For criminal justice organizations to be effective and efficient, it requires substantive knowledge and skills in organizational behavior and management. The criminal justice administrator should be well acquainted with the essential skills to achieve the organization’s goals and expectations. The acquisition of relevant management skills assists an organization in its role of crime prevention, criminal offense adjudication, and the punishment of delinquents. Management science guides on the numerous skills that a criminal justice administrator should be knowledgeable of, and exercise. These skills help the criminal justice administrators to fulfill their duties in the criminal court and matters of law enforcement.
Criminal justice administrators need interpersonal knowledge and skills. As leaders, they must have the capability to work effectively with others, either as individuals or as groups. Interpersonal knowledge assists managers in making the most appropriate decisions when solving conflicts. It is significantly important to understand the different parties for necessary collaboration. Effective human relation skills enhance faith, trust, respect, and collaboration amongst the individuals involved in any undertaking. The manager can also implement delegation with ease, and the staff members can function normally. With the enhancement of teamwork and efficiency, a sense of ownership and worth among the individuals within the organization is created, and the organization’s public image and employee satisfaction improve (Allen, 2009).
An in-depth understanding and the ability to exercise political knowledge and skills are of great essence to managers. The formation of a collaborative team, negotiation of sensitive issues and relationships, allow the group to obtain external support. Managers take great consideration in this regard in order to achieve balanced membership in the team and a deeper understanding of the group’s objectives as a whole. Additionally, managers must have the ability to handle multiple responsibilities that guide and support the team’s work. This skill is essential as it enables them to define their roles and areas of jurisdiction appropriately without interfering with the employees’ responsibilities.
Time management skills are important to a criminal justice organization manager because tasks can be done effectively and efficiently on time. Time management skills involve the structuring and organization of an appropriate time schedule and a layout of every personnel’s duty and expectation. This approach creates time-consciousness among the employees and it becomes a crucial factor in their performance. In addition, it creates a sense of focus on substantive work, which is productive and goal-oriented with the involvement of all members. This skill reduces instances of laziness and lack of morale among the staff members because every duty is well scheduled and there are no cases of conflicting responsibilities. In handling law enforcement and court matters, time is a factor of great significance that improves the criminal justice organization’s performance as viewed both internally and outside the organization (Allen, 2009).
Managers must portray conceptual skills in their performance. Conceptual skills entail the managers’ mental ability to coordinate, control and integrate all the organization’s objectives, interests and duties. Managers should be able to visualize in an unimaginable dimension and try to create the relationship that exists between the global perspective and the environment of their operation. This enables managers in criminal justice organizations to handle tasks that are non-routine and anticipate possible future trends and changes in the system of operation.
Motivation and organizational behavior have a great significance in the manager’s role in criminal justice organizations. Motivation improves the utilization of human resources within the organization. Through the staff members’ willingness to work under the supervision of a manager, the organization is able to attain the best possible utilization of the physical, human and financial resources for the achievement of targets goals. When a criminal justice administrator enhances morale within the workforce, he or she improves the relationship and coexistence among individuals within the organization or in the team that they serve. The key motivation factors that the criminal justice administrators should check into include equity within the workforce, and considerate workers’ remuneration (Stojkovic, 1998). With such a move, the performance of the employees is not only improved but the organization’s efficiency and output are strengthened. An individual’s efficiency is not necessarily reflected by their abilities and education, but the gap between abilities and willingness, which should be eliminated to achieve the best performance of the staff.
Employment of motivation is a crucial factor in enhancing the employees’ performance. A criminal justice administrator empowers the employees’ performance even in times of change. Adaptability, innovation, and mindfulness of the employee are guaranteed through the process of motivation. As witnessed in the law enforcement process it is essential to quickly and willingly adjust in times of amendments. Additionally, employees who have a passion for growth and development feel like a part and parcel of the process of change as they get opportunities for promotion and, or increase in remuneration. A criminal justice administrator has to promote the employee’s progress in their career paths, because this will improve the employee’s trust, and respect in their leader (Stojkovic, 1998).
Organizational behavior leads to the achievement of the organization’s goals through the utilization of the available resources. By promoting a cooperative work environment, and making employees be goal-oriented through the embracing of problem-oriented management techniques, an increase in the employees’ performance and morale is guaranteed, and thus the organization’s performance improves. Incentives offered by criminal justice administrators, for example, pay rise and the opportunities for growth and development induce employees’ competition, which subsequently boosts their performance. An example of this is interactional and procedural justice, which has a significant impact on the role of a criminal justice administrator. The former relates to the nature of employees’ treatment and the level of dignity attached to them. Procedural justice refers to the manner in which an organization undertakes processes and activities within its jurisdiction (Cronkhite, 2008).
Through motivation and organizational behavior, the criminal justice administrator is able to stabilize the workforce in the organization. Employees remain loyal to an organization when they have a feeling of involvement and participation in the process of management and decision-making. At the same time, such retention of skilled and efficient employees will have a positive influence on the management of the organization. Employees display a good public image of the organization if they are satisfied with the leadership (More, 2006). To have a content labor force, the manager must continuously countercheck the employees’ needs. This way, a sense of care grows among the employees.
In conclusion, motivation and organizational behavior compels the criminal justice administrator to operate in a professional and ethical manner. Efficient and effective management of criminal justice organization by the manager, boost their leadership rating and becomes a source of achievement for the individual.
References
Allen, J. M., & Sawhney, R. (2009). Administration and management in criminal justice: a service quality approach. Los Angeles: Sage.
Cronkhite, C. L. (2008). Criminal justice administration: strategies for the 21st century. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
More, H. W. (2006). Organizational behavior and management in law enforcement (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Stojkovic, S., Kalinich, D. B., & Klofas, J. (1998). Criminal justice organizations: administration and management (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: West/Wadsworth Pub. Co..
