“Blessed are the Peacemakers:” Making Peace

“Blessed are the Peacemakers:” Making Peace

Learning how to make peace is something that we all need to learn how to do, especially with people or situations that we find difficult.  But what if that is your job?  In working with law enforcement agencies over the last twenty years, I have come to appreciate those who really understand what it means to be a “peace officer.”

Take “Big Red,” a cop that was well known in his community and who knew almost everyone in it as well.  When the inevitable bar fight broke out on a Saturday night, all it took was for “Big Red” to walk in, break it up, look people in the eye, and tell them to go home or they were going to jail.  Contrast that to the same bar in the same town a few years later, after “Big Red” had retired.  When a bar fight broke out, five squad cars would descend on the scene and officers would rush into the bar.  Instead of calming the scene, they often further enraged bar patrons and owners by escalating the situation with their actions and words.

Somewhere along the line, the process of policing began to change not only in this city but across the country, moving from a sense of mutual respect and accountability to that of a well-armed and unapproachable law enforcement agency.  Historically, with the advent of patrol cars, police officers took to their squads and left their walking beats, becoming more and more disconnected from the communities they served.  And after the Vietnam War with a lot of vets returning home, anyone who knew how to handle a gun and defend themselves seemed like a good fit for law enforcement, especially since there was little required firearms training to get them started.  But as any good cop will tell you, learning how to defuse a situation – or make peace – is the more important skill and not something that was really taught.

“When public trust and service are combined, police organizations are able to keep the peace and improve the quality of life for their community.”   

While it is fortunate that in recent years a large emphasis has been placed on de-escalation training for officers, many police departments still fail to recognize that they are not the law, but simply enforcers of it.  Their power comes from the community that charters them and the trust that people have in them.  When public trust and service are combined, police organizations are able to keep the peace and improve the quality of life for their community.    But this requires a completely different mindset than ONLY resorting to physical tactics when something goes wrong – much more finesse, with an eye toward short- AND long-term community relations, is necessary.

A number of years ago, I worked on a consulting team composed of a retired Chief of Police, a retired SWAT guy, and a law enforcement researcher.  We were hired to help a city police department improve its relationship with the community.  There was a fairly low crime rate and there were no active lawsuits, but there was a growing dissatisfaction with the police department, as well as complaints about police behavior that seemed to fall on deaf ears.  With shrinking city revenues, lawmakers wondered about whether this was a good investment of their money.  When a new Chief of Police was appointed, both he and the City Manager thought it would be a good time to make some changes.

As external consultants, we conducted an overall assessment of the situation and quickly realized that we needed to focus first on the department’s management team.  There were five managers – a Chief of Police and four Lieutenants – that did not get along well or respect each other.  They ran the department like four different “mini-departments,” because each shift had its own supervising Lieutenant who had his own management style and priorities.  Citizens said they simply had to look at their watches to know when police would be setting speed traps, looking for drunk drivers, or simply waiting at the local donut house for a dispatch call.  None of their priorities were based on actual crime data or community input.

We began with a 2 ½ day “deep dive” leadership retreat that confronted the Command Staff with data and feedback from the community, their officers, and civilian staff, as well as key choices to make about the future.  What did they want to create together?  As individual leaders, were they “in” or were they “out?”  Were they willing to put aside their differences to work cohesively as a team?  What would they do differently, as a leadership team, and each individual, going forward?

The talk was difficult, and it was real.  By the time we finished the session, the team had come together around what they saw as the purpose of the department, their goals and aspirations for it, and how they needed to manage differently.  In addition, each person got personal feedback from his or her peers about what they wanted to see changed in order for that person to be a better leader and team player.  The result was that although one Lieutenant decided to retire, the remainder recommitted to their work and a new leadership team was born, carrying a united message to their staff and the community.

The Command Staff’s vision was that this police department was going to help raise the quality of life in their city, by working with citizens and other governing bodies to address safety issues that needed attention.  It meant that the management team would need to redesign police services and retrain their officers to focus on smaller problems to keep them from becoming bigger problems.  This required a huge shift in thinking, because the average cop would now be accountable for getting to know the citizens of his or her assigned geographic area, learning what was important to them in terms of safety and quality of life, and working with them and other city agencies to solve problems creatively.

A great example of this was the installation of streetlights in a dark downtown alleyway that attracted problems after bars closed.  Business owners would often have to clean up trash the next day before opening their doors.  The police department was unable to “stakeout” the alley every night due to resource constraints.  Rather than just respond to the crimes as the occurred, the officer assigned to the downtown business district worked with business owners to propose additional streetlights to the City Council, and then worked with the City Engineer on where to install them.  Better lighting and selective enforcement made the problem go away.

Although the new approach made sense, it was counter to the current police culture in which officers felt that everyday nuisance issues were beneath them to handle.  The leadership team had to tackle a great deal of internal resistance and union pressure to implement this approach, and needed to be resolutely consistent and united in its purpose.  They worked at it, and slowly but surely, their department started to change.   Several years later, the department was recognized by the International Association of the Chiefs of Police for their community policing success.  Five years later, it was ranked as the best department nationally with respect to citizen complaints, based on interviews conducted in undercover visits.

Making peace, from city-wide initiatives, to defusing violence, is an invaluable gift to us all.  And as an incredibly famous person once said, “Blessed are the peace makers, for they will be called children of God.”  (Matthew 5:9)

–Cathy
Catherine M. (Cathy) Perme is a partner at Peterson & Perme Associates, LLC and the author of “Confucius in My Cubicle: Practical Wisdom for the Leader in All of Us” (2017), available on Amazon.

Contact Peterson & Perme Associates

Phone: 952.831.4131

e-Mail:  info@petersonperme.com

Culture Connects the Dots for Equitable and Effective Public Safety

Culture Connects the Dots for Equitable and Effective Public Safety

What do the report by the 2015 President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, the debate on “warrior” versus “guardian” mindsets, and discussions about delivering equitable and effective public safety have in common?

Culture.

Culture is the common thread, according to newly retired Plymouth Police Chief Mike Goldstein and public safety culture consultants Cathy Perme and Amber Peterson. And this was corroborated by data they collected via culture assessment tools from Human Synergistics to determine how Constructive versus Defensive cultures shape the execution of daily work in police departments.

Countering Fear of Police

Consider, for example, the following sequence of events at the Plymouth police department in 2016. After a fatal shooting by police at a routine traffic stop in nearby Falcon Heights, Minnesota – one of a string of incidents in cities across the country – a Plymouth resident wrote Police Chief Mike Goldstein asking for assurances that Plymouth police wouldn’t kill his son in a police encounter.

Goldstein tried writing back. “I explained who we are,” Goldstein said, “what we believe in and how we carry out our mission. Then I said to myself, ‘This is a weighty topic and I don’t feel a letter is enough.’ So, I offered a face-to-face meeting. I’ve been meeting with that resident and others every four to six weeks ever since to talk about race relations.”

The meetings exemplify Goldstein’s proactive approach to communicating with Plymouth residents. Some would call it “guardian” instead of “warrior” policing. Others might say it’s a “community” instead of “cops-know-best” approach. Goldstein calls it “community caretaking.”

Assessing Police Culture in the City

Regardless, it’s emblematic of the different ways – from accentuating mission and core values to improving hiring and training – Goldstein and his command staff have managed the department’s culture over more than 15 years. The culture they created enabled them to properly implement strategy and achieve exemplary results. The list of outcomes is pages long, including improving traffic safety and creating a regional plan to respond to large events (those for which resources need to be pulled from several cities). It’s what law enforcement leaders say has made the Plymouth department a model for effectively delivering law enforcement throughout Minnesota and across the country.

Yet, the culture isn’t perfect. Despite all of Goldstein’s work, there is still a gap between what officers from top to bottom in the department experience versus the ideal to which they aspire. The gap, signaled by a late 2020 culture assessment, came as a surprise. Led by Perme & Peterson Associates, the culture assessment – using the Human Synergistics Organizational Culture Inventory® (OCI) and Organizational Effectiveness Inventory®(OEI) – pointed to a disconnect in the middle of the organization.

“I wanted to take a real-life temperature of where the department really was… I think law enforcement leaders need this information.”–Mike Goldstein, Plymouth, MN, Police Chief, retired

Goldstein commissioned the survey in the Fall as he prepared to retire after 17 years as chief and 31 years with the department. He wanted to leave city leaders and the next chief with observations and data they could use to continue bettering the culture and, hence, the department. “I wanted to take a real-life temperature of where the department really was,” Goldstein said. “I think law enforcement leaders need this information.”

Success Means Focusing on People

Since he became chief in 2004 in the Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb, Goldstein has consistently focused on creating a constructive culture. Back then, there was no handy playbook for guidance. So, Goldstein borrowed from initiatives elsewhere where he saw the kind of outcomes he sought from his officers. “When one of my officers leaves from a call,” he said, for example, “We don’t want the citizens involved to decide they won’t ever call us again.”

Goldstein found that, for the initiatives to be successful, he had to focus on people – the young officers he hired, the sergeants he promoted, and the command staff who helped him lead. He made it a point for the department to hire only those who exhibit a servant leadership mentality, are trainable, display a robust work ethic, believe in great customer service, and lead balanced lives. As they continued on the force, officers were expected to grow and develop, technically and personally. “We value education, training, and learning,” Goldstein said.

Law Enforcement and 21st Century Policing

President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing issued its report in 2015 following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, 18, by a 28-year-old police officer in Ferguson, Missouri the year before – a shooting that precipitated days of rioting.1 Goldstein embraced the report and its conclusions “whole-heartedly.” The task force recommendations were the equivalent of a national playbook, confirming what Goldstein had been doing over the years to build a constructive culture and lighting the way for further enhancements.

The Report’s authors pulled together a long list of best practices that would “promote effective crime reduction while building public trust.” Among them: “Law enforcement culture should embrace a guardian – rather than warrior – mindset to build trust and legitimacy both within agencies and with the public.” To do so, the report said, law enforcement should adopt “procedural justice” methods; that is, cops ought to consider the spirit versus the letter of the law with everyone, both inside and outside their departments, regardless of race, religion, gender, or any other difference. Does every minor infraction require a citation? No. The reaction should be apropos to the circumstance.

The report also singled out community policing as another important strategy. It asked police to “engage in multidisciplinary, community team approaches for planning, implementing and responding to crisis situations” with complex causes.

Taken together, the recommendations in the 21st Century Policing report amounted to a manifesto for change. Many departments are already far along implementing various recommendations; others lag well behind. Continued high-profile incidents like the George Floyd death at the hands of police in Minneapolis last summer highlight the urgency for the latter departments to change.

Why No Change?

Why no change? It all comes down to culture, say Perme and Peterson. The 21st Century Policing report warned: “There is an old saying, ‘Organizational culture eats policy for lunch.’ Any law enforcement organization can make great rules and policies that emphasize the guardian role, but if policies conflict with the existing culture, they will not be institutionalized and behavior will not change.”

Unfortunately, the Report did not talk about how to change culture. That’s where Perme and Peterson come in. Both agree with the report’s finding on the importance of culture. So does Chief Goldstein, who explains: “If you want to have success in accomplishing anything in your department, you have to have the culture to support it. By not assessing what you have and where you need to go with culture, you won’t have success. And you’ll have lots of problems.”

Warriors AND Guardians

It’s here where deeply held views on warrior versus guardian come into play. It’s here where decades of federal gifting of surplus military hardware to local police together with wins by police unions seeking to protect their members have made it difficult for law enforcement leaders to root out unwarranted use of force. Debates continue about these and other factors making it more difficult to forge a different type of police department culture.2

“If the next school shooting comes, responders have to be warriors. It’s not either/or. It’s a spectrum. It’s not if you choose one or the other given the situation, it’s when that switch happens and to what degree.”–Amber Peterson, public safety culture consultant

The back and forth is nuanced. “Sometimes we need warriors,” said Chief Goldstein. Adds consultant Amber Peterson, a former police officer, “If the next school shooting comes, responders have to be warriors. It’s not either/or. It’s a spectrum. It’s not if you choose one or the other given the situation, it’s when that switch happens and to what degree.” Think procedural justice here. Also, think community policing. Officers decide many times a day how to react.

Going guardian or warrior – switching from one to the other – can be done poorly, or it can be done well.

Different Cultures Get Different Results

Building on a growing body of evidence from their culture assessment work using Human Synergistics surveys and qualitative approaches, Perme and Peterson have identified measures for what constitutes “poor” and “well.” In addition, they’ve been able to point to levers for changing culture.

Here’s how Human Synergistics defines cultures as predominately Constructive or Defensive based on over 47 years of research: A Constructive culture encourages members of the organization to interact with people and approach tasks in ways that enable them to meet their higher-order needs. A Defensive culture requires members to interact with others in self-protective ways (Passive) and/or in self-promoting ways (Aggressive) to maintain their position and personal security.

And here’s how Perme and Peterson have found these cultures to shape both guardian and warrior practices in police departments:

    In a Defensive Culture   In a Constructive Culture
  Guardian Role
  • The department culture may drive officers to be intensely focused on gaining approval from their peers, superiors, or community. In doing so, officers could sacrifice what’s right and realistic within their capabilities. 
  • Officers may avoid taking calls where they may be required to use force or could fail to use force when it is warranted (which, in turn, could cost them their jobs). 
  • Officers could take on too many responsibilities – consider themselves always on duty, for example – which isn’t sustainable. This could be for fear of being passed over for promotion, which endangers their health and their ability to serve others.

 

  • The culture drives officers to stay in touch with their core motivation for becoming a police officer.Usually, that’s service and servant leadership. 
  • It pushes officers to plan ahead and to talk through scenarios with their sergeants, fellow officers, and community members. This enables them to quickly switch into either warrior or guardian mode at a moment’s notice. 
  • It prizes and reinforces officers’ ability to deescalate difficult situations.
  Warrior Role
  • Officers may trap themselves in a status quo mentality and might follow orders from senior officers, without questioning them, even if they know they’re wrong. 
  • They may remain constantly at odds with department goals and policies, including those they view as unrealistic, based on their own personal experience on their shift. 
  • When difficult incidents occur, lateral communication may break down – leading to officers refusing to work together, freezing, or going rogue. 
  • When police unions prevail in defending rogue officers, toxic warrior mentalities become tougher to change.3

 

  • Even in tense situations, officers keep the welfare of all stakeholders top of mind. 
  • In the moment, they cooperate well with others, even with peers with whom they don’t “see eye-to-eye.” 
  • They are trusted to make sound “decide-to-shoot” decisions. 
  • They treat those they arrest with respect. 
  • After an especially difficult incident, debriefings occur where officers learn what went well and what didn’t.

 

Connecting Culture and 21st Century Policing

To help his officers better work across the warrior versus guardian spectrum and to better understand other aspects of his organization’s culture, Chief Goldstein pointed to his department’s just-completed culture assessment for answers. The OCI and OEI used by Perme and Peterson can map culture and its causes to the 21st Century Policing task force recommendations – not only for Plymouth but for police departments across the country.

For the Plymouth police, the assessment showed that Goldstein and top brass have articulated well the department’s mission, done a good job providing service to citizens, empowered front-line officers, and displayed good communication up and down the chain of command. Officers reported they intended to stay with the department and felt their jobs were secure. Overall, the organization scored well in external adaptability and service quality. As a result, the department enjoys an excellent reputation in the community.

Levers for Change

Nevertheless, Goldstein noted that the assessment “teased out things we need to do.” He said he looks to his sergeants – the day-to-day keepers of his organization’s culture – to be consistent in supervising front-line officers and to reinforce what’s learned in training. Yet some focused more on task than on people. Some coached and developed officers; others didn’t. Sergeants, the equivalent of mid-level managers in other organizations, were not always on the same page with each other or members of the command staff, Goldstein said.

The OCI/OEI identified levers for change—that is, improvements that could be made to further strengthen constructive norms and increase effectiveness. These levers, validated via focus groups and interviews, include: Goal emphasis, regular performance feedback, mentoring, and collaboration to better build internal coordination. Such changes are especially important given the new generation of police officers coming on board.

Reflections: A Case for Culture

At the end of the day, the newly-retired Chief can reflect back and connect his emphasis on developing a constructive culture to the 21st Century Policing report, the debate over guardian versus warrior policing, and the feedback provided by the quantitative tool to measure culture. Goldstein is “thrilled” with what he and his department have accomplished. At the same time, he readily says he would not have learned what he did about his department’s culture, and he would not have been able to articulate next steps for his successor, had it not been for the Perme and Peterson assessment. He is confident his successor will pick up where he left off. “In the pursuit of perfection,” he said, “you might catch excellence.”

90-Day Culture & Performance Quick-Start Program

 

To learn more about Perme & Peterson Associates’ Public Safety Quick-Start Culture Program, click here!

 

For change agents in the private sector, Education, or Government, Human Synergistics will help you engage your organization and its members in designing and implementing a customized 90-day blueprint for accelerated results and success in your business.

Contributor: As a former police officer and now a public safety culture consultant, Amber Peterson focuses on helping public safety groups build a culture inside that creates public trust outside. She contributed to this blog post.



References:

1 Final Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. Washington DC: United States Department of Justice. 2015. https://cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/taskforce/taskforce_finalreport.pdf.

2 Seth Stoughton commentary, Harvard Law Review, April 10, 2015, “Law Enforcement’s “Warrior” Problem,” https://harvardlawreview.org/2015/04/law-enforcements-warrior-problem/

3 Kim Barker, Michael H. Keller and Steve Eder, New York Times, Dec. 22, 2020 (updated Jan. 6, 2021), “How Cities Lost Control of Police Discipline,” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/22/us/police-misconduct-discipline.html

About the Author:

Bill Bancroft is Managing Principal of Conbrio, a Dallas-based consulting firm and one of our Associates at Perme & Peterson Associates, LLC. He’s an accredited practitioner in the Organizational Culture Inventory® (OCI®), Organizational Effectiveness Inventory® (OEI), Leadership/Impact® (L/I), and the Management/Impact® (M/I) instruments. Bill uses these and other diagnostics in his work guiding leaders and their teams in culture and leadership development. With deep expertise in strategy and innovation, his clientele spans the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.

Contact Peterson & Perme Associates

Phone: 952.831.4131

e-Mail:  info@petersonperme.com

Raising All Boats

Raising All Boats

Truth be told, I could have been a hell of a union organizer.  Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio unions were part of my everyday life.  Most kids in my neighborhood had at least one family member in a union.   And in fact, those unions were essential to the health and well-being of our moms and dads in manufacturing, steel, and foundry work; they also helped provide us with the solid middle-class life that we all enjoyed. 

The engineer in me chose a different path, however — helping people and organizations as they wrestle with what is needed to keep in business, while adapting to unrelenting change in the world around them.  Over the last thirty years, I’ve worked with all levels of management from CEO to line supervisors, and all levels of union leadership (including union presidents, union stewards, business agents, and union members) in the process of change. 

As a result, I honor both management and unions as clear stakeholders in the process of change. Both are essential to constructive change that “raises all boats.”  That analogy is what late Senator Paul Wellstone from Minnesota defined as change that betters both a society and the individuals within it.   

However, it’s the mind-set that each side brings to the table that can either make or break that outcome.  Below are some strategies to work together constructively, based on how I’ve seen successful leaders (on both sides) do that.  

For Management: 

The most successful and respected managers I’ve worked with over the years have had several traits in common that help build trust with unions in the process of change. 

  • They authentically care about their workers
  • They are upfront and true to their word
  • They assume good intentions
  • They replace judgement with inquiry when conflicts occur

Here is how you as a manager can work with unions to drive change that helps to “raise all boats.”   

Respect the union/union leader’s role and treat them like partners in change. 

This means creating a constructive culture with them, by being transparent about the big picture that you are seeing, soliciting their input, and inviting them into the problem-solving process with you.   It means exploring and finding solutions that support success for both the organization and the workers involved.       

Be transparent and communicate as often as possible.

Where possible (taking into consideration privacy laws) be transparent about what’s happening in your organization and the world around you, that the organization must address.  You need to provide information and context, especially in a rapidly changing world.  Don’t sugar-coat bad news, but do position it for greater understanding. 

Be clear about your decision-making boundaries.

Unlike unions, the typical organization is NOT a democracy.  Managers have a responsibility for the organization as a whole, and decision-making authority to enable that.  As a result, it is important that youare clear about how you will make decisions in this rapidly changing world. 

  • On what issues you are willing to take feedback and input before making a decision?
  • Where you are willing to develop a consensual solution to a problem?
  • Where you must ultimately make the decision yourself (and why?)

I have found that when managers work respectfully and not judgmentally with unions, unions also respond in new ways.   As a result, when managers and union leaders are opposed on issues, decisions and negotiations that are built on mutual respect and trust– although not always liked – are often accepted by all.   

For Unions:

The unions I’ve worked with over the years have represented a wide variety of professions, from manufacturing to higher ed, from crafts people to office workers, from police officers to teachers to custodians.  In working with union leaders in organizational change efforts,  I often see two different mind-sets, each with different effectiveness when it comes to change.   

Fixed vs. Growth Mindset

I sometimes describe a fixed mind-set as “Old Union” because it operates from a sharp distrust of management and sees every interaction as a battle to be won.  This mind-set has a very narrow view of the world and often assumes that management has control and influence over everything in the world around them.  It discounts external trends and pressures that threaten the organization’s success and survival, declaring it as management’s problem, not theirs.   

Unfortunately, what starts as a “win-lose” proposition often becomes “lose-lose” by the end.  That’s because long-term, the organization may go out of business or be otherwise hampered by something outside of management’s control.  (Lawsuits, anyone?)

I sometimes describe a growth mind-set as “New Union” because it recognizes that management is not in total control of the world around them– and that the organization needs to adapt to survive.   The union leaders I’ve met that have this mind-set are logical, well-informed, and aware of the challenges that the organization faces.  And unions with this mind-set see themselves as important partners (with management) in shaping that change.  It is about “win-win.” 

Suggestions to “raise all boats”

Here is how I have seen successful and respected union leaders and members both advocate for core principles, and work with management to “raise all boats” in the process of change. 

  • See the larger picture and help your members understand it, so that the union as a whole can be more effective.
  • Do provide input and advocate for members’ needs to the larger organization.
  • Work with management to craft win-win solutions where possible.
  • Take on key issues within the union (versus simply protect your members) if the reputation of your profession as a whole is diminishing.
    • A great example of this occurred when a local teacher’s union decided to take on the issue of ineffective teachers because the reputation of teachers as a whole was suffering in the community. They worked with the administration to identify and implement professional development to support teachers, as well as procedural justice to deal fairly with those who should no longer teach. 

The Bottom Line

Bottom-line, both management and unions need to take ownership for change as well as recognize each other as partners in change.  When this occurs, they can work together to deal with the continual need for organizations to adapt to change and to support the individuals that work in them, thereby “raising all boats.”

 

–Cathy
Catherine M. (Cathy) Perme is a partner at Peterson & Perme Associates, LLC.

 

Creating a culture INSIDE that builds public trust OUTSIDE

Creating a culture INSIDE that builds public trust OUTSIDE

Culture, specifically the culture within your department, is everything when it comes to building public trust.

 

The social capital of your organization is built upon the trust of the public.  This is especially true in law enforcement, where employees are taking action in ways that not everyone appreciates.  Many agencies in the policing world are on the lookout for ways to build more trust with the community while minimizing activities which destroy this trust.  How do they do so – with meaning and consistency?  What are some strategies which will provide the most benefit for their valuable time?  Well, it isn’t about posting touching stories on social media or by organizing community events. 

It’s by creating a constructive culture inside that builds public trust outside.  Period. 

If you want collaboration and cooperation to happen between the police force and the community, it needs to start within the department. 

We need innovation in policing: to foster new ideas, drive alliances with stakeholders, and engage employees at their highest realms of performance. When officers are restricted with too many rules, made to frequently run decisions by a supervisor, or are forced into a cookie-cutter version of a cop, their chance to innovate is squashed.  They have less control over how their work gets done.  These are all factors which Human Synergistics International, a culture company, has pinpointed as directly related to a defensive culture, and a defensive culture is all about protecting yourself.  (https://www.humansynergistics.com/Files/HTML5/Circumplex/index.html)

When an organization runs primarily in a defensive fashion, it loses out on productivity, retention, and customer (or community) satisfaction.  In order to make the switch from a warrior to a guardian mentality, as identified in the President’s Task Force Report on 21st Century Policing, this needs to change. An agency needs to have a constructive culture instead.

Building a constructive culture within the department creates more engaged officers who are achieving their goals, bringing their whole selves to work, and deploying creative tactics and sound decision-making skills to the situations they encounter. 

How would the community react if officers 

  • gave more encouragement to each other, shared more ideas, and engaged in more courageous conversations with peers?

How would things be different if officers were able to – 

  • be a bigger part of planning for the future of their department, more frequently deploy novel ways of thinking, and embrace the unique differences they each have to offer?

These are some of the primary elements of a constructive culture, according to Human Synergistics. Ideally, through a constructive culture, officers uphold the agency’s mission on a daily basis, feel empowered to perform their duties, and feel supported by their supervisors, amongst many other measures. 

Through using the tools provided by Human Synergistics, an agency can assess where they stand against many other organizations and what factors they need to work on in order to perform more constructively.  In over 45 years of research, Human Synergistics has found that constructive organizations increase efficiency, retain their employees, and are more effective at what they do. 

As consultants certified and experienced in the use of these tools, we help agencies develop proven roadmaps for change to guide the entire department, from the top leaders to the line workers, in the movement from the current culture to their ideal culture.  By fostering a constructive culture within a public safety department, officers and staff can develop the skills, tools, and confidence they need to build public trust and provide outstanding service to the community.

 

–Amber
Amber Peterson is a partner at Peterson & Perme Associates, LLC.

Amber Peterson

Contact Peterson & Perme Associates

Phone: 952.831.4131

e-Mail:  info@petersonperme.com

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