The first two lines in the book Good to Greatis “Good is the enemy of great.  And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great.”  That is why we have so few exceptional police agencies throughout the country.  We have a lot of good ones, and in some cases, really good ones.  But there are not many that have made the commitment to striving for excellence because good is good enough and it takes a whole lot less work.  Most every person wants to be part of something great, whether it is winning a SuperBowl, a World Series, an Olympic medal or being part of a great police department. However, lately, it is hard for police agencies to even imagine greatness as the reality is that many agencies are having difficulty just keeping enough people to cover shifts and respond to calls.

And why are the having trouble keeping people? That is part of the discussion of this lesson, but one of the major reasons is that far too many agencies are so focused on their recruiting to fill officer vacancies that they have failed to give that same level of attention to the senior officers currently in the department. Unfortunately, in an age of rising turnover and a shrinking market for good police officer candidates, it is easy to see why many agencies are scrambling to get people hired to fill their vacancies. Sadly, this perpetuates a revolving door of experienced officers going out while new officers are coming in. But some places are not having difficulty recruiting AND retaining senior officers. In almost every one of those cases, it has little to do with money and cars - as most agencies are pretty competitive in those areas - and everything to do with organizational culture. Creating a culture of excellence is dependent upon the quality of people at every level of the department but it all starts with the chief executive and their team. Selecting who becomes part of that team is even more critical than the hiring of new officers, but it generally receives much less attention. These are the major topics to be discussed throughout this lesson:

*Discussing that excellence doesn’t happen by chance, but instead it is the result of setting and achieving high standards in every part of the organization.

*Understanding how organizational culture impacts the motivation, job satisfaction and performance of their followers.

*Imbedding organizational values into hiring, transfers, and promotions.

*Giving the same attention to developing civilian staff as agencies give to developing their sworn personnel.

*Reviewing the best practices on how to attract the right recruits to their organization.

*Understanding the importance of giving the same attention to retention that agencies give to recruitment. 

*Implementing best practices that will allow agencies to recruit and promote the right people and not the best test takers.

TARGET AUDIENCE:  This one-day class involves a lot of student interaction and is recommended for every member of a police department – civilian and sworn.