Motivation Strategies for Criminal Justice Organizations

Understanding Motivation in Criminal Justice

The assertion that "criminal justice employees are unmotivated" makes little sense for a number of reasons. First, there are thousands of different organizations and millions of people working in criminal justice. It would be nearly impossible to discern reliable trends about their motivation levels, and any trends identified would not hold across different positions or organizations. The reality is that motivation is a fairly complex issue. Everybody has some form of motivation for going to work — even if that motivation is simply maintaining basic security with respect to food and housing. Most people, however, have additional motivations as well. Understanding what motivation in the workplace actually is, and how it can be used to explain or enhance performance, begins with avoiding careless and sweeping generalizations.

Theoretical Frameworks for Workplace Motivation

There are a number of ways to conceptualize motivation in the workplace. Frameworks such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the two-factor theory, and related theories offer useful lenses. At a foundational level, people are motivated to do their jobs because they value the security that a paycheck provides. Beyond that, however, most workers are driven by higher-level motivations. Maslow identifies social needs as well as more personal needs such as self-actualization. All workers can be motivated by these factors — feeling that they are part of a team, part of something larger than themselves, or by the sense that they are doing genuine good in the world (Stojkovic, Kalinich, & Klofas, 2015).

The Role of Leadership and Organizational Culture

For managers, tapping into these higher-level motivations can be challenging, but it begins at the level of organizational culture and what kind of culture the organization seeks to promote. By creating a positive culture in which people want to work for one another and for the betterment of their communities — and by clearly defining what those ideals mean — managers in criminal justice organizations can improve both morale and motivation.

People are also motivated by recognition. In some cases, that recognition comes in the form of pay and promotion, but in others it is simply a matter of having good work noticed and acknowledged. Managers can therefore improve motivation by creating structured reward systems. When rewards are systematic — so that employees understand that certain behaviors will reliably lead to recognition — the organization gains a powerful tool for encouraging those specific behaviors.

This is why leadership is so important. Leaders define the culture of an organization, and they also have the power to design the reward systems the organization uses. As such, leadership plays both a tangible and an intangible role in motivation: it defines excellence and establishes the systems that tap into the diverse factors motivating workers, thereby encouraging the pursuit of that excellence.

Conclusion

In these ways, an organization can commit itself to improving its ability to motivate the people who work there. It always begins with leadership, however. Having leadership that is committed to improving the organization and providing people with the means to grow and perform better is an essential part of fostering and maintaining a high level of motivation throughout a criminal justice organization.

References

Kasper, J. (2010). Choosing the best people for promotion and special assignments. The Police Chief. Retrieved April 12, 2016 from

Stojkovic, S., Kalinich, D., & Klofas, J. (2015). Criminal justice organizations: Administration and management. Boston: Cengage Learning.

Zettlemoyer, D., & Jacobs, R. (2010). Transforming a police agency by connecting training, performance and assessment to promotion. The Police Chief. Retrieved April 12, 2016 from