U.S. flag
        An official website of the United States government
          Here's how you know
        Here's how you knowDot gov**Official websites use .gov**
              
              A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
        Https**Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
              
              A **lock** (   A locked padlock
 ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.  **
Menu


    close

        
        
                        
  
          Home
      
    
              How NIC can help
      
                
  
          **I need Training or Courses**
               Free e-courses available 24/7
              
      
                
  
          NIC Training Programs
          In-person and blended trainings
      
    
              I need Technical Assistance
          Guidance, support, advice, assessment, and/or customized training
      
    
              I'm looking for Information Assistance
          NIC publications, DVDs, FAQs, and more
      
    
              **I need other assistance from NIC**
              
      
                
  
          NIC Helpdesk
      
    
              Connect with other Corrections Professionals
          NIC Community Forums
      
    
              Funding Opportunities
          Cooperative Agreements and more
      
    
              Resources
      
                
  
          **News and Events**
              
      
                
  
          Conferences
      
    
              NIC Events
      
    
              NIC News & Media Releases
      
    
              Subscribe to NIC's News & Announcements
          Emails with NIC's latest news and initiatives
      
    
              NIC Quarterly Newsletter Archive
      
    
              **Featured Resources**
              
      
                
  
          Resources for Corrections Professionals
          Resources about correctional topics
      
    
              Topics
          Focused areas of research for Corrections Professionals
      
    
              NIC's e-courses
      
    
              Hot Topics
          Answers to questions about NIC services & resources
      
    
              FAQs
          Frequently Asked Questions
      
    
              **NIC Library**
              
      
                
  
          Search the Library Collection
      
    
              Ask a Librarian
      
    
              Free eBooks
      
    
              Sign in to the EBSCOhost Research Platform
          Free research resources provided by NIC
      
    
              Webinars and Broadcasts
          Streaming Video of NIC Trainings
      
    
              US State Statistics
          Statistics Information about US Corrections
      
    
              About NIC
      
                
  
          **About the Agency**
              
      
                
  
          Mission
      
    
              Staff Directory
      
    
              Reports to the Nation
      
    
              Funding Opportunities
      
    
              History of NIC
      
    
              Advisory Board
      
    
              **Divisions**
              
      
                
  
          Academy Division
      
    
              Community Services Division
      
    
              Jails Division
      
    
              Prisons Division
      
    
              **Strategic Plan**
              
      
                
  
          Subscribe to NIC's News & Announcements
          Emails with NIC's latest news and initiativesMy Cart
                                
                          
        
                Log in Home
                                    Resources
                                    Resources By Area of Practice
                                    Topics In Corrections
                                    Recruitment, Hiring, & Retention

      

                    
          
    Recruitment, Hiring, & Retention
Corrections agencies are facing critical staffing levels. They have been, and currently continue to, struggle in recruiting, hiring, and retaining appropriate staff. This initiative will help correctional agencies with recruitment, hiring, and retention which could have several benefits, including:

**Improved hiring practices:**A well-designed curriculum can help correctional agencies develop more effective and efficient hiring practices.**Enhanced training and support:** A comprehensive curriculum can provide HR and training staff with the knowledge, skills, and support they need to be successful mentors to new hires.**Career development opportunities:** A curriculum can help correctional agencies develop meaningful career development opportunities new and veteran employees.**Improved public perception:** A comprehensive curriculum can help correctional agencies address the negative public perception of correctional work.**Better outcomes:** By improving recruitment, hiring, and retention, a comprehensive curriculum can ultimately lead to better outcomes for correctional agencies and the communities they serve.
      
                  COs entering facility

    Resource Links
          NIC Hot Topic: What can our agency do about turnover rates and employee retention?
          NIC Hot Topic: Recruitment and Retention of Women and Minorities
                   NIC Resources
          Prison Staffing Analysis: A Training Manual with Staffing Considerations for Special Populations
          Leadership Webinar Series [Webinar Series]

corrections staff at computers with officer nearby
          Promoting Civility in the Correctional Workplace [Webinar Series]

Promoting Civility in the Correctional Workplace

  Online LMS Training and eCourses
          Maintaining a Cohesive Multigenerational Workforce
      
            To manage a multigenerational team, you need to understand the diversity of your employees and apply various strategies to divert conflict between them. If you tap into the potential of this multigeneration diversity, you'll create a more productive, collaborative, and innovative work environment.
          Applicant Screening: The First Step in Hiring the Best
      
            Talent management starts with hiring the right person for the job. Applicant screening takes a lot of work, and much of this work is done prior to the actual interview. This course covers how to create a job description, which will help you evaluate an applicant's resumé effectively.
          Ensuring Onboarding Success
      
            Talent management means hiring the right person for the job and successfully onboarding the new recruit. A good job description can aid in effective applicant and resumé screening before the interview. An effective onboarding program can increase new employee acclimation and productivity, as well as greatly decreasing employee turnover.
          Keeping Top Performers Challenged
      
            Top performers expect a lot from themselves. Managing performance in these highly driven people is essential because top performers are such valuable assets to a company. Managers and leaders must keep them engaged and challenged or else lose them to new challenges elsewhere. In this course, you'll learn how to identify your top performers.
          Forging Ahead with Perseverance and Resilience
      
            Business today is a complex undertaking. Accomplishing tasks and staying focused on achieving your goals requires grit and persistence. An adaptive mindset helps you focus through the distractions, information overload, demanding pace, and the accompanying stresses that can often pull you off task.
          Building Career Development Programs and Succession Planning
      
            An organization can't achieve its strategic business goals if it doesn't have the needed human capacity and skills - the talent - to do this. Managing talent effectively means your organization will have a total workforce optimized for overall success in achieving its goals.
          Hitting the Recruitment Bull's-eye
      
            One of the most significant challenges facing organizations is hiring qualified employees. The talent acquisition process has changed significantly in recent years due to changes in labor-market conditions, as well as advances in technology.
          How to Use Competencies for Performance Management and Succession Planning
      
            This course sets the stage for performance management activities, such as succession planning, in all types of corrections settings. It explores the connection between sets of correctional management and leadership development competencies through an initial introduction to NIC’s Core Competency work.
          Individual Behavior in Organizations
      
            In an ideal world, all the day-to-day HR tasks – such as recruitment, talent management, and succession planning – are defined and aligned with the goals of the organization. This is an aspect of transformational human resources, or transformational HR, that will help optimize your talent pipeline.
          Introduction to Leadership Competencies
      
            This course will introduce you to the purpose of the NIC’s Correctional Leadership Competency Model and how it can be used to develop you, your team, and your organization.
          Leading Your Team through Change
      
            Change is always happening. Effective team leadership means managing teams through the ongoing transition processes that facilitate change. Removing obstacles that can hinder the productive teamwork required to make these transition processes smooth is essential.
          Managing Employee Development
      
            Smart companies have learned that supporting continuous learning and self-development among employees reaps dividends in productivity and employee retention rates. As a manager, you're responsible for developing people, which includes developing talent in your direct reports.

  Related Initiatives
          Corrections Staffing Resource Center
          Wellness for Corrections and Supervision Professionals
          Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility

Topic Categories and Resources
The following grey bars are accordions that can be expanded to show a list of "top-shelf" resources that have been hand-picked by our library team around this topic. If you would like additional research assistance on this topic, please contact our help desk. They have access to specialized databases and thousands of resources you won't find online. Click on a grey box below to browse resources in that section.
            
      Accordion    Recruitment of Corrections Staff
      
      Leadership Webinar Series [Webinar Series]

            
      
Have you ever struggled to decide whether it is more important to support your people or your agency? On the one hand, you want to do the right thing to take care of those on the frontline, but you’ve also got to make sure that the work gets done.
      
  Accession Number
              033674
              Learning to Value Your Employees

            
      
As a leader, when was the last time you seriously thought about the kind of influence you want to have on your people? With a new generation of employees entering the criminal justice field, leaders need to examine how effectively they influence and develop others.
      
  Accession Number
              033564
              The Corrections Profession: Maintaining Safety and Sanity, Part 1

            
      
This program is the first of a two-part webinar, and covers the physical and emotional challenges faced by correctional personnel. “The dangers correctional staff encounter on the job are well known to their leaders.
      
  Accession Number
              027907
              The Corrections Profession: Maintaining Safety and Sanity, Part 2

            
      
This program is the second of a two-part webinar, and covers the physical and emotional challenges faced by correctional personnel. “The dangers correctional staff encounter on the job are well known to their leaders.
      
  Accession Number
              027908
  
      Staff Recruitment and Retention in Corrections: The Challenge and Ways Forward (2023)
              Occupational Outlook Handbook: Correctional Officers and Bailiffs Summary (2023)
              Recruiting and Retaining a Highly Productive Team (2023)
              RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION CHALLENGES IN CORRECTIONS (2022)
              Corrections1 unveils the top 5 correctional officer recruitment videos of the year (2022)
              5 principles to include in your hiring process to set your correctional facility apart (2018)
              JUSTICE TALKS Episode 9: Recruitment and Retention in Corrections: Challenges and Innovative Solutions from the Field
              Accordion    Retaining Corrections Staff
      
      Promoting Civility in the Correctional Workplace [Webinar Series]

            
      
Workplace incivility describes the subtle and obvious behaviors that are generally rude, discourteous, and suggesting of a lack of respect for others.
      
  Accession Number
              033678
  
      Train to Retain — Developing Corrections Staff (2023)
              Employee Retention & Attraction (2023)
              Fallout: The stress of 'working short' in corrections (2022)
              Lexipol Connect 2021 - Combatting Stress and Burnout in Corrections (2021)
              5 Principles to Include In Your Hiring Process to Set Your Correctional Facility Apart

Contacts for this content
          Archie Weatherspoon IV
      
  Job Title / Position
              Correctional Program Specialist

Division
              Academy Division

  Agency / Business / Organization
              National Institute of Corrections

  Phone
              303-338-6617
          NIC Information Center
      
  Job Title / Position
              Information Specialists

Agency / Business / Organization
              National Institute of Corrections

            Contact the NIC Helpdesk

Divisions
          Academy Division

  Topics
          Staff
                    Corrections administration
                    Correctional personnel
                    Correctional staff
                    Recruitment
                    Staff attrition

  Audiences served by this initiative
          Prisons
          Jails
          Community Services Return to top

      About NIC

About the Agency
	Divisions
	Staff Directory
	Contact NIC

NIC Services

Training
	Technical Assistance
	Corrections Forums
	Subscribe to NIC News

Resources

Resources by Role
	Resources by Topic
	NIC News
	NIC Events
  
      Agency logo
              
                              National Institute of Corrections
        
                  NIC Legal Policies and DisclaimersNIC Privacy Policy and DisclaimersPlain Language PolicyAccessibility PolicyDOJ Links:Justice.govOpen GovernmentLegal Policies and DisclaimersInformation QualityPrivacy PolicySmall BusinessOffice of the Inspector GeneralBudget and PerformanceFOIANo FEAR Act DataVulnerability Disclosure PolicyVote.govHave a question about government services? Contact USA.govFollow NIC on X
the National institute of corrections governmental seal