Captain Edith Strong

Captain Edith Strong

Captain Edith Strong Case Study

Name

Class

Date

Professor

Captain Edith Strong

Employee morale at the police department is at an all time low for patrol officers. Captain Edith Strong is responsible for developing a program that will boost employee morale and improve the performance of patrol officers. The patrol officers are the only members of the police department experiencing low employee morale but it is leading to citizen complaints and police officers dissatisfied with their job. Officers in the specialized assignment have higher morale and seem well satisfied with their assignments but patrol officers complain workload is excessive and complain that all they do is go from one incident to the next and spend an inordinate amount of time creating police reports. More patrol officers are getting injured in the field and employee turnover is high.

The new program will be designed to improve employee morale while increasing the effectiveness and productivity of patrol officers. In order to ensure patrol officers will be more effective in the field there will need to be positive changes made to the department and the treatment of parole officers. The program created by Captain Strong will improve employee morale, improve patrol officer safety, reduce citizen complaints, and overall increase job satisfaction.

Philosophical Approach

When creating a new program it is important to adopt a philosophical approach. In this case the philosophical approach that will be adopted for the program is the community oriented policing approach. This approach is most often applied in the police setting in the 21st century. Because the community and police work closely together any program should apply this philosophical approach. The first step in creating a new program is to change some of the policies in the department. For one patrol officers should patrol in pairs and a greater number of patrol officers need to be hired to reduce the work load of the 71 patrol officers. When patrol officers have more interaction with fellow officers it will increase their morale as well as changing polices that d not allow police officer to dine together during their shifts.

The community oriented policing approach involves police officers establishing relationship with community members in order to work together as a team to address crime problems or any issues being experienced between community members and police. The increased complaints by citizens have been a major concern and increase the likelihood of safety issues arising. Addressing these issues involves training the patrol officers on this philosophical approach and encouraging the relationship between the citizen and the police. Satisfied police will work better with members of the community over patrol officers with low employee morale.

Motivational Strategies

Motivated employees are happy and satisfied employees. According to Maslow’s theory of Hierarchy of Needs, when an employee’s basic needs are met which include increased safety and social interactions (McLeod, 2007). Currently patrol officers are isolated which increases their risk in the public when dealing with criminal offenders. Once these needs are addressed through new policies the patrol officer can move to the next need which is esteem. When patrol officer seek recognition they will be motivated to work hard ns to be more effective in their role. This will increase employee morale while lowering the number of citizen complaints.

The ERG Theory reduces the number of levels a person must go through to become motivated. In this theory there are three needs instead of five and they include existence, relatedness, and growth needs (Caulton, 2012). Even though the priority of these needs differ from person to person, Alberger's ERG theory prioritizes in terms of the categories' concreteness (). Existence needs are physiological and safety needs while social interaction is relatedness needs. Neither of these needs is being currently met. When these needs are met patrol officers can move on to growth needs which will include career growth and advancement. The ERG Theory applies to this case study.

Job Enlargement and Job Enrichment

Job enrichment refers to providing opportunities for patrol officers to growth in their careers when they successfully meet departmental goals and show the department they would be effective in a new, leadership role. The patrol officer’s job is enriched allowing them to increase their salaries as well as the benefits they receive by the department. Job enlargement is increasing the number of duties the police officer will hold. This will not work in the current situation because patrol officers currently have an overwhelming amount of duties. Once more patrol officer is hired the police officers job can be enlarged.

References

Caulton, J. (2012). The Development and Use of the Theory of ERG: A Literature Review.

Emerging Leadership Journeys, Vol. 5(1): pp. 2-8

McLeod, S. (2007). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved December 8, 2014 from

http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html