CASE STUDY

Case Study

Case Study

Summarising the Facts

A large American city government held seminars for managers from various departments. The topic of self-motivation - how to get public servants motivated to do a good job was discussed. Our case study focuses on a police commissioner who has a problem with his officers.

His officers enlist as inexperience young cadets. They like the work they are doing out on the streets like upholding the law and helping in emergencies or accidents. However, the problem lies with paperwork being put aside or done inadequately which officers must do when they return to the station. Poor reporting causes them to lose most cases.

The commissioner does not know how to motivate them and he does not have financial rewards to his disposal. He cannot say that promotions will also be based on their excellence of their paper work as officers know they if their performance is adequate, they will be promoted after a certain number of years in service. Officers are trained to do the job on the streets and not to fill up forms. It is the arrest and crime interventions get noticed. Good paper work does not necessary mean a win in court but bad paper work increases the chance of losing. Team competition was set up based on the excellence of reports. This method did not work; officers had no incentives performing well.

Assumptions: The commissioner does not know how to motivate his officers.

Statement of Problems

Incompetent / inexperience workforce. (Ability)From the police commissioner statement “they come in the force as young inexperience rookies” and “they are trained to do the job they do out on the streets, not to fill out forms”, it is evident that police officers lack the abilities needed to perform well in their job. Officers do not know the importance of having highly detailed and unambiguous reports is equivalent to upholding the law and serving the public. What good is there if there is a criminal arrested and the law is unable to prove him guilty because a folly in a police officer's report has been made?2.Poor task performance. (Role perception)Police officers dislike doing paperwork and thus it is often being put of and done inadequately. Furthermore, it has been perceived that doing work for the community is far more important than paperwork. It is the arrests and interventions that are beneficial for their career, not performing well in the areas of paperwork.

Lack of recognition.

(Motivation)The police commissioner does not know how to motivate his officers. He has tried setting up teams to compete in the excellence of paperwork but that failed because officers are not receiving any incentives. It seems that he assumes that motivation can only be induced with financial rewards.

Causes of the Problem

Incompetent / inexperience workforce. (Ability)The main cause is because insufficient training is given at the police academy which results in the unsatisfactory performance of their paperwork. The police academy is a place where knowledge and skills are passed to cadets so that they could perform duties a ...