Law enforcement has been in a recruiting crisis for several years and despite departments spending more time and resources on the issue than ever before, the issue continues to plague agencies across the country. This is a unique problem for a profession that typically sees immediate results after placing a hyper-focus on a problem. In fact, after thirty years in the profession, I’m not sure I have seen any problem that we haven’t quickly turned around after placing sufficient energy towards it.
But it’s clear that recruiting is not turning around and in many cities, it’s actually getting worse.
I believe there is a simple, yet complicated reason for this dilemma. We are tackling the issue the only way we know how…Time and Money.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad the profession is dedicating time and money and we had no reason to think that it would not bring success but if we continue down the same paths, no amount of time or money will ever fix the recruiting issue.
Here are some examples of our efforts taking up extreme time and money that are clearly not working.
The 1995 Approach
Traditionally, recruiting took the form of college visits and job fairs but the world has changed and with technology must come a different approach.
Websites & Videos
Until recently, the profession never had to actually recruit and while many agencies had “recruiters,” their efforts looked more like marketing than recruiting but it never mattered. There was always more candidates than openings so our “recruiting” efforts took the form of marketing our agencies to get the best of those candidates. Many agencies have figured out that the 1995 efforts stopped working long ago but they are still operating under the influence of our predecessors and taking the old marketing efforts and repackaging them in fancy websites and videos. The obsession is so strong here, I’ve seen agencies fail in their recruiting with a great video and website only to make a new website and video, thinking that will fix it. Marketing the profession is certainly needed but if we don’t understand that marketing was never designed for recruiting, we will keep wasting our time and money on a product that was never designed for attracting candidates.
This is not hard to understand. If you are in law enforcement, did you make that decision because you saw a nice website or video? I’ve never met someone that works in an agency because they saw a cool video so if that’s you, let me know.
Advertising
Advertising is also not recruiting and the typical “campaign” by departments takes all shapes and forms including social media ads, SEO, and online videos but once again that is not recruiting. Advertising and its older cousin, marketing, have always been designed to sell products or to build brand awareness. None of that is recruiting so if you are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on that activity and not seeing much traction, you should not be surprised.
Wolves Among Us
Without understanding what actual recruiting is, the marketing companies are circling the profession selling all kinds of products to unknowing leaders and it’s a smart business model. After all, the websites and videos look great and as a cop. It makes you feel great but what feels right is definitely not right. Some have gotten pretty savvy and while they are traditional marketing companies, they will call themselves recruiters and sell you marketing products. Frankly, I don’t blame them. Marketing is about influence and manipulation and they are doing exactly what they do.
How To Solve It
There is a solution to what law enforcement is facing and it’s called recruiting. We must understand what actual recruiting is and to understand it, you need to know what to look for when the wolves call you. Here are some questions you need to ask any company that pitches “recruiting” to your agency.
- What will it cost to acquire an interested candidate?
Leaders must forget about the eye candy of websites and videos. The Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department just won the best recruiting video of the year and their staffing is at an all time low so we have to swallow our pride and understand that what looks good is not necessarily good. Recruiting companies will be able to tell you the cost of each interested candidate. The business calls it the return on investment (ROI). Marketing companies masquerading as recruiters will tell you about website hits but recruiters will tell you the exact cost it takes to acquire an interested candidate.
2. What will it cost to acquire a qualified applicant?
Recruiters understand that interested candidates must be nurtured into actual applicants and they can place a cost on this for your agency. If you spend $100,000 with a marketing company, they will likely be able to guarantee how many website visits you will get but recruiters will be able to tell you how many applicants you can get.
3. Training & Expertise
Recruiters understand that successful recruiting requires a set of skills and processes to make the campaign successful. Marketers pitch automated processes and promise that a website, video, or advertising will just solve the issue but it never has and it never will. That idea may sell products automatically on your Shopify store but it will never convince someone to work for your agency.
There Is Hope
I have been very frustrated at the time and expense the profession has been dedicating to “marketing” efforts along with the marketing companies that continue to prey on our ignorance of the issue. I hear stories every week of another agency that spent crazy money and got nothing but a cool website and more web hits in return.
When I found SAFEGUARD Recruiting, I knew the issue could be solved and solved quickly. Founded by former law enforcement officers, they dedicated themselves to fixing the problem by actually recruiting and they have staffed agencies across the country. After running over 300 recruiting campaigns, they know exactly how much money it will take to fill the openings and they don’t fail because they are actually recruiting.
What if $3 could get you an interested candidate?
What if I told you that a recent client spent $27 for every qualified applicant?
I’m not sure how you would react but last week I was explaining this to a chief and after telling him that for $1000 he could fill every opening he had, he asked me if they could do a cool video.
SAFEGUARD Recruiting does cool videos and websites and a host of other things but they also recruit and it’s hard to understand how we haven’t figured the difference out.
I’ve talked a lot about SAFEGUARD Recruiting because it’s rare that you find ONE solution to a severe problem and until I see otherwise, they will be the only company I talk about.
Look At The Receipts
You can find out for yourself and look at their case studies from past clients including a series of training videos that I provided them. The next time you see that agency offering that big hiring bonus, do some math and ask yourself how many applicants they COULD have if they simply spent that money on recruiting.
Dr. Travis Yates retired as a commander with a large municipal police department after 30 years of service. He is the author of “The Courageous Police Leader: A Survival Guide for Combating Cowards, Chaos & Lies.” His risk management and leadership seminars have been taught to thousands of professionals across the world. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy with a Doctorate Degree in Strategic Leadership and the CEO of the Courageous Police Leadership Alliance.
