Introduction
In the mid 1960s, Isabel Menzies Lyth, one of the pioneers of the psychoanalytic
study of organizations, was invited to investigate the problem of recruitment
into the London Fire Brigade. This case is a highly partial and abbreviated
version of her account of this investigation.
Problem as seen by client
In 1965, the London Fire Brigade experienced some difficulty in recruiting
men and women into the brigade. Consultants from the Tavistock Institute
were brought in to help devise more effective methods of attracting recruits
to the Brigade – in other words, they were asked to design a recruitment
campaign.
Situation as seen by Tavistock consultants
Balance between Positive and Negative
The consultants identified a number of positive and negative aspects of
employment in the Fire Brigade. It appeared that the balance was shifting
towards the negative aspects, so that the negative aspects were starting
to outweigh the positive aspects. This would go some way to explaining
the labour turnover that was making recruitment a problem.
Positive Aspects
Social Importance
Fire fighters felt that they were performing an essential public service,
with a heavy responsibility for the protection of life and property. They
felt that this responsibility gave them some status.
Variety and Interest
The job of the fire fighter alternates between tedious routine (while waiting
for the next fire) and high pressure activity (while fighting an actual
fire). It seems natural to regard the fire-fighting bit as the "real" part
of the job, and all the waiting around and cleaning the engine and refilling
the buckets as somehow "less real". From this perspective, the job is highly
varied and exciting, since no two fires are the same.
Thus fire fighters gain fulfilment from fires, and during their idle
periods they look forward to the next "decent" fire. However, they are
aware that a "decent" fire for them represents destruction and danger for
the general public, and they may feel guilty at wishing for something that
is not in the public interest.
Pride
Fire fighters valued and enjoyed the training, experience and skill that
enabled them to fulfil their responsibilities. They took some satisfaction
in overcoming the dangers and anxieties of the job. They even took some
satisfaction in their own ability to bear some of the grimmer and more
disturbing aspects of the job – dealing with the horrible consequences
of accidents and fires.
Comradeship and Team Spirit
Fire fighters spent long periods with one other, sharing difficulties and
dangers. This led to strong bonds of friendship, with high degrees of mutual
respect and trust. This was helped by the permanence and stability of the
work groups (or "watches") – in other words, the same fire fighters worked
regularly together – and this was seen as important both by the fire fighters
themselves and by the management.
Attachment and Security
Fire fighters felt a strong loyalty to the Fire Brigade. They had a sense
of security in employment, and a sense that the Fire Brigade was a more
caring employer than a commercial organization would be.
Negative Aspects
Glamour equates to a lack of seriousness
To a small child, the job of a fire fighter seems incredibly glamorous
– driving a fire engine, sounding the siren, climbing ladders, squirting
water everywhere. But this creates an impression that being a fire fighter
is somehow a play job rather than a proper grown-up job. Menzies Lyth sensed
that firefighters themselves were sometimes uncomfortable about this.
Lack of public appreciation
At times of disaster (such as September 11), fire fighters may become heroes.
At other times, the public prefers to forget its dependence on the emergency
services, because this is a constant reminder of risk and vulnerability.
In the public mind, the emergency services can become identified with
the bad situations they deal with.
This is linked with the previous point. It is more comfortable to think
of a fire fighter as an overgrown child playing with fire engines and water,
than to think of the grim realities of a burning building.
Boredom and inefficiency
Sitting around waiting for the fire is not only boring, it leads to a feeling
that the fire fighter isn’t doing very much. Getting paid to sit around
all day playing cards gives a sense of worthlessness. Many of the routine
tasks performed by fire fighters at the station had little meaning, and
appeared to be designed simply to keep people busy.
Burden of responsibility
Fire fighters cannot always save every human life, and they bear the sense
of failure when they are unable to do so.
Working Week
Fire fighters worked shifts. The standard working week amounted to at least
48 hours, and a typical working week including overtime was 56 hours. However,
fire fighters were allowed to sleep during night shifts when there was
no fire. The time spent actually working was typically less than 30 hours.
Fire fighters were uncomfortable with the perception that the job didn’t
involve much real work. Few of them felt that a 56 hour week was too long.
On the contrary, they resisted the notion of making the working week any
shorter.
If the recruitment campaign had been successful, then less overtime
would have been required. But fire fighters valued the overtime – and it
seemed that this was not primarily because they needed the money, but because
they needed the feeling that the job was long and hard enough to be worthy
of respect.
Underutilization
Because a fire station needed to have enough fire fighters present to deal
with any likely emergency, it was overmanned most of the time. This meant
that fire fighters were seriously underutilized.
This was particularly difficult for the kind of physically active people
who were naturally suited to the fire fighting job.
Despite the long working week, fire fighters typically took on additional
part time jobs during the shift days off. This was partly to use up the
surplus energy that the fire fighting job didn’t utilize.
The fact that fire fighters were widely known to take additional part
time jobs had the effect of further reducing the perceived job status of
fire fighting.
Questions
The Fire Brigade perceived that it had a recruitment problem. Is there
some other way that the problem could be understood?
The Fire Brigade perceived that it needed a recruitment campaign. Is
there some other way that the Fire Brigade’s problems could be addressed?
What do you see as the key issues facing Fire Brigade management? What
theories of organizational behaviour may be relevant to these issues?
Source
Based on "Recruitment into the London Fire Brigade", by Isabel Menzies
Lyth, in Dynamics of the Social, Free Association Books, 1989.
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