A probationary firefighter/paramedic, who had probation and internship extended with much support from his department, successfully completes them after extra attention, then quits six months later for another department. Where's the loyalty, his chief wondered.

On hearing the callout for a mutual aid response, a new firefighter contacts the bc to tell him how to do it. Would you have expected that 15 years ago? Ten? Five?

I've begun to notice interesting things about new firefighters. I see recruits with lower levels of mechanical aptitude, less exposure to machines and tools, less familiarity with buildings and construction, and basically less knowledge of how things work. I work with subordinates who seem to need more attention and feedback.

The truck company I supervised in 1987 had been in the fire department longer than I'd been alive, and needed minimal supervision and reward for daily tasks. A subordinate in 1993 seemed to want daily debriefings, which led from work items to family, personal and social status reports, as well.

Many departments I work with report similar themes. In our ongoing struggle to make the workplace human, diverse and respectful, the traditional pranks and rookie-year assignments have been watered down, but not replaced by any mechanism to teach new firefighters their values as firefighters, let alone their values as workers.

If you ever feel like your workplace is being invaded by Beavis and Butt-head, don't think you're alone. Many supervisors and managers feel the same way, though it may be a matter more of perception than of reality. To be sure, the next generation has characteristics that seem strange and illogical to us, but weren't we the same to our training officers way back when?

An evolving work force You're probably aware that the work force is changing in a variety of ways. The population is in a slow growth period, so there are more jobs than employees. Despite high competition for firefighter jobs, there are still more opportunities for the top candidates. Indeed, once candidates have crested in their abilities to sell themselves and get hired, they often receive multiple offers, and may have the ability to pick and choose. This is especially true of firefighter/paramedics now.

The average age of the work force is older than ever. More women are entering the work force (about 10% in my department and 5-20% every semester at academy). Ethnic diversity is up. The education gap is expanding between workers and the needs of the fire service. Values are changing, and there's a real mix of values working side by side.

Like it or not, the fire officer's traditional role has expanded to include areas not formerly expected or practiced in depth. An officer is expected to be a role model, motivator, communicator, coach, mentor, supporter and provider of much more than direction and leadership.

One day at the gym, as I was bemoaning my fate as the department's newest "chief psychotherapist," the gentleman I was speaking with turned out to be an organizational psychologist. His sound advice: "Get used to it. It's going to get worse and it won't go away." Figuring it was sink or swim, I started paying attention at work and in literature to the new generation of workers we're getting. One useful book was "Managing a Changing Workforce: Achieving Outstanding Service with Today's Employees," by Bob Losyk (Workplace Trends Publishing Co.).

The second time around In 1994, I had the interesting and probably unique experience of starting a fire service career for a second time. As a rookie firefighter again, 15 years after the first time, I was firmly trying to perform my second probation as I had my first: listen a lot, speak a little; jump for the phone, the flag, etc. By this time I'd also been teaching a pre-employment Firefighter i academy at the local community college for 10 years, and my experiences with students there were paralleling my experiences with firefighters at work. I believed that there was a change in the students, their values, background and view of their work.

At the academy, more and more I found myself having to give basic lessons on tools (screwdrivers), infrastructure (where water comes from, where sewage goes) and life skills (schedules and map-reading). We started to get creative with our lessons on small tools by bringing in old lawn mower engines to dismantle. Most of our students didn't know how internal combustion engines work and didn't have the opportunity to attend auto shop. I observed an increase in students who were uncomfortable with, or inexperienced with, manual labor.

At my "new" firefighter job, I was praised by my captain for doing what I considered average work: cleaning what was dirty, being polite to citizens and co-workers, and trying to pay attention to my job. When I tried to understand what was driving my captain's evaluation of me, I noticed that the things which seemed important to me weren't always shared by other new firefighters. Talk around the table seemed less about fires and calls and more about days off. At a neighboring department's roof fire, one senior firefighter pointed out that the people on the roof doing overhaul were all veterans, while the newer folks were clustered around the rehab wagon.

The what - and why - of Gen X Sociologist Morris Massey identifies differences among people as based on sea: sex, ethnicity and age. While many of our organizations have spent time and money dealing with the first two, we've often neglected the third. A glance at the table above, though, points out interesting differences in the generations' views of the world. These views were shaped by not only family and culture, but by what was happening in the world while each generation was growing up.

Look at the Depression-era folks (many of our parents), who were were raised in an economic recession unrivaled by any since. (Black Monday in 1987 was a mere blip by comparison.) Consequently, their views and actions are inclined toward strict cost-control and a fierce desire to keep a job, earn money and buy food.(Remember that these generalities are just that. You can't apply a cookbook solution or stereotype to the care and handling of people in various age groups.)

The Generation Xers, then, have brought their view of the world and their values to the workplace, but many of these values are the products of the world in which they were raised.

Xers tend to be less loyal; they keep employment options open. The Xers are independent. This generation spent a lot of time in day-care and as "latchkey kids," which gave them independence at a younger age, but could lead to self-absorption bordering on selfishness. They work well alone, and enjoy challenges, but may not be adept at teamwork early on.

This independence, coupled with crowded schools, led to a group who can simultaneously be independent and crave attention. Money, fun and leisure are priorities for this generation, not slaving on the job. Many middle-class Xers watched their company-loyal parents get downsized in the 1980s and see no reward for loyalty.

Few Xers have military experience, and bosses are often an anomaly. They may go around supervisors if they want, not out of disrespect, but out of a desire to effect change more quickly. These people seem to question everything.

If Xers appear to have a negative view of the world, consider their influences. By the time they were 18 years old, they'd seen on average around 22,000 hours of television. How many negative acts would that include? Remember the Cold War nuclear threat? Pollution? Persian Gulf War? The news media's emphasis on violence and crime? Some of those whose Boomer parents were strongly career focused had questions of self-worth. Forty percent of Xers are products of divorced families, the highest rate in the world.

The expectations of Xers is often expressed as "I exist, therefore I get." tv does show a disproportionate number of well-off, good-looking people driving the latest cars and having fun without any evident jobs. Many of my peers feel that the idea of doing a good job for the sake of personal pride seems to be lacking at times; the desire for compensation seems the rule. We have to remember the different way we each have of looking at the world.

The most recent generation to enter the work force, Generation Y (born between 1976 and 1996), shows some different attributes, as you may expect. They show signs of self-reliance, craving stability, respect for heritage, willingness to volunteer, but also a love of escapism. They are more tolerant and accepting of diverse lifestyles. Functionally, though, more than 30% must take remedial math or English after high school, and their vocational experience is limited with the reduced emphasis on vocational education.

As a recent San Francisco Examiner article said, your next class of recruits:

* Were born in 1980.

* Don't know what "you sound like a broken record" means.

* Always had a remote control for the tv.

* Have always had MTV.

* Were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.

* Have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan era.

* See Black Monday 1987 as significantly as the Great Depression.

* Have always known about aids.

* Have always cooked popcorn in the microwave.

* Don't know what hard contact lenses are.

* Have always had an answering machine.

* Know Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America and Alabama as places, not bands.

Training and mentoring Gen X So, is all lost for the future of the fire service? Of course not! This is a creative, enthusiastic group of people with much to offer. We have to start by accepting them and training them to have the skills we know they'll need to carry on when we retire. We have to sincerely care about them and their performance as firefighters. If you don't care, how will anyone who works for you?

Repetitive, high-input training is becoming the norm. People don't quickly grasp the "new" set of skills we're presenting because they don't bring the background with them. Comprehensive training for new firefighters is also spreading out to other life skills that aren't consistently learned at school or at home: finances, physical fitness, nutrition, mental health and wellness, retirement planning.

Be explicit about your expectations. Remember that the assumptions you make about the assignments you give (and the level of accomplishment) are based on your values and experience, not your employees'. Many of our new firefighters have not had a significant job before and have to be shown how to produce quality work, from ppe use to apparatus maintenance to providing medical aid and firefighting. What criteria are you using to define quality at the line level? Speed? Courtesy? At-scene time? Save rate? Percent damage after arrival? Define quality and train to it.

Set specific standards and hold them, in all areas of your firefighters' duties. Where a verbal approach may work with older firefighters, you may find yourself writing more with your newer employees. Use the performance appraisal more seriously than you ever have before. This generation is used to written contracts from schools and parents, and they react well to them.

Above all, don't lower your standards and don't have differing standards for employees. You have a reason for requiring a scba donned within 60 seconds, and that reason doesn't change with your work force. Identify the important skills your firefighters need and use them as your base.

Be careful about allowing senior firefighters slack in job requirements. Aside from possible legal difficulties in that practice, being able to perform and provide service to your citizens remains a need at all levels of the organization, and at all stages of a career.

Set your standards, publish them and make them part of the fabric of your department. Use nfpa or state standards or standards that are specific to your agency, equipment and procedures. Just make sure they're pertinent and job-related. Explicit expectations provide a set of benchmarks for you, and they provide a target for employees. When employees don't know what's required of them, morale issues begin as people push attention away from themselves in an effort to define their own standards.

Finally, consider formalizing the mentoring process. Many of us may recall a senior firefighter who provided informal leadership and guidance outside the chain of command. By acting as role models and counselors, these people are critical in developing new firefighters. It's in your best interest to choose the role models you want, and provide them with some training and direction.

Supervising and managing Gen X This group of new firefighters prefers a somewhat contradictory supervision style: Be hands off, but be there. In other words, provide assignments, stand back a ways and be ready to answer questions, but try not to hover or micromanage. Be ready to talk, talk, talk. Tell them what you're going to tell them. Tell them. Tell them what you told them.

With many employees, including Xers, directions seem to be accepted more readily if you exert authority from reason, rather than an expectation of blind obedience. People can internalize a task if they know how it relates to the organization's mission. Convey the meaning of assignments, especially the simple ones. In our line of work, it seems that the important things are simple, but the simple things are hard.

The newer firefighters' need for feedback requires that you provide support and assistance, perhaps more than you used to. Praise freely when it's deserved, and coach or counsel as needed and as soon as possible to enable the employee to make changes immediately and more effectively. Be sensitive to each individual's values, experience and abilities; nothing beats knowing your employees for successful supervision. Focus on behavior, not attitude, and be objective about the issues needing improvement. Define what's not acceptable (e.g. discourtesy towards the public) and what change you must see (e.g., please and thank you).

Rewards are difficult in the public sector, but use what you have. Medals, citations and letters of recognition are meaningful to people, as long as they're sincere. When it comes to rewards, people want to know that what they're doing makes a difference.

Learn to move faster in making change. Consider the speed of the world in which this generation was raised. The bureaucratic model is slow enough relative to the private sector, but changes within your discretion can be sped up if worthwhile.

Your instructors' methods may have to change as well. Students coming out of the current school system received information through a variety of media. If you haven't begun using every tool that's available to you, you need to start. These new technologies, especially online or computer training, aren't a panacea, but they are familiar to your new recruits. If your organization is embracing this technology, your instructors and supervisors have to demonstrate competence in order to send the message that it's part of your workplace.

Gen X meets fire service culture Regarding station life, this generation of firefighters doesn't initially have a grasp of seniority. If "paying your dues" is part of your organizational culture, and you value it, you'll have to explain it and make sure it's fair and unbiased. Formalize what was informal.

Orient your company officers and training officers to this information. Their assumptions must change. The experience, skills and knowledge of incoming firefighters is different from what we've designed our training systems for. The technical literacy of new firefighters is lower, their interpersonal experiences are different, and they were surrounded by different social and historical events.

The fire service's blue-collar and paramilitary traditions were largely imported by our work force. Twenty to 30 years ago, a large segment of our candidates came from the trades or the military. Sociologists have observed that the blue-collar background of our personnel brought with it a variety of social behaviors designed to test character and maintain group solidarity. (See "Real Heat: Gender and Race in the Urban Fire Service," by Carol Chetkovich (Rutgers Univ. Press).)

Behaviors such as ritual insults and practical jokes that can be common and expected with one generation are foreign to a newer one. Our new work force will be bringing in their own traditions and expectations, forcing us to analyze what we're doing and deciding if it's valid. Are you doing something because it provides the best to your citizens, or because you've always done it that way?

How do we handle this new generation?

* Identify new needs for recruit training. Ask your company officers where the deficits are in their new personnel.

* Identify and address changes in staffing, and deal with the gender, culture and generational differences using all the tools that are out there.

* Identify important organizational values, and be able to explain why you do something when recruits ask (and they will!).

Overall, figure out how to convey this information in your organization and be ready to make an investment of time and attention in your agency's biggest investment - its people.