Executive Development and Succession Planning: Qualitative Evidence

• NCJ Number: 216848
• Journal: International Journal of Police Science & Management Volume: 8 Issue: 4 Dated: Winter 2006 Pages: 253-265
• Author(s): Steven A. Murphy
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This article reports the qualitative findings of a largely quantitative study about police officer perceptions of the executive development and succession process in Canada.

Abstract

Several themes emerged from the qualitative data: (1) a lack of confidence in the executive development process; (2) the need for executive development to be more developmental in nature; (3) a desire for experience and qualifications to play a larger role in the executive development process; (4) person-organization constraints; (5) negative image of executives; and (6) a lack of information on the executive development process. The author discusses these themes in terms of their implications for the development of future police executives. The themes indicate that there is a general lack of confidence in the executive development process and that most officers do not believe that the best members are selected for executive development. Officers expressed the opinion that the standardized testing procedure was not adequately reaching the talent pool of rank-and-file police officers. Moreover, due to a lack of meaningful feedback from the executive development process and the lack of support from immediate supervisors, most officers expressed feelings of ambivalence for executive succession. The author suggests that a shift is required from a reactive position filing process to a proactive development strategy in which individual strengths are matched to the organization’s needs. Data were gathered via a survey of 719 police officers in Canada. The qualitative portion of the survey focused on officers’ opinions and concerns regarding executive development in their police organization. Descriptive statistics were used to examine whether there were any significant differences between officers who provided qualitative information in their survey responses and those who did not. Qualitative data analysis involved content coding using grounded-theory principles. Future research should focus on how a strategic human resources needs assessment could be incorporated as part of the succession management process. Tables, references