Question : What advice would you give to Tyrell ?

Solution: With most us spending most of their working hours at work, addressing
psychological health within workplaces is vitally important for everyone. Therefore, it is
important to focus on both physical and mental health and safety to ensure a workplace that
helps to keep workers safe, engaged and productive.

While Tyrell is a sergeant in regional police force and having 15 years of experience in
Management and has already observed that the autocratic approach by the previous sergeant
has not worked, he must induce some other strategies to make the work atmosphere a healthy
workplace. Here are some of the suggestions which I think, Tyrell must follow:

1) Providing Psychological and Social support to his officers: Social and Psychological
support will improve overall psychological health of his staff. Employees who are supported,
stay productive and maintain healthy relationships amongst each other. They have greater job
attachment, job commitment, job satisfaction, and positive work mood which results in less
absenteeism.

2) Changing Organisation culture: To move forward and to bring about positive change,
Tyrell should be transparent about processes. He must participate in conflict resolution and
communication training and conduct more in-person communication. He should be all ears to
one’s problems and try to solve them personally.

3) Backing officers: Since all officers are serving at a high crime area, they strongly create
negative view about the way they are treated by the media also are more likely than their
colleagues to see a disconnect between themselves and the public. For police, attitudes about
media bias are linked to other feelings about their jobs. Officers who feel strongly that the
media treat police unfairly are more likely than their colleagues to say their work as a law
enforcement officer nearly always or often makes them feel frustrated and even angry.

4) Create Clear Expectations: Tyrell should have clear expectations present in an

environment in which his leadership is effective and there is support that helps employees
know what they need to do, what is expected of them, how their work contributes to the
organization and whether there are impending changes.

5) Behavioural Training and Respect for Women: It is about showing care and
consideration each other and building harmony and giving respect. “A civil and respectful
workplace ensures an environment where employees are respectful and considerate in their
interactions with one another and especially to the female officers. Treat a woman colleague
like you would treat a lady of your family – give her the same respect and regard personally.
Where work is concerned, treat her as you would a male colleague. Love her or hate her – do not
treat her differently from the others!

6) Gender Specific Training and Removal or Gender Biasness: There are significant
police-related tactical differences between men and women. Women usually have a small size
in comparison to men which allows for better use of cover and concealment. They are more
flexible and allow for more options during movement or cover during an encounter with
criminals.

Women have better vision in low light, better peripheral vision and better hearing. They can
hear a broader range of sound frequencies and tones in the human voice.
This is a tactical mistake that should be overcome with some gender-specific training.

And it is likely in the best interest as police officers to capitalize on the differences and use
them to Tyrell’s department advantage. However, if Tyrell recognizes some of these issues in
the men or women officers, it would be in his best interest to capitalize on their strengths and
provide training to address the weaknesses.

It is important to provide training to fit the individual, rather than treat all officers the same.
There may be training required for smaller officers, be them male or female, due to sheer size.
There could be different training needed for passive officers as opposed to your more
aggressive officers.

6) Officer Wellness: Though Tyrell tried throwing a potluck at his home but apart from this
to also ensure that officers are given time off to rest, heal, and spend time with loved ones.
Families become strained when officers fail to get quality time at home, furthering the negative
impact on mental health and risk for disconnect and even divorce.

7) Officer Engagement: Officers feel connected to their work and are motivated to do their
job well. Employee engagement can be physical, emotional, and/or cognitive. Physical
engagement is based on the amount of exertion an employee puts into his or her job. Physically
engaged employees view work as a source of energy. Emotionally engaged employees have a
positive job outlook and are passionate about their work. Cognitively engaged employees
devote more attention to their work and are absorbed in their job. Whatever the source,
engaged employees feel connected to their work because they can relate to, and are committed
to, the overall success and mission of their organization.

8) Creating Work/Life balance: Tyrell must create an environment where there is recognition
of the need for balance between the demands of work, family and personal life. Every officer
has multiple roles to handle. This complexity allows fulfilment of individual strengths and
responsibilities, but if not handled properly may lead to role conflict and overload.

9) Recognition and Reward: If Tyrell sees officers do something great he must take the time
to tell them. There are many ways to recognize others, including: Having a team get-together
for special milestones either for work or for a personal accomplishment. Sometimes people put
a lot of work into solving a case that was not a huge success it’s important to recognize the
hard work and time the officers invested. Show kindness for a co-worker to make them feel
special.

References :

Psychological Health and Safety - Human Resources (mcmaster.ca)

Wellness Programs for Police Officers (thebalancecareers.com)

Tactical Differences Between Male And Female Officers | Officer

Most officers say the media treat police unfairly | Pew Research Center