So, this week the State’s Chiefs of Police are meeting in Durham. They are here to discuss, among other things, how to attract and retain police officers. I imagine that this is a dilemma that is not unique to police forces. If asked, I am sure that Fire Chiefs would also list this problem at or near the top of their priority list. So too would nearly every government agency. And to make matters worse, we have elected or government appointed people running the show; this alone would cause me to hit the door.
As I was considering this today, I came across this awesome thought from TJIC. While I have never been able to express it quite this way, I have always thought that government always seem to lose their best due to circumstances like this. Exposing your employees to competitive forces does not hurt the staff but rather increases the strength of the organization. And, by the way, why would we want to protect our worst staff in this case? I would seem that the top job of any supervisor to identify and remove the bottom 10% of the force?
Another way: When you have an organization that only protects those who are not the top performers you should not be surprised when only the “not top performers” remain.