Pushing papers can be fun

In the case study the police captain is having difficulty getting the police officers to perform required tasks accurately. Task performance is crucial since it refers to goal-directed activated that are under the individual’s control. The main issue is the behaviour and the result. The behaviour includes police officers not doing detailed and unambiguous paperwork. Since most the police officers are young they enjoy more out in the field and lack motivation in the office. The result is that due to incompetent paperwork the police department is dealing with legal cases in court inadequately. The officers lack motivation and perceive filling out reports as boring. B) MARS Model: How can the Police Captain ensure that all his officers fulfill their other work obligations? To answer this question, we must examine the MARS model of the individual performance. The MARS model identifies four interrelated elements that have an effect on employee performance: Motivation, Ability, Role Perception and Situational Factors. The MARS model demonstrates that these four factors have a combined effect on individual behaviour. If any factor weakens, employee performance will decrease. For example, highly qualified employees who understand their job duties and have sufficient resources will not perform their jobs as well if they are not motivated. In this case study, the captain is aware of motivation and slightly of role perception. The other two factors are lacking in the work environment therefore performing one of the duties, paperwork, seem to be an issue. The reason why motivation towards paperwork is feeble because police officers are aware that this task is not the only means towards promotion and they know they won’t be highly rewarded. The reasons why role perception is weak because officers are not properly trained to complete all of the tasks needed in their role. Performance on the street and field seem more crucial for the officers hence an outstanding job out on the field, And since role perception is lacking, paperwork seemed to be always put off or done inefficiently. The police caption needs to thoroughly understand and implement the four factors of the MARS model in order to correct the individual behavior: 1. Employee Motivation:  represents the internal forces of a person that affect their direction, intensity and persistence of voluntary behaviour a. Direction: motivation is goal-oriented, not random. b. Intensity: amount of effort allocated to a goal c. Persistence: continuing the effort for a certain amount of time The police officers are lacking of motivation to do proper paper work because there is no financial reward. 2. Employee Ability:  both the natural aptitudes and learned capabilities required to successfully complete a task a. Aptitudes: inherent or acquired ability that will help employees learn specific tasks more quickly and perform them better b. Learned Capabilities: already acquired the skills and knowledge  employee competencies: that distinguishes outstanding performers across the organization or broad job groups therefore the captain needs to recruit people who enjoy both field and paperwork.  Person-job matching: redesign job to fit person’s existing abilities a. select applicants whose existing competencies best fit the required tasks b. provide training so employees develop required skills and knowledge c. redesign the job so employees are given tasks within their capabilities The police officers who are young and inexperienced see their perception of the role as law enforcers. They understand that they should only be involved in crime prevention, apprehension criminals and serving the community therefore they weigh more importance towards those duties and enter the force with those abilities and skills. 3. Employee Role Perception:  beliefs about what behaviour is required to achieve the desired results a. understanding what tasks to perform b. understanding relative importance of tasks c. understanding preferred behaviours to accomplish tasks The officers might understand that they arrest, charge and chase criminals, but they might have poor role perception regarding the relative importance of these tasks therefore the captain needs to clarify the preferred direction of effort. 4. Situational factors:  environmental conditions beyond the individual control that constrain or facilitate behaviour a. Time b. People c. Budget d. Work facilities The captain needs to arrange these conditions carefully so officers can achieve their performance potential. He can ask his officers to identify obstacles created by management that prevents them from performing effectively. C) Solutions: The Captain has only considered promotion as a solution to these problems, however other solutions can include:  Modifying the Work Environment: – rotate police officers from field and office, for instance one week the officers can do field and the other week they can do paper work therefore they won’t get bored with the repetition  Recognizing and Giving Feedback: – give attention towards their achievement. For example when they do a good job with a report they can have a day off or provide them with non-monetary rewards (i. e. movie pass) – give them feedback on how well they are performing and how they could do better, this will make the officers feel important and appreciated  Training and Workshops: – provide them with opportunities to strengthen their skills towards related tasks which will help enhance the performance within their reports – help increase job satisfaction and morale among employees as well as employee motivation – teach the officers innovation in strategies and products  Promoting Future Career Paths: – let them know what is potentially ahead for them and what opportunities there are for growth  Redesigning Tasks: – have the job tasks redesigned to a certain extend which will eliminate repetition  Autonomy: – provide autonomy that will them have discretion and control over job related decisions – help build leadership skills hence they would take more responsibility with the paperwork References: McShane, Steven, and Steen Sandra. Canadian Organizational Behaviour. Toronto: McGraw Hill, 2009.