Missouri Department of Corrections: A Case Study in Management Failure
It is a fact that the quality of your employees is directly connected to how they are treated by management. If an employee is treated as though they are valued and respected, they will give the most to their job.
In terms of staff retention, the key is so simple that it's honestly a bit confusing how so many managers don't understand it. The key to keeping your staff is to give them a job they don't want to leave. Sounds simple right? Well, it's taken many years for employers to realize this concept.
What it comes down to is the way we look at the relationship between employer and employee. Should an employee be thankful for having a job that puts food on the table? Of course, but should the employer be equally thankful to the staff for the work they do? Again, this sounds like an easy yes, but employers often miss this part of the equation.
When thinking of this particular error in management, I am reminded of an Officer who left the Missouri Department of Corrections after around 12 years of service. In her interview with Corrections Voices, she said that on her last day, the Major told her that she was throwing away 12 years with the department. It didn't even cross his mind that the department was throwing away an employee who had given so much time to them.
This is the fundamental problem in DOC right now. The department uses staff with little to no appreciation and when they ultimately drive their good workers away, they take no responsibility for the problem they have created. Let's do a quick comparison.
Netflix is a highly successful company whos CEO holds a 90% approval rating from staff. The company has a high ranking among Linkedin's top companies to work for in 2017 and 2018. Netflix also gives its staff up to 12 months of maternity/paternity time for the birth of a child, stock options, unlimited vacation days and a fully flexible schedule. To most of us, this sounds insane. How could a company turn a profit giving away so much?
The answer is simple. Netflix understands that if they create jobs that employees don't want to lose, they won't have to worry about staff retention and they won't have to pour tons of money into constant hiring and training of new staff. Now, let's look at Corrections.
DOC pours a ridiculous amount of money into training new staff, of which 7 out of 10 won't stay past orientation. Additionally, they are continuously throwing large sums of money at staff for lawsuit settlements rather than fixing the problems of harassment in the department. Most importantly, they give their staff every reason to leave.
Staff up until recently were required to jeopardize their social security number to get time off for medical appointments or to get paid for overtime in direct violation of the Privacy Act of 1974. Staff members who get hurt at work find themselves being harassed and placed on light duty schedules that are essentially a punishment and are not applied evenly to all staff (favoritism.) Staff members are punished for social media posts containing alcohol, while the director poses in DOC attire holding a beer. This taking place at the same event in which a Deputy Director was photographed being too drunk to get out of a golf cart when "representing the department."
Similarly, JCCC had the Sargeant who drank a 12 pack on the way to work every day and the Lieutenant who wrote a COI up for a Facebook post, while all of his posts were about smoking pot. This is the same Lieutenant who was allowed to take time off and return to work because he couldn't pass a drug test. These double standards show that the department cares little if any about the staff that work for them.
If that's not enough, look at the response to the staff shortage. Of course, when you're short, someone has to pick up. However, MODOC almost acts as though it needs to punish the staff that work, with demanding schedules and disregard for the employees themselves. Earlier this year Moberly Correctional Center began a policy of issuing write-ups to staff for not answering their phone outside of their assigned work schedule. So again, there is no appreciation for the employees working 70+ hours a week, but a quick jump to punish the very same employees at the whim of corrupt management.
The above is a very small sampling of the issues in DOC as they pertain to staff morale and retention. But any casual view easily shows clear management failure. So are we saying the Missouri Department of Corrections needs to be like Netflix? No. Sadly, the department strategy of constantly lowering standards and expectations would not allow for a system with that much freedom to succeed at this time, furthermore, they simply could not afford it. What they could do, however, is realize that employees are done being treated like they don't matter and that if the department hopes to avoid the impending implosion, they are going to have to make some real changes.
In terms of staff retention, the key is so simple that it's honestly a bit confusing how so many managers don't understand it. The key to keeping your staff is to give them a job they don't want to leave. Sounds simple right? Well, it's taken many years for employers to realize this concept.
What it comes down to is the way we look at the relationship between employer and employee. Should an employee be thankful for having a job that puts food on the table? Of course, but should the employer be equally thankful to the staff for the work they do? Again, this sounds like an easy yes, but employers often miss this part of the equation.
When thinking of this particular error in management, I am reminded of an Officer who left the Missouri Department of Corrections after around 12 years of service. In her interview with Corrections Voices, she said that on her last day, the Major told her that she was throwing away 12 years with the department. It didn't even cross his mind that the department was throwing away an employee who had given so much time to them.
This is the fundamental problem in DOC right now. The department uses staff with little to no appreciation and when they ultimately drive their good workers away, they take no responsibility for the problem they have created. Let's do a quick comparison.
Netflix is a highly successful company whos CEO holds a 90% approval rating from staff. The company has a high ranking among Linkedin's top companies to work for in 2017 and 2018. Netflix also gives its staff up to 12 months of maternity/paternity time for the birth of a child, stock options, unlimited vacation days and a fully flexible schedule. To most of us, this sounds insane. How could a company turn a profit giving away so much?
The answer is simple. Netflix understands that if they create jobs that employees don't want to lose, they won't have to worry about staff retention and they won't have to pour tons of money into constant hiring and training of new staff. Now, let's look at Corrections.
DOC pours a ridiculous amount of money into training new staff, of which 7 out of 10 won't stay past orientation. Additionally, they are continuously throwing large sums of money at staff for lawsuit settlements rather than fixing the problems of harassment in the department. Most importantly, they give their staff every reason to leave.
Staff up until recently were required to jeopardize their social security number to get time off for medical appointments or to get paid for overtime in direct violation of the Privacy Act of 1974. Staff members who get hurt at work find themselves being harassed and placed on light duty schedules that are essentially a punishment and are not applied evenly to all staff (favoritism.) Staff members are punished for social media posts containing alcohol, while the director poses in DOC attire holding a beer. This taking place at the same event in which a Deputy Director was photographed being too drunk to get out of a golf cart when "representing the department."
Similarly, JCCC had the Sargeant who drank a 12 pack on the way to work every day and the Lieutenant who wrote a COI up for a Facebook post, while all of his posts were about smoking pot. This is the same Lieutenant who was allowed to take time off and return to work because he couldn't pass a drug test. These double standards show that the department cares little if any about the staff that work for them.
If that's not enough, look at the response to the staff shortage. Of course, when you're short, someone has to pick up. However, MODOC almost acts as though it needs to punish the staff that work, with demanding schedules and disregard for the employees themselves. Earlier this year Moberly Correctional Center began a policy of issuing write-ups to staff for not answering their phone outside of their assigned work schedule. So again, there is no appreciation for the employees working 70+ hours a week, but a quick jump to punish the very same employees at the whim of corrupt management.
The above is a very small sampling of the issues in DOC as they pertain to staff morale and retention. But any casual view easily shows clear management failure. So are we saying the Missouri Department of Corrections needs to be like Netflix? No. Sadly, the department strategy of constantly lowering standards and expectations would not allow for a system with that much freedom to succeed at this time, furthermore, they simply could not afford it. What they could do, however, is realize that employees are done being treated like they don't matter and that if the department hopes to avoid the impending implosion, they are going to have to make some real changes.
I SPENT 22 YEARS WITH THE DOC, RETIRED EARLY FOR MEDICAL REASONS AS SOON AS I COULD I HAVE SEEN SO MUCH IN THOSE YEARS. SOME GOOD, MOST BAD AS FAR AS MANAGEMNET. I ALSO WAS IN A MANAGEMENT POSITION (COII) AND TO SEE IT DROP AS BAD AS IT HAS IT HEARTBREAKING. I TOOK MY JOB SERIOUSLY BUT OVER THE YEARS YOU GET SO BROKEDOWN THAT IT DOESNT MATTER. WHAT DOES MATTER TO ME IS THE FACT THAT THEY (BIG WIGS) ARE PUTTING MY FELLOW BROTHERS & SISTERS IN DANGER. THE TRAINING YOU SPEAK OF IS NO MORE THE NEW HIRES DO NOT GET THE TRAINIGN THEY NEED AND HIRING 19 YEAR OLDS IS A SAFETY HAZARD IN THE MAKING..SO MUCH MOR BUT WILL EAVE IT AT THAT
ReplyDeleteThey say they need help and they are short staffed. I worked for DOC 13 total years of service. I went back in 2015 and experienced some unexpected health issues which I have over come but they released me from duty August 2016 and advised me that I could come back after a year from my discharge. I have been trying to get my job back since November 2017 and keep getting doors shut in my face and a bunch of lies of why I was not rehired. I have 21 years in Law Enforcement work so there is no reason not to hire me back. The MODOC is discriminating towards me for having health issues in 2015-2016 and when I was off from work it was under doctors care for I had some medical issues. I guess they would just rather have 19 year olds with no experience fill those shoes. Well good luck to all the young men and women that walk through those doors for you will either make it or you will drown. The MODOC does not care your just another body in their world.
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ReplyDeleteI just want to take a monet yo say thank you to all of our fellow brothers and sisters out there that are working themselves to death right now. We are all exhausted and tired, and the lack of appreciation from our (higher ups) does take a tole on us. We all have to keep moving
ReplyDeleteI just want to take a monet yo say thank you to all of our fellow brothers and sisters out there that are working themselves to death right now. We are all exhausted and tired, and the lack of appreciation from our (higher ups) does take a tole on us. We all have to keep moving forward as a team or at least whats left of it. I know that there are alot of people in our lives (inside and outside the fence) that have said "Why dont you just quit?" For many of us the reason is that we cannot afford to quit and for some its simply that deep down we enjoy what we do. At the end of the day all we really want is to be appreciated and paid what we are worth. This is not an easy job by any means and anyone who has not spent time locked behind a fence or heard those doors close behind them while beginning a shift will never understand. I want everyone to know that even though we dont agree with most of the decisions made by the DOC we all have to stick together and support eachother right now in order to go home safe. Hopefully with the media coverage recently we will get some changes headed our way. I know we are all working long hours and we are all exhausted. Just si everyone knows *You are appreciated* you are appreciated by the person you relieve after a 12 or 16 hour shift so that they can go home and spend what little time they have left with their families at the end of each day.
forward as a team or at least whats left of it. I know that there are alot of people in our lives (inside and outside the fence) that have said "Why dont you just quit?" For many of us the reason is that we cannot afford to quit and for some its simply that deep down we enjoy what we do. At the end of the day all we really want is to be appreciated and paid what we are worth. This is not an easy job by any means and anyone who has not spent time locked behind a fence or heard those doors close behind them while beginning a shift will never understand. I want everyone to know that even though we dont agree with most of the decisions made by the DOC we all have to stick together and support eachother right now in order to go home safe. Hopefully with the media coverage recently we will get some changes headed our way. I know we are all working long hours and we are all exhausted. Just si everyone knows *You are appreciated* you are appreciated by the person you relieve after a 12 or 16 hour shift so that they can go home and spend what little time they have left with their families at the end of each day.
I spent 10 years working for Missouri DOC, I even had a supervisor fired for sexually harassing female staff. After that the remaining supervisors took it upon themselves to harass me until I quit. I've been witnesses to so much corruption while working there, that I lost all respect for most Law Enforcement. Missouri DOC needs to be shutdown if you want my honest opinion. The DOC is rotten to the very core.
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