Why Conduct a Job Task Analysis?

Authors

Patrick Oliver, Cedarville UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-2020

Journal Title

Ohio Police Chief

Volume

68

Issue

1

First Page

52

Last Page

55

Abstract

The hiring of a law enforcement officer is the single most important function of any law enforcement agency. It is the officers hired that provide the service to community members. The promotion of law enforcement officers is the second most important personnel decision after hiring, followed by making of special personnel assignments. According to a book I authored on hiring law enforcement officers, I indicated that “The quality of all law enforcement service is reduced to the officers our community members are dealing with. No amount of organization or equipment will replace the human relation skills of the individual officer. Selecting the best candidates in the marketplace is paramount. It is primarily the officers hired at entry level that become the future managers for an agency. The quality of the individuals you hire will determine the quality of the organization. If the officers in your organization are not competitive in the law enforcement profession, how can your organization be competitive in the law enforcement profession?” (Oliver, 2014). The most important tasks of a law enforcement chief executive officer [CEO] are hiring, promoting, and assigning people. Therefore, the CEO should be directly involved in the hiring, promoting, and assigning process and treat it as a priority. Whoever controls the quality of the personnel selection process controls the effectiveness of the law enforcement agency. It is the people that obtain the results and accomplish the mission of any agency. Quality people (not just people) are the most important resource in any organization. Knowledge of this fact should lead to a selection process based on the most important and foundational element, which is a Job Task Analysis. A Job Task Analysis must be conducted to understand the essential functions of the job, and identify the job tasks to be included in a written job description.

Keywords

Police, recruitment

Comments

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Recommended Citation

Oliver, Patrick, "Why Conduct a Job Task Analysis?" (2020). History and Government Faculty Publications. 322.
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/history_and_government_publications/322