IND: Case Study: Captain Edith Strong

Case Study: Captain Edith Strong

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Case Study: Captain Edith Strong

According to the case study, Edith Strong has been working as a law enforcement veteran for the past eighteen years. Currently, she holds the position of watch commander of the field operations division, in Rogerville. A great number of employees in the division are male members, and there is a chain of command and ranks which is followed in the division. Recently, the issue of lack of motivation of the employees and officers has emerged as a great issue, which has given rise to a number of other issues, including job dissatisfaction, low morale of the officers, elongated response time, increased complaints of the citizens, as well as disability claims of the officers. The watch commander, Edith Strong is expected to design a program which meets the needs of both the department and the employees. The watch commander may utilize the motivation theory in order to come up with eth strategies of boosting the morale, as well as job satisfaction of the officers.

High morale and motivation level of the police force is one of the most important things for the law enforcement departments. The officers would not be able to serve their duties in a fair manner if they are not satisfied with their job requirements or the treatment they receive in the organization. Captain Strong should take the philosophical approach of synergistic supervision, in order to carry out the project. This particular philosophical approach stresses on the joint effort by the supervisor as well as the other employees to resolve the issues. Utilizing this approach, Captain Strong would be able to know the concerns of the employees and make a joint effort of resolving them. She would be able to ensure the employees that their service would be appreciated in high regards and the department would make the effort of making their jobs satisfied and well esteemed for them. In addition to it, she can ensure the provision of knowledge and skills necessary for the employees in order to ensure the personal, as well as the professional growth of the employees (Lazaroiu, 2015).

The specific motivational strategy recommended to Captain Strong is Herzberg theory of motivation. There are two main components of the Herzberg theory, which are maintenance or hygiene and motivational factors. The policy and procedure of the company, job security, salary or wages, and interpersonal relationships of the employees are the prime components of the hygiene factors. These factors hold great importance in the life of the employees and can severely affect the motivation and performance of the employees if these conditions are not met properly. On the other hand, the opportunities for advancement and promotion, recognition, responsibility and stimulating work are the important components of the motivation factor. If these components are not fulfilled in an adequate manner, they have an equal impact on the motivation of the employees, while leaving them dissatisfied. In order to boost the performance level of the employees as well as give them a sense of professional and personal achievement, it is very important to work on the motivation and hygiene factors of the job. In order to make the situation better by utilizing the components of the Herzberg theory, Captain Strong should work on readjusting and rearranging the strategies of work performance, in the present workplace, which would provide a chance of motivation to the employees. In addition to it, she can also expand the job responsibilities and the skills related to the jib framework. She can also introduce the aspects of job enrichment or job rotation in order to help the employees to get a sense of achievement as well as get the chance of developing interpersonal relations (Ismail, 2017).

The E.R.G. theory by Alderfer, which focuses on existence, relatedness and growth, would be applicable in the scenario of this case study. The existence needs of the employees are not met because they do not have job satisfaction and security. Moreover, they lack the sense of achievement which plays an important role in bringing down their morale. On the other hand, they are also unable to feel the relatedness with other officers, due to their busy schedules and work restrictions, which hinder their ability to discuss the work-related issues and develop a sense of achievement. The last important factor which is missing in the scenario is the growth of the employees. The employees are not satisfied with their jobs, due to which their performances are being affected and the department is receiving a number of complaints from the citizens. All of this contributes to bringing down the morale and motivations of the employees, who wish to take off from their duties or just leave the job (More, Vito, & Walsh, 2012).

Job enlargement or job enrichment is applicable in this case. Job enlargement focuses on including a variety of task in the job description, which would help the employees to develop or identify their skills. On the other hand, job enrichment focuses on helping the employees to find their focus and strength in the job. Job enrichment is a difficult strategy to include in the actual work scenario due to the bureaucratic structure of the law enforcement department. So, Captain Strong can work on the factor of job enlargement and utilize it to improve the working of the department (Chmiel, Fraccaroli, & Sverke, 2017).

By saying that all human behaviour is caused, the social scientists mean that there is some kind of motivation which helps human beings to do something. This is important to the study of motivation because social scientists want to explore the elements which impact human behaviour. The term motive means the reason or cause of some action. Motive, behaviour and goal are the basic steps in the motivation process and motives play the basic role in the process, as they provide the justification for the need or reason of the act. The difference between content theory and process theory is that one focuses on ‘what’ factor, while the other focuses on ‘how’ factor of motivation. The distinction is important as it sheds light on the level of motivation and these are mutually exclusive theories (Johnson, 2015).

Job satisfaction and motivation of the employees are the most important components of the performance of employees in any kind of setting. In the case study of Captain Strong, the employees did not only lack motivation and morale; however, they also lacked a sense of achievement and job satisfaction. The complaints of the citizens, as well as the long response time of the individuals also played an important role in worsening the scenario. However, the Captain can improve the scenario by utilizing the ERG theory and providing a sense of belonging, achievement and accomplishment to the employees. The captain can focus on improving job security and providing opportunities for growth and progress. Moreover, the captain can introduce job enlargements in order to provide the opportunity of doing a variety of task to the employees, which would help them to identify their strengths. In addition to it, the captain can provide the necessary knowledge and education with the employees which can help them to perform their job in an effective manner while keeping their motivation and morale high.

References

Chmiel, N., Fraccaroli, F., & Sverke, M. (Eds.). (2017). An introduction to work and organizational psychology: An international perspective. John Wiley & Sons.

Ismail, A. I. (2017). Employee learning theories and their organizational applications.

Johnson, R. R. (2015). Police organizational commitment: The influence of supervisor feedback and support. Crime & Delinquency, 61(9), 1155-1180.

Lazaroiu, G. (2015). Employee motivation and job performance. Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations, 14, 97.

More, H. W., Vito, G. F., & Walsh, W. F. (2012). Organizational behavior and management in law enforcement. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.