Creating Competence and Capabilities

Wasted Honor -

Carl R. ToersBijns is the author of the Wasted Honor Trilogy [Wasted Honor I,II and Gorilla Justice] and his newest book From the Womb to the Tomb, the Tony Lester Story, which is a reflection of his life and his experiences as a correctional officer and a correctional administrator retiring with the rank of deputy warden in the New Mexico and Arizona correctional systems.

Carl also wrote a book on his combat experience in the Kindle book titled - Combat Medic - Men with destiny - A red cross of Valor -

Carl is considered by many a rogue expert in the field of prison security systems since leaving the profession. Carl has been involved in the design of many pilot programs related to mental health treatment, security threat groups, suicide prevention, and maximum custody operational plans including double bunking max inmates and enhancing security for staff. He invites you to read his books so you can understand and grasp the cultural and political implications and influences of these prisons. He deals with the emotions, the stress and anxiety as well as the realities faced working inside a prison. He deals with the occupational risks while elaborating on the psychological impact of both prison worker and prisoner.

His most recent book, Gorilla Justice, is an un-edited raw fictional version of realistic prison experiences and events through the eyes of an anecdotal translation of the inmate’s plight and suffering while enduring the harsh and toxic prison environment including solitary confinement.

Carl has been interviewed by numerous news stations and newspapers in Phoenix regarding the escape from the Kingman prison and other high profile media cases related to wrongful deaths and suicides inside prisons. His insights have been solicited by the ACLU, Amnesty International, and various other legal firms representing solitary confinement cases in California and Arizona. He is currently working on the STG Step Down program at Pelican Bay and has offered his own experience insights with the Center of Constitutional Rights lawyers and interns to establish a core program at the SHU units. He has personally corresponded and written with SHU prisoners to assess the living conditions and how it impacts their long term placement inside these type of units that are similar to those in Arizona Florence Eyman special management unit where Carl was a unit deputy warden for almost two years before his promotion to Deputy Warden of Operations in Safford and Eyman.

He is a strong advocate for the mentally ill and is a board member of David's Hope Inc. a non-profit advocacy group in Phoenix and also serves as a senior advisor for Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council in Chino, California As a subject matter expert and corrections consultant, Carl has provided interviews and spoken on national and international radio talk shows e.g. BBC CBC Lou Show & TV shows as well as the Associated Press.

I use sarcasm, satire, parodies and other means to make you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, January 19, 2015

Creating Competence and Capabilities

Correctional officers are expected to deliver mandatory elements to the workplace. Such elements include performance, attention to detail, focus abilities to carry out special assignments and many more expectations rarely taken for granted. Creating or building personal opportunities for such improvements requires the officer to develop a career or self-development plan that makes full use of their talents and improve their skill set at the same time. However, this plan cannot be developed without the employer’s help.

Budget conditions in every locality, state or at the federal level has been the focus of shortage of funds for years now. Providing good service, performance and other mandated duties and tasks are needed to meet the current technological changes and access to data critical and very important. This makes the interaction between administrative personnel and front line personnel more important than ever before.

As the burden increases and with downsizing a priority to control the costs, many governments are at risk of becoming ineffective and difficult to create better opportunities for those capable of handling such upcoming challenges. They can avoid this by implementing management principles friendly to enabling the employee while at the same time, allow full potential contributions to fill in any gaps created by organizational vacancies or short comings.

Transforming the abilities and capabilities of good employees will ensure improving the delivery of services as designed by the objectives and mission of each agency. At its core is a strong focus on capability building at all levels, which then becomes an integral part of how well the agency operates. Keep in mind the most important element is sustainability. One can build the right capabilities but without nurturing and constant advances, it can fade out surprisingly quick causing the core values to be diminished and the work left incomplete.

Why partake in capability building you ask? Competency expands your ability to provide more services with the same number of employees in the work force. It allows individuals to become more valued and appreciated boosting morale and improving attendance. Most of all, building abilities improves the consistency of the services provided and a broader range of solutions to keep the production going in the right direction while improving delivery and communication efforts.

Capability building adds value to the organization and the work force. It can integrate human solutions with the use of machines and make them work better together. It gives the business an additional resource to the solution process from those working the front lines and likely give their managers and supervisors the answers to the problems experienced on a continuous basis.

Competence building thus involves more than just teaching employees how to complete their day-to-day tasks. Instead, it focuses on a broader set of skills that increase each employee’s value to the organization, such as learning to reach problems’ root causes, or providing effective feedback to diminish interruptions of services or delivery of goods mandated by law or policy.

With the greater value that more skilled people can create, the organization will enhance its unique competitive position. That means tailoring the capability building to the organization’s business context, culture, and needs—especially to the factors that allow the organization to create value and boost productivity and efficiency levels.