Responding to work-related surveys: are they really relevant?

Have you completed a work-related survey recently? I’ve participated in a number of them in recent years – most dispatcher-specific. In fact, while researching for my book, I had one posted on my blog and a few other dispatcher websites.

I have come to the conclusion that most of the surveys are developed by those who don’t know or understand our profession at all.

Why would I say that? Let’s take the last one I did as an example.

One question asked about the choice of taking overtime in comp time. The choices weren’t applicable to my current, or previous, agencies.  A better question would have been “How are you compensated for working overtime?” with answers listed as a) optional comp or pay; b) comp time only; c) pay only; d) comp time until a max limit is reached and then pay is allowed. That is a realistic response in today’s communications center world.

Another series of questions dealt with the number of field units a Dispatcher could effectively handle on his or her own.  The answer was a drop-down menu of a number.   Bigger Comm Centers have more staff and higher call volumes, but they might break up their jurisdiction into response zones while medium or small agencies only have one radio position. Still, others might be part of a regional system. We have contracted federal officers appended to us and their work volume varies considerably.  Another issue is the shift, day of the week, and season. Call us crazy but the Full Moon does influence the crazies (I saw enough as a field EMT to know that is true).

Not a word on those factors. That’s it. No explanation or comment section.

Now, I have a problem with that. There have been shifts where I’ve had almost 40 units to manage but then I was strictly working the radio for DISPATCHING. No inquires (or entries/updates) were done by the primary Control Dispatcher - those were done on a separate channel; call-takers handled the phones; and even secondary requests such as tows were on another channel.  Could it get busy enough to need a second person helping? Absolutely. Major incidents were moved to the secondary channel. Even now, four units can keep a single dispatcher working extra hard while a full complement of units might mean little or no traffic if most are in the office doing paperwork.

It all depends on ACTIVITY which was not addressed in the survey.

The same went for the question about how many radio channels one person can effectively handle. It all depends on activity and staffing (another item not considered). We monitor and deal with 32 channels on seven zones (we’re a single dispatch for a state agency).  Not every channel is in use at the same time but it’s not unusual for multiple units on different channels to call in on top of each other. We run staggered shifts, so if you are the one by yourself – well, you can figure it out. We teach new Dispatchers to prioritize the incoming requests and utilize the radio playback to catch the other traffic.

Is it the best way to handle radio? No, but we do what we can when we’re busy. At least our phones have voicemail and we can play the messages back as we have the chance. Again – we do our best on busy shifts.

One of the worst was a scale of percentages. How do you measure performance of job tasks in our profession. Every shift is different. I can't say I'll spend 50% of my tie answering calls when I'm doing both most of the shift but one or the other isn't happening ALL the time and even when it does, the radio takes the priority. What happens when a Dispatcher works at a center where positions are rotated? Even position rotation can vary according to the shift and day (we were supposed to max out at four hours on the radio at the City but there were times when we worked radios for the entire eight hours, minus a lunch break. Some of us detested the split position rotations while others did the minimal at a radio they had to.

So, the take-away message is for those who develop the communications center surveys. Answers for Dispatcher-related surveys aren’t cut & dry. We need options – or maybe a section at the end for comments to explain the ‘other’ response. Don’t get me wrong. We’re pleased to be included in research. It gives us credibility. Just, please, think out the questions. Are the answers reasonable? Remember: we’re not doing a nine-to-five job.

Until next time:

Stay safe out there!