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Instructions

Module 8 Assignment: Case Study #2

Purpose:

This 5-Page assignment is designed to help students analyze real-world human resource management cases and apply their knowledge to develop comprehensive solutions to common workplace challenges.

Task(s):

Using material from two modules covered in the first half of the course and two modules from the second half, apply your knowledge to the case described below. Identify at least three problems that need to be addressed by you, the HR Manager. For each problem, develop a plan to resolve the problem, while identifying the potential issues that may arise as those problems are addressed. Finally, discuss what steps you will take to prevent these problems from arising again in the future.

This assignment aligns with learning outcome(s) LO#1, 2, and 3

Assignment Instructions

You are the human resources manager for the local police department reporting directly to the Chief of Police. Members of the police force belong to a union although the support staff does not.

The police department is organized into four divisions (street patrol, traffic, investigations, special forces), with a captain heading each division and reporting directly to the Chief of Police. Each department has 2-3 staff and at least 10 police. Police start in the street or traffic divisions and are promoted to the investigations or special forces divisions. In past years, there have been 5-7 openings per year due to retirements. Recruits have been primarily people born and raised in the community.

The community is a college town of roughly 30,000 people during the summer and 45,000 to 50,000 during the school sessions. The college students are extremely diverse with no ethnicity comprising a clear majority. The community itself is less diverse but has significant minority representation. Many in the community are either retired military or active or retired faculty members.

You have been receiving an increasing number of complaints from college students that they are being purposely targeted and harassed by the police, particularly the street and traffic patrols. To address these complaints, you worked with the Chief to assign one police person from each division to a community-policing project under your supervision. The officers you were assigned were less experienced or older and waiting to retire. Although the officers in the project continue to report positive interactions with the community, the complaints continue.

Although you have been giving complaints that name a specific officer to the appropriate division captain and Chief of Police, you do not receive any information back and, therefore, cannot determine what is communicated to the specific officers. Meanwhile, the union representative sent you a letter complaining that you are harassing the officers and causing undue stress, which increases the risk of harm and health problems.

The division captains also complained to you that their officers see the community-policing staff as receiving special privileges and not having to work as hard as the rest of the officers. Many see this as a reward for poor performance.

Based on the information you learned in this course analyze this case by thoroughly answering the following questions (remember that you are the human resource manager). You may need to make assumptions to fully answer the questions. If so, clearly indicate the assumptions you made and why. You will not need to use any outside resources.

• Identify at least 3 problems (there are more) that you should address.
• For each problem identified, develop a plan that you will follow to address and resolve the problem. Identify any issues or unintended consequences that may arise as the problems are addressed and include a way to mitigate (i.e. prevent) the issues.
• Once the problems are addressed, what steps will you take to prevent problems in the future?

REQUIRED: Apply your knowledge to the case described above by incorporating material from two modules in the first half of the course and two modules in the second half, to create a holistic case study response. Your case study must integrate concepts, theories, and materials from at least four modules. While it may be natural to focus on the most recent material, your analysis should demonstrate how each module contributes to understanding and addressing the case. To ensure this, you are required to clearly identify and label where and how you have applied content from each module you chose for your paper. This may be done by referencing the specific module in parentheses (e.g., Module 8: Safety and Well-Being) or by organizing sections of your analysis according to themes from each module. Failure to incorporate and explicitly identify content from all four modules will result in a reduction of points.