Evaluation of Nowhere Police Department Recruitment and Hiring Policy

The first issue with the hiring and recruitment policy of the police department is the requirement that only current, lifelong residents of Calibama state are eligible to apply for positions within the department. The department claims that it has restricted applications for positions to the States residents because it has determined that those born and raised in the state comprise the best candidates. Federal legal statutes on employment discrimination provide that a person can work anywhere if he/she is a United States citizen, which makes it illegal to restrict employment in the police department to residents of Calibama. It is also important to consider the ground informing the restriction of employment in the police department to the states residents.

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The department claims that it has determined that those born and raised in the state make the best candidates, but it does not disclose the methodology it used to arrive at that determination. The requirement that all applicants be lifelong residents of the state of Calibama also flies in the face of the selection programs goal of ensuring equity and fairness in the selection process regardless of race, color, sex, or national origin. It is a fact that the states population does not have an equal distribution of persons belonging to different racial backgrounds, color, gender, or national origin. Some races dominate others, just as persons of particular gender and national background exceed those in other groups.

If all successful applicants to the police department are to be residents of the state, there is going to be systematic discrimination against the minority groups. For instance, if more than 80% of the states residents are white, requiring an applicant to be a resident of the state significantly raises odds in favor of whites. Effectively, persons from other minority races face discrimination because they comprise a small proportion of the applicant pool, which makes it less likely that they will be successful in the recruitment process.

Similarly, suppose male residents of Calabama substantively exceed the female ones, a male applicant is more likely to succeed upon applying compared to a female one, which would mean that the selection process lacks gender fairness and equity. It is also ridiculous that the selection program has a goal of ensuring that there is no discrimination based on national origin, but it has a requirement that all applicants be permanent residents of Calibama.

If non-residents of the state are ineligible for consideration upon submitting their application, and there is no discrimination based on national origin, does it mean that the department prefers non-nationals and immigrants to the countrys citizens? Preferring immigrants to legal citizens effectively amounts to discrimination based on national origin. Overall, the requirement that all applicants be state residents is illegal and paves the way for discrimination. The department should abolish the requirement and open up application for vacant positions to all qualified people regardless of their state of residence. Abolishing the restrictions on an applicants state of residence will expand the pool of applicants, which will help reduce the odds stacked against some minority groups (Bowling and Philips, 2007).

The second problem with the departments recruitment policy is the provision that the chief of police has discretion over additional requirements for applicants qualification during selection. The federal equal employment opportunity laws call for transparency in the recruitment process. Leaving certain qualifications to the police chief constitutes a violation of the legal requirement to ensure transparency in the recruitment process. Lack of transparency in the recruitment process is also detrimental to the departments long-term ability to fill vacant positions because of its impact on candidates experiences. Surveys have found that candidate dissatisfaction is one of the adverse effects of recruitment processes that lack transparency.

Organizations that allow applicants to predict if they the possibility of their hiring enjoy a clear advantage over those that fail to disclose pertinent information that would enable applicants to gauge their chances of being hired. If an applicant is qualified, he/she can decline a job offer because they think the recruitment process dragged on, which made them doubt if they performed well in the recruitment process. Where there is insufficient transparency, talented applicants become frustrated, making them take job offers at other organizations. One element of transparency is clarity about the performance expectations of the job for which an organization is hiring.

The job descriptions should have a clear outline of the tasks that a position entails, the required qualifications, and the preferred behavioral traits. Leaving the chief of police with a wide discretion in setting the qualifications for positions creates ambiguity, which makes it difficult for applicants to gauge the extent to which they qualify for vacant positions in the police department. When potential applicants are not sure if they possess he qualifications for a given job opening in the department, they might lack the motivation to apply for open positions. Low levels of motivation among potential applicants means the Nowhere police department is likely to face problems finding adequate staff to fill vacant positions.

Another aspect of the inappropriateness of leaving the police chief a wide description in setting the qualifications for open positions in the department relates to its potential in subjecting applicants to abuse. Federal equal employment opportunity laws mandate recruiters to collect information that is only essential to evaluating an applicants qualification for a given vacant position. When there is no uniform standard for the qualifications that determine an applicants eligibility for a given position during recruitment, it is difficult for him/her to determine if the information sought by a potential employer is necessary in gauging the suitability for a vacant position. If potential applicants think that they will disclose confidential information during a non-transparent recruitment process, they might lose the motivation to submit applications for a vacant position.

Overall, the provision of the departments hiring and recruitment policies that the police chief has discretion in setting the qualifications of the potential hires is likely to undermine its long-term human resource objectives. The provision should be abolished, and if it is necessary for the police chief to play a role in determining the qualifications required to fill a vacant position, his/her role must be clear. For instance, the department should specify the circumstances that would lead the police chief to waive a requirement for a particular applicant. It should also clarify what the chief can do, and he/she cannot do when setting the qualifications. Express limits to the police chiefs discretion in setting the qualifications will go a long way in minimizing the possibility of abuse of the discretion and subjection of potential applicants to unfair practices.

The third problem with the Nowhere police departments recruitment and selection policies is the ineligibility of officers without a masters degree in criminology for hiring. The department only hires holders of a masters degree in criminology as a way of discouraging the use of the citys tuition reimbursement program. The basis of setting the educational qualification of applicants at a masters degree is ridiculous. How can an organization set high qualifications just to lock out its employees from going for on-the-job training? The state laws provide that the minimum education qualification for police officers is a high school diploma (Delsol and Shiner, 2006). The violation of the law notwithstanding, setting a high standard of education qualification for applicants is likely to create human resource problems for the department, going forward.

Research has shown that before the start of the recruitment process, employers estimate what a new hire will cost the organization in terms of the salary and wages. If a candidate possesses more experience and skills than the others do, employers develop the perception that he/she brings more value to an organization, and will therefore demand a higher remuneration even before discussions about the salary commence. The perception that a potential employees salary preferences exceed the budget for a position can make interviewers deem him/her overqualified, which makes it difficult for them to succeed in the recruitment process. The department should also consider the possibility of retaining overqualified officers for long.

Overqualified employees leave an organization the moment the spot a better opportunity because they are never short of options. A staff mainly comprising of masters degree holders will have a high turnover rate, which results in high recruitment costs and a decline in the return on the resources invested in the recruitment process. High staff turnover will undermine the departments ability to achieve its strategic goals and objectives. The hiring of overqualified applicants also brings concerns about the relations between young managers and their older subordinates. Overqualified persons spend considerable time training and experience in the skills required to perform work tasks, resulting in situations where overqualified employees have to work under supervisors who are younger than they are.

Young managers could be anxious about how old subordinates respond to their authority, and age differences or the previous work experiences do not matter. The perception that relations with younger managers are going to be problematic can make it difficult for an overqualified applicant to succeed in the recruitment process. It is also possible that senior officers in the police department could be insecure in their designations, even if they earned them on merit. Some masters degree holder with considerable work experience could be more qualified for senior positions than their current holders are, even if the department is not hiring to fill senior positions in the department.

The forward-looking inferiority complex of the senior department officials can motivate them to reject seemingly overqualified candidates, making it difficult for it to receive enormous applications upon advertising vacant positions. Nowhere police department should lower the required educational qualification of its officers to the minimum level required by state laws, which is a high school diploma. Low education qualifications will help the department to attract a wide pool of applicants upon advertising vacant positions in the department, reduce the staff turnover rate, and enhance the contribution of human resources to strategic outcomes.

The fourth issue with the Nowhere police departments hiring and selection policy is the provision that an applicant with more than three felony convictions is ineligible for employment. This provision contravenes the state laws that require that police departments should employ persons convicted of a felony. Allowing up to three felony convictions before a person becomes ineligible for employment in the department means that persons convicted of a felony could still find their way into the Nowhere police departments workforce. One may argue that some organizations have not had problems after employing felons within their ranks. Felons, having spent time in correctional facilities, find it difficult to secure jobs and re-integrate into the society. They therefore tend to have gratitude towards any employer who affords th...