Human Resource is an essential component in any form of business. The absence of sufficient and proper HR management leads to a fragmented infrastructure which in turn leads to unattainable strategic goals as well as productivity. The success of most profitable firms in most cases is attributed to human resource (HR) proper management. Small businesses as well attribute their success to adequate management of HR (Bratton and Gold, 2017). Through looking at the model of performance management as well as employee incentives, human resource experts can assist small business to adopt an approach that is more strategic to ensure the motivation of employees as well as the overall performance of the organization. However, this is made possible only if human resource managers get to have a better understanding of various specific incentives. The overall HR goal is to ensure the right benefit combination as well as incentives to realize desirable levels when it comes to the performance of employees in an organization (Bratton and Gold, 2017). The paper aims at to view the strategic HRM plan adopted by the Reeves County Detention Center.

Company description

The Reeves County Detention Center (RCDC) is a migrant private prison agency with low and minimum security situated in Pecos, Texas. It was established in 1986. The Reeves County Sheriffs in collaboration with the county commissioners’ court proposed its establishment and they aimed at relieving the cases of overcrowding of inmates within the jails present in the county (Lopez, 2019).  It has a record of housing inmates from the Texas Department of Justice. In 2007, the Federal Bureau of Prisons gave a contract to Reeves County to provide housing to more than two thousand male inmates. The GEO Group operated on an agreement together with the Reeves County for the prison administrative management. The prison is made up of a well spaced medical unit and other units such as laundry and warehousing departments. Just like any other private prison, the Reeves County Detention Center has a mission which is ensuring high quality, comprehensive and cost-effective private prison management services by the Prisons Bureau.

Objectives of the RCDC

• To document, develop and make efforts to comply with the staffing plan
• To provide adequate staffing levels through the use of video monitoring
• To ensure inmate protection against sexual harassment
• To sufficiently offer training to the employees
• To provide additional training for  medical practitioners to assist them in assessing possible sexual harassment signs and also how to address and respond to the victims of sexual harassment
• To document sufficient records regarding employee training

A SWOT analysis of the RCDC

Strengths

• Provision of reliable financial support like in the case of providing adequate health care to the inmates
• Sufficient and compulsory employee training
• High technological advancements to monitor the moves of the inmates ( The installation of more than 190 cameras)
• Modernized and safe prison buildings
• Performing extensive research on criminal records before recruiting and selecting new staff members

Weaknesses

• Failure to pay staff in the case of working extra hours
• Lack of a vital HRM arrangement
• Inadequate and limited staff promotion
• Increased workload resulting from an increase in the number of inmates

Opportunities

• Improving the overall healthcare of inmates through highly trained staff.
• Carrying out an improvement in the HRM by hiring employees who have no contact with the inmates

Threats

• A destroyed image brought about by cases of sexual harassment by other inmates
• Running out of space as a result of housing more inmates
• Negative relationships between the staff and the relatives to the inmates.

SMART Objectives

RCDC has been able to set human resource goals as well as strategies that have been Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound (SMART) and have by so far improved the well being of the agency. It has been able to maintain adequacy in staffing. The HR managers at the RCDC have ensured that only the best employees are incorporated into the agency. Employees who are well trained primarily in the health department and laundry ensure the inmates stay in perfect shape.

It has also been able to provide its employees with a platform of maximizing their performance. The RCDC HR department has ensured that its employees are well motivated to be able to perform adequately. They have been able to use strategies such as increasing their salaries and providing adequate training.

The RCDC HR department has also facilitated the smooth operation of the agency by ensuring that the administration stays effective.  The administration ensures that employees’ data and records are well kept and documented.

Hiring goals

RCDC when it comes to its hiring patterns does not promote or hire employees who may have a relationship or contact with the convicts. Convicts many times make private prisons a marketplace for crime (Lamparello, 2016). Therefore, hiring staff that has a relationship with the inmates may pose a threat to the agency. The recruiting team is very vigilant when it comes to the consideration of sexual harassment cases, and they use it in the determination on whether to hire or even provide promotion opportunities. The human resource managers during an interview testified that during the recruiting and hiring process of employees, they saw the need for performing an extensive criminal check on the selected applicants before hiring them. This was evident in five randomly selected employee files absorbed into the company within a year. This aims at hiring employees with straight records that will not pose a threat to the agency’s well being.

To conclude, generating a strategic plan with attainable objectives is vital. The HRM department is the engine of any organization including private prisons. It has played an essential role in ensuring that the RCDC stays to be a safe, private prison for inmates. It has definite objectives which have become attainable so far all because of a responsible human resource management department. Carrying out a criminal check on new employees is essential in ensuring the well being of the organization.

References

Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.

Lamparello, A. (2016). Private Prisons and the New Marketplace for Crime.

Lopez, S. (2019). From Penal to” Civil”: A Legacy of Private Prison Policy in a Landscape of Migrant Detention. American Quarterly, 71(1), 105-134.