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POSITIVE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE:
A PRACTICAL APPROACH
By
Randall Aragon, M.A.
Chief
Whiteville, North Carolina, Police Department
One of the most difficult leadership tasks that police
administrators face is creating an appropriate culture for their
agencies. By developing a healthy culture--which includes
values, beliefs, and behaviors--effective leaders build a solid
foundation that enables them to foster truly committed employees
with high morale, and in turn, enhanced departmental performance
and genuinely satisfied citizens.
These triumphs do not materialize by accident. In fact,
most police executives find that conditions deteriorate unless
they initiate deliberate steps to create a positive culture for
their agencies.
An effective formula for accomplishing this goal involves
combining the core principles of several leadership techniques
and modifying them to suit a police environment. The recommended
process, which this article outlines, involves examining the
dynamics of performance, developing an understanding of Total
Quality Management (TQM), employing empowerment techniques, and
finally, instituting a system to monitor the agency's progress.
PERFORMANCE
An agency's level of performance plays an important role in
developing a positive organizational culture. Therefore, police
managers should fully understand the dynamics of performance.
A simple equation, P = A x M, illustrates the elements of
performance. In this equation, "P" represents performance; "A,"
ability; and "M," motivation. Performance constitutes the effort
directed toward achieving the department's goals. Ability may be
subdivided into the components that affect it--experience and
training. Motivation involves employees' willingness to expend
effort to accomplish tasks. Accordingly, if employees lack
either the ability or the will to complete their assigned tasks
(A or M = 0), performance will suffer (P = 0).
Leaders can almost guarantee acceptable employee performance
by employing a process known as PRICE. (1) The acronym PRICE
stands for pinpoint, record, involve, coach, and evaluate.
First, the leader must pinpoint or determine the area of
performance that needs attention. This might affect one or more
employees. For example, business owners may complain to the
department that officers are not enforcing parking regulations in
their district. This may signal insufficient patrols in that
area.
Next, the leader records, or quantifies and graphs, the
current performance level of employees. In the case of deficient
patrols, the chief would review patrol records to see how often
officers checked this area. Graphing the results, if possible,
helps to simplify and emphasize them.
Armed with this information, the leader involves employees
by showing them the data. Together, they determine the best way
for the department to achieve its goal of increased patrols. The
officers also decide on a coaching strategy, that is, how their
supervisor should monitor their progress and what rewards or
punishments they should receive for success or failure. In this
way, the officers make a firm commitment to accomplish the goals
that they have set for themselves.
Next, the leader implements the chosen coaching method by
observing performance and providing advice, encouragement, and
positive reinforcement whenever possible. Finally, the leader
evaluates the employees' performance. If the officers have
achieved their goals of increased patrols, effective parking
enforcement, and satisfied citizens, the leader should reward
them.
However, if performance did not attain the agreed upon
level, the leader needs to determine the cause. The officers may
need to redefine their goals. Or, they may need further
assistance to achieve them. For example, an employee who cannot
perform may require additional training or experience, while an
employee who will not perform may require motivation.
Police leaders can easily control the amount of training
employees receive. And, experience, of course, grows with time.
However, leaders may find it difficult to motivate their
employees. One highly effective system for developing motivation
is Total Quality Management.
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
Total Quality Management is an invaluable leadership
technique that assists in developing a positive,
customer-oriented culture and a genuine level of employee
commitment that pervades the entire work environment. TQM
techniques result in employees' contributing to attain the
department's objectives without a pushing or shoving style of
leadership. The technique takes time to institute, but the
rewards are well worth the effort.
TQM relies on the capabilities of both labor and management,
working as a team, to continually improve quality and
productivity. (2) Because TQM provides employees with
opportunities for participation, problem solving, and teamwork,
it creates a tremendous level of motivation within each employee.
In fact, employees are more than motivated--they are empowered.
EMPOWERMENT
Empowerment is a force that energizes employees to perform.
Empowered employees take a personal interest and responsibility
in setting and achieving the department's goals. Because they
know they have a say in how tasks are accomplished, they feel a
sense of pride and ownership in their work. (3) In addition,
empowered employees improve the overall performance of the
agency, which results in higher levels of morale. Developing
empowered employees is a key element in the formulation of a
positive departmental culture, and today's leaders should be
skilled in it.
EMPOWERMENT TECHNIQUES
Leaders can empower employees by applying four basic, yet
highly effective, principles. To begin, leaders should strive to
maintain employees' self-esteem. To accomplish this, leaders
should let employees know that they are important to the
organization and sincerely praise them for good performance. A
simple "good job" can go a long way with subordinates.
In addition, leaders should actively listen to their
employees and respond with empathy. Active listening involves
rephrasing and restating the employees' concerns back to them.
This technique will ensure not only that leaders fully understand
their employees' concerns but also that employees feel
understood.
Employees are also empowered when leaders ask for their
assistance in solving department/community problems. Employees
feel committed to the department when leaders include them in the
decisionmaking process. Therefore, leaders should seek input
from employees by either approaching individuals directly or by
forming employee groups, such as advisory councils.
Further, empowered employees welcome responsibility. For
example, they might be put in charge of a new community project,
asked to head a task force, or assigned a department problem in
need of a solution. However, they may need assistance in
carrying out these additional duties. And, while leaders should
offer employees help in completing tasks, they should be careful
not to take over these projects. (4)
These four techniques increase employee commitment to the
organization, as they begin to realize that they will help decide
how the agency will achieve its goals. Leaders who strive to
apply these principles will discover that empowered employees
generate their own praise and rewards, a phenomenon known as
self-motivation.
SELF-MOTIVATION
Employees who become genuinely committed to their work and
the department's goals reach a high level of readiness--that is,
a high state of ability and motivation. Their pride in their
work, feelings of self-worth, and morale are self-maintained,
and they do not require continual praise and rewards from their
leaders. Leaders must respond to these employees by delegating
greater responsibility to them.
Furthermore, leaders should implement strategies that allow
all employees to assume more responsibility and/or authority for
decisionmaking in their normal working environment. To do this,
leaders can focus attention on employees who possess
demonstrated, but untapped, ability. These may be employees who
have proven themselves in the past, or merely those who show the
potential to accept responsibility. Even employees who seem to
shy away from responsibility may only need a few words of
encouragement to accept a leadership position and perform
admirably in it.
MONITORING PROGRESS
Police administrators cannot simply implement leadership
strategies and hope for the best. They also need to monitor the
effects of these techniques. An effective method, and a hallmark
of the TQM approach, involves implementing teams of employees
called department advisory councils, process action teams, or
quality circles. These teams continually analyze all facets of
the agency's efficiency and effectiveness.
Each major division within a department should establish a
quality circle (QC) of line employees. While a small department
might have one QC with 3 to 5 members, a large department might
have several, each with 7 to 10 members. More important, the
number of employees should reflect a cross-section of the
department itself. For example, a QC with six members might
include two mid-level managers, two line officers, and two
civilian employees.
A trained facilitator--a leader from the division with no
voting rights--should attend the meetings to assist the group.
The facilitator keeps the group focused on the issues and helps
to ensure objective and complete discussions. Because the
facilitator may be the key to a successful QC, the chief may want
to act in that capacity.
Department employees choose the issues they wish to discuss.
For example, the officers might want to change their uniforms or
adjust their workhours. Once the QC researches and narrows the
issue, all department employees vote. QC members tally the votes
and report the outcome to the chief.
The chief may not decide every issue. Departments should
determine what majority of the vote an issue must obtain in order
for the chief to act on it. That may be a simple majority of 51
percent or a clear mandate of, for example, 75 percent. In
addition, the chief may not have the authority to approve issues
that are budgetary, legal, or politically sensitive in nature.
In this case, the city's governing body would have to make the
final decision.
And, while the chief has the power to reject the QC's
recommendation, approving it greatly enhances the integrity of
the group and the process itself. In this way, the QC ensures
that the entire organization operates on a system of checks and
balances. (5)
CONCLUSION
Police leaders may erroneously believe that all is well when
their departments appear stable and free of internal problems.
As a result, they may be surprised to find their positions in
jeopardy due to a negative vote of confidence from their
employees, their superiors, the community, or a combination of
these. Those leaders that opt for a "watchman"--or reactive--
style of leadership are not being sensitive to the needs of a
department's internal or external environment.
Today's modern law enforcement leaders must be proactive and
develop an organizational culture that creates genuinely
committed employees who enthusiastically contribute to achieving
the department's goals. While developing a positive culture can
be an arduous task that involves implementing numerous
techniques, the entire agency benefits. By adopting the
leadership strategies outlined in this article, police leaders
can develop an organizational culture comprised of truly
dedicated employees who are capable of positively satisfying the
citizens they serve.
ENDNOTES
(1) K. Blanchard and K. Lorber, Putting the One Minute
Manager to Work (New York, New York: Berkley Publishing Group,
1984), 58.
(2) J.R. Jablonski, Implementing TQM (San Diego,
California: Pfeiffer & Co., 1992), 21.
(3) Ibid, 84.
(4) W.C. Byham and J. Cox, Zapp! The Lightning of
Empowerment (New York, New York: Ballentine Books, 1988), 90.
(5) Supra note 2, 90.