دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی سرمایه گذاری در مردم: دستمزد و بازده در خط مشی گذاری - امرالد 2017

Investing in people: salary and turnover in policing

Historically, policing has been a blue-collar occupation with relatively low salaries (Stoddard, 1968). However, over the last half century, officer salaries in the United States have increased due in large part to the proliferation of labor unions that have successfully argued that police are underpaid and that the increasing complexity of police work should result in greater compensation (Kadleck, 2003). The reasoning behind this is that salary is an important part of the incentive system used by an organization to motivate employees to comply with agency rules and regulations (Mueller and Price, 1990). Salary is strongly related to job performance and effort, as well as morale and job satisfaction (Crow et al., 2012; Folger and Cropanzano, 1998; Lambert et al., 2007). From an organizational standpoint, salary is also a means of encouraging employee retention, affecting the desirability of leaving and subsequent turnover behavior (e.g., Lum et al., 1998).

In policing, research on the relationship between salary and turnover is limited. We know that salary and benefits vary greatly across agencies and that about 10.8% of municipal, county, and state officers turn over every year (Wareham et al., 2015). Although there is consensus that salary affects an individual’s decision to pursue a career in law enforcement, as well as his or her decision to continue working for a particular organization, experts disagree on the overall importance of compensation relative to other factors. This study is the first step toward evaluating the influence of salary on turnover in law enforcement. Using data from more than 2200 agencies, we tested hypotheses about the effect of pay and other economic incentives on voluntary and involuntary separations. In addition to contributing to the theoretical literature on the antecedents of turnover, examining the effects of salary on voluntary and involuntary separations has practical implications by helping officials estimate how changes in the compensation structure may affect important organizational outcomes.

Discussion and Conclusion

The findings of this study contribute to our knowledge of the antecedents of voluntary separations and involuntary dismissals in law enforcement, particularly the role of salary. In theory, salary is important in understanding job satisfaction and organizational commitment (Matz et al., 2012), as well as voluntary turnover and dismissals (Crow et al., 2012; Folger and Cropanzano, 1998; Lambert et al., 2007). These results confirm the importance of salary in understanding turnover in American police agencies. Specifically, the results show that higher levels of salary, relative to the community, are associated with lower levels of voluntary separations and involuntary dismissals. Keep in mind that in this study salary was measured relative to the community in which the agency resides. Officers likely define their salary and economic incentives relative to their community’s quality of life or to the salary and benefits provided by police agencies nearby. In addition, turnover was measured by the number of officers who resigned or were fired rather than an officer’s reported intent to leave. These improved measures may create a more realistic method of measuring the impact of salary on turnover.

Advocates of police professionalization believe that salary and economic incentives draw applicants with improved communication, problem-solving, and negotiation skills to the occupation of policing. In fact, increasing police officer salary was recently discussed as a possible solution for reducing conflict, restoring trust, and increasing perceptions of organizational legitimacy following a series of high-profile shootings, specifically of young men of color, which resulted in public consternation and calls for greater police accountability (for example, see The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, 2015). Underlying many of these reforms is the importance of recruiting and retaining high-quality officers who can effectively exercise discretion because it is believed to be a crucial factor in improving the relationship between law enforcement and communities of color. Economic incentives, as well as the opportunity to participate in a defined retirement plan, strengthen the conclusion that agencies that financially invest in police officers’ salary reduce their turnover rate.