MANATEE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE TRANSFORMS PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT TO IMPROVE SERVICE OPENING LINES Source- https://www.americancityandcounty.com/ , Julie Bechwith, First published Aug 16, 2024 Residents are flocking to Manatee County, Fla. From 2010 to 2021, the county’s population grew by a whopping 33% to 429,000. And while the number of citizens increases, the local sheriff’s office is faced with a familiar challenge: an ongoing shortage of officers. According to a 2024 survey by public sector HR management company, NEOGOV, which explored the effects of the ongoing hiring crisis on the public sector, 33% of agencies report impacts to service. The 700 public sector HR professionals and job seekers who were surveyed also note that law enforcement is one of the hardest areas to fill. Between 2019 and 2023, there was a 40% increase in the number of job openings for police officers.At the same time, the number of applications per job decreased by 39%. Understanding the nature of today’s job market and the importance of effectively recruiting and retaining its employees, the HR department at Manatee County Sheriff’s Office took important steps to transform the way it evaluates employees’ and managers’ performance. The goal: to bring accountability and consistency to the performance management process, boosting morale and improving retention over the long term. RECOGNIZING THE NEED According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population in Manatee County increased “3.8% between 2021 and 2022.” The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office has experienced this growth first-hand. In the past nine years, the agency went from serving 360,000 citizens to more than 430,000 citizens today.As the population grows, so does the need to make processes more efficient to best serve the needs of the community and its employees. The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office’s HR team recognized that its method of performance evaluation, which was time-consuming and required extensive spreadsheets and paper forms, was no longer sustainable. Additionally, supervisors who are often responsible for 10 to 12 officers, some that require monthly evaluations, were tasked with manually drafting in-depth evaluations. This resulted in generic performance reviews and neglected the important relationship between supervisor and employee. With a focus on streamlining processes and improving employee retention in the face of hiring challenges, the HR team recognized a strong need to better engage with and provide consistent feedback to employees and managers alike. PREPARATION IS KEY TO SUCCESS Before choosing a system, the HR team took two key steps to prepare to transform the agency’s performance evaluation process: 1. Start with an audit. The HR team began by taking a detailed look at their existing employee evaluation processes to identify core strengths and weaknesses. Public sector agencies are often forced to adapt private sector technologies, despite their unique needs. The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office was no different. After initially deploying private sectorspecific software, it realized the technology was not well-equipped to handle the nuances of the public sector. An audit helped the team realize the gaps 11 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 08
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