Delivering more valuable feedback to emergency staff through revamped appraisals

We are a small fire and emergency medical agency (40 employees). We do not have the support a full-time H/R Manager nor a full-time IT Manager. We do most of these functions ourselves and contract out for the larger issues. This software lets me handle a huge percentage of the HR issues that have the biggest impact on my firefighters. Firefighters are highly motivated and mission focused when it comes to emergency services. However, adherence to other issues that are not a pressing emergency, become difficult for us. The annual performance appraisal was a chore for all parties and it didn’t gain us anything. Small Improvements has been a lifesaver for me – and I’m a fire chief. I know about saving lives.

Industry

Fire Station

Size

43 employees

Location

Vail, Arizona

Website

rinconvalleyfdaz.gov

Features Used

1:1 Meetings Performance Reviews 360º Feedback Feedback Requests Praise Objectives

The new process allows the appraisals to occur automatically and regularly, lets my admin folks track it effortlessly, and allows the supervisors and employees to have candid conversations. We are mostly Type-A personalities and were very caught-up with our 26 point evaluation system. Our folks only concentrated on the scores and not the message. Small Improvements shifts that focus back to the messages and away from the scores.

Small Improvements also lets us provide feedback from multiple points of view. Firefighting is very much a team sport. In order for the supervisor (captain) to be effective, he has to know that his team has confidence in his abilities. This system allows our captains to receive great feedback from the subordinates. Likewise, each team member has to know they have the respect of each other. Again, the 360 degree feedback accommodates that.