Post about "Management"

Emergency and Security Management: A Career of a Different Kind

There is a whole field of career opportunities out there that most people don’t even realize exists. But it won’t be a secret for much longer.If you can keep a calm head in an emergency, are organized and detail-oriented, and can manage relationships, then a career in emergency management and security might be perfect for you.When an emergency of some kind happens, the people we usually see are the first responders – police, firefighters and paramedics. However, when a large event occurs, like a gas spill, a train derailment, a terrorist attack, a forest fire or an earthquake, there is a whole team of people running the show from behind the scenes. And that’s where the emergency management profession comes in.This field is one that very few people know about, so competition for jobs is low, and salaries tend to be high. The demand for qualified people to fill these positions is growing in an economy where many career fields are suffering. Why?Population increases mean more and more people are living in areas where a disaster is likely to occur – like near forest fire, flood and earthquake hazard zones. Climate change is also affecting the incidence of and locations of emergencies and is bringing the importance of emergency planning and response to light. We’re living in an age where domestic and international security concerns are high. And, there is a growing recognition of the need to implement solid business continuity practices to ensure businesses can weather emergencies and disasters.Who Are Emergency Managers? For many years, first responders were the same people who fulfilled behind-the-scenes roles as emergency managers. They juggled both the responsibilities of emergency management and their main job duties. They didn’t necessarily have specific training in the field, and because emergency management duties were “off the side of the desk,” they didn’t get the attention they deserved.Today, emergency and disaster response departments are discovering the advantages of appointing positions to strictly oversee the emergency management function – someone whose attention isn’t divided. This opens up a whole field of careers for people who aren’t first responders, but who would thrive in a job where they are just as instrumental in saving lives, preserving our environment, and protecting people and assets from disaster.What Are Some of the Jobs in this Field? Depending on your training, experience and education, there are several career paths you can take. The most common job titles include:

Emergency Program Coordinator
Disaster Planning Specialist
Director of Safety and Security
Manager of Security
Business Continuity Specialist
Risk Management SpecialistEmergency Program Coordinator: One career path is as an or emergency program coordinator for your local city or municipality. In this role, you will put together and update the community’s emergency plan, which will include an analysis of hazards and risks in the area, and strategies for prevention, mitigation, response and recovery. In layman’s terms, the plan will answer the following questions:

What types of emergencies is my community vulnerable to? Are we located in an earthquake zone? Do many trains carrying hazardous materials run through our community? If it rains too much, are we vulnerable to mud slides?
What strategies can we put in place to prevent emergencies from taking place altogether – or mitigate their effects if they do happen? Should we restrict building permits in mud slide areas? Clear dead trees in forest fire zones? Outline clear disaster response routes?
How will the community manage the response if an emergency does occur? Where will we set up an Emergency Operations Centre (a location from which an emergency can be managed)? Who should be involved – do we need representatives from first response agencies, hydro, forestry, First Nations? How will they be trained and know how to work together?
Where will the general public go if an emergency happens? Do we have a team of trained Emergency Social Services workers to ensure that receptions centres are set up and staffed?
When the emergency is over, how will the community recover? Are many people, animals and businesses displaced? Has infrastructure, such as roads, hydro or railways been disrupted? Will we need to liaise with non-profit disaster organizations for recovery assistance?You will also be responsible for setting up and maintaining the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), developing relationships with individuals, businesses, and organizations in your community, and managing training and exercise programs. For example, during planning for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the City of Vancouver ran several exercises simulating emergency events that could happen. These exercises helped identify gaps in training or skills that could then be remedied prior to the event.Where Else Are Emergency Program Coordinators Employed? Today, you will find emergency management specialist positions in many organizations, including colleges, universities, hospitals, healthcare organizations, utility companies and private businesses like shopping centres and hotels. In these organizations the duties are similar – you still create the emergency management plan, develop relationships and arrange training and exercise programs – but the difference is that your main audience is not the residents of your community, but the staff, students, customers or tenants at your organization. Your job is to make sure plans are in place to protect your people and property before, during and after an emergency.An additional function in these positions is business continuity. Often, you will create a business continuity plan to ensure that key organizational functions can continue if a disaster occurs and you will be able to get business processes back up and running as soon as possible after an incident. For example, you may make plans to duplicate and store important computer data, such as student, customer or accounting records, at a secure second location – so if there is a fire, flood or other incident, you will still be able to access files. This role has become so important in recent years that some organizations hire specific business continuity specialist positions.Specialist Positions: In addition to the positions mentioned above, many larger communities employ specialized positions such as:

Emergency Social Services Director
Emergency Social Services Volunteer Coordinator
Search and Rescue Manager
Training Specialist
Exercise Design CoordinatorAdditionally, many international not-for-profit organizations assist in helping communities respond to and recover from emergencies and disasters. These organizations are numerous, ranging from well-known associations such as the Red Cross and St. John’s Ambulance to lesser known organizations focused on a specific area, such as large animal disaster response. Many rewarding career opportunities are available with these organizations, such as:

Disaster Planning Assistant
Disaster Relief Coordinator
Volunteer CoordinatorThe Merging Fields of Emergency Management and Security So where does security come in? Historically, the fields of emergency management and security were separate. The emergency manager created plans around natural disasters and emergencies, whereas the security manager or director of safety and security would be responsible for keeping the campus, workplace or community safe from criminal activity. However, over the last 10 years, these fields have been merging, especially with private organizations, such as universities, hospitals, and utility and transportation companies.Today, many organizations have created departments that combine these functions. In other organizations the roles are combined.In addition to the emergency management functions described above, in these combined roles you can be expected to be in charge of or coordinate standard security functions, such as:

Perimeter and building security systems and procedures
Managing security guards
Risk analysis and management
Investigating criminal and other incidents and liaising with law enforcementHow Much Will I Make? Depending on your educational background and experience, you can expect to make between $36,000 and $110,000 annually. Recent high level job postings have reached as high as $140,000. Here are some typical salary ranges:

Emergency program assistant with a private organization, university, hospital or government agency: $36,000 to $45,000 annually.
Emergency coordinator, training coordinator, exercise design coordinator or business continuity specialist with a university, healthcare organization, private business, government agency or community: $45,000 to $65,000 annually.
Emergency program manager with a small to medium-sized community: $60,000 to $90,000 annually.
Manager of Security and Emergency Management for a university, hospital, utility company, or casino: $65,000 to $100,000 annually.
Director of Emergency Management for a large city: $90,000 to $140,000 annually.What Kind of Education Do I Need? For emergency coordinator or training specialist roles, you should have a minimum of a Certificate in Emergency Management. You may also consider a specialist certificate in an area such as exercise design. For progressive roles, leadership roles or roles combining emergency management, business continuity and security functions, an academic diploma or bachelor degree is recommended.Where Can I Study? Emergency management and security programs are now offered at select universities and colleges across Canada. You can choose from certificate level programs that train you in basic skills, and diploma and bachelor degree programs, that can provide you with a strong base of management and leadership skills in addition to studies in emergency planning and business continuity. Some programs at the bachelor level even combine studies in emergency and security management to meet the job requirements of these merging fields. Some programs are offered on-site, while others are offered completely online.What Kind of Experience Do I Need? To qualify for an entry level position, often you will need the minimum of a certificate and some experience in communication, program coordination, volunteer coordination, office procedures or customer service. Here are some entry level roles that you can often take on a part-time basis, and will provide a valuable foundation in some basic functions:

Customer Service Representative
Communications Assistant
Volunteer Coordinator
Office Assistant
Security GuardA great way to increase your chances of landing that first job is to volunteer with an organization involved in public safety or disaster response. Some organizations to consider are:

Emergency Social Services
Search and Rescue
St. John’s Ambulance
The Red Cross
The Disaster Animal Response TeamA Career of a Different Kind If you’re outgoing, organized and enjoy analyzing information, putting plans together, developing relationships and making a difference, then a career in emergency management might be right for you. To explore this career option in more detail, visit the emergency management careers page, where you will find recent job postings.

5 Steps to Effective Performance Management

Over the last 15 years I have worked with hundreds of managers, including team leaders and supervisors, in organizations of all shapes and sizes. Many of those managers were, by their own admission, reluctant to manage. Of course on a day by day basis they did manage people – they answered questions, allocated work, went to management meetings, and held some team briefings. But what they most often didn’t do is apply a focused and structured approach to managing their staff’s performanceIn theory, managers know they should be managing performance, that they should be using the review or appraisal system, and that they should be having dynamic discussions with their staff about their performance. But clearly there’s an obvious difference between knowing you should do something and actually doing it. And when managers don’t manage, the business suffers and so do their staff. So what’s the answer? These are five steps I’ve seen applied, by my clients, with very positive effect:Step One – Help managers to understand why performance management is important to the businessDo managers need help in understanding the value of managing performance? Do they need to understand why effective performance management is a critical commercial issue and how effective performance management impacts business success? Only through getting this clarity can a manager gain the confidence that there will be some real business benefit derived from their efforts. Otherwise, why bother?Step Two – Help managers understand why performance management is important to their staffDo managers know that research shows that what people seem to want, and want quite badly, is to be well managed? That they want a strong, mutually supportive relationship with their manager based on interest and clarity? Much of what ‘well managed’ means is effective performance management. The manager’s role in the satisfaction and the engagement of their staff can’t be overstated but often needs to be explained.Step Three – Help managers to embrace their right to manage performanceFrequently the managers I work with seem to feel the need to gain permission to undertake probably the most important part of their role – managing performance. They clearly know there are expectations of them as managers but they don’t feel they have somehow earned the right to manage. Do managers need to understand the rights they have to manage? Do they know what those rights look like in practice?Step Four – Give managers the tools and techniques they need to manage people’s performanceDo managers have access to a range of tools and techniques which can make the seemingly complex much, much simpler? How can we expect managers to know, for example, that there is a simple way to give feedback about even the most ‘difficult’ performance issue so that the issue can be understood and accepted by the staff member? Managers just do not have the time to work these processes out for themselves so they either waste a lot of time (and staff good will) on ‘trial and error’ or they just give up.Step Five – Ensure that managing performance is a top priority for your managersDo managers have ‘managing performance’ listed in their job description, their job objectives or anywhere else? I have heard hundreds of managers tell me that there is nothing written down or agreed that describes their responsibilities as a performance manager. So why would a manager dedicate time and effort to an activity for which they are not held accountable, for which there is no reward, which appears to be just about the lowest priority of the business? How can organisations expect their managers to undertake the complex work of managing their staff’s performance if:a) the manager does not know what being an effective performance manager looks like ipractice in their organisation
b) the manager is not held accountable for the effective performance management of their staff – it is not seen as an integral part of their job but something to be done when all of the ‘real work’ has been completed
c) they are not acknowledged or rewarded for effective performance management?In summaryIt’s all about developing the ‘will’ and the ‘skill’. Helping managers to understand the importance of effective performance management, helping them develop the skills and then holding them accountable for applying those skills in practice

Interpersonal Communication – An Effective Delegation Management Skill for Increased Performance

There are many different management styles and manager personality characteristics. All can be appropriate or inappropriate based on a number of factors such as:
Type of business
Responsibilities
Size and make up of business unit
Goals and Objectives
It may be that in a high-stress and mission critical situation, a more autocratic style might be appropriate (think military battle situation). At other times, a much more team-oriented style would be better (think a business unit where collaboration is key). In most business settings, a manager gets promoted to a leadership position based on performance, seniority, and other factors unrelated to “style of management.”So if management style is somewhat a given person-by-person and a manager is put in a position of responsibility to lead a business unit regardless of “style”, what can be done to improve performance? The answer is that every manager needs to get better at certain core skills regardless of their style, or sometimes in spite of their style. One such skill to explore is “interpersonal” management.”Interpersonal management skills represent a more collaborative style in leading the business unit. A manager may find times when the project or problem requires a more collaborative approach and interpersonal skills would boost results. What are some of the basic characteristics of “interpersonal” management?
Encourage participation in developing projects and solutions and sharing of ideas.
The manager shares all information relevant to the task at hand.
Power and authority are delegated, where appropriate, to carry out specific tasks and assignments.
Managers support and encourage “team-work” in planning and executing the assignment.
These basic approaches to fostering interpersonal management are not particularly difficult to employ when the situation requires. The problem is that most managers, particularly male managers according to many studies, come to the table with a more “authoritative” style or mind-set. It is the common “command and control” style that does not include much interpersonal/collaborative interaction. Certainly, the more directive and authority driven styles can be productive and have their place. The challenge to productivity and execution by managers who naturally employ this style is those situations where collaboration is needed to carryout a project.The key here is “recognition.” The top managers will realize when a situation, problem or project is such that “interpersonal” skills will be needed to foster the teamwork and collaboration needed for a particular assignment or project. These managers think-through what the assignment will require as part of the pre-project planning and review process. When they conclude that business unit or team collaboration will be the winning approach, they deliberately modify their management style to integrate more interpersonal skills into their management.It is a thoughtful and deliberate application of style modification. This is a hallmark of very effective leadership and it is called Versatility. Managers who can adopt a different style to fit the circumstances at hand are showing the versatility to match the situation. It can be a winning formula.