Management and Supervision in Criminal Justice U1 Research
Write an in-depth research paper on that topic. In Unit I you will submit your research topic with a one-page synopsis detailing the goal of your paper for approval by your instructor.
Note:This is often the most difficult part of the research process. Here are some tips to getting started with your research paper:
-Write down multiple research topics and choose which you find most appealing. (2 already Picked: Positiveness and Productivity at work & Trust)
-Use personal or professional experience to establish a research topic.
-Include 2 references you’ll be citing in your paper.
-Review the course objectives and see if any spark interest.
-Your topic should be at least 1 page, double spaced, Times New Roman 12 pt. font, with appropriate APA style writing
Positiveness and Productivity at Work
Over the past decade, Gallup surveyed more than 10 million people worldwide on the topic of employee engagement being positive and productive at work, and only one-third “strongly agree” with the statement, “Of work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.” This means that a lot of workers do not get to focus on what they do best—their strengths.
People who do have the opportunity to focus on their strengths are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to report having above average life satisfaction.
Here are some recent findings about supervisors who primarily focus on either employees’ strengths and weaknesses or ignore them. The chances of your being actively disengaged (negative and a poor performer) if your boss: (1) ignores you 40%; (2) focuses on your weaknesses 22%; and (3) focuses on your strengths 1%. Look at how much a supervisor who focuses on your strengths decreases the odds of your being miserable on the job.
This data convincingly shows us that the active disengagement we see in work places every day is a curable disease . . . if we will help our staff develop their strengths as well as our own.
Trust
Every police supervisor I’ve trained or worked with talks freely and frequently about the importance of trust as the paramount operational asset. No one seems to doubt how important trust is to professional or personal relationships, and everyone seems equally aware of the tremendous costs of distrust. Yet, despite enlightened rhetoric about trust, a few police employees (supervisors and managers too) regularly engage in conduct that undermines trust and damages credibility, demonstrating a lack of character and/or competence as a leader.
Trust is the genesis of all human relationships.
If there is a lack of trust between a supervisor and his or her staff, the working relationship is doomed. Trust is the glue that holds relationships together. Likewise, it is a binding agent for police organizations. Without it, they fail to meet their mission and fulfill their potential. Specifically, character and competency are the primal pillars of police leadership and supervision. The deeper, the larger, the stronger these twin pillars are, the greater the strengths of a leader and the better the performance of a supervisor.
Lack of trust guarantees disaster for a police organization. Some believe that the only things needed for success are talent, skills, energy, and personality. This is wrong thinking. Experience has repeatedly shown us and continues to teach us that who we are is more important than who we appear to be.
The Industrial Age (1830–1947) provided an operational path of personality, technology, situational ethics, and an emphasis on the “bottom line.” The slogan of the age was “What’s in it for me?” I sense a new path emerging as police leaders experience the miserable fruits of a personality ethic and a valueless organizational culture. More and more departments are recognizing the urgency of building trustworthiness through a demonstration of both character and competency. First, forging a work environment that manifests trust is a matter of personal relationship. Can I trust you? Can you trust me?Second, it is a matter of organizational systems and procedures. Do we trust our department? Does our department trust us? Third, it is a matter of human communication. Am I being heard? Am I hearing you?
We’ve learned how important foundational trust is to the daily operation of a police agency. We’ve also learned that this comes from employees being trustworthy. Now, how do we best measure the trustworthiness of others? To repeat, the answer is: by watching them walk their talk.
