Paper Sample - Optimizing Fire Service Promotions: A Focus on CPI and Caliper Profile Tools

Promotional Tools for Fire Promotion

Promotional tools refer to the activities and tactics one plans to execute during a particular promotion process. Various agencies use various tools while promoting a lieutenant to captain in the fire service. For instance, in the agency that I work with, Smart Minds Agency (SMA), several tools are used which vary depending on the promotion type. These tools include the CPI (California Psychological Inventory), Caliper profile, DISC Assessment, and Myers-Briggs indicator type, among others. The study's focus is to illustrate two of the promotional tools that the group found more effective, i.e., the CPI and Caliper profile.

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SMA is an agency that comprises ten personnel who are all dedicated to their profession. The agency currently covers only the fire area but aims to expand in the future. The inventory tools used by the agency include personality traits, that go beyond individual skills.

California Psychological Inventory

CPI tool evaluates an individual's interpersonal behavior and social communication. It helps in identifying workers who interact effectively with other workers and demonstrates how they react to various circumstances (Gough, 1990). Using the CPI tool, the group can know how different individuals cope with various circumstances that may arise in the fireplace as well as study if an individual can work with a group. In general, the tool gets to identify different personal characteristics like independence, conceptual understanding, and sociability. CPI is designed in a manner that it can identify if an individual is giving false information (Gough, 1990). Therefore, using this tool, the group gets to determine if the individual possesses interpersonal skills and problem-solving skills, which are vital in leadership. However, the test tool is only limited to deciding the interpersonal behaviors, not the unidimensional traits.

Caliper Profile.

Caliper profile is a personality tool that examines the above 25 traits all related to job achievement. The tool pinpoints the individual weaknesses, potentials, and strengths. It also provides information concerning their motivators. It covers specific attributes like leadership, time management, and empathy (Hartmann et al., 2011). The tool is advantageous to use as it aids in assessing both the negative and positive features of an individual. It also examines various individuals' personalities, which are examined while they relate and interact with others. Using this tool, an individual's leadership skills and management skills can be accessed. When an individual's job motivator is identified, the evaluators can determine if an individual is in for the position just for money or if are they going to carry out the tasks effectively. However, the tool is time-consuming since multiple questions are presented (Hartmann et al., 2011).

The main difference between management and leadership is that management identifies the goals and generates an individual path that needs to be followed to achieve them. In management, managers present themselves to make sure individuals attain the required results and that they do the work effectively. Management involves task allocations. The skills involved in management can be learned or taught through experience and education. However, with leadership, leaders play a significant role in inspiring other workers to work together to achieve the goal. In leadership also, leaders get to acquire their skills through challenging ideas and modeling behavior.

Of the two promotional tools, the Caliper profile seems to be more effective in EMS/fire service. It is so since the caliper profile gets to examine many personality traits like leadership and time management traits, which are vital in the captain position. The tool also provides information about the strengths, potentials, and weaknesses an individual possesses which will aid the evaluators in determining if they are fit for the position. Despite being time-consuming, the results of this tool are more accurate making it more preferred for the EMS industry.

References

Gough, H. G. (1990). Testing for leadership with the California Psychological Inventory. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1991-97354-016

Hartmann, M., Mordan, B., & Schoenfelder, T. (2011). The Perfect Legal Personality. ACC Docket. http://www.calipermedia.calipercorp.com.s3.amazonaws.com/whitepapers/us/Legal-Personality.pdf