Running Head: IDENTIFYING A LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE 1

Identifying a Leadership Challenge

Matt Jenkins

University of San Diego

IDENTIFYING A LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE 2

Introduction

Organizational success depends upon its people. A manager’s most important task is to

hire and retain the right employees to ensure that the organization thrives. With the

unemployment rate falling and job tenure continuing to shrink, attracting qualified candidates

who stay will become increasingly important to an organization’s viability (Schmidt, 2016).

In the past five years, the Healdsburg Police Department (CA) has seen a significant

turnover in personnel, resulting in 12 of 27 full-time employees being hired. Department

administration recognized early that there would be turnover in this time period; however,

medical retirements and terminations resulted in additional vacancies that were not anticipated.

Needless to say, the department has been successful in recruiting all of these positions – most of

which are in patrol (10 of 12 positions).

The dispatch center has an authorized staff of 6 dispatchers to cover operations 24-7.

With only 5 dispatchers to cover operations, there is a significant amount of time where only one

dispatcher is in the dispatch center. One dispatch position remains vacant, and herein lies the

leadership challenge. In the past two and a half years, the department has recruited for and hired

3 candidates for the vacant dispatcher position. The result has been the same in each instance;

the trainee has resigned in the later stages of the training program. Each of the candidates was

qualified and progressing through their respective training programs without significant issues.

Adding to the leadership challenge, three of the five current dispatchers are either retirement

eligible now or with three years.

As lieutenant and second-in-command, this author oversees the day-to-day operations of

the department. In the context of this leadership challenge, the position holds the authority to

develop recruitment strategies, select candidates for testing, and direct changes to training
IDENTIFYING A LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE 3

programs. In an effort to have candidates succeed, the training program was completely

rewritten between candidates 2 and 3. Previously, one dispatcher was removed as a trainer due to

her attitude towards training a young trainee. According to Heifetz, Grashow, and Linsky

(2009), these were technical fixes to a problem that requires an adaptive change.

A recent meeting with the dispatchers revealed a deeper, adaptive issue when one

dispatcher stated, “they hire the wrong people,” referring to the selection by the department

administration. A sergeant at the meeting aptly pointed out that two of the dispatchers present in

the room were on the interview panel and passed the most recent trainee as the number one

candidate and that they were told before and after the interviews to not pass anyone if they could

not see them working in the department’s dispatch center.

The notion that the wrong people are being hired lacks credibility on its surface. During

the same time period, of the police officer candidates were successful in completing field

training, even those who had some struggles during the field training program. There is a clear

“us versus them” mindset that is ingrained into the dispatch subculture, stemming from changes

that were implemented after a new Police Chief was hired. As the lieutenant, this author takes

responsibility for molding the culture of the organization and creating a positive working

environment.

Leadership Framework

In analyzing this leadership challenge, it is the opinion of this author that any of the

candidates that were hired would have become successful dispatchers with this department;

however, the dispatch subculture did not allow them to thrive as individuals and is jeopardizing

the long-term sustainability of the dispatch center. Overcoming this leadership challenge will

require changing the dispatch subculture. While the adaptive leadership model addresses the
IDENTIFYING A LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE 4

change in culture, efforts surrounding it have been tried over the past several years. Some

success has been seen; however, success using adaptive leadership may not be possible given the

decreasing timeline to achieve success.

Transformational leadership may provide an opportunity to make progress. Through

charisma and inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration (Nahavandi,

2015), a leader can see great change. The trust that can result would erode the “us versus them”

mindset. Additionally, there is significant research on transformational research across genders

and cultures (Nahavandi, 2015, p. 191), and exploring this research could provide insight on how

to successfully lead a group that is entirely female.

Professional Relevancy

The time is now to implement changes that will allow the department to retain qualified

dispatchers or risk having to contract out dispatch services to an allied agency. In three years’

time, the department will likely be faced with three additional dispatch retirements. As an

organization, if it cannot hire and retain the currently vacant position, the administration will be

faced with making a decision on contracting for dispatch services. It would be a failure if this

were to occur, not because contracting is inherently detrimental to the organization, but because

the leadership was unable to shift the culture and create a positive working environment.

Additionally, the loss of dispatch would mean that dispatchers would be laid-off or absorbed by

the contracting agency. While the patrol subculture is currently positive, the loss of the

employees and friends could result in decreased morale or fear of a complete take-over of the

department.
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References

Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linksy, M. (2009). The Practice of Adaptive Leadership. Boston,

MA: Harvard Business Press.

Nahavandi, A. (2015). The Art and Science of Leadership (7th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Pearson.

Schmidt, L. (2016). Why Retention Will Be the Biggest Challenge of 2017. Retrieved January

28, 2o18, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/larsschmidt/2016/12/16/why-retention-will-

be-the-biggest-talent-challenge-of-2017/#17099fdc6ae4.