Milton Keynes - 1st November 2006 - Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMF&RS) has been able to cut its labour costs by 5% (almost £3 million per year) and improve its service performance standards, following the implementation of a 5 Watch, Demand-led workforce management approach to staffing.
"The WorkPlace 5 Watch methodology returned significant savings in excess of 5% of total labour costs and at the same time improved our service performance standards" stated Steve Beckley ACFO, GMF&RS In response to the Government National Framework and budget pressures, GMF&RS commissioned WorkPlace Systems, a specialist in Workforce Management solutions to investigate an alternative to the current 2-2-4 roster, 4-Watch structure which had been acceptable to both staff and the Fire Service for the last 3 decades.
In conjunction with GMF&RS Officers and Staff and in consultation with the Fire Brigades Union, WorkPlace Systems developed a plan that enabled GMF&RS to adopt a Demand-Led rostering approach based on a modern 5 Watch methodology. Demand Led Rostering enables GMF&RS to more accurately model the demand for resources. The 5 Watch, 2-2-4 roster structure incorporates an innovative philosophy with flexible contracts, whereby the correct number of people are rostered to work, with no surplus capacity, but with the ability to call people in to work to cover absences. Operating together, they provide better utilisation and significant cost savings.
Steve Beckley again, "WorkPlace demonstrated a good understanding of the complexity of our operation and delivered a workable solution on time and within budget and played an important part in providing timely and accurate information to assist in negotiations with the Fire Brigades Union." As a direct result of implementing the Demand Led, 5 Watch Roster GMF&RS have saved almost £3m per year (5% staff costs). There were further indirect cost savings of £1m when this system was combined with other changes to working practices due to the additional available capacity redirected to Community Fire Safety initiatives.
The benefits are not just limited to the Service - Staff have also experienced real benefits from the new approach. There is a net reduction of hours worked as they can effectively 'win' their non rostered hours if not called in, which creates additional leisure time. Additionally the number of periods of significant duration away from work is increased and becomes more predictable, allowing for better vacation and leisure planning.
Steve Beckley - ACFO, GMF&RS, concluded, "Moving to a Demand-Led, 5 Watch methodology has returned greater than expected benefits and in spite of some initial scepticism and resistance, we have been delighted by the way our staff have accepted and embraced the change. This is due in the main to the thorough and rigorous process adopted throughout the project from both our internal project team and the consulting company, WorkPlace Systems."
About Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) is a single-purpose authority with statutory responsibilities under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 to attend emergency calls to fires and provide advice and enforcement on fire safety matters. In addition, the service also performs many roles which are non statutory, e.g. Attendance at non-fire emergencies and involvement in a wide range of Community Fire Safety (CFS) initiatives and work with children and young people. The service has 41 fire stations throughout the County with 1,951wholetime uniformed posts, 38 Retained uniform posts and 375 Nonuniformed posts. Operationally in 2005/06 GMF&RS attended over 52,000 different incidents and rescued over 520 people from fires or road traffic collisions.
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