Plan to prioritize staffing within your patrol division by providing appropriate coverage with a reduced staff in keeping with the department’s mission statement.
With the reduced staffing, the patrol division would have to undergo slight changes in their schedules. The number of officers manning a certain area would remain the same. However, the number of hours an officer spent on patrol would relatively increase attracting an overtime till the economic status in the organization adjusted. As such, the mission statement would be upheld maintaining community policing and improving the public safety in the community.
Prioritize job functions and then explain the how you will determine which staff members will be laid off based on management principles.
The job functions that are of top priority include the fire-fighting department and the patrol police officers. As such, their positions should be insulated at all cost. Since the police force requires strong and young people in service, among the laid off workers would be the veteran officers in the service. They would, however, receive a cash retirement incentive as a send-off package. As a result, the performance of the police organization would be better since the people leaving would be the higher-paid supervisors that receive close to five weeks of holiday every year. The employees retained would be those that have a mere two weeks of annual vacation and who ensure that the scheduling is flexible (PERF, 2013). Other officers that would be laid off would be those that work behind the desk ensuring that all the paperwork is in order. Their duties would be distributed to the retained officers. The laid off officers would also receive a send-off package to help them start off elsewhere.
Identify the ethical issues that you will be confronted with involving the selection of personnel who will be cut. What internal and external influences will be presented in the process?
There is a need to ensure that the organization adheres to human dignity and focus on justice during the downsizing process. Upholding ethics in the layoff would require that the goals of the organization, importance of the employees, workforce reduction, and alternative options be clearly identified (PERF, 2013). The reasons and goals for downsizing must also be made clear to those undertaking the process. The identification of the employees to be subjected to the downsizing must be done based on performance, seniority, qualifications, and employee abilities. Hence, no special treatment would be afforded to relatives that do not meet the retention criteria. The flow of information should be free and no efforts should be made to control it.
What means will you use to maintain fairness during the process as well as in work distribution and assignments of those retained?
In layoffs, it is important to ensure both procedural and distributive justice is put in place. The decisions made must be just as well as the procedures followed. There should be clear and polite communications made to the employees (PERF, 2013). Enough notice will be given to the ten members listed for layoffs for them to prepare and be set to start off a new life outside the police service. There should also be an apology made to them for letting them go as necessitated by the economic forces. They should also be made aware that the company tried its best to protect its company resources. In addition, the layoffs should be spread throughout all the ranks and not localized among the lower-level employees. The employees should be allowed to move out with dignity. The displaced persons could also be helped secure new job positions elsewhere. For the retained employees who are expected to take up more responsibility, they should be motivated into embracing the organization’s goals and objectives (PERF, 2013). With added responsibilities, the expectations set must be realistic as well as optimistic. Pay raises and overtime payments should be offered to those with added roles but still ensure that the organization is not economically strained.
How will the public react and how will their opinion impact the decisions and reputations of the department.
The public is always concerned with their security and the justice of their fellow members of society. As such, a layoff at the police organization will call for explanations in press statements on issues of continued guarantee of security. The number of patrol police and firefighting officers must be retained to ensure that the public interests are not affected. As such, the public will be convinced that the departmental layoffs will not affect their security. Other members of the public will demand to know if there were any injustices done during the layoff process (PERF, 2013). As a result, the organization is limited to make its decisions with both the distributive and procedural justice in mind. Thus, the reputation of the organization will be shielded from public attack. Addressing the public reaction will also ensure that there is support to cope with the needs of the organization from the public.
What management methods are required to maintain employee motivation, organization communication, and public safety?
After downsizing happens in an organization, either in layoffs or in reduced recruitments, the additional duties are divided among the retained workers. Additional duties initially motivate workers since they are challenged to achieve more and receive recognition. Recognition and achievement should be the key factors that should be utilized to ensure maintained employee motivation. However, with time, the employees will feel overloaded and criticize the management (Javitch, 2010). Consequently, the morale, productivity, and motivation decrease. In a police organization, decrease in motivation results in the breakdown of communication, thereby risking public safety. As such, the management should follow the following steps to retain the motivation, maintain the communication within the organization, and, thereby ensure public safety. Firstly, it is important to meet with small groups of employees to fully explain the situation at hand and the need for implementing the layoff. Secondly, it would be important for the management to show sincere empathy by being genuine both to those who were let go as well as those who had added responsibilities. Thirdly, it is important to recognize the impact of the action taken in terms of the stress that some will have to endure due to added responsibilities. Promises should be made to eliminate any unnecessary duties (Javitch, 2010). Finally, the retained employees should be made aware that the leadership is still on board and ready to discuss any uncertainties, performances, and job questions.
References
Javitch, D. G. (2010, April 14). Keep Employees Motivated After Downsizing. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/206042
Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). (2013). Critical Issues in Policing Series Policing and the Economic Downturn: Striving for Efficiency is the New Normal. Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum. Retrieved from http://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Critical_Issues_Series/policing%20and%20the%20economic%20downturn%20-%20striving%20for%20efficiency%20is%20the%20new%20normal%202013.pdf
