Pay… As You Earn? What the Home Secretary Should Know about Performance Related Reward Systems
| Author | Bob Garlant |
| Published date | 01 July 1993 |
| Date | 01 July 1993 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X9306600302 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
BOB
GARLANT
B.A.
Chief
Superintendent, Lincolnshire Police
PAY
...
AS
YOU
EARN?
WHAT
THE
HOME
SECRETARY
SHOULD
KNOW
ABOUT
PERFORMANCE
RELATED
REWARD
SYSTEMS
Introduction
During his May 1992 address to the Police Federation Conference, the
Home
Secretary made
it
clearthat hewantstoconsiderwhether thereare
better ways of distributing the police pay bill to match more fairly the
contribution whicheachofficeris
making.
Inexamining thisquestion, the
inquirycommissioned by Mr Clarke, the former Home Secretary, will
needtoreflectnotonlyupontherangeofdiffering rolesandresponsibilities
of policeofficersand the way in whichindividual performance mightbe
assessed andrewarded, butalso upon
factors
whichinfluence the extent
to which individuals are willing to direct their energies
towards
the
attainment of organizational objectives.
A
growing
number of organizations, academics and commentators
maintain thatrewarding individual skills,contributions andcompetencies
is more relevant to contemporary needs than traditional job-basedpay
structures. Whilst few organizations claim to have got Performance
RelatedPaytotallyright,it seemsunlikely thatmanyareabouttodispense
withit.
Arguably,
mostarein theprocessoflearning amuchmoredifficult
lessonthan its sponsors, be they ChiefExecutives or Cabinet Ministers,
maybelieve.Rewarding performance isnotjustasimple'carrotandstick'
approach toimproving resultsbutafarmorecomprehensiveperformance
management
system
linking objectives, behaviours, competencies and
skillstoorganizational requirements. Fromthisperspective, Performance
RelatedPayison!ypart ofthearmouryofrewardprocesses
within
a total
rewardpackagedeveloped to meetandreflect anorganization'sspecific
needs.
Inthefaceof mounting publicandgovernmental concern overthe
effectiveness ofpolicingin general, andthequalityofpolicemanagement
in particular, the adoption of such an
approach
to the escalating police
wagesbill is likely to prove irresistible.
Itisthe objectof thispapertoreviewtheeffectiveness ofPerformance
RelatedRewardsystems, takingintoaccountprogressinboththe public
and privatesector, and to highlight related issues whichwill need to be
addressed. Relevant academic research will be referred to where
appropriate.
Some Shortcomings of the Current Pay Structure
Simply stated, police pay is related to rank rather than to role and to
July 1993 The PoliceJOU17UJ1 233
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