Review of administrative support needs to Brigades project

News Report # 5, 3 December 2007

Earlier this year, CFA undertook a project to review the administrative support needs of brigades. Human Resource consultancy Kokkin and Brown was engaged independently to conduct the review on CFA’s behalf. The project required significant time, effort and support from CFA members and other stakeholders.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have been involved in this review. Without their contribution, Kokkin and Brown would not have been in a position to build a strong understanding of CFA and, in particular, the administrative support needs and expectations of Brigades.

As part of our continuing commitment to provide information on Kokkin and Brown’s findings, a copy of the full report is now available online.

It is important to note that the next step will be for CFA to carefully consider Kokkin and Brown’s recommendations and findings before reaching any conclusions or decisions.

As part of this, the report is being provided to you as members in order to provide for and encourage feedback and discussion.

The Stakeholder Reference Group set up specifically for this review, will be reconvened to provide comment and feedback on the specifics of the Kokkin and Brown report. You can provide feedback either to any of the representatives in this group or to the project using this email address: brgdadminspt@cfa.vic.gov.au

Following this, CFA will be in a position to determine and communicate to all members and other stakeholders, its response to the Kokkin and Brown recommendations, including any further actions or subsequent decisions.

To obtain a copy of the Kokkin and Brown report, please follow either of the links below:

Brigades Online
Intranet

Although a summary of the key recommendations has been provided here, I do suggest that you read the full report as this will place the recommendations in their proper context.

EXTRACT of Kokkin and Brown Report – (28 November 2007)

Kokkin and Brown used the following definition of administrative support.

“Administrative Support to Brigades can be defined as the work undertaken by CFA staff in direct support of the administrative activities required by CFA in order for Brigades to fulfil their statutory requirements.”

Kokkin and Brown has made 6 key recommendations as follows.

1. Adoption of Principles for Defining Administrative Support Accountabilities.
In summary the principles recognise;

• Building Capability of Brigades: The need for all support to be focused on the utilisation of volunteer know-how and the ongoing development of Brigade Capability.
• Support Based on Risk: That the provision of administrative support should be determined through an assessment of risk and determination of appropriate treatment.
• Resourcing - Equitable but not equal: The need to work to a set of principles to ensure all Brigade administrative support is based on an agreed benchmark and assessment process.
• Seamless Service Delivery: That CFA provide a “one team” approach to Brigade support, ensuring there is a clear understanding and acceptance of the “service offer”.

2. Adoption of Principles for Defining Administrative Support Delivery Model.
Administrative support should;

• Be Brigade Focused: The primary focus of this support is to develop Brigade capability and viability through delivery of support needs.
• Be Flexible: Able to change this support based on changing Brigade requirements.
• Be Needs Driven: Recognise risk rather than size and location.
• Be Seamless: Operations, regional office and administrative support should be experienced by volunteers as “one team”.
• Be Proactive and Planned: At least 2 visits a year to each Brigade to identify these support needs, develop treatments and establish end dates and provide an opportunity for volunteers to connect with the larger organisation.
• Be Accessible and available: Volunteers should be able to access advice or expertise as issues arise. This support may be face to face, electronic or via telephones.

3. Development of Work Clusters.

• The adoption of 4 clusters of work (transactional, project, expert and Brigade owned) to recognise like groupings of work delivered as support to Brigades and the appropriate level of accountability
• Utilise the Brigade Administrative Support Matrix (Appendix 4 of report) to define the work to be delivered within the 2 clusters that cover administrative support required by Brigades i.e the transactional and project clusters.

4. Delivery of administrative support to Brigades.

• Transaction cluster of work should be delivered utilising a combination of options for service delivery as decided by General Managers based on the individual circumstances of their Area.
• Project Cluster work should be delivered, where practical, from within the Catchment Team.

5. Support Planning Process

• Adoption of the support planning process, including two planned and structured visits as a minimum to all Brigades annually. This process should be standardised across the CFA, utilising an agreed approach that reflects practices already in place in some Areas.

6. Facilitating Implementation
The following steps are to be taken to facilitate implementation of recommendations 1-5.

• Continuation of the open, transparent and two way communication processes utilised throughout the project to support implementation.
• Undertake consultative processes to explore the impact of the options for delivery of both Transactional and Project clusters and the role descriptions described in the Administrative Support Matrix.
• Adopt a unified approach across all Areas for service delivery, utilising a standardised approach to the catchment model.

Kokkin & Brown Executive Summary – Conclusion

Throughout this project stakeholders have identified a belief that the administrative support to Brigades can be considerably improved. Kokkin & Brown have observed considerable variation in the delivery of this support across the CFA, and have also identified some areas of risk to the organisation if work practices continue as they are, and therefore believe that the adoption of the recommendations in this report will lead to this improvement.

The recommendations in this report have significant impact on both the existing administrative support roles and other resources within catchment and area teams, and this impact needs to be addressed if any change is to be successfully implemented.

The final impact on roles needs to be determined after acceptance of recommendations and undertaking appropriate consultative processes. Kokkin & Brown suggest that this change be recognised as an opportunity to provide a consistent and standardised approach to provision of administrative support, which involves a new approach to delivery resourced depending on agreed risk and provided by staff with the appropriate skills and support.

There are also a number of opportunities to improve support to Brigades, both administrative and otherwise, through process improvements. The major dependencies and opportunities, for a successful implementation, as identified by Kokkin & Brown, have been described in the body of this report and should be considered before planning to implement any change.

Kokkin & Brown have valued the honesty and openness of all stakeholders through this project. Whilst there is significant concern that this project will not eventuate into the required change, CFA staff and volunteers have consistently given their time and shared their thoughts in a cooperative and positive manner. Continuing open communication to stakeholders through the next stages of this process would be seen as a very positive outcome from all staff and volunteers and Kokkin & Brown actively encourage this.

Finally, Kokkin & Brown thank the CFA for allowing them to work with the organisation, its staff and its volunteers to undertake this project and are hopeful that these recommendations can be implemented to achieve the required change. Good Luck!


I hope that this information has provided you with an overview of the Kokkin and Brown report. If you have any questions about the review or any difficulties in accessing the full report, please contact the Project Manager at CFA HQ.

Once again, my thanks to all those who contributed to this Review to date for their time and effort.

Cheers for now

Barbara Lewis
Director Human Resources