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  • Police supervisor walking past a messy break-room counter while two officers watch.
    Perspective

    The standard you ignore becomes the standard you accept

    One of the easiest ways to lower a standard is to do nothing. I don’t have to change a policy or announce a new rule. I can just see the same problem enough times and keep walking past it. Eventually, everybody figures out that whatever the written rule says, this is what we actually accept….

    Read More The standard you ignore becomes the standard you acceptContinue

  • Top employee receiving an office key during a promotion while coworkers look uncertain, illustrating the risk of promoting your best employee into leadership.
    Perspective

    Promoting your best employee can be a terrible idea

    They’re dependable, they know the work, and they’re usually the person everybody leans on when something needs to get done. That makes your best employee a serious candidate, but I still have to decide whether those strengths fit the job I’m about to give them. The job they’re doing well now may depend on being…

    Read More Promoting your best employee can be a terrible ideaContinue

  • Supervisor comparing two employees with different work records, illustrating fair treatment at work and consistent standards.
    Perspective

    Equal treatment isn’t always fair treatment

    One of the easiest things for a supervisor to say is, “I treat everybody the same.” I understand why that sounds fair. Nobody wants favoritism, special treatment, or a boss who changes the rules depending on who is standing in front of him. But I don’t think fair treatment requires pretending every employee and every…

    Read More Equal treatment isn’t always fair treatmentContinue

  • Supervisor training a newly hired employee at a desk
    Perspective

    Training is expensive. Hiring the wrong person costs more.

    When I’m looking at hiring a police officer, the salary is only part of what the department will spend on that person. By the time you add benefits, uniforms, equipment, academy expenses, field training, supervision, and the time other officers spend helping someone learn the job, you’ve made a considerable investment before that new officer…

    Read More Training is expensive. Hiring the wrong person costs more.Continue

  • Hiring manager interviewing a job applicant across a desk
    Perspective

    Your employee may not be the problem. Your hiring process might be.

    I’ve heard employers complain about employees for most of my working life. They can’t find anybody dependable. Nobody wants to work. The new employee has a bad attitude, can’t handle the pressure, won’t take direction, or isn’t what the company thought they were getting. Sometimes they’re absolutely right. There are bad employees, and I’m not…

    Read More Your employee may not be the problem. Your hiring process might be.Continue

Michael Saad is a law enforcement veteran whose career has taken him around the world and eventually back to where it started.

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The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of any organization I’m affiliated with.

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