Texas Fire Chief - Fall/Winter 2008 - (Page 26)

Fire Department Promotional Assessments By Division Chief Mark Ashmead, Grapevine Fire Department When the assessment is over, you post the scores on Friday at 5 PM and hope to get to the car before anyone can catch you. The ones you dread the most are the contingent candidates who finished lower than they expected and will pursue you like angry villagers hunting Frankenstein’s monster. As you drive away, you say to yourself “There’s got to be something better.” International Congress on Assessment Center Methods With the blessing of the chief, I have been able to look outside of the world of beg, borrow and steal, and seek an outside source for the assessment center portion of our promotional process. I find it to be a brave new world that is credible, transparent and allows each candidate the opportunity to excel in the process. The consultant brings to the table a legitimate process based upon assessing witnessed behaviors that are relevant to the success or failure of a person in a particular rank. These procedures are based on actual processes that come out of the International Congress on Assessment Center Methods. That’s correct, there are people out there that study new developments, trends and research on asTEXAS FIRE CHIEF Fall/Winter 2008 romotional assessments have been around for a long time. The oldest known record of a group aspiring for higher service is found in the Old Testament when ten thousand candidates sought the opportunity to serve in Gideon’s army. Only three hundred were chosen on the basis of how they drank water from a stream. If they brought the water to their mouth, they were picked. If they got down on their hands and knees, they went home. I wonder how many of the ninety-seven hundred soldiers not selected were upset with that system. If you are an administrative officer of a fire department that conducts promotional assessments, you probably wrestle with formulating and conducting some process to determine who is best for a rank to be filled. For many, this is a one-person shop when it comes to the work load of formulating a means to fill the position. You try to put together a meaningful method that will allow someone to demonstrate his or her abilities. In your effort to do this, you may even incorporate pieces that you liked from other assessments that you have participated in as an assessor. Your assessment will probably include a written exam, a fireground tactical, a personnel problem and maybe something else. Armed with a score sheet that could have been copied from another department, and some assessors that are paying you back for working on their assessments, you dive head fi rst into the experience. When the assessment is over, you post the scores on Friday at 5 PM and hope to get to the car before anyone can catch you. The ones you dread the most are the contingent candidates who finished lower than they expected and will pursue you like angry villagers hunting Frankenstein’s monster. As you drive away, you say to yourself “There has got to be something better.” Does this sound familiar? I have “been there done that,” and after each assessment I generally feel less than satisfied that I provided the best method possible. In my efforts to refi ne the process, I end up with confused and anxious candidates who generally don’t tolerate change very well. 26 P

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Texas Fire Chief - Fall/Winter 2008

Texas Fire Chief - Fall/Winter 2008 Contents Executive Director’s Report Texas Fire Chiefs Academy Project Reports Southwest Fire Rescue Conference Program Membership Application Customer Service Orientation in Fire Rescue Departments A Visit to the E-One Plant Index to Advertisers

Texas Fire Chief - Fall/Winter 2008

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