Training is needed in all levels of work. Employees need to know the policies and know the values and standards of their employees. First-line supervisory training is essential to ensuring trainees have all the resources and knowledge they need to effectively supervise their subordinates. They need to know the policies and values extremely well. This rulification (Stojkovic, 2015) must be reviewed and studied so supervisors can enforce the rule and to also keep themselves away from trouble like lawsuits. Areas of skill that need to be addressed the most in supervisor training are A) Technical (Pederson, Dresdow, Benson, 2013) which is specialized knowledge. This can include steps or guidelines on how to be effective in supervising and problem-solving. B) Human (Pederson, Dresdow, Benson, 2013), which is understanding and motivating others. Trainees can learn the commons issues people have within the field and learning how to handle them, like attendance. Lastly, C) conceptual (Pederson, Dresdow, Benson, 2013), which is dealing with complex problems. Supervisors may have handle problems outside their subordinates and el with issues with the public and/or media. It is important they have training on it.
I believe that Sergeant Rick handled the situation correctly, however, he needed to know the policies better and understood the role of the union. Most often people who have available benefits like sick leave can use them. All the policies are there to keep employees from abusing their sick time and Sergeant Rick was proficient in the policy. However, the officer did abuse his benef
it but hasn’t done it in about a year. The issue is that Sergeant Rick knew what officer did when he called in sick, due to the officer being his friend, and decided to create a case against him. It looks bad on Sergeant Rick’s end because now it looks like he is too harsh and sends a message that whenever someone calls in sick they will be investigated. This will make the union more involved and make the Sergeant look like he is incapable of doing the job. It also will ruin the reputation of the department and create a high turnover rate. If Sergeant Rick been trained on how to handle a situation like attendance and on the union, he could have handled the situation where he didn’t have to create a case of an offense an officer hasn’t done in almost a year.
In this situation I would have kept a log on the times an officer called in sick especially if the officer has a history of abusing the benefit. Once I have a well-kept log of the times an officer call in sick, especially if I know the officer personally, then I would create a case. Until then, I would confront the officer and ask if everything is ok and keep a log of what was said. If things start to not match up with what was said then there would an infraction of the policy and it will have to be an investigation to take place.
Pederson, L. S, Dresdow, S., Benson, J. (2013) Significant tasks in training of job-shop supervisors. Journal of Workplace Learning. 25(1). 23-36
Stojkovic, S., Kalinich, D. B., & Klofas, J. (2012). Criminal Justice Organizations: Administration and Management. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.