLAC conducted on November 7th. If you didn’t attend you missed a great training opportunity. In my last BOLG, I discussed the training session conducted by Battalion Chief Joe Castro. The major theme of Chief Castro’s presentation revolved around the concept of the “firefighter safety and survival benchmarks.”

I followed Chief Castro’s presentation identifying some of the many challenges facing today’s fire officer/supervisor. My presentation was totally interactive. No PowerPoint just me and the participants having a discussion.

You can probably guess that the first topic of discussion was the budget difficulties all fire departments are presently dealing with. We all agreed that these are difficult times and many difficult and unpopular decisions have to be made to deal with the current budget crisis. Hopefully, before all these budget cutting decisions are made the department administration consults with all the major players in the organization, including the union leadership. The decisions that are made should be based on “what is best for the department” not “politically based.” These decisions are then sent down through channels and should be thoroughly explained. There are those that might disagree with some of the budget cuts proposed, however, it is my opinion that we as team members should do everything to support those decisions. I will discuss this budget issue in more detail next month.

Another topic of discussion was department morale. Most agreed that due to the budget cuts morale has been impacted organizationally. However, it appears that the morale among the individual companies remains high. That’s good news.

What is morale? To paraphrase the Miriam Webster dictionary, morale is “enthusiasm, confidence and loyalty of an individual or a group, a sense of common purpose.” Morale can also be described as a feeling of well being based on the group’s accomplishments and a “strong regard for the honor of the group.”

To me, the phrase “strong regard for the honor of the group” is where I would like to begin. We all worked hard to get a job in this profession. For most of us it was a dream that finally came true after years of repeated testing. When we received word we were hired, when we graduated from the training academy, when we got our badge, our “morale” was about as high as it could ever get. We had become part of a noble profession, and the honor of wearing that badge was not lost on us. We also realized that at this point in our new career, we had done nothing to deserve the honor the Firefighters badge implied. That respect and admiration had been gained by those Firefighters that came before us.

So what happens to some of us? Do we keep in mind how hard we worked to get this career so that we can maintain that initial high personal morale, or do we become complacent? Do we listen to the negative opinions that are often based on individual feelings or gossip and agree with them, or worse yet, say nothing? Do we let these factors affect our morale?

Here are some of the factors that can improve or reduce morale.

Management style of the organizations leadership
Personnel believe their contribution is valued by their employer
Individual & group empowerment
The perceived value of the work being done by the organization as a whole
Team composition
The work culture

When morale is high, there is positive cooperation between divisions and shifts. Our citizens receive better service, accidents and injuries are reduced, and grievances, discipline, and absenteeism are minimized. And hopefully, this high productivity and cooperation is appreciated and noted by all management levels.

When morale is low, you will see signs of a reduced work ethic, pettiness, and an increase in absenteeism, which ultimately leads to a decrease in customer service and an increase in complaints. Eventually, like a disease, low morale can spread rapidly, especially if no one tries to correct this trend. At some point, it can negatively impact the positive relationships Firefighters have always had with their citizens.

As a leader, morale starts with you. If your dedication to the Fire Department and its goals has fallen off, how can you expect your team members to be excited about their responsibilities? If you aren’t excited about coming to work and doing a quality job, it is human nature that your team will follow your lead. That’s why it’s called “leadership!”

“Morale is a state of mind. It is steadfastness and courage and hope. It is confidence, and zeal and loyalty. It is élan, espirit de corps and determination. With morale, all things are possible. Without it, everything else, planning, preparations and production, count for naught.”

Paul Stein