Fire Service Personnel Management

This was recommended to me by a friend, Tim in DC, and it has offered a lot of intelligent, well writen insights into what a good manager in the fire service should know or be aware of. The author cites both case laws and personal experience in bringing issues that a supervisor should be apprised of. I would highly recommend this not only for the upwardly mobile fire service professional, but would recommend it be made a part of a good officer development curriculum.

As part of a commmittee including active fire chiefs, we reviwed this book for use in the Southern Illnois University program for Fire Service Management. We found the breadth of subjects covered to be excellent. We also found that the "real world" type problems presented at the end of each chapter were excellent opportunities for class discussions and/or essay tests. The book was compared against a general local government HR text and found to be superior for a fire service setting.

Fire Service Personnel Management is a timely an effective tool in dealing with personnel issues in the 21st century. Specific fire service scenarios throughtout the book highlight the challenges associated with a changing fire service. The book exposes the manager to the reality of a new workforce comprised of more and more minorities and females. It concisely explains the legal issues that a supervisor needs to be familiar with as well as guidelines for the selection of recruits and developing promotable employees. The chapter on labor relations and collective bargaining provides unique insights into collaborating with labor to achieve the goals of both Union and Management. Every manager will glean new techniques in effectively dealing with labor issues. My only regret is that this book was not available when I was studying for promotions as it is an extremely user friendly and comprehensive resource. I use it now in my capacity as Deputy Chief to doublecheck myself when handling any personnel matter.