The Impact of Performance Appraisals on Job Satisfaction of Criminal Justice Personnel

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Introduction

The most critical thing that has been observed across criminal justice departments globally is the effort to reform criminal justice systems. Reforming criminal justice systems entails making use of the criminal justice systems to transform criminals and make them develop skills and competences that can help them fit and sustain themselves without colliding with people in the society. It can, therefore, be said that the criminal justice system is quite expansive and deals in a number of activities, unlike in the past when the system was only seen as a body concerned with punishment and conviction of criminals. In the contemporary times, departments of criminal justice deal in the administration of change among all sorts of criminals. The number of employees and their skills and competencies are also issues that are being given attention to by a substantial number of governments owing to the expanded role of the criminal justice system. According to Holbrook (1999), criminal justice organizations are charged with the task of providing multiple services to communities in which they are situated. Performance appraisal in criminal justice systems is, therefore, factor that ought to be considered in the administration of criminal justice systems in order to enhance employee motivation in criminal justice departments.

This paper explores the effect of implementing performance appraisals on job satisfaction among employees in criminal justice departments. An exploration of the relevance of implementing performance management programs in organizations that deal in criminal justice is done. The paper brings out the contemporary developments concerning performance management in criminal justice departments. The paper also brings out the nature of efforts that have been put in place in order to enforce the change of management as a way of boosting levels of job satisfaction among the employees who are working in the criminal justice department. Of greater attention in the paper is the exploration of the levels of performance management in criminal justice departments and the impact on the levels of job satisfaction among employees working in these departments.

Overview and Description of Research Problem

Performance appraisal is a crucial tool in increasing the level of job satisfaction among groups of employees in contemporary management. However, the question that ought to be asked is whether performance appraisals have been solidified in all forms of organizations and, if so, what results have been attained? For a long time, criminal justice departments have often come out as organizations that do not embrace performance management. This has been attributed to the substantive levels of inefficiency and ineffectiveness of criminal justice departments in a substantial number of countries across the globe. Criminal justice organizations have a difficult role that requires the administrators of these organizations to foster performance management, something that has been ignored for a long time. Part of the reasons that are given for the lack of efficiency and effectiveness in work delivery in most criminal justice organizations is the low levels of morale among the employees. The low morale emanates from poorly structured or lack of performance appraisals in these organizations. Are there efforts to improve the level of job satisfaction among employees who are working in criminal justice organizations? If these efforts are there, what have they attained so far and what are the factors that bar them from attaining the desired levels of employee satisfaction? These are the most profound questions that are asked by researchers who research on the attributes of performance management in criminal justice organizations. Whether significant changes in the level of job satisfaction among employees in criminal justice organizations can be attained is an issue that ought to be subjected to deeper research. The rationale behind this observation is that criminal justice organizations are confronted with diverse issues of management that make it quite tasking for the administrators to fully enforce performance appraisal programs as part of total quality management. Issues of educational levels, training needs, as well as the scope of professional development, and the levels of benefits among others comes out quite strongly, thereby compounding the effect of performance appraisals. One impediment to the performance of criminal justice organizations is the fact that they operate as government organizations, thus they replicate the poor principles that are embraced in public administration in given countries.

Literature Review

According to Slate, Vogel and Johnson (2002), research shows that a substantial number of organizations have diverted their efforts on embracing performance management. Performance appraisal is a critical part of the programs that are aimed at improving the performance of organizations. Criminal justice organizations that have been characterized with undesirable features of performance have also realized the worth of implementing performance appraisals in order to boost the performance of these organizations, thereby changing the undesirable attributes of management as has been upheld. Most researchers are attempting to explore the mechanisms with which performance appraisals can be structured in order to change the image and perception about the job delivery by the employees of criminal justice organizations (Gül & O’Connell, 2013). The question that guides most researchers is whether managers of criminal justice organizations can surpass the infrastructural problems in these organizations and put in place appraisal programs that have a high payoff in terms of employee delivery and organizational performance (Slate, Vogel & Johnson, 2002).

Therefore, the assessment of performance improvement in criminal justice organizations through the implementation of performance appraisals is an elaborate area of study. It encompasses the need for researchers to explore on the possibilities of exploring the diverse challenges of performance management in these organizations. Among these impeding factors are the issue of the centralization of command and centralization of working structures, the nature of work and high stress levels, the issue of closed communication, and the issue of the level of training and human resource development among others. According to Stojkovic, Kalinich and Klofas (2012), the implementation of the attributes of performance management in criminal justice organizations remains to be difficult and can only be attained out of the incorporating new structures of human resource management upon which performance management programs like performance appraisal can be effectively implemented (Stojkovic, Kalinich & Klofas, 2012).

Performance appraisal programs in criminal justice organizations ought to be molded around issues of training, opening communication and embracing the skills and competences of the employees in the recruitment process. This implies the need for change in the design of human resource development practices, especially in the uniformed service organizations. The change includes factoring aspects of skills and competences of employees to improve the ease of enhancing professionalism in the discharge of organizational tasks by employees.

Significance of Effective Performance Appraisal in Criminal Justice Organizations

There prevails a negative perception across the world about the effectiveness of the criminal justice organizations. Such perceptions are often drawn from the developing countries where criminal justice organizations like the uniformed correctional services and courts are marked with rampant acts of malpractices, such as corruption. These malpractices drive away the respect and confidence of the citizenry who are the main customers of these public organizations. The perceptions exert a profound level of influence on the seemingly efforts to reform criminal justice organizations through the introduction of performance appraisals and other attributes of performance management (Tankebe, 2008).

The prevalence of structures of administration that do not pay much attention to performance is one of the reasons why the administrators of criminal justice organizations have only focused on embracing the routine practices within the organizations. However, the dynamics of management in the contemporary management environment have put a lot of pressure on criminal justice organizations to formulate policies that can see them improve on service delivery. Among the policies that are designed to induce positive change in the management of criminal justice organizations is the introduction of performance management programs to check on the rate of individual employee delivery. Lilley and Hinduja (2007) indicate that performance appraisal is one of the main methods that can be used to raise the rate of job satisfaction among employees in the uniformed services. In their exploration of the differences in the rate of employee satisfaction between the police and other employees who do not utilize community policing strategies, Lilley and Hinduja (2007) unearthed several factors that enhance the rate of police satisfaction due to the deployment of performance appraisal. These factors include the implementation of training programs for the police and the development and deployment of performance appraisal tools. Research suggests that periodical reviews are critical tools for monitoring the performance of police officers and can help in keeping police on track. The mere knowledge of the prevalence of such reviews is an important factor in checking the performance of a given police officer (Porporino, Robinson & Simourd, 1997).

Holbrook (1999) observed that the implementation of performance appraisal programs in criminal justice organizations should be embraced since such programs influence a number of management decisions that increase the rate of performance among the employees in such organizations. However, less attention is given to such programs in criminal justice organizations. In most cases, appraisals are kept by the management and are not effectively communicated to the employees. Research in human resource management has continually reiterated on the relevance of employee-centered appraisal programs. Therefore, implementing the appraisal programs without engaging all the employees in the program amounts to higher rates of unsustainable performance appraisal programs (Bretz, Milkovich & Read, 1992). Managerial differences are inherent in a substantial number of criminal justice organizations (Fried, Tiegs & Bellamy, 1992). Larry and Frank (2004) conducted a research about the appraisal system that is implemented by the Canadian police force in their quest to ascertain the worth of implementing performance appraisal programs in criminal justice organizations. The authors ascertained that performance appraisal programs were filled with an array of deficiencies that make it difficult for the appraisal program to attain its goals. However, the authors made a collective observation that denoted a general increase in the level of efficiency of police officers in Canada.

Job Satisfaction Factors for Criminal Justice Employees

Criminal justice organizations lack the full capacity to enforce performance appraisal programs due to several issues, among them inadequate resources and poor strategies of change. Poor strategies of change are caused by problems of training and adaptability of managerial changes in criminal justice organizations. Employees in the lower rank within the criminal justice organizations often hold a low opinion about the performance appraisals because of the nature of implementing such activities (Larry & Frank 2004).

According to Dial and Johnson (2008), criminal justice employees exhibit high levels of stress. The high levels of stress come from the strains that come with the patterns of work that they are forced to do. Their levels of stress can be minimized through subjecting them to performance management programs. Such programs are founded on the manner in which core employees are prepared to motivate each other (Udechukwu, 2009). Performance appraisals are meant to ensure that patterns of work are favorable to the employees in criminal justice systems so that they do not pass their stress to the people they serve (Slate, Vogel & Johnson, 2002; Yu-Fen, 2009). Stephens and Long (2000) observed that interpersonal communication is a critical factor in enhancing an inclusive environment in the workplace, yet the scope of interpersonal communication in criminal justice organizations is very constricted. This denies these organizations the opportunity to enforce a desirable background on which performance appraisal programs can be enforced (Swanson, Territo & Taylor, 2005).

Research reveals that most employees in criminal justice organizations are not satisfied with the highly centralized structure of the operation. This prevents criminal justice organizations from embracing modern human resource practices like performance appraisal. Elimination of the centralized structures of operation can result in easing the implementation of performance appraisals. However, the nature of decentralization has to be defined because the principles of operation in most criminal justice organizations are founded on strict rules and hierarchy (Dial & Johnson, 2008). Employees attain a higher level of satisfaction when their organizational tasks exhibit meaningful experiences to them. Meaningful work experiences are drawn from meaningful working relationships that are established out of collaboration with the supervisors (Halsted, Bromley & Cochran, 2000).

Management’s Efforts to Improve Job Satisfaction of Criminal Justice Employees; Appraisals

A substantial number of studies have been directed at determining job satisfaction and the level of employee commitment in criminal justice organizations. As it has come out in the previous literature, a substantial number of organizations in the criminal justice system are putting in place a set of practices that are aimed at improving the rate of performance. It should be understood that the criminal justice system is composed of diverse departments that harbor employees with diverse characteristics. For example, the courts are comprised of an array of employees, from the judges to the subordinates. On the other hand, there are the police and other uniformed services that are comprised of employees who have different skills and competences compared to the employees in the courts. According to Larry and Frank (2004), most appraisal programs that are implemented by criminal justice organizations fail to pay respect to evaluation mechanisms that touch on key attributes of performance other than personal attributes. One issue that has come out strongly as an impediment to the implementation of performance appraisals in criminal justice organizations is the problem of training. Performance appraisals focus on a number of issues of performance. These include job roles, benefits and rewards, and supervisory issues. These are the sources of stress and low morale among most of the employees in criminal justice organizations. These factors increase the rate of employee turnover in correctional organizations (Kiekbusch, Price & Theis, 2007).

Examples of Effective Appraisal Systems for Criminal Justice Personnel

Unlike in the past, researchers have noted the essence of embracing social support in criminal justice organizations. In their research, Brough and Frame (2004) discovered that social support programs in police organizations aid in the reduction of dissatisfaction and enhancement of job satisfaction among the police. Social support is founded in staging programs that cater for the social and psychological needs of the police. Criminal justice personnel deal directly with citizens, and the failure to respond to their needs has a psychological impact on the manner in which they handle people when discharging their duties. Job risk factors are inherent for employees working in criminal justice organizations. Therefore, psychological oriented programs are designed and enforced in criminal justice organizations to assist employees come with both routine and emergent factors that can put the performance of employees in jeopardy (Finney et al., 2013). Lambert and Paoline (2012) observed that administrative support is one way through which the personnel in criminal justice organizations can attain recognition and discharge their activities devoid of stress and pressure. Perceptions about issues of control and administrative support result in adjustments in tasks of employees, leading to undesirable results.

Findings and Recommendations (Improving Systems)

Findings

Performance appraisal is a critical aspect of performance management. The practice is being embraced in the management of performance in criminal justice organizations. From the literature, it comes out that criminal justice organizations are diverse and face a substantial number of challenges in the implementation of performance management programs. The first critical issue that comes out in literature is that criminal justice organizations that impact on the effectiveness of performance appraisal programs is the variation in the level of skills and competencies of employees. This is common in uniformed service organizations where the recruitment of employees is not strongly founded in the level of education and intellectual competencies of candidates. It is quite tasking to put in place and enforce issues of professional development among most of the employees in the uniformed services because of their level of education. Criminal justice organizations remain to be subjected to perceptions from the general populations whom they are supposed to serve. The profound levels of perception come from criticisms on the organizations over the manner in which they discharge their services.

Most criminal justice organizations have a highly centralized structure of operation that defines the chain of command in the operations of the organizations. While the structures denote the nature of duties and services that are discharged by these organizations, research denotes that such structures are impediments to implementation of change. Performance management is an aspect of change. Therefore, it cannot be properly enforced under the highly centralized chains of command in the uniformed services. Performance appraisals, as applied in criminal justice organizations, imply the need to change the structures of management that may aggravate the challenges of command that remain critical in the operation of the organizations. More often than not, employees in criminal justice organizations find it hard to adjust to feedback mechanisms as exemplified in performance appraisal programs. Feedback is important in molding a psychological organization. An organization that responds to the concerns and expectations of employees through feedback communication channels still finds it quite tasking to fully enforce feedback communication in criminal justice organizations due to the substantive levels of structured commands that are depicted in work relations. However, sets of changes are being made to eliminate the stiff structures in these organizations as they strive to create an environment that is employee friendly. However, it may take longer than expected to incorporate the aspect of feedback communication in the operation of criminal justice organizations as this depicts a significant change in the culture of these organizations. Employees in criminal justice organizations are used to receiving and effecting commands and instructions without questioning and without giving their opinions.

Performance appraisals in criminal justice organizations dwell on the improvement of the benefits and compensation of employees. The rationale behind this approach is that the working conditions for most employees in criminal justice organizations, such as police and prison wardens, are tough. There is need for such programs to open up and be accommodative.

Recommendations

Criminal justice organizations are required to factor and enforce desirable standards of education for their recruits in order to raise the standards of performance in criminal justice organizations. This is aimed at bettering the managerial environment in criminal justice organizations by making it easy for organizational managers to enhance professional development as part of the efforts to appraise employee performance. This is taking shape in a number of organizations. This has already been staged in a number of countries around the world. A consideration of the level of skills and competencies of the employees in the selection exercise can be used as an important factor in easing the implementation of performance appraisal programs.

Criminal justice organizations need to accept and embrace modern human resource management practices if they need to enhance the level and quality of service delivery. Such changes should include the embrace of feedback communication between employees who are higher in the administration hierarchy and those employees who fall lower in the hierarchy. This is not designed to change the nature of the structures that favor the working of criminal justice organizations, but it is aimed at embracing rationalization of the work environment in these organizations. Managers in criminal justice organizations need to ensure that they bridge the gap between the superiors and subordinates in order to encourage cross-communication.

Social and psychological support programs that had been sidelined owing to the culture of administration in criminal justice organizations have to be reconsidered in these organizations. Social support is a way of responding not only to the physical needs, but also to the psychological needs of employees. This is depicted in the behavioral theories of management like the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Social programs encourage interactions in the operation of organizations, more so the criminal justice organizations that are characterized by undesirable patterns of interaction among employees.

Conclusion

Research denotes the essence of developing and enforcing performance management in criminal justice organizations. Failure to embrace performance appraisal results in low levels of morale and job satisfaction. This has a ripple effect on the manner in which the employees discharge their tasks. This argument is based on the fact that criminal justice organizations have been in the limelight for lagging behind in terms of discharging services to the public. It is evident that performance appraisal is being absorbed in a substantial number of criminal justice organizations as a way of improving not only the scale of service delivery, but also changing the long held perceptions about the poor performance of these organizations. Criminal justice organizations serve the public and the long held negative perceptions should act as a steering force and a factor for implementing change in the management of these organizations.

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