Human Resources (HR) plays a significant role in the fire service and in emergency management organizations. Therefore, it is essential for personnel in the emergency management community to be knowledgeable about the role HR can play in an emergency management organization, and how it can impact personnel and daily operations. Managing and emergency management organization is not an easy task, therefore many emergency management organizations have begun to see the importance of having HR. Depending on the size of an emergency management organization, HR functions may fall under the fire chief and their administration or the municipal HR department. This is a short summary describing the functions of HR within emergency management, legal issues …show more content…
One of the legal issues that may arise when hiring personnel in emergency management is civil rights acts. An emergency management organization must ensure that they are not discriminating against a certain group of people. The categories of discrimination include race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and national origin (). Most organizations find themselves in legal trouble when they enter into an affirmative action plan that contains specific percentage goals to hire one particular group of people such as minorities and women, which is also known as reverse …show more content…
In every fire service or emergency management organization, the first-line officers or supervisors have the greatest impact on creating a positive work environment. A positive or negative environment will trickle down through the department (). A full-time emergency management organization can motivate and retain employees by offering competitive wages and excellent benefits. Additionally, if the organization provides up-to-date and well-maintained equipment and technology, can increase worker productivity and satisfaction, which in turn leads to meeting organizational goals and objectives (). One area of motivation that often gets overlooked and that is important in retaining personnel letting employees know that their contribution is appreciated. Emergency organizations must also attempt to provide a working environment where employees receive praise for reaching organizational goals, and where they have ample opportunities for career progression. Most importantly strong and empathetic leadership also leads to an increase in motivation and