BY JOSEPH MURRAY
Performance measurements have long been used by successful private sector businesses and corporations to stay ahead of the competition, ensure efficient operations, and maximize their shareholders’ profits.
As publicly funded services, municipal fire departments and fire authorities mostly operate under very different circumstances. Typically, municipal fire departments and fire authorities provide a service that is without competition and without an unrelenting pressure to meet a bottom line of profitability. Without the pressure to meet profit margins, governmental agencies, including fire departments, often place less emphasis on measuring performance as they struggle just to keep up with the demands of daily activities.
When the topic of “performance measures” is brought up within the fire service, it is often met with some level of consternation by those comfortable with the status quo. Others—specifically those responsible for budgets—may also avoid the topic of performance measurements as they could reveal performance shortcomings, which could require a significant financial investment to rectify. As a result, fire service performance measurement programs have historically taken a back seat to other initiatives and programs. While the use of performance measures may expose weaknesses within current operations, fleet divisions that place a high priority on measuring performance often provide the most efficient and highest-quality services.
Performance Measurement Program Benefits
When properly developed and implemented, performance measurement programs can provide the fleet division supervisor with vital information in support of management functions. Performance measurements can be used to assist in maintaining accountability, improving operations, ensuring fiscal responsibility, and making certain that resources are properly allocated to meet the fleet division’s goals and objectives.
Increased Transparency and Accountability
High-performing fleet division supervisors must ensure accountability for those under the command while being accountable to the fire chief for their own actions. Performance measures are a way for the fleet division supervisor to document what work was completed, the quality of the work, and the impact the work had on the department’s overall mission. The resulting transparency that comes with the documentation of fleet division performance often leads to an increase in trust between the fleet division and internal and external stakeholders. When fleet divisions demonstrate accountability through performance measurements, firefighters may feel more confident that their apparatus are being well maintained, fire chiefs become more trusting when budget requests are made, and the residents feel confident that the fire department fleet is being well maintained, and tax dollars are being spent wisely.
Managing Fleet Division Operations
Fleet division supervisors equipped with a quality set of performance measures are better equipped to determine operational strengths and weakness, allowing them to determine the effectiveness of current procedures or to better provide feedback to fleet division employees. By using performance measurement reports, the fleet division supervisor can understand what processes may need to be altered to improve performance or even where they may need to provide closer supervision to ensure the division is meeting its goals. Fleet divisions that use a performance measurement system are more likely to detect operational deficiencies at an earlier stage, allowing them to make changes before a small problem becomes a bigger, and often more expensive, problem. Performance measurement reports also allow the fleet supervisor to determine if corrective actions to address problems have been effective. They can also assist the fleet