ICLD 2.13 Human Capital: Discussion Board

9 Comments

• Human capital management involves viewing people as assets whose value can be measured. It is important to consider where talent has the biggest impact when looking to improve quantity and quality. Leaders should be looking at the pivot points in talent and strategy in their agency and most importantly, how pivotal employees might be. Human capital links to performance and obtaining agency goals through attracting, hiring, managing, developing and retaining employees.

  The HCM business model for LE focuses on the employees as valued assets and stresses that if employees are meeting their goals, the organizational goals will be met. As leaders it is important to create environments for employee growth and treating their people as investments rather than an expense.

• As leaders of public safety agencies, it is crucial to recognize the value of human capital in achieving our mission to serve and protect our communities. Effective recruitment and hiring practices are critical to building a strong and diverse team. Once the team is in place, we are responsible for developing and motivating our people, providing them with opportunities for growth and advancement. Retaining talent is equally important, as turnover can be costly and disruptive.

  To minimize risk, it is essential to implement policies and procedures that promote safety and security, both for our employees and the public we serve. Performance-based awards can be an effective way to recognize and reward excellence while also promoting a culture of continuous improvement. Additionally, designing coaching and mentoring programs can help develop and retain talent while fostering a sense of community and shared purpose.

  Ultimately, our success as public safety leaders depends on our ability to manage our human capital effectively. By investing in our people and creating an environment that promotes excellence, we can achieve our mission to serve and protect our communities.

• I think Human Capital Management (HCM) is the largest role we play as leaders. It’s our job to attract, hire, manage, develop, discipline, and retain employees. It’s our job to clearly define expectations and communicate that effectively. It’s our job to understand our people’s needs and how they can better help us attain the agency’s goals. It’s our job maintain our employees sense of trust, security, job satisfaction, and just plain value at our agencies. If we cannot motivate, we will lose good people to better agencies or good people will not continue to develop we wont be able to use them to their full potential. All of these things are crucial to the success of an agency.

  • I agree that Human Capital Management and viewing people as assets is a large role for leaders in police departments. It’s one thing to get the right people hired and another to retain them. As you mentioned, an important part of retention is building a sense of trust, security and job satisfaction, and working to keep the employees motivated. When they are motivated and achieving their goals they will also be achieving the goals of the agency.

• In our agency we are rewarded with positive personal reviews. They are great to receive but only stay on file for 6 months then are removed. Enough of them aren’t given out either. When they are given out other people get upset they didn’t get one for doing the same thing the other person did. Our reward and satisfaction system is hard to achieve but is manageable.

  • I think a lot of agencies fail to create a positive reward/acknowledgement system. Fairness is huge factor. Some leaders dish out positive rewards regularly, while other leaders in the same organization save those rewards for truly big/remarkable/rare things. The leadership team needs to be on the same page about what things will be acknowledge and management needs to make sure it’s happening equitably. It’s a great way to motivate people until its not executed well and it turns into loss of trust and a de-motivator for potentially great staff.

  • Hi there! Your agency has a somewhat challenging reward and satisfaction system. Receiving positive reviews can be a great way to celebrate successes and feel recognized for your hard work. However, I can also see how it can lead to frustration if not enough reviews are given or if people think they’re not being recognized relatively. My agency needs to do stuff like this. All they do at my agency is give you another task, or someone might tell you, “Good job today.” Best of luck!

• For Human Capital Management to work in any career setting the leadership has to focus on employee satisfaction and retention. There are many different ways to accomplish this goal but it must be a priority. The agency has to ensure that they are providing competitive salaries and benefits to their members. Working for an agency who values their members and understands the importance of training and growing their members will have a very strong workforce and higher retention. If there is a reason why these things cannot be accomplished during a budget year then the leadership needs to effectively communicate what the barriers are so the members understand that they are valued and that there is a reason why some things are being delayed (Adams & Bailey, 2017).
  Reference
  Adams, M. and Bailey, B. (2017). Human capital management. 2.13, Week # 8. National Command and Staff College. Retrieved from
  https://cloud.scorm.com/content/courses/NAGVXPB5E6/HumanCapitalManagementa77696ea-288c-40d2-a593-0c3ff00267ff/4/index_lms.html

  • i agree with this on many levels. Our agency continues to lose many deputies to other agencies or better opportunities for the road. We sometimes don’t hear it enough that we are appreciated for what we do and the moral of the staff tends to be low already. The boost of appreciation would be beneficial.