People Strategy

During our CRMP consultation our stakeholders and staff told us they want us to continue our support to staff on welfare and wellbeing issues including mental health support.

In response our people priorities are to:

• Develop a positive and inclusive workplace culture which responds positively to change
• Develop all our people to consistently demonstrate the behaviours in the code of ethics, the behaviours which underpin the Service values
• Become an employer of choice, attracting, recruiting, retaining, and developing a highly skilled and diverse workforce
• Continue to develop a shared understanding across the Service of the value of diversity, and demonstrate the behaviours, skills, knowledge, and attributes required in a modern fire and rescue service
• Embed a positive and inclusive learning culture where staff are developed to achieve their full potential and encouraged to have a voice
• Ensure our firefighter workforce meets the Services emergency response requirements in terms of being highly skilled, capable of responding to different types of emergencies safely and who can deliver at times of business continuity
• Provide a safe and healthy working environment with low levels of absence, accidents, and injuries
• Develop our managers to recognise their staff’s talent, provide stretch and challenge, foster growth, and support their teams to fulfil their potential
• Continue to invest in providing all our staff with the appropriate training and development opportunities
• Develop our leaders to understand and use coaching as their preferred leadership style, to support individuals’ development

Our approach will be to:

• Embed the Service values, behaviours, and the code of ethics making BFRS a place where everyone feels valued and included
• Promote the Service as an employer of choice and strive to recruit a workforce which is diverse, and which meets the needs of the people of Bedfordshire
• Develop the capability and resilience of leaders who can energise their teams, who encourage flexibility, innovation and who promote continuous improvement
• Align with the Fire Standard on Leadership and People
• Embed talent management and succession planning, shaping the workforce to meet Service needs and supporting individuals to achieve their full potential
• Promote a resilient and healthy workforce
• Actively engage with our workforce by responding to feedback and involving staff in the shaping of our plans and decision making

The retirement profile of the Service shows a high number of staff are likely to retire in the next few years. This profile presents a risk around potential loss of skills and experience and therefore our robust workforce planning is essential. However, it also presents an opportunity to reform our ways of working to ensure that the Service can attract and retain a more diverse workforce equipped with the skills to deliver a modern fire and rescue service.

We will be working to align our existing staff development programmes with the new NFCC leadership framework whilst maintaining career pathways that are underpinned with technical skills, knowledge and understanding, giving our staff the confidence and opportunities necessary.

Since 2019 our new wholetime firefighters have benefited from attending initial training through an apprenticeship standard, developed by the sector to meet our expectations, and externally accredited by Skills for Justice. We will explore further opportunities to benefit from modern apprenticeship standards to support a range of staff development.