We Will EXPECT RESULTS!
Citizens have seen the general failure of the sheriff’s office to be adequately responsive to their needs, but they do not always see the deeper reason why things have turned out this way.
NO EXPECTATIONS
It has been a number of years since deputies in patrol have been regularly evaluated on job performance. Some former and present deputies have confided in me that the evaluation program at the sheriff’s office went into decline under the administration of the current undersheriff. Evaluating employee performance is an absolutely necessary part of any enterprise, whether it be in the private or public sector. In law enforcement it is even more critical.
For the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, it isn’t that deputies don’t care about their performance, it’s that the leadership in the sheriff’s office has not taken the time to instruct and to measure the success of employees on the goals the administration has for them.
WHAT MUST BE DONE
The sheriff must work out with his employees exactly what should be expected of them. Taking into account individual strengths, weaknesses, interests and motivations, the sheriff must find a way to fit each into the primary goal of effective, efficient public safety service.
Once each employee’s job description is clearly spelled out, supervisors can readily institute these employee development tools in order to help the employee perform his or her job. In this way, employees know exactly what is expected of them. The sheriff knows exactly what he can expect. The likelihood of consistency in service can also give citizens relying on the sheriff’s office a greater confidence in knowing what they can expect as well.
It also enables the sheriff to adjust behaviors that are not consistent with the goal through re-training and/or discipline that could include dismissal. It helps deputies know where they need to improve and gives them the confidence of knowing when they are doing the job right.
It is up to leadership to make this happen.
SPECIAL NOTE TO CCSO DEPUTIES:
Whether you work in the jail or on the road, you deserve to be treated with the same respect I would expect you to extend to others. An evaluation program must not be used as a tool to belittle or coerce you. It is not something that should be used to keep you under a “cloud of debt” to your supervisor: never being able to satisfy those in authority over you. On the contrary, it should be a tool to help you reach 100 percent satisfaction with your job every time. When you know you are performing exactly the way we have agreed you should be performing, we both have the confidence that the job is being done correctly. It’s what the citizens and those with whom we come in contact on a daily basis should expect from us.
