ACA’s Second Webinar Connects Branding to Recruitment Efforts

By Bridget Bayliss

On Feb. 18, the American Correctional Association hosted its second webinar, The Branding of Corrections. Joyce Fogg, public relations manager for the Virginia Employment Commission, moderated the event, which focused on the need for a corrections brand that accurately reflects how the field has evolved and that can be used for recruitment of officers and other professional staff.

More than 200 participants dialed in to hear the speakers’ presentations over the phone and logged on to see their corresponding PowerPoint presentations. Audience members were treated to a distinguished panel of speakers, and were able to participate by typing questions in the Web site’s chat function. The webinar was organized by ACA’s Center for the Work Force of the Future, which continues its virtual journey by enhancing the services that the Work Force Center provides to ACA members. The first webinar occurred in spring 2008, We Can Go to War, but Can We Go to Work?

A goal of the center has been to increase the visibility and importance of correctional staff work force issues. In an increasingly crowded marketplace and today’s “do more with less” atmosphere it is imperative to find ways to stand out from your competitors. This begins with persuasive communication that relays a commanding expression of who you are and what you do. Corrections is competing for candidates with numerous other local, state and federal law enforcement entities while simultaneously battling an unrealistic image of the profession. The corrections message has to be one that will attract candidates who can pass the physical training and screening process — and also one that convinces candidates that a career in corrections is meaningful. This means updating the image of corrections to more accurately reflect the realities of its role in the 21st century. 

Fogg started the webinar by stressing the importance of an accurate message to better articulate corrections’ vision and promote the great work and services corrections delivers. “As we struggle with an increasing and more complicated workload and shrinking budgets, it is important that we inform legislators, citizens and others of the services we provide and the key role that corrections play in the community.” Fogg was followed by four panelists who gave an overview of their agency branding efforts and the messages they are attempting to convey to potential employees and communities.

Recruitment and Retention

Joyce B. Jackson, executive communications administrator for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, gave an overview of Oklahoma’s recruitment and retention toolkit, and stressed utilizing the Internet and thinking outside the box when looking at agency resources. With an online application system, Oklahoma has streamlined the application process to focus only on positions that are currently open. In addition, the state has connected with local colleges, who now list open agency positions on their Web sites. Jackson also stressed using the greatest resource a corrections department has at its disposal: employees. Oklahoma has instituted an employee recruitment referral program and begun featuring employees on recruitment posters and billboards, which are posted on DOC trucks and on DOC-owned property adjacent to a highway.

Next, Ed Buss, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Correction, offered his state’s approach to branding, recruitment and retention. He stressed that Indiana is attempting to improve the image of corrections through targeting the best possible candidates and future leaders as well as redefining its mission of successful reentry by focusing on parolee employment. To achieve this goal, IDOC has begun redefining its mission toward reentry by instituting a referral program that allows parolees the opportunity to work with IDOC and other state departments. 

Similar to the Oklahoma DOC, Indiana has increased its online presence and created a “career section” on its Web site to supplement the state job bank Web page. The career site is dedicated to marketing job opportunities and has become very interactive with daily updates on IDOC initiatives and opportunities. Indiana’s latest promising initiative is a part-time correctional officer position partnership with local universities. The correctional officer program is offered to local college students majoring in criminal justice and offers them the opportunity to gain on-the-job training while they are completing their degree. The job experience enriches their classmates and allows participants to act as ambassadors for IDOC.

To address retention and improving corrections’ image in the community, IDOC has a number of  new initiatives, including a mentoring program; a job shadowing portion of the interview process that has shown enough promising results to be expanded to all IDOC facilities; and an Emergency Response Operations Competition in which teams from across the state compete against each other. And during Corrections Officer and Employee Memorial Week, IDOC celebrates the year’s accomplishments with family picnics and awards ceremonies.

How do you advertise available positions in the medical field when the majority of community members are not even aware that your department offers medical care? That is the question faced by the next panelist, Capt. Michael Kwan, unit commander of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Medical Services Bureau. With the largest budget of the four panelists, Kwan had a wide-selection of tools at his disposal when deciding how to market open positions in the department’s medical services center. He set out to define the medical center as an exciting, cutting-edge, modern facility that engages in proactive medicine. He used radio spots and TV commercials to highlight the center’s state-of-the-art technology system and forward-focused treatment facilities. Kwan leveraged the law-enforcement aspect of the department by including a badge on all the visual advertisements, including billboards, taxis and bus stations.

Kwan also stressed the need to “just get the word out.” The sheriff’s department not only offers tours for colleges and universities, but also for medical companies. It has two nurses dedicated to recruitment efforts; they attend local and national job fairs and give PowerPoint presentations to college and university students.

The final presenter, Deputy Secretary Mary Livers of the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Services, focused on department leadership as a recruitment and retention tool in promoting a positive agency culture and brand. The Louisiana OJS began the process by assisting local community colleges with criminal justice curriculum development. OSJ also prioritizes training, staff development and leadership skills throughout the agency.

At a department-wide level, OSJ stresses a strong strategic plan, communicated accurately and thoroughly to all employees, and provides regular feedback on the impact of employee interactions with youths. Because it relies largely on word of mouth and referrals from current employees for recruitment, the branding of corrections for OSJ focuses on creating a supportive work atmosphere with clear expectations and career-advancement plans.

Successfully branding the field of corrections — while identifying the ever-expanding roles within it — will gain support from the public, the media, the community and policymakers. It even has the potential to increase and improve the quality of future employees. Because funding for programs, services and personnel improves when stakeholders become aware of how corrections impacts them, successfully branding corrections’ vision and mission will go a long way toward achieving departmental goals and recruitment efforts.

Bridget Bayliss is coordinator for ACA’s Work Force Center of the Future and grant manager in ACA’s Professional Development Department.

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