PART II: ENSURING HIGH-QUALITY PROFESSIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE

In order to best serve our communities and maintain healthy relationships with the citizens of Montgomery County, we have to focus on who is providing the “customer service” and ensure an ongoing assessment that measures the citizens satisfaction of the customer service received.

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• Professional Law Enforcement Personnel: Now more than ever, we need officers who care about the job and who will build a rapport with the public. A key component in maintaining healthy community relations is ensuring that those who would do harm never get into the law enforcement profession, or if already in the profession, are removed. We plan to re-evaluate our hiring process and make the appropriate change by:​​​​​​​​​​

  • Values and Vision: Ensuring the officers that we hire share the same values and vision of the Sheriff’s Office and the Communities that we serve.

  • Traits and Characteristics: Clearly identifying specific traits and characteristics that we are seeking in our officers. These are the qualities that go above and beyond the minimum standards that have been established by the Missouri POST Commission. Some of those fundamental qualities will include: •Integrity • Communication and Human Relation Skills • Compassion & Empathy • Self-control – Impulse Control • Team orientation • Problem-Solving Skills & • Mental Agility.

  • Psychological Screening: This screening would identify applicants who suffer from a current mental illness that would affect their ability to function safely and effectively at the given job. This screening would identify applicants who display characteristics such as a tendency toward unnecessary violence or poor impulse control.

  • Training: Continual training is an essential component of developing professional law enforcement officers. 

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• Employee Climate Survey: We will implement an employee climate survey. While some law enforcement agency leaders may trust their subjective “gut feel” of how their employees are doing, even when bolstered by frequent interaction with them, it is easy to miss negative trends and even good ideas based on leadership intuition alone.

 

Furthermore, employees must feel valued by both the community and the agency in order to have a true interest and motivation to deliver consistent high-quality professional service.Employees must have a voice—it is critical to both morale and operations.The majority of Sheriff’s Office employees operate in line-level positions and they are truly the backbone of the agency. They are almost always in the best position to offer critical insight to needed solutions to keep the Sheriff’s Office operations at peak performance.

 

We will solicit anonymous feedback from all employees through a quarterly electronic survey.This survey will be carefully constructed and will be a very useful tool in taking the “Temperature” of the Sheriff’s Office in relation to core values, goals, objectives, strategies and morale. This will allow us to respond appropriately to commonly-themed concerns or issues, make adjustments, implement solutions and maintain realistic expectations.Organization responsiveness to employee feedback leads to higher retention rates, lower absenteeism, improved productivity, better customer service and higher employee morale. The simple fact that the Office is conducting a survey can send a positive message to employees that their opinions are valued. 

 

• Employee Recognition Program: We will implement an awards program for our employees. While informal recognition is important, its effect is often fleeting and must be used in conjunction with formal recognition to truly communicate appreciation and reinforce the agency’s values. Awards criteria will emphasize not only on-duty performance, but volunteer service in the community as well.  In this manner, the program will highlight the agency’s values and celebrate those who, above the rest, have provided high-quality professional service to the community.

 

• Citizen Satisfaction Surveys: We will establish a Citizens Satisfaction Survey. Subjective feelings are not sufficient to accurately measure whether or not services are being delivered in a high-quality professional manner. An objective method of obtaining feedback with metrics aligned with the agency’s mission, vision, guiding principles and goals is necessary. First, a baseline measurement will be established through this survey. Our goal will be to have this survey up and running within the first 3 months of taking Office. Multiple methods to collect feedback from the community are preferred (for example, telephone contact from a supervisor following a call for service and electronic internet surveys). This feedback will be initially evaluated and a determination will be made as to how to attain or maintain the precise satisfaction level. Constant monitoring and reevaluation will allow the agency to respond to commonly themed concerns or issues. In addition, it will reinforce responsiveness to high-quality professional service among the agency’s employees.