SEARCHING FOR RECRUITS: UNDERSTANDING THE NEW GENERATION OF POTENTIAL RURAL POLICE APPLICANTS
Date
2017-09-22
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
Person-organization (P-O) fit theory is commonly used to assess the ability of an organization to match the work motives of an individual once they have started working for the organization (Chapman et al., 2005). As police services generally struggle to recruit highly educated applicants, this study used P-O fit theory to examine potential organizational recruits to better understand how rural police organizations can appeal to the work motives of the current generation of post-secondary educated applicants (Bruns, 2010; Hutchins, 2015). This study also answers the call for more research on rural police in Canada (Lithopoulos & Ruddell, 2013). Following P-O fit research on work motives by Ritz and Waldner (2011), the current study examined potentially important factors to consider in rural policing to determine areas that rural police organizations may wish to address when appealing to potential applicants. This study’s purpose, therefore, was to explore the work motives of university students and the ability of rural police organizations to meet those work-place goals. Using regression analyses, this study revealed that participants who preferred living in a rural setting, had a lower academic average, were older, had considered applying to the military, and had a higher P-O fit score, were more likely to be attracted to a rural police organization as a potential employer. Recommendations are offered to rural police organizations for consideration when appealing to potential recruits and to researchers when applying person-organization fit (P-O Fit) theory to potential organizational applicants.
Description
Keywords
police, recruiting
Citation
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
Psychology
Program
Psychology