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September 1990
EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
By
John L. Pape, Chief of Police
Weslaco, Texas, Police Department
Police administrators of small law enforcement agencies face
great challenges as they seek to provide service with severely
limited financial resources. An area often overlooked as having
revenue-saving potential is employee retention. There is no
doubt that excessive employee turnover financially drains any
police agency, regardless of size. But, in a smaller agency, it
can be fiscally devastating. One option is for administrators to
consider using a well-structured employee development program to
manage employee turnover effectively.
THE PROBLEM
When a law enforcement agency experiences high employee
turnover, it must then bear the expense of recruiting, testing,
hiring, training, and equipping replacement officers. In the
smaller police agency, expenses related to employee turnover
easily lead to acute problems, such as manpower shortages, which
usually must be compensated for with overtime expense. The
strain placed on the remaining officers can result in poor morale
and a loss of overall effectiveness and safety. As a result, the
potential for liability may also increase as officers become more
likely to make serious mistakes due to fatigue.
Unfortunately, police administrators have often taken the
position that little can be done to prevent employee turnover.
And, many administrators of smaller agencies believe that they
cannot compete with larger ones that are able to offer better pay
with more opportunities for advancement and personal fulfillment.
These administrators traditionally accept the fact that their
most talented officers will be drawn to larger agencies after a
year or two. This, in turn, causes them to possibly reject
capable applicants because of their anticipated short tenure with
the agency.
In accepting this role as a stepping stone to larger
departments, the small agency finds itself with continuing
personnel turnover and the related financial burden.
Additionally, the level of service can suffer due to the lack of
experienced officers, leading to possible problems in public
satisfaction with a police agency's mandate to protect and serve.
The traditional solution to this problem is to increase pay
and benefits for officers to compete with larger departments.
Unfortunately, most smaller communities do not have the necessary
financial resources. In addition, even with reasonably
competitive pay and benefits, an officer who is not allowed to
experience personal and professional growth may begin to look
for an agency with greater opportunities.
THE APPROACH
What motivates employees to do their jobs to the best of
their abilities, or in this case, to remain with a particular
police department? According to Abraham Maslow, human needs can
be plotted on a hierarchy that begins with the most basic needs
and progresses to the most complex. This process toward
self-actualization progresses according to the following:
* Physiological needs--need for survival, food, shelter;
* Safety needs--need for security and absence of threat;
* Affiliation needs--need for close, affectionate
relationships;
* Achievement and esteem--need to achieve goals and
self-respect; and,
* Self-actualization--need to develop skills and abilities
to the maximum. (1)
In simplest terms, this means reaching one's greatest
potential. While police departments tend to view motivation in
terms of providing sufficient pay and benefits to attract and
retain employees, they often fail to recognize that human needs
and motivation do not stop there.
Douglas McGregor evaluated Maslow's hierarchy of needs in
terms of employment and introduced the relationship between needs
and work to modern management. According to McGregor, Maslow's
concepts relate to work as follows:
* Physiological--employee needs to perform the job to
retain the position and receive pay;
* Safety--employee needs and desires job security;
* Affiliation--employee needs to achieve acceptance within
a work group. This relates to productivity in that an
employee's output will generally conform to the group's
performance standard as a means of gaining acceptance;
* Achievement/Esteem--employee seeks opportunities to
achieve, be recognized and to advance; and,
* Self-actualization--employee is given the opportunity to
meet challenges that are personally meaningful. (2)
While the traditional incentives of money and benefits may
help to satisfy the lower levels of the hierarchy, they do not
promote superior performance or employee retention, nor do they
help to satisfy the needs in the upper levels of the hierarchy.
These upper levels are the levels that the most highly motivated
employees are attempting to achieve, and they are also the levels
least likely to be satisfied in agencies with no employee
development program.
THE SOLUTION
For smaller agencies the key to resolving excessive
employee turnover may be to offer a structured employee
development program. While this may not completely solve the
problem, it does enhance the employee's tenure in both time and
quality of service.
Many police departments tend to view motivation simply in
terms of providing sufficient pay and benefits to attract and
retain employees. However, in doing this, they often fail to
recognize that while money and benefits may satisfy the
lower-ranking police officer, they do not promote superior
performance or employee retention nor do they satisfy the needs
of higher-ranking officers.
Furthermore, most people need to be recognized for their
efforts and want to do a good job because it helps to satisfy
their need to feel worthwhile. However, when obstacles are
placed in their way, such as a lack of recognition, inadequate
rewards/reinforcement, and a lack of professional and personal
growth opportunities, employees become frustrated. Therefore,
the key is to structure an educational development program to
attract highly motivated applicants and to help employees fulfill
needs traditionally overlooked. And, while employees may
eventually move into other agencies, the program helps to ensure
that during their tenure, officers will be more motivated and
want to perform as best they can.
The employee development program can be as extensive as the
administrator wishes, but it must incorporate at least the
following points:
* Implementation of high professional standards
* A strong reward/reinforcement plan
* An educational incentive plan, and
* A professional development plan.
High Professional Standards
High professional standards are vital to an employee
development program simply because anything less would not
attract the more highly qualified and more motivated individual.
Agencies must reflect a sufficient degree of professionalism for
employees to take pride in their jobs. This process begins with a
positive and professional recruiting and hiring process aimed at
identifying the most qualified applicants.
Further, a professional approach to policing includes the
professional appearance of personnel, vehicles, and facilities.
In addition, a thorough procedural manual and code of conduct is
vital, as is a comprehensive and fair disciplinary system.
Training and management procedures must also adhere to the
highest professional standards. But, above all, pride and
professionalism must be emphasized continually to all personnel.
Reward/Reinforcement System
The second point of the employee development program
involves a strong reward/reinforcement system. Too often,
management only doles out disciplinary action and neglects to
recognize employees who deserve commendation. By implementing a
strong reward/reinforcement system, smaller agencies promote the
delivery of superior police service and greatly improve
departmental morale.
This recognition program can be as simple or as elaborate as
the department administrator wishes. For example, commendable
acts of a lesser nature can be acknowledged through letters of
commendation. For more noteworthy acts, departmental
certificates of commendation can be issued. For the most
noteworthy acts, police recognition medals or ribbons can be
awarded to deserving personnel. Criteria for various police
awards can be established on a departmental basis. Additionally,
the local media should be notified and the officer publicly
praised.
Educational Incentive Plan
The third, and most important, facet of an employee
development program is an educational incentive plan. Such a
plan allows for the officer's educational development, while
making that officer a more productive and effective member of
the department. It also naturally attracts applicants who want
to pursue higher education. Obviously, the officer who desires
personal improvement is highly motivated and a desirable asset
to any department. And, by encouraging educational development,
an agency can ensure the officer's retention at least until
completion of college. Normally, it will take an officer 5 to 8
years to complete a baccalaureate degree program, depending on
the course load the officer carries.
An educational incentive plan could also include a pay
scale based on education and a tuition reimbursement plan. The
incentive pay scale can be adjusted to the needs of the
individual department. And, to ensure that the semester hours
represent quality work, the department may wish to recognize
only those hours that meet a set quality point average.
Compared to across-the-board pay raises, an incentive plan can
be substantially less expensive.
Under the tuition reimbursement portion of the plan,
officers enroll in the course(s) at an accredited institution at
their own expense. After successfully completing the course(s),
officers who verify completion would be appropriately reimbursed.
As with the incentive pay scale, an agency may wish to reimburse
only those course(s) completed with a grade of ``C'' or better.
Also, limiting the number of reimbursable hours per semester
prevents employees from overloading, which could result in
decreased proficiency in both academic pursuits and at work.
Work schedules should be structured to allow employees to
attend classes. This can be accomplished by rotating shifts in
conjunction with local university semesters. While an occasional
conflict may arise, they can usually be easily resolved.
An educational incentive plan restructures the pay scale and
rewards employees for pursuing and achieving educational goals.
By implementing such a plan, an agency benefits from better
educated, highly motivated, and personally fulfilled employees.
Professional Development
For those employees seeking personal fulfillment from
professional ability rather than through formal education, a
program for professional development is essential. Too often,
employees are not offered sufficient opportunities for
professional development and tend to remain in rigidly assigned
positions. However, a reasonable system of rotating
assignments, patrol enhancement techniques, and training
opportunities can be initiated. The number of officers involved
at a given time, and the frequency of assignment rotation, can
be tailored to a particular department's needs.
Rotating assignments can be as simple as assigning a patrol
officer to work in another assignment for a temporary period of
time. After completing the temporary duty, the patrol officer
will have gained knowledge and practical experience in another
police function while experiencing professional growth. Such
temporary assignments also allow administrators to evaluate the
employee's performance in the temporary position for possible
later consideration for permanent assignments.
Patrol enhancement is another method that can stimulate and
develop an officer's abilities. Patrol enhancement is simply
allowing an officer to answer the initial call, conduct the
investigation, file the charges, obtain the arrest warrant, and
arrest the perpetrator without the assistance of another officer.
In many agencies, this is often done out of necessity. However,
as departments grow, they tend to become more specialized. This
lets officers know that they are vital players in the
department's mission. While such a program can be tailored to
any agency, the key to patrol enhancement is for the
administrator to view patrol officers as vital resources.
A final step in an agency's professional development
program involves an aggressive use of police training resources.
Many times, training opportunities end with the basic academy or
the fulfillment of State-mandated minimums. Even so, an agency
can offer a variety of opportunities for professional training.
If the agency is too small to offer formal inservice training,
it can use the resources of regional police academies, technical
training centers, and even larger neighboring police
departments. While every officer cannot attend every course,
the administrator should allow as many officers as possible to
participate. Another avenue to encourage officers to augment
training on their own time is for an agency to consider paying
for meals and providing transportation. What is important is
that officers not be discouraged from developing themselves
professionally.
THE MERCEDES POLICE EXPERIENCE
In 1986, an employee development program was a major factor
in the departmental reorganization of the Mercedes, Texas, Police
Department. The department is comprised of 25 officers serving a
municipality of approximately 14,000 persons.
The first step of the reorganization was to establish high
professional standards throughout the department. Once these
standards were established, the department implemented a
rewards/reinforcement system to recognize and promote superior
performance. As a result, the delivery of police service showed
an immediate marked improvement, and public confidence increased.
Patrol enhancement in the form of limited follow-up
responsibility in certain offenses, team policing duties, and
walking patrol assignments became a part of the program.
Officers were extremely receptive to these duties and soon began
to suggest that more assignments be added to the patrol
enhancement program. The public was also quick to note the
officers' increased involvement.
The department then initiated a policy requiring a minimum
of 40 hours inservice training per year per officer. In
addition, a wide variety of training was offered to police
personnel. At the end of 1986, after 7 months of this policy,
each officer had achieved an average of 96 hours of training. By
the end of 1987, this average increased to 109 hours of training
per officer.
Prior to implementing the educational incentive plan, only
two officers had any college-level education, only one had an
associate's degree in law enforcement from a community college,
and one officer was attending college. Within the first year of
the program, 6 officers earned college credits, and 10 were
actively enrolled in college courses. In addition, recruiting
efforts attracted three officers with an average of 2 years'
college experience, all of whom indicated that they were
attracted to the department because it would allow them to
continue their education.
Subsequent recruiting efforts also resulted in applicants
who were well-educated, highly motivated, and extremely desirable
candidates for employment. In addition, prior to the
implementation of the employee development program, the agency's
turnover rate was 38 percent. In the 24-month period following
the full implementation of the employee development program, the
turnover rate decreased to 7 percent. (3) This reduction in the
turnover rate resulted in an estimated budgetary savings of at
least $53,000.
CONCLUSION
A properly structured and managed employee development
program can be extremely beneficial to both the police
department and the police officer. By structuring the program
to appeal to highly motivated individuals, providing them with
opportunities to satisfy their needs for esteem and
self-actualization, and allowing them an opportunity to
contribute to the overall mission of the organization, a police
department can significantly improve employee job satisfaction.
This job satisfaction will translate into improved morale,
greater initiative, and a desire to deliver superior service to
the community. This program will also significantly reduce
employee turnover within the smaller agency which, in turn,
saves the department money.
Departments should realize that the initial expense of
implementing an employee development program is minimal when
compared to the benefits it can offer to both the law enforcement
agency and the officer. But, most importantly, as a result of
the program, employees experience professional growth and
development, and the agency gains better trained and personally
satisfied employees.
FOOTNOTES
(1) Abraham H. Maslow, Motivation and Personality (New York:
Harper and Row Company, 1954).
(2) Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise (New York:
Viking Press, Inc., 1971).
(3) An annual turnover rate of 5 to 15 percent is generally
considered to be within the acceptable range for a fully
developed organization. But, the ideal turnover rate is 7
percent. Roy Clinton McLaren and O.W. Wilson, Police
Administration (New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing, 1977).