Professionalism

1
Professionalism

• A Vital Principle in
• Emergency Management

2
Emergency Management in the Past

• What are the common characteristics of a typical
  emergency manager 10-20 years ago?
• How have emergency managers changed over time?

3
Emergency Management Today

• Emergency management is changing and being
  transformed in remarkable ways.
• There is more professionalism today as compared
  to the past.

4
Professionalism

• The word professionalism implies
• A career that is followed to acquire income
• To be engaged in employment that requires
  specialized knowledge
• An expert in a particular occupation
• A person involved in a recognized discipline or
  field

5
Professionalism and EM

• In the context of emergency management, the term
  professional implies that one has acquired the
  necessary knowledge skills to help communities
  prevent and prepare for disaster response and
  recovery operations.

6
The Professional Emergency Manager

• Drabek sought to identify what makes emergency
  managers successful
• Study included a two-tiered methodology
• Researched 12 emergency management directors to
  determine what qualities make them successful
• Compared these directors to other emergency
  managers in 50 additional cities and counties

7
The Professional Emergency Manager (cont.)

• Successful emergency managers
• Had specialized knowledge
• Possessed several unique qualities
• Performed emergency management functions
  effectively

8
Specialized Knowledge

• Understood emergency management law and
  regulations
• Were aware of the many organizations involved in
  disasters
• Were certified by professional organizations

9
Unique Qualities

• Communicate and manage human resources
• Maintain composure under pressure
• Had expertise in volunteer management, military
  planning, or technology

10
Perform Functions Effectively

• Went beyond a traditional civil defense
  perspective of disasters
• Were involved with many different stakeholders
• Were valued for their accomplishments

11
Importance of Knowledge

• A few short decades ago, the men and women who
  worked and accomplished a great deal in the field
  of emergency management often did not hold
  university degrees. If they did, it was usually
  in a topic unrelated to their endeavors, let
  alone in emergency/hazards management itself
  (Thomas and Mileti 2003, 19).
• This precedent needs to change

12
Education

• FEMAs Higher Education Initiative has expanded
  academic programs
• Degrees help students acquire broad KSAs, avoid
  mistakes, equip them with tools, increase earning
  potential and make better decisions

13
Training

• Training is really continuing education or job
  qualification activity (Thomas and Mileti 2003,
  8)
• Formal training from FEMA and states
• Informal training from colleagues and peers

14
Certification

• Emergency managers and their programs can be
  certified in two ways
• Receive Certified Emergency Management credential
• Be recognized by the Emergency Management
  Accreditation Program

15
Standards

• Provide ways to professionalize the field of
  emergency management
• Are to be promoted or pursued as a way to
  regulate or self-regulate
• Have been created by NFPA

16
Importance of Leadership

• Leadership can be defined as an ability to
  motivate people and organizations to accomplish
  goals
• In emergency management, leadership implies
  managerial skills that result in the coordination
  of effective disaster mitigation, preparedness,
  response and recovery operations

17
Executive Core Qualifications

• Leading change
• Leading people
• Driving results
• Business acumen
• Building coalitions (see Kushma, Benini and
  Holdeman 2008).

18
Leading Change

• Includes strategic planning for an organization
  that is based on vision, creativity and
  innovative thinking.
• E.g., moving toward a more proactive form of
  emergency management

19
Leading People

• Leading people refers to team building and
  conflict resolution
• E.g., motivating people to become involved in
  mitigation or preparedness

20
Driving Results

• Driving results deals with goal accomplishment,
  customer service and accountability
• E.g., reducing disaster losses

21
Business Acumen

• Business acumen covers the management of human
  and material resources for efficiency
• E.g., oversight of budgets, employees and
  volunteers

22
Building Coalitions

• Building coalitions includes persuasion,
  negotiation and networking to get others to buy
  into your objectives
• E.g., alignment with key stakeholders

23
Ethics in EM

• An important responsibility of emergency managers
  is to understand ethical issues and promote such
  considerations
• There are many things that emergency managers
  should not do
• Other dilemmas are not resolved so easily

24
Apathy and EM

• Advocacy suggests being a champion of the
  profession and promoting the interests of
  emergency managers

25
The Importance of Advocacy

• Understand the politics of disasters
• Change elected officials tendency to neglect
  long-term issues
• Gain a better idea of the budgeting process
• Counter citizen apathy
• Provide flyers in utility bills

26
The Importance of Advocacy (cont).

• Participate in social events
• Educate businesses
• Take self-improvement classes
• Monitor legislative activities
• Stay on top of the latest research
• Join professional associations

27
Conclusion

• EM has changed
• It is more professional due to education,
  training, certification and standards
• Leadership is important for EM as are ethics and
  advocacy

28
(No Transcript)