Five Generations

There are five generations in the U.S. workforce today: the Silent Generation (aged 74 to 89), Baby Boomers (54 to 73), Gen X (42 to 53), Millennials (24 to 41) and Gen Z (under 23). According to the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association), each of these groups is represented in the ranks of U.S. firefighters, professional and volunteer. In the career service, half of all firefighters are between 30 and 49, with the next largest group being 20 to 29-year-olds. In the volunteer service members tend to be younger, and rural locations have the highest proportion of 50+ firefighters. But all departments are composed of a mix of generations.

     I’m not going to repeat the generational stereotypes because they’re often wrong and only serve to fan the flames of frustration. Understanding why conflicts arise is the real key to an effective and functional workplace. It’s important to realize that conflicts occur in all workplaces but seem to spark more easily and are more prevalent in the fire house, thanks to the emphasis that’s placed on the importance of teamwork on the job, the extended periods of time we spend together in close quarters, and the high stress situations we experience on a regular basis.

     When we examine the root cause of many fire house conflicts, we often find that the issues have more to do with life stages and positions within the organization than with any perceived stereotypes. Newer team members often feel their voices aren’t heard, while long-standing team members perceive that their experience is being ignored.

     Newer employees are looking for opportunities for career advancement while those who have been around longer are looking for respect and for their experience to be acknowledged. Because there have been drastic changes in the techniques and technology (like hydraulic ladders that have changed the way our job is done over the last several decades), members of the “old guard” remember when the job wasn’t so easy. This might lead them to think new personnel aren’t truly paying their dues. On the flip side, there’s a much greater focus on health and safety today, as well as a greater understanding of the carcinogenic risks of the job and the dangers of obesity.

     The coming of AIDS created a cultural shift in what is considered acceptable behavior. There are firefighters who might remember when, as a badge of honor, you wanted to be covered in blood after medical calls. I remember a retired firefighter reminiscing about smearing more of a patient’s blood on his face before getting off the ambulance in the early 80s, in the hope of being perceived to be “cooler.” That would be unthinkable today – for much the same reason that overhauling without an SCBA should be. I personally remember not using an SCBA while overhauling a burned down garage, because the lieutenant had laughed at me and said that he had never bothered to wear one and was fine. To him, the SCBA was an example of the newer firefighters being “soft” and this attitude was one of the many things I’d learned in the academy that I was supposed to ignore. In reality, the importance of using an SCBA was entirely based on new research and key to helping prevent cancer. While the lieutenant knew far more about the applied aspects of the job, I knew more about the safety protocol, because I had been more recently exposed to the rationale for these new procedures. We both had things to learn from each other, despite what he might have thought.

     Younger firefighters are often getting used to working in a new organization, trying to chart a career trajectory, and struggling for the first time to juggle family responsibilities with work. We all deal with work-life balance issues, of course, but those in the fire service are particularly challenged as we often have to cope with 24 to 48 hour shifts. If those pressures are combined with the family demands of raising newborns, toddlers or teenagers, dealing with elderly parents, coping with a new marriage or recovering from a freshly painful divorce, tensions can mount.

     When colleagues seem to display a different level of “commitment to the organization,” it may simply be because they’re wrestling with other obligations. They may suddenly focus on their salary or on the need for a raise because their situation has recently changed. This shift could make them appear immature and subject to criticism from colleagues who perceive a demand to be rewarded instantly. While it’s true that a firefighter’s personal life shouldn’t influence his or her work, it’s easy to understand the needs. Those in leadership roles have probably lived through similar life events and can remember having the same concerns. Resolving ongoing conflicts is often a matter of acknowledging that these feelings exist, trying to address the underlying issues, and getting the department to unite around a common cause. It’s easy for leadership and the “old guard” to forget that they were exactly like the younger firefighters not too long ago. It is also easy for the younger firefighters to forget that even if protocols have changed, the techniques the older firefighters know were very effective on the job for a long time and that they have valuable wisdom to share. Everyone in the department has gone through the academy, met the requirements of the job, and has something to contribute. Ours is a job that helps people and it’s what many kids grow up dreaming of doing.

     All firefighters, regardless of age, can contribute if we keep in mind that we are all trying to reach the same goal: protecting public safety.

Submitted by Denny Gorton

 

 

 

Blaze Publications, Inc.

Jeff Gargano - Editor
P.O. Box 122
Humboldt, IA 50548
jeff@blazepublicationsinc.com

News and Advertising: News and advertising deadlines are the 15th of each month for the next month's issue.

 

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