Transformational Police
Leadership Chief John Robison
Law enforcement leaders face an ongoing challenge of creating a culture that is conducive to not only keeping quality officers , but attracting new , qualified candidates as well . This challenge has recently been heightened with the drastic changes seen in the perception of law enforcement throughout our society and country . It ’ s becoming more and more difficult to not only attract good police candidates , but also retain quality officers . To consistently achieve this , agency leaders must create a work environment that provides officers with a high degree of satisfaction and commitment to the organization .
Research has shown the level of job satisfaction an employee enjoys is directly correlated with their commitment to an organization . Several factors impact the level of a police officer ’ s job satisfaction . First , the level of support a department provides its employees has a tremendous impact on officers ’ job satisfaction . This includes the officers ’ perception that department management is invested and interested in their professional and personal welfare . A study by the Pew Research Center found only three in ten police officers are supportive of their department ’ s upper management ’ s leadership approach ( Morin , Parker , Stepler & Mercer , 2017 ). Because of this , police leaders have to be especially mindful of the inherent lack of trust line level officers have toward police management .
Police chiefs and command staff must also be cognizant of the importance of job satisfaction as it relates to officer productivity and commitment . There is no
28 FALL . 2020 greater indicator of how well an employee produces than their satisfaction on the job ( Macdonald , Kelly & Christen , 2019 ).
Department effectiveness is also strongly related to employee organizational commitment . Regardless of how well structured , organized , or designed a department may be , the most crucial component of organizational success is employee commitment . When leaders successfully create a culture where officers sense their role in achieving the department ’ s goals , vision , and mission are valued , they have a higher level of personal commitment and extra effort is more likely to be realized .
John Maxwell once stated every aspect of an organization rises and falls on leadership . Employee satisfaction and commitment also rises and falls on leadership . To achieve this , it is imperative for agency leaders utilize a transformational leadership approach .
Bernard Bass is one of the foundational researchers of transformational leadership theory . His research focused on the transactional and transformational leadership approaches , which are both widely used in the law enforcement profession . Ultimately , Bass believed organizations led by transformational leaders who integrated transactional elements were significantly more effective than leaders who only implemented a transactional style of leadership .
Transactional leadership is based on a cost-benefit