Fire and rescue organizations are known for preparing their members for the tasks encountered during emergencies. However, they are less prepared for the process involved with replacing people who occupy key positions if they retire, transfer or take permanent medical leave. Leaving employee development to chance places the organization in a reactionary mode when looking for eligible candidates to fill key positions.

Succession planning helps ensure continued growth of organizational momentum, and supports the coordinated development of employees. Understanding what succession planning is, and what its benefits are, also assists chiefs and company planners in determining the value of implementing such a program — and consequences of not implementing one.

Succession planning is a process where future generations of a department are cultivated to take on additional or different responsibilities as they move around or up in an organization. Successful succession-planning programs employ a systematic approach to develop an employee's talent. It guides the employee and establishes a pool of candidates for staffing needs. Succession-planning techniques can be deployed to develop members for future assignments and for knowledge and skill enhancement in their current position.

It is important for organizations to help map an employee's development. This mapping helps ensure employees are acquiring the knowledge, education and skills necessary for the strategic growth of the organization. In the Prince William County (Va.) Department of Fire and Rescue, a uniform rank structure policy provides each employee with guidance on minimal qualifications by position. This document works along side the job descriptions for various ranks. In addition to certifications, components of an employee development process include developmental activities within the organization, executive development courses, position or skill-specific courses, and university-based education.

An organization may allow an employee to participate in a development team where he or she is exposed to other levels of management and policy. In Prince William County, many captains have gained valuable budget-development experience by assisting with budget project write-ups and attending strategy discussion meetings and sessions where specific instructions on preparing budget initiatives are given. They then work with an assistant chief in developing narratives and in assessing performance measure improvements associated with the proposed initiative. This task takes the captain out of his or her primary assignment for meetings three to five times per year. In exchange, budget development workload is spread out and upper-middle-level officers gain valuable experience in what goes into justifying new initiatives.

Employees who participate on development teams may be afforded access to courses not normally available at their current organizational level. These courses may be to support management and leadership development or training to broaden skills at the existing level. Lastly, a professional development program typically would include access to or encouragement for advanced educational opportunities in degree programs that would enhance employees' career track.

Succession planning helps management provide a common series of steps to communicate expectations to emerging talent within an organization. Organizational leaders identify mission-critical positions that must be filled if vacated. Necessary skills and knowledge then are identified for these positions. As personnel develop these skills, a talent pool begins to emerge. For example, keeping a pool of ALS-certified technicians eases rotations between suppression and EMS units. Likewise, having officers with résumés that show diversity in assignments and education provides organizations with a healthy opportunity to advance personnel into vacated positions. The development and implementation of a succession plan involves several key organization members, especially supervisory-level managers and the human resources managers. There are many components associated with succession planning, including job rotation, career path identification, education, mentoring, coaching and special assignments.

Job rotation allows employees to experience a variety of tasks throughout other job function areas. This increases their knowledge through work exposures in different settings. New skills are obtained when an employee rotates jobs with other employees who are in a similar grade. This can be achieved with temporary assignments or through transfers.

On a similar note, helping employees with a career map provides them with direction that most likely will give them the experiences and exposures that build on one another. A career map should be viewed as a recipe for development. Different stops on this path help ensure that employees obtain experience in the proper place at the most appropriate time in their career. If a battalion, assistant or department chief is expected to have the skills to manage the various division's within an organization when he or she is promoted, then spending time working in roles throughout those areas along the way would prove beneficial.

An educational development plan helps ensure an employee is applying effort in those areas where the skills learned will offer the greatest return on the investment. College-level classes provide employees with the knowledge to justify and advance organizational programs, and to deal with complex organizational issues. The International Association of Fire Chief's Officer Development Handbook suggests course work to be completed as the employee progresses through various ranks. Additionally, programs and classes at the National Fire Academy, including the Executive Officer Program, offer an excellent opportunity to gain education with valuable peer interaction.

State and national conferences also give employees opportunities to obtain career-track training and to share ideas with others. Occasionally, these conferences offer specific opportunities for information advancement, for example, station officer training. In this case, sending an employee to a conference where an identified training need is met yields many benefits.

Officers play key roles in supporting members' development. A coach assists with finite developmental items such as dealing with a specific problem or question. Likewise, a mentor helps an employee develop more complex thinking about plans, techniques, and solutions to experiences and situations encountered, or those that may be on the horizon. While an immediate supervisor should be assisting with employees' development, it is sometimes common for others in the organization to fill supportive roles like coaching and mentoring.

Most organizational leaders know that succession planning is needed for long-term success, but many hope there will be an eligible replacement as vacancies open up. Conducting a gap analysis provides a good start, especially during non-emergency conditions. This process identifies and compares existing human capital with projected organizational needs.

The next step is to initiate individual development plans. One of the challenges facing organizations is that employees typically have the enthusiasm to take on additional responsibility; however, they frequently lack the preparation to be successful. Waiting until you move into a different seat or into an office is not the time to begin preparing. Again, one solution is to use mentorships for longer-term relationship development and executive tutoring and coaching for shorter-term issues as a part of the succession planning.

Special assignments to projects allow the employee to solve problems with different people and resources and have been shown to increase employee development One captain recently was given the special assignment to manage the contract and installations of vehicle exhaust systems in all the stations. Likewise, a Technician II oversaw the use of grant money to design and outfit two mass-causality support units. In both cases, these individuals worked with the finance department, contractors, and other department and county members. They gained valuable project-management skills while working on worthwhile projects.

Task forces for special projects enable the employee to experience the organization from a different perspective. Additionally, this assists with valuable networking development. Personnel gained tremendous experience participating on voluntary special assignments as a part of a regional response team to assist with disaster response following Hurricane Katrina. Also, involvement in ongoing regional task forces and the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments committees gives personnel experience and exposure that will enhance future capabilities.

A key consideration when defining a special assignment is to clarify expectations, especially how long the commitment is anticipated to last, and where the employee's return assignment will be when the task is complete. A variation of this concept is through job enrichment. Job enrichment is achieved when employees obtain additional responsibility while maintaining their current job roles. Examples include the station commander who also serves as the liaison to the apparatus shop and the battalion chief who oversees the traffic signal priority system. Be careful to prevent overburdening the employee, which could result in stress, burnout and diminished overall performance. Having a variety of job design initiatives is an investment in an organizations human capital, as it prepares employees for growth while giving the organization depth in employee capabilities.

When considering an employee-development or succession-planning program, don't overlook the value of human-resources departments. They typically have access to resources and are familiar with their availability, know the shortcuts to success, and have experienced pitfalls that need to be avoided. Additionally, human resources typically is responsible for the overall coordination of the succession-planning process.

Many succession planning programs fail due to improper execution planning. Not only do employees need to feel comfortable with new roles and responsibilities, but supervisors need to be willing to give opportunities for change and growth. Involving the supervisors and employees in the process is important to its success.

Employees who have experienced a variety of assignments, and made meaningful contributions, can be viewed as more diversified in their experiences. Having this diversity in their career will set the stage for them being able to tackle a broader range of issues, with experience on their side.

Having a succession-planning program provides structure to developing employees. When this process works to meet the strategic needs of the organization, the department has people available for identified opportunities, and employees feel their efforts are worthwhile. Also, having prepared employees saves valuable ramp-up time when employees are promoted or transferred and helps maintain organizational momentum.

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Hadden Culp is the assistant chief of the operations division in the Prince William County, (Va.) Department of Fire and Rescue. A 29-year veteran, Culp is a member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the Society for Human Resource Management. He is a certified public manager and has earned Executive Fire Officer designation from the National Fire Academy. Additionally, he has completed the process to be designated as a Chief Fire Officer. He has a bachelor's degree in business administration and is completing his master's degree in human-resource management.

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