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Running head: WORK SYSTEMS PART 1 0

Work Systems Part 1

January 25, 2017

Work Systems Part 1

The Work System Defined

The “work system” is basically defined as a conglomerate of technology, information, people, resources and the environment in which these things exist in. Combining all of the aforementioned allows for a system to develop which in turn fuels and drives a corporation, entity, institution or any type of group with a collective goal. These work systems service both the internal portion of the organization and the external being customers, clients, or patrons. The type of business that the organization chooses to engage in will ultimately define and shape what type of works systems fall in to place within the organization. For example, law enforcement agencies serve the public and their “customers” would be the communities they serve and the constituents within them. Agencies must set goals just like any other type of business and must strive, again just like any other, to maintain a high rate of satisfaction when it comes to, in this case, the public. Again, like any other organization, the genre of work they do will dictate mostly how the agency operates. The work systems in play within a law enforcement agency include internal systems such as IT support, dispatch (communications), patrol personnel, administration, civilian support staff and specialty units. These components all develop their own method of handling their areas of responsibility but remain focused on the same concepts such as strategies, infrastructure and their environment. Each individually is held accountable for their own function. In the case of communications, their responsibility is information dissemination. They are responsible for handling calls for service, the intake of those calls and dispatching the correct units and man power needed to handle such calls. They are also responsible for handling real time emergencies that may arise during the work day and during their calls for service. These particular employees or participants play a critical role within the organization as they directly support the efforts of the organization by servicing eternally, the public and, internally, their own officers.

“A work system is a system in which human participants and /or machines perform work using information technology and their resources to produce products and or services for internal and external customers. Businesses operate through work systems. Typical business organizations contain work systems procure materials from suppliers, produce products, deliver products to customers, find customers, create financial reports, hire employees, coordinate work across departments and perform many other functions” (Alter, 2006, p. 12). This is just one component of a great more complex organization. An organization that is made up of a diverse group of components that make up a large force driven to meet the needs of the public, maintain the trust of its constituents (customers) and effectively maintain the peace by patrolling and enforcing the state laws. See table 1.0 below for an example.

The table illustrates how the calls for service are handled and analyzed. This is how the agency is able to maintain a high satisfaction rating from its customers. However, there is a bigger problem plaguing the organization that directly affects all of its sub systems.

Areas of Improvements

One of the areas that desperately needs improving is the high turnover within my organization. Although the department has come a long way since its inception and adapted to its ever changing climate, the agency has always responded to the needs of the community and the times. The need to retain new hires and keeping employees for the long term has been hurting the organization for quite some years now. Lack of growth opportunities, salary issues and a negative stigma have kept the agency from being an organization of choice rather than being looked at as a stepping stone for young officers and new hires. For quite some time the police department has been losing officers to other, larger agencies and been unable to keep employees that they have invested in. The inability to keep newly hired employees considerably hurts the organization as a whole as it makes the collective effort to keep experience officers on the road feudal. Over the years the agency has done an excellent job of growing into other areas than just patrol and investigations.

The agency now has detached detectives to multi-agency task forces, a K-9 unit, aggressive driving unit, and other specialized units. This is a direct result of management focusing on maximizing the use of their drafted talent. The organization has also done an excellent job in making training opportunities available for its current employees. This does two things: it enriches the current employee base making them more educated and keeping them informed of best practices and methods, and it also provides certifications to help officers on their career paths as the department offers certification opportunities otherwise not attainable through other agencies. However, these strides in the right direction are not without its pitfalls. It is imperative that we market these efforts and carefully illustrate to others how far we have come and in what direction we are going.

Customers

It is important to maintain high customer satisfaction with our customers who in this case are the citizens, student and parents that we deal with. The best way to do so is to keep officers employed that have tenure and are trained properly. The longer we keep officers the better and more rounded work force we will have.

Products and Services

A more tenured officer means the officers are better informed, know their areas better, and have rapport with the people within their areas of patrol and responsibility. More tenure also means more training and a better understanding of practices and best known methods. This all comes through experience. As officers spend more time in their areas, it builds a better understanding of the people within those areas as well as the department’s policies and procedures.

Work Practices

The agency must take a proactive approach in marketing, recruiting and acquire more funding for hiring better qualified officers. The agency must promote the organization as an agency of choice and one capable of offering long successful careers. Offering more competitive salaries often sounds impossible but requiring recruits to sign longevity contracts that require certain tenure before they can transfer out will ensure a solid return on the agency’s investment. The agency must also focus on developing talent that is already here. Many officers are denied the opportunity to train and further their professional knowledge due to headcount limitations and restrictions. Not only must we allow officers to train but they must be encouraged to pursue a specialty so that the organization can benefit from use of those talents and interests.

These steps must be taken into consideration and executed by the agency’s participants, who in this case, are made up of administration, recruiters, command staff and background investigators. They would be the ones to set these steps in motion effectively. At their disposal they will have use of social media sites and the agency’s website that will allow the distribution of the proper information and marketing strategies (technology).

Recommendations

It is important to share our success stories and educate everyone on what the department is currently, really about. This will do two things for the organization; it will generate a lot more interest in the department as we share news of the department’s growth opportunities and expansion and it will get people in the right frame of mind when it comes to how they think about our department. The Miami Dade Schools Police Department is no longer a department where people come to begin their police careers and move on; it is a department now of choice where careers can unfold and be seen through to the end. We can separate from the stigma that we are a department that exclusively deals and works within the juvenile justice system and promote the fact that we are a department that is accredited, professional and fully capable of handling anything that any other larger agency can handle. By marketing the department and its initiative property the organization can move forward and turn what was once a weakness into strength. By correctly endorsing and publicizing ourselves, we can change not only people's perception of the agency; we can now shift in to being a leader within the law enforcement community.  By doing this, it will create opportunity. This opportunity will be realized by making recruits and new hires stay a longer period of time before they choose to leave for other agencies or other opportunities. If the agency can make the average employee retention time increase from 1 to 2 years and turn that into a five-year stay, the department will benefit by increasing the quality of its officers and saving money on the expenditure of the revolving door when he comes to training new recruits.  The threats that exist that immediately impact this initiative in a negative way are overcoming the existing paradigm that's cool policing is restrictive and limited to only juveniles and students. It is paramount that we overcome that stigma and  prove not only to our partners in the law-enforcement community but to the community itself that we are in organization of capable individuals who are dedicated to a wide variety of excellence and law enforcement services.  We must promote that we are an organization of choice not of circumstance. This directly addresses “work practices” as defined in figure 5.4 (Alter, 2006, p. 65). Improved work practices will immediately affect our participants and the quality of services they produce.

Lastly, standards cannot be compromised. Too often it is seen that companies lower their hiring standards in order to compensate for a market that is not producing sufficiently qualified candidates. In the world of law enforcement and with the current times, this must never be the case. It is our social responsibility to put the best possible product out there to serve our communities. This includes improving on hiring practices, marketing properly in order to change the existing paradigm, remain focused on our core values, and relentlessly continue to improve our community relations. We as a collective unit must stay committed to our goals but largely to one another as well and realize that every interaction, every case we pursue and every exposure we have are representations of one another. It is incumbent upon us as a whole to be committed to this initiative and buy in to it 100 percent; everyone from highest ranked to the most recently hired. This commitment will make the most impact as officers will inadvertently put out the message the department so desperately needs. The message that we are a professional organization focused on excellence through service with a relentless pursuit of changing and impacting our communities through the education and empowerment of our children. We are focused on training our officers and promoting a positive working environment where officers can not only work and be successful but flourish as they push on in their careers. In doing so, we will undeniably start becoming not a first choice department but a leader in not only school policing but in law enforcement in general.

References

Alter, S. (2006). The source of business results. In The work system method (p. 12). Larkspur, CA: .