Recruit your replacements. Train them well.

Given the national decline in experience-building fire load (aka-the work we do as firefighters), I’ve written before about the challenge of today’s fire service leaders to dig in and invest more in their firefighters than ever before to prepare them for success – and succession.

While my first passion lies in recruiting the brightest and the best, training your replacements is one of the most important steps in retaining their valued services. A well structured, disciplined approach to company training is a proven incentive for your firefighters to invest more time and energy in learning their craft and “responding to the call.”

I encourage you to read “Train Your Replacement. Bob did. Paul does.” from my flagship site: TigerSchmittendorf.com and reap all the benefits of digging in and proliferating the TrainYourReplacement.com attitude.

Stay safe. Train often.

Engage: The Xbox Generation

As I’ve shared previously in “From the Xbox to the Box Alarm” and “Dig In!” — I’m continually conducting my own observational research of the people who are already, or soon will be our replacements in the fire service: GenY.

My personal research of what I’ve dubbed the “Xbox Generation” is supported and enhanced by more formal research conducted by folks a lot smarter than me (not that it takes a lot to qualify for that! LOL). As I often do when faced with a challenge, I look outside the fire service for resources from other disciplines to gain a fresh perspective and see how I can apply their solutions to the industry I love. For as two of my favorite authors Chip Heath and Dan Heath say, “Find a bright spot and clone it.” These resources may include books, magazines and other media outlets — especially if they mention the importance of storytelling as a means of conveying our message!

One such resource I regularly rely on to get a clue about these Millenials and their unique attitudes and attributes is a periodic eNewsletter titled “Engage: GenY” from MediaPost Publications. The short articles offer a variety of perspectives from a variety of contributors and you don’t have to read far to find titles that quickly grab your attention and correlate to our efforts to learn more about these young people infiltrating our fire service.

Different Views on Generational Differences

A young firefighter checks his mobile device while returning from a run

A recent e-mail blast from Fire Chief Magazine included a video interview with a training officer in a combination fire department in Texas where he shared his views on the impact of generational differences in the fire service.

While I agree with most of his viewpoints, his comment that today’s generation are only focused on “the here and now” contradicts what other researchers have found. As mentioned in my article “From the Xbox to the Box Alarm,” Dr. Renee Downey-Hart  indicates that this generation is actually just the opposite, that they are very “future focused” as she describes in her research here.

Read more about the impact of what I’ve dubbed the “Xbox Generation” and discuss it here.