The goal of a successful organization is to maintain a high performance rate at all levels: from a specific employee to hierarchical divisions and integration into the national workforce. To do this, it is necessary to calculate the current dynamics of the organization’s performance, and positively influence it. Accordingly, one needs to know how to determine the appropriate levels of productivity and by what indicators to view it in order to subsequently optimize the workflow more efficiently. Criminal justice agencies require a high level of evidence-based organizational structure due to the fact that their work directly affects the population. A scientific approach is in order to develop sustainable practice that would offer the best quality services. A general advice for criminal justice agencies’ directors is to develop a strong, innovation driven organizational culture that would support and enforce the implementation of more specific evidence-based practices. Through organizational culture, employees are motivated and sustainable practices are reinforced, and the working environment remains open and positive.
Specific measures are necessary to ensure that the criminal justice organization is developed through an evidence-based approach. National Institute of Justice (2021) proposes a program evaluation guide that can help assess the existing and developing programs and practices to ensure their effectivity. According to NIJ (2021), “CrimeSolutions determines both the reliability of the science methods used to evaluate effectiveness, and the level of effectiveness, if any, of the program or practice under evaluation” (para. 10). This assessment tool can help identify unscientific or inefficient programs and provide recommendations for their improvement. Another potential measure is the implementation of strategic management – using established practices to determine the organization’s direction of development and design a course of action according to it. Moreover, strategic management also refers to operating human resources: specialized HR and recruitment practices can help ensure that the organization is well-staffed with knowledgeable and innovation-open employees.
References
National Institute of Justice. (2021). CrimeSolutions – the evidence-based guide for Justice Agencies in search of practices and programs that really work. National Institute of Justice. Web.