ESLI - Human Resources & Labor Relations-April 2023

HUMAN RESOURCES & LABOR RELATIONS

APRIL 17-18, 2023

KINGMAN SCHULDT, FIRE CHIEF (RETIRED)

RICK TALBERT FIRE CHIEF (RETIRED)

SPONSORED BY:

To: ESLI participants

Reference: Human Resources and Labor Relations

Greetings,

We want to thank you for your interest in the Emergency Services Leadership Institute program. We look forward to welcoming you to Human Resources and Labor Relations, to be held on April 17-18, 2023, at the Florida State Fire College in Ocala in room 101.

Class will begin promptly at 0800 hours. This is one co mponent of a comprehensive six-module program that is designed to better prepare you to deal with the management and leadership challenges that face the fire and emergency medical services today and in the years to come.

Attached you will find a program outlin e, which includes program information, a brief course description, and a list of competencies that will serve as the program’s expected outcomes. Please review this prior to class. We hope to broaden your opportunity for learning by encouraging student input and interaction while addressing issues that are important to you.

We want to enhance the 'deliverables' that you can take back to your respective organization and immediately begin the process of implementation. To this end, we en courage you to peruse the subject content areas, and to bring to class your department policies relating to these topics. This will allow us to address real topics and better assist us in providing real solutions. Specifically, we ask that you bring information and/or be prepared to discuss your organization’s Human Resource, and Labor Management challenges, successes, and failures and on-going issues within this topic area. This program requires participant interaction and honest input to effective address and find solutions that are beneficial.

This program is structured to allow various teaching methodologies including lectur e, class discussion, class presentation, group exercises, role-playing, and case study analysis / discussion. This content is best shared in dynamic manner encouraging questions, discussion, different opinions, and seeking best practice models.

The degree to which you prepare will determine the value you realize from the program.

Again, thank you for your interest in ESLI. We look forward to seeing you next week.

Respectfully,

Kingman Schuldt, Fire Chief, Retired

Rick Talbert, Fire Chief, Retired

WORKSHEET: PLAN OF INSTRUCTION

COURSE DESCRIPTION COURSE OUTLINE

This module will focus on a variety of Human Resource issues and is designed to address concerns ranging from employee recruitment and retention issues, equal employment laws, the collective bargaining process, and the disciplinary process with an emphasis on progressive discipline. The hiring process will be examin ed and discussion will focus on retention and promotional criteria. Team exercises and interactive participation will be part of the learning methodology.

This fundamental module involves the ability to design and implement strategies that maximize employee potential and foster high et hical standards in meeting the organization's vision, mission, and goals. Effective managers should provide leadership in setting the workforce's expected performance levels commensurate with the organization's strategic objectives; inspiring, motivating, and guiding others toward goal accomplishment; and empowering people by sharing power and authority. Integral to promoting quality involves effective use of the organization's performance appraisal system. This includes establishing performance standards, appraising staff accomplishments using the developed standards, and taking action to reward, counsel, and discharge employees, as appropriate.

Current issues in human resource and labor management relationships will be discussed. Qualified experts will share information on contemporary labor laws relating to grievance procedures and the collective bargaining process with attention given to the concept of Interest-Based Bargaining, as well as information on other pertinent legal issues. The grievance and progressive disciplinary process will be discussed in detail with case study and experiences lending to this learning process. The rationale for both adversarial and cooperative experiences in labor management relationships will be examined with a focus on a changing demographic workforce and respecting differences. Valuing cultural diversity and other differences must be appreciated to foster an environment in which people who are culturally diverse can work together cooperatively and effectively in achieving organizational goals.

Leaders should be able to assess employees' unique developmental needs and provide developmental opportunities that maximize employees' capabilities and contribute to the achievement of organizational goals while at the same time developing leadership skills in others through coaching and mentoring. They must also foster commitment, team spirit, pride, trust, and group identity while taking steps to prevent situations that could result in unpleasant and embarrassing confrontations, internal and external to the organization. Resolving conflicts in a positive and constr uctive manner includes promoting labor and management partnerships and dealing effectively with employee relations matters, attending to morale and organizational climate issues, handling administrative, labor management, and EEO issues, and taking appropriate and consistently-applied disciplinary action when other means have been unsuccessful.

TIMEFRAME 2 Days

MATERIALS / AIDS

OBJECTIVES

Human Resource – Role and Responsibility

Equal Employment Opportunity

Discrimination and Harassment

Family and Medical Leave

Worker’s Compensation

Recruitment, Selection, Retention, and Promotion

Performance Management and Appraisal

Building and Maintaining High Performance Teams

Increasing Staff Effectiveness

Valuing and Managing Diversity

Changing Demographics in the Workforce

Labor Law

Labor Management Relationship

Labor Management Relations in Government

The Collective Bargaining Process

Contract Negotiation Strategy

Conflict Resolution

Interest

Based Bargaining

The Grievance Process

The Disciplinary Process and Progressive Discipline

PRESENTATION

COMPETENCIES: A participant will

 Appreciate the value of effective human resource management and its impact on the organization.

 Understand the principles of recruitment and selection from a legal and organizational viewpoint.

 Be able to address issues that contribute to employee retention.

 Be able to develop promotional criteria consistent with organizational needs.

 Understand current human resource issues that affect the fire and emergency services profession.

 Understand the relationship between labor and management.

 Understand key issues affecting labor and management cooperation.

 Be able to articulate specific issues concerning pertinent labor law.

 Understand issues relating to the EEOC, ADA, FMLA, FLSA, and Worker’s Compensation, as well as other laws that guide the fire service workforce.

 Be able to articulate specific issues concerning the collective bargaining process.

 Be able to devise a strategy for effective collective bargaining negotiation.

 Understand and be able to articulate the issue of interest-based bargaining.

 Be able to differentiate various models of a grievance process and develop a grievance process that is effective.

 Understand and be able to apply the concept of progressive discipline.

 Be able to provide reform for an existing ineffective disciplinary process. Understand the differences between the various generational groups that make up the fire and emergency services workforce.

 Be able to develop strategies that will co mpliment the skills, attitudes, and viewpoints of a multi-generational workforce.

 Understand the importance and various models of effective performance management and evaluation process, as it relates to mentoring, performance monitoring, problem solving, empowerment, and organizational effectiveness.

 Be able to articulate and develop an instrument that that addresses performance needs and employee evaluation.

 Be able to differentiate philosophies regarding pay-for-performance versus conventional evaluation instruments and non-conventional feedback systems.

 Understand the concept of empowerment and the skills and knowledge necessary to engage and enable employees with a focus on responsibility and accountability.

1. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, where does your department’s management/labor relationship stand?

2. Who, or what groups are responsible for ma intaining the relationship between labor and management?

3. What does a healthy management/labor relationship look like?

4. What lessons have you learned along the way that have sustained or improved that relationship?

5. If the relationship was strained or poor previo usly, what strategies/efforts were employed to improve the relationship?

6. What is the role of labor relating to each of the following?

a. Negotiations

b. Discipline

c. Political influence

d. Policy implementation and compliance

e. Professional development

7. As an aspiring or promoted officer, what would you have liked to have been taught or shared with you about your role in the management/labor relationship?

8. Has your budget increased/decreased, stayed the same over the last 5 years?

a. What are your revenue sources?

b. What factors affect increase or decrease to the budget?

9. Approximately what percent % of your department’s budget is for personnel?

a. General operating/

b. Capital?

c. Long term debt?

10. Does your department have a Strategic Plan? Recent? Time specific?

a. How does the Plan affect execution of its mission?

11. List two major issues your department is facing within the next 5 years?

9. How is your relationship with your elected officials? (Local, State, Federal)

10. What strategies or best practices do you implement to attract, develop, and retain a skilled and diverse workforce in the fire service?