So what do you do when you don’t have money and you don’t have the luxury of buying your media? Well there are a number of free marketing activities that you can engage in and every one of them really doesn’t cost anything more than your time.
1. Visit your local college campus! Now most police recruiters will go to college career fairs, but have you ever taken the time to walk the campus and visit with students, especially within universities who have criminal justice curriculums? You will be surprised how reception staff, students and faculty will be if you ask to speak to their classes or even just socialize before or after class.
2. Make friends with the local media! Take the time to chat with your local media station and ask them if they would be willing to broadcast a story on your recruiting efforts and need for applications. It is free and will give you some really great exposure, regardless as to whether it is a video or written story.
3. Steal from the police! Have you ever targeted other police agencies in your area? Take the time to visit other police departments and get to know their officers. Recruit like a college NFL coach, find the best and bring them to your department!
4. Work the military angle! Take the time to visit the military installations or even small reserve units. What a great way to bring some very qualified applicants to your department, not to mention this is a great way to establish a rapport with the military leaders in your city or community.
Recruiting without money is not as hard as you may think, but it just takes time to work out some of the minor details. Remember, money really doesn’t grow on trees but especially on the tree of the government sector.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Morale...it stinks!
Morale…it stinks!
So how is morale currently within your department? Well, unless you give out Xanax or Prozac at every roll call, I’m sure you always have a morale issue. I can truly say after 18 years I’ve never had a time when there wasn’t someone in my department and any other department for that matter, that didn’t have a bad morale problem. So why is morale a recruiter’s issue?
Let’s look at the following equation:
Positive Morale + Positive Retention = Effective Recruitment
What does this equation mean? It means that the best recruiters for any agency are the officers currently patrolled the streets. They are salesmen and saleswomen of every agency and if morale is bad and retention is an issue, then recruitment is definitely compromised. To have effective recruitment by your front line officers they must have a sense of pride, a sense of honor and their morale must be high.
Now as we all know, morale starts from the top and works its way down. If the Chief of Police or top city official is making decisions that directly attack the rank and file officers, you can’t do much to correct the morale issue. However, there are some minor front line supervisor’s suggestions that I do have to make a difference in the morale within your platoon, division, district or unit.
1. Reward officer’s good behavior. Just like we reward our children when they make good grades or good decisions, supervisors should reward their officers when they do the right thing, make a good arrest, or even just overall do a good job. Letters of commendation are always nice, but what about mailing them a letter of gratitude or even throwing your platoon a party at the division or district. Treat your officers like you would like to be treated and the reward really will be yours!
2. Provide officer’s with training. I know during the current recession that rewarding officers with requested training is not an easy thing to do but there are ways around the money issue. For example, look for federally funded courses and take the time to possibly forge partnerships so that funding can come from other sources.
3. Take time to make time. Take the time to allow your officers to have times to vent without negative impacts from supervisors. Make time to allow officers to feel free to do special details or focus on the issues they want to focus on. Heck, we give these officers the ability to take peoples rights away and even use deadly force if necessary, so why don’t we take the time to let them work they want to work.
Morale is something that is always an issue and always will be an issue. You will always have glass half empty officers in every department. The question is can you help them out by occasionally filling their glass?
So how is morale currently within your department? Well, unless you give out Xanax or Prozac at every roll call, I’m sure you always have a morale issue. I can truly say after 18 years I’ve never had a time when there wasn’t someone in my department and any other department for that matter, that didn’t have a bad morale problem. So why is morale a recruiter’s issue?
Let’s look at the following equation:
Positive Morale + Positive Retention = Effective Recruitment
What does this equation mean? It means that the best recruiters for any agency are the officers currently patrolled the streets. They are salesmen and saleswomen of every agency and if morale is bad and retention is an issue, then recruitment is definitely compromised. To have effective recruitment by your front line officers they must have a sense of pride, a sense of honor and their morale must be high.
Now as we all know, morale starts from the top and works its way down. If the Chief of Police or top city official is making decisions that directly attack the rank and file officers, you can’t do much to correct the morale issue. However, there are some minor front line supervisor’s suggestions that I do have to make a difference in the morale within your platoon, division, district or unit.
1. Reward officer’s good behavior. Just like we reward our children when they make good grades or good decisions, supervisors should reward their officers when they do the right thing, make a good arrest, or even just overall do a good job. Letters of commendation are always nice, but what about mailing them a letter of gratitude or even throwing your platoon a party at the division or district. Treat your officers like you would like to be treated and the reward really will be yours!
2. Provide officer’s with training. I know during the current recession that rewarding officers with requested training is not an easy thing to do but there are ways around the money issue. For example, look for federally funded courses and take the time to possibly forge partnerships so that funding can come from other sources.
3. Take time to make time. Take the time to allow your officers to have times to vent without negative impacts from supervisors. Make time to allow officers to feel free to do special details or focus on the issues they want to focus on. Heck, we give these officers the ability to take peoples rights away and even use deadly force if necessary, so why don’t we take the time to let them work they want to work.
Morale is something that is always an issue and always will be an issue. You will always have glass half empty officers in every department. The question is can you help them out by occasionally filling their glass?
Recruiting with Flair!
Recruiting with flair…
So what type of advertisement catches your eye? Is it one with an attractive woman or man? What about the colors they use or the scenery employed by the creator? Could it be just the product that captures your attention or even just the name brand?
This month we look at the use of flair in recruiting. So what is “flair” in regards to recruiting for law enforcement? Flair can be different things to different people. For example, I think of flair as something that gives the advertisement a special sense of style that no other product can give. Take the advertisements currently on the market for Mountain Dew, the “Do the Dew” commercials. The flair those commercials have relates to the new “X” generation, the “I want it now” generation, where information is immediate and up front. The commercials are exciting, fast paced and intense. Another example on the opposite end of the spectrum would be the Webster University commercials, where you hear majestic, regal type music in the background and a very intelligent orator tells you how great it would be for you to obtain your MBA at Webster’s University.
But again, what would be “flair” in a police recruiting environment? Well, for starters, think about the colors of your agency. Let’s say your departmental colors are a dark shade of green and white…then use those colors as the flair for your advertisements. But colors aren’t the only way to increase flair, what about an interesting picture or scenery. A great example of this form of flair would be highlighting your mounted patrol in an advertisement or displaying your Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT). Regardless of the flair you choose, it must be the three “B’s”:
1. Bold
2. Brilliant
3. Bada$$ (yes, that’s right!)
For the flair to be bold, it must stand out above all others in your target range. Therefore, you are competing against other law enforcement agencies and other first responders, so your flair must have a bold approach. As for brilliant, your flair must be bright as the top of the Chrysler Building…it must be so amazing that it catches the eye of the local television stations and even maybe the national scene. Finally, your flair must be bada$$! If you want your department to be something that every well fit young man and woman want to go to then your department must look and be the agency that fits their particular desires…it must be promoted to be the best of the best…the bada$$ agency of the US!
Now go and bring your three “B’s” to life!
So what type of advertisement catches your eye? Is it one with an attractive woman or man? What about the colors they use or the scenery employed by the creator? Could it be just the product that captures your attention or even just the name brand?
This month we look at the use of flair in recruiting. So what is “flair” in regards to recruiting for law enforcement? Flair can be different things to different people. For example, I think of flair as something that gives the advertisement a special sense of style that no other product can give. Take the advertisements currently on the market for Mountain Dew, the “Do the Dew” commercials. The flair those commercials have relates to the new “X” generation, the “I want it now” generation, where information is immediate and up front. The commercials are exciting, fast paced and intense. Another example on the opposite end of the spectrum would be the Webster University commercials, where you hear majestic, regal type music in the background and a very intelligent orator tells you how great it would be for you to obtain your MBA at Webster’s University.
But again, what would be “flair” in a police recruiting environment? Well, for starters, think about the colors of your agency. Let’s say your departmental colors are a dark shade of green and white…then use those colors as the flair for your advertisements. But colors aren’t the only way to increase flair, what about an interesting picture or scenery. A great example of this form of flair would be highlighting your mounted patrol in an advertisement or displaying your Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT). Regardless of the flair you choose, it must be the three “B’s”:
1. Bold
2. Brilliant
3. Bada$$ (yes, that’s right!)
For the flair to be bold, it must stand out above all others in your target range. Therefore, you are competing against other law enforcement agencies and other first responders, so your flair must have a bold approach. As for brilliant, your flair must be bright as the top of the Chrysler Building…it must be so amazing that it catches the eye of the local television stations and even maybe the national scene. Finally, your flair must be bada$$! If you want your department to be something that every well fit young man and woman want to go to then your department must look and be the agency that fits their particular desires…it must be promoted to be the best of the best…the bada$$ agency of the US!
Now go and bring your three “B’s” to life!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Social Media...
Social Media…what’s it all about???
What is social media and how can it help you with recruiting qualified police applicants? Well social media the trend of trends for 2010. Everywhere you go you hear of social media outlets, social media training and now even more than ever social media clubs. But what actually is social media? Social media is defined as primarily Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings. The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, telecommunications and social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and “building” of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories and experiences. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content (UGC) or consumer-generated media (CGM).
Now that we have defined social media what can it do for you as a police recruiter? For starters, social media outlets are just one more way of getting your department out in the open. The X generation lives for social media….from Ipods, to Iphones to now Ipads, everything and everyone is at the touch of your fingertips. Therefore, if you have any desire to be known social media outlets are the way to start.
You should begin by starting to create accounts under your agencies name on the various popular social media websites. For example, YouTube. YouTube is a very popular video social media website where you can upload your favorite videos. YouTube is the reason all of our female teenagers are drooling over Justin Beiber. Beiber, a young teenage pop star became famous because his mother started putting his homemade music videos on YouTube. Believe it or not, he was discovered off YouTube and now we have to pay $100-$150.00 a ticket for our daughters to go to his concerts. This is a perfect example of how social media can make a difference in the life of a person and your own police department. So start by putting your department commercials and public service announcements on YouTube and you will be surprised how many hits they will get.
Another form of social media is Facebook. Now most of us who have any type of computer knowledge more than likely already have a Facebook account. However, does you police department have one? If not, start one today. It is a great way to boost popularity and it is also a great way to disseminate information to your citizens.
Social media continues to change our lives along with the various tools that follow it. Are you keeping up with the changing of the times? If not, you and your department will be seriously hurt.
What is social media and how can it help you with recruiting qualified police applicants? Well social media the trend of trends for 2010. Everywhere you go you hear of social media outlets, social media training and now even more than ever social media clubs. But what actually is social media? Social media is defined as primarily Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings. The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, telecommunications and social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and “building” of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories and experiences. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content (UGC) or consumer-generated media (CGM).
Now that we have defined social media what can it do for you as a police recruiter? For starters, social media outlets are just one more way of getting your department out in the open. The X generation lives for social media….from Ipods, to Iphones to now Ipads, everything and everyone is at the touch of your fingertips. Therefore, if you have any desire to be known social media outlets are the way to start.
You should begin by starting to create accounts under your agencies name on the various popular social media websites. For example, YouTube. YouTube is a very popular video social media website where you can upload your favorite videos. YouTube is the reason all of our female teenagers are drooling over Justin Beiber. Beiber, a young teenage pop star became famous because his mother started putting his homemade music videos on YouTube. Believe it or not, he was discovered off YouTube and now we have to pay $100-$150.00 a ticket for our daughters to go to his concerts. This is a perfect example of how social media can make a difference in the life of a person and your own police department. So start by putting your department commercials and public service announcements on YouTube and you will be surprised how many hits they will get.
Another form of social media is Facebook. Now most of us who have any type of computer knowledge more than likely already have a Facebook account. However, does you police department have one? If not, start one today. It is a great way to boost popularity and it is also a great way to disseminate information to your citizens.
Social media continues to change our lives along with the various tools that follow it. Are you keeping up with the changing of the times? If not, you and your department will be seriously hurt.
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