Issue link: http://lawandordermag.epubxp.com/i/144260
ON THE JOB NEWS EYE ON EDUCATION JUST HANDED DOWN DISCIPLINE MISSION CRITICAL SYSTEMS No Second Chances for Probationary Employees By Steve Albrecht Steve Albrecht worked for the San Diego Police Department from 1984 to 1999. His books include Contact & Cover (C.C. Thomas); Streetwork; Surviving Street Patrol; and Tactical Perfection for Street Cops (all for Paladin Press). He can be reached at steve@contactandcover.com. www.drstevealbrecht.com C onsider these two scenarios where a couple of command staff members are talking about a sworn or civilian employee. In the frst situation, one says to the other, "I am sure glad we extended the probationary period for that employee and gave him another chance to keep his job. I know it was a risk when we did it, but it worked out just fne." In the second situation, one says to the other, "I sure wish we hadn't extended the probationary period for that employee. We should have seen the warning signs and cut our losses. We made excuses for him, rationalized his poor performance, accepted his behavior problems, and now look where we are. Since he barely does his job, we're stuck with him until he quits, shoots himself in the foot, or retires." Which of these two discussions is more likely? Which one takes place more often? I am betting the last one. For every second chance you give to a probationary employee on the bubble that works out in your favor, there are another nine (or 99) that end up causing you years' worth of grief, through performance, behavior, and disciplinary problems. The old rule still holds true: When in doubt, don't. In law enforcement, there are many reasons why probationary employees do not or should not make it past the evaluation period, including bad offcer safety habits, horrible report writing, vehicle accidents, accidental discharges, poor English skills, a substance abuse problem (that brought down a guy out of my Academy), or a general naiveté about policing, any and all of which suggests it's just not the job for them. What about offcers who come over from other agencies, either to fnish out their ® namebadges & service attachments Adjusto-Lok ® secures on shirts, jackets, winter-wear. Visit www.reevesnamebadges.com Most shipping is next or following day! View fine illustrations and descriptions of each of our nine namebadge models and unique slide-on attachments for rank, service, title, more! Call 1-800-452-1161 for the friendly support of our Laurie, Sam or Sandra with your questions or with your order entry be it on phone or online. Click on EInfo at - www.lawandordermag.com reader service #9 14 LAW and ORDER I July 2013 fnal working years at your shop, who come from a larger agency to your smaller one, or vice-versa? Sometimes what looks like a good ft on paper is a bad one in operation. There may have been some good but hidden reasons why they left the other agency ("They got out while the gettin' was good."). Maybe they have struggled to ft into a policing culture that is very different from where they came. BTW, no one wants to hear new hires talk about how great it was over at the other place or how they used to do things differently or better over there. We need to continue to see the probationary period like one long courtship, a series of frst dates strung together, where the party in question had better be on his/her best behavior. Because if they are having a hard time impressing you now, what's to say it will suddenly get better? Not a lot of long marriages start with, "I hated him/her for the frst 100 dates, but then things improved." As my dad always told me, when it comes to new relationships or new employees, "If it's bad in the beginning, and it's bad in the middle, then it's going to be bad in the end." There is one exception to not extending the probationary period for employees. If they are struggling because of a training issue and we can correct that problem with more intensive, hands-on work, and they are a good ft otherwise, then extend them and get them the corrective training they need to succeed. No sense losing a potentially valuable employee to a training problem we can fx, versus keeping one that no amount of training can correct. One related issue: If they want to quit, let them quit. If a probationary employee, who is already not working out, causes a big scene, tells off the FTO, supervisor or command staff, and then storms off, saying, "I quit!," only to return tomorrow, hat in hand, to ask for the job back, say no. A great predictor of future performance is past performance. LaO Post your comments on this story by visiting www.lawandordermag.com