Line managers and extreme work: a case study of human resource management in the police service

Abstract

There are some professionals whose work is always prone to extremes; emergency service workers would fit in to this category. These extremes, however, have typically been short-term aspects of the role punctuated by long periods of normality. This article examines the experiences of line managers in an Australian police service facing pressures both internal and external to the organisation that make extreme working conditions the norm rather than the exception. We use data from forty-seven managers in The Police Service supported by illustrative diary study data to examine their experiences in times of significant change. Our results reveal extreme work resulting from human resource management system out of sync with changes in the expectations of society and media, technological advances in surveillance and social media access and use and an increase volume of ‘extreme’ weather events.

Keywords:

• Human resource management
• line managers
• extreme work

Introduction

Extreme work, the focus of this special issue, is both increasing in frequency, and increasingly unsustainable. The pressures stemming from globalization, new public management (Lapuente and van de Walle, 2020), advances in technology (Ariel, 2021), and high-performance models of human resource management (HRM) (Boxall & Macky, 2014) are just some contributing factors to this trend in the modern workforce. Significant other ‘global’ phenomenon like climate change and the recent covid-19 pandemic are also intensifying these pressures. This article focuses on extreme work in emergency services in Australia, specifically The Police Service (TPS). We consider how internal, workplace changes combine with external, societal changes to leave middle and frontline managers with increasingly extreme working arrangements. In the context of the TPS, we examine the implications of changes external to the organisation such as increasing natural and human led disasters and societal shifts about the role of the TPS, combined with internal changes brought about by organisational downsizing and associated restructuring, for the role of line managers. Although these changes occur independently, we argue they collide substantially to change the demands placed on line managers in policing and the resources they have available to meet these demands. We argue line managers in policing are now faced with a role that involves skills and training beyond the traditional or core roles of intercepting and resolving crimes within society and the general specific disappearance of human resource management support, and as a result, an extreme work environment characterised by long working hours, long span of daily working hours, and unpaid overtime.

The remainder of this article is as follows. First, we develop the research questions using literature from three work domains: extreme work; police work; and the role of line managers in HRM. We outline the job demands-resources theory and outline how it frames the study. We then outline our research methodology, which includes three stages of data collection, before presenting the findings and discussing their implications and relevance for the management of extreme work environments.

Police and police work: extreme stressors?

According to Wankhade et al. (2020), ‘extremes’ are often seen as experiences that are uncommon or exceptional, yet ‘the propensity to associate extremes uniquely with exceptional or major contexts is potentially misleading’ (p48). Further, they argue that emergency service professions are routinely confronted with everyday extremes, which remain under-researched (Wankhade et al., 2019). The focus on ‘macro’ events seems all-consuming, they are also commonly at a level that is disconnected from the everyday life of individuals. Thus, consideration of a ‘micro’ scale of every day extremes becomes important in the study of employees. According to Wankhade et al. (2020), phenomenon like work intensification and pressured schedules, are micro-extremes that operate alongside more episodic macro-extremes. Our study considers the way multiple macro-extremes and micro-extremes conspire in the employment experiences of police line managers.

Arguably, aspects of line manager experiences are common across different contexts, although the context also provides important differences. Emergency service organisations like TPS have important cultural differences to those operating in other sectors. Firstly, they are essential to the operation of a free and democratic society. The day-to-day work uniform of TPS staff is not unlike that of military—heavy duty workwear with epaulettes and rank insignia, which bring expectations of the status and expected behaviours of the individual to both other employees and managers, but also to the general public. Line management within these professions have a distinctly hierarchical, command and control mentality deeply embedded within (McCann & Granter, 2019), and traditionally, a predominately male workforce. Research indicates the HR systems in these environments are frequently dated and steeped in authoritarianism (Hyde et al., 2016), and there is often a low-trust or blame culture, compounded by a fear of management reprisal, a lack of open speaking, and poor management-staff relations (Mildenhall & McCann, 2022). But importantly, a well-functioning police service is a fundamental component of a healthy, modern, western democracy.

The police services throughout the western world are public sector employees, and have faced, like much of the public sector, significant changes over recent decades. Management ideas from the private sector have been introduced with a central assumption that this shift would enhance both efficiency and effectiveness of public organisations (Alford & Hughes, 2008). The obvious consequence of this according to proponents, would be better service provision to the general public. Lapuente and van de Walle (2020), though argue that despite decades of empirical studies, there remains limited understanding of the effects of this new public management shift. Certainly in the United Kingdom the police have been relied upon to maintain public order and thus, to a large extent though, police services were not substantially affected in the same way as other public sector roles, and indeed, it is one area where the nature of the work and organisations (noted in the paragraph above) poses the most dilemmas for change (Butterfield et al., 2004). In Australia though, where this case is situated, there is historical evidence that the new public management doctrine has affected the police service in an attempt to encourage efficient use of allocated resources albeit with different approaches across jurisdictions (see for example, Hoque et al., 2004).

There is also a strong body of evidence generated over decades, indicating police work specifically creates stressors unique to that environment, for example, exposure to the use of lethal force, violence and abuse (see for example, Hickman et al., 2011). Most research argues that the policing environment can, at times, be an extreme one. A police officer quoted in Peak (2009: 133) described the work as ‘eight hours of boredom interrupted by five minutes of terror’, suggesting that the work is often mundane, but the high stress periods are very acute and when they occur, they can result in extreme situation characterised by long hours, heightened emotions, life and death decision making and rapidly changing situations. As explained by the job demands-resources theory (JD-R), every work context can be characterised according to the job demands and resources in the organisational environment (Bakker et al., 2014). We use this theory as a framework to understand the stressors unique to line managers in the policing environment and how the resources available to them and the demands placed upon them, have changed over time in response to multiple internal and external developments, to make extreme work a relevant and common part of their every day work.

Human resource management, line managers and the policing environment

Within organisations generally, multiple forces have worked to see the HR function commonly decentralised to line managers who are now encouraged (perhaps obliged) to play the conflicting roles of building relationships with staff to encourage commitment and engagement, while also being (re)cast as the enforcer of organisational rules and standards (Saundry et al., 2022). As such, one particularly interesting line of inquiry is the way line managers experience the devolution—or decentralisation—of HRM policy enactment at the point of production and what this means for their own jobs. Our study focusses on the experience of line managers who are facing this devolved responsibility at the same time as the dual forces of a centralisation or workplace level removal of HR support and a changing work environment.

Much of the HRM decentralisation/devolution literature recognises the dual role of line managers as, not only the ‘implementer’ of practices, but also the ‘experiencer’ of those practices; although they are managers, they are quite often also employees, albeit employees with a higher status. Furthermore, in a recent contribution, Townsend et al. (2022) argued that FLMs are caught in a conundrum between being a ‘victim’ or ‘master’ of HRM implementation. While the workloads of line managers are changing with expectations of the HR role, there are also an increasing range of tasks required from them, along with a greater volume of work, and greater pressure to perform (Hassard et al., 2009).

Similarly, Kehoe and Han (2020) refer to a downward implement effect whereby hierarchy dictates policy, and the line managers must translate and implement policy on behalf of the organisation. Yet these line managers rarely are involved in the design or systems that relate to the practices that they are expected to implement and quite often inadequate training and support for successful implementation (Townsend et al., 2012). Hence, while promoted to the lower stages of management, people often become victims of circumstance being asked (or directed) to implement policies that may seem unsuitable for their specific context. We would argue that the circumstance of ‘extreme work’ is one of those contexts where a ‘one size fits all’ HRM system is not appropriate and limited discretionary authority creates problems for line managers.

As both leaders in our community, and the providers of law enforcement, it is critical to consider how the work pressures discussed in the opening paragraphs of this article and documented in previous research - globalization, new public management, and technological advances—influence the role of line managers in the policing environment. Of equal importance is how these pressures combine with pressures brought about by changing societal expectations such as seeing TPS as a service to call on in an emergency, to one where they are the ‘first port of call’ regardless of the issue at hand and increasing natural and human led disasters such as floods, cyclones, floods, and sieges. Given the role of middle managers is largely to organise staff, it is important to consider the HR needs of line managers performing their role of implementing HR practices in the new policing cultural environment while also managing their own extreme work conditions. We used the JD-R model to frame such an inquiry.

This model was initially presented as a theoretical framework to understand the organisational factors influencing burnout and engagement in the workplace (Demerouti et al., 2001). Job demands represent aspects of the organisational environment that require continual physical and/or psychological effort, often leading to exhaustion or burnout (Demerouti et al., 2001). In contrast, job resources refer to aspects of the organisational environment that help individuals achieve their work goals, reduce job demands - including the associated physiological and psychological costs of demands through a stress-buffering effect - or stimulate personal growth, learning, and development (Demerouti et al., 2001). Over the last two decades, the JD-R model has been successfully used to explain how job demands and resources influence employee health, well-being, and performance (Demerouti & Bakker, 2023).

The strength of the JD-R model in comparison to previous models such as the job design model, job characteristics theory (Hackman & Oldham, 1976) or the job demands-control model (Karasek, 1979), is its ability to accommodate a wide variety of job characteristics rather than a limited or fixed set of factors (Bakker et al., 2014) resulting in the JD-R dichotomy being globally applicable to all workers. Substantial empirical research provides support for the overall proposition that two global categories of job characteristics initiate strain and motivational processes, although the specific form, importance and nature of the specific demands and resource varies across occupational groups (e.g. Bakker et al., 2003).

In combination these features allow the JD-R model to provide a more flexible and comprehensive understanding of employee wellbeing and performance (Bakker et al., 2023) than other models (Schaufeli & Taris, 2014). Unfortunately, this flexibility has rarely been exploited by researchers who largely focus exclusively on characteristics internal to the organisation, or more recently, work-home characteristics that may simultaneously influence and be influenced by job characteristics (Bakker et al., 2023). The central or starting point for this model has historically been the workplace and, consequently, more distal factors that do not arise directly from the work environment have received far less research attention (Bakker et al., 2023). Thus, questions remain about the application of the model to individual demands and resources brought about by changes (Bailey et al., 2017).

Recent research driven by the realities of the modern era have brought these questions back to the front and centre. Over the last decade changes in demands and resources generated by external factors such as pandemics, government regulations and economic uncertainty have shown that job characteristics alone are insufficient to explain employee health and motivational outcomes (Demerouti & Bakker, 2023). Accordingly, two recent reviews from the original architects of the theory call for more research to use an extended model of the JDR theory to better understand the complex interaction between health impairment and motivational issues across all aspects of the work-life domain (see for example Bakker et al., 2023; Demerouti & Bakker, 2023). By highlighting the interplay between demands and resources from various life domains (e.g. individual, job, family, organisation, government, etc.), this article responds to these calls and advances JD-R theory to address previous shortcoming relating to factors external to the organisation.

Hence, we have the following research questions:

• How have changes in modern society changed the profile of policing work for line managers?

• How do changes in the internal and external context of police work alter job demands and job resources for line managers?

• What are the HR needs and experiences of line managers in extreme work environments?

Research methods

This project was completed in 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic—a phenomenon which we believe will have only exacerbated the issues raised throughout this article. To gain access to the middle management employees, we engaged with the relevant union; at the time of this research, there were approximately 330 middle and frontline managers employed in TPS, and almost 100 per cent of them were union members (only 3 of the employed line managers were not members of the union). These middle-managers were employed at the ranks of Inspector, Superintendent, and Chief Superintendent. Importantly, the research project took place during a period when pay and conditions were being negotiated and the line managers were very keen to participate in this research—possibly in the hope that the project findings could support their pay claims.

Data collection involved three distinct phases involving a focus group, in-depth interviews, and an activity log. This article will predominately focus on data collected in the middle phase of the research, the in-depth interviews. Data from the third phase is used in this article primarily for supportive or illustrative purposes.

The first phase of this research was one of discovery, where the research team held focus group discussions with the union management committee who were all line managers to determine the scope of the research and matters of concern to the union. Our preliminary approach was one that Bonache (2021) would refer to as qualitative interpretivism where we sought to understand the problems faced by these line managers who were dealing with constant change in their roles. These focus group discussions were intended to provide the research team with a high-level overview of the themes under consideration and areas requiring further investigation, for example, changes to the roles and expectations of line managers within TPS. Importantly, there was not a clear list of guiding questions for the focus group. After introductions, the research team simply asked participants to ‘Tell us about how the job and expectations have changed over the last decade or so’. All of these line managers were of a level that they would have been employed within TPS for at least that length of time. There was no requirement for the research team to ask follow up questions (aside from clarifying information), as the group were very willing to discuss their concerns at length.

The research team at this stage understood there were some significant changes and issues affecting the experience of these line managers, and armed with this information proceeded to develop an interview protocol and complete a round of interviews. This section of the data collection is where we have drawn most of our analysis for this article and we used what Eisenhardt (see Gehman et al., 2018) describes as theory-building—taking the JD-R theory and elaborating on it based on our data. Our questions asked the participants to explain the demands in their roles, the sources of the demands, and the resources provided to them to complete their tasks.

When arranging our interviews, attempts were made to ensure representation (but not equal representation) from various geographical regions within the TPS jurisdiction—we divided the participants in to three categories: city; regional; and country. Interviews with managers from outside the city-based head office were completed either in person at the regional centre, or through phone calls for more remote, country participants. In total, 47 middle and frontline managers were interviewed throughout this project. This number is at the mid-range of what Saunders and Townsend (2016) recommend for high quality qualitative research for a single organisation. Interviews were semi-structured and recorded; they ranged between 40 and 60 min in length.

Analysis began at the start of the interviewing process rather than waiting until all data were collected. Specifically, the members of the research team discussed the data after each round of approximately three interviews to: identify preliminary themes or categories that were emerging; assess the relevance of existing codes to new data that were collected; and to examine relationships between codes (Goetz & LeCompte, 1981). The process used through data collection and research team discussions formed a loose version of convergent interviewing, a technique that Jepsen and Rodwell (2008) argue improves internal and external validity, reliability and objectivity. Data were analysed using NVivo and structured into themes. The overarching project from which these data were collected was one that focussed on changing work roles and work intensification, and as such the themes developed through the research included for example ‘long hours’, ‘work intensification’, ‘lacking resources’, and ‘changing roles’. For this article we performed a secondary analysis to determine using the key words of this special issue theme (such as extreme work), to assess the relevance or fit of the data. Table 1 provides selected demographic information of the sample of interview participants.

Table 1. Relevant demographic details of interview participants.

No	Job title	Region	Sex	No	Job title	Region	Sex
1	Inspector	Regional	M	25	Superintendent	City	M
2	Deputy inspector	City	M	26	Deputy inspector	Regional	M
3	Inspector	Regional	M	27	Deputy inspector	Country	F
4	Deputy inspector	Regional	M	28	Inspector	City	F
5	Deputy superintendent	Country	M	29	Superintendent	Country	F
6	Superintendent	City	M	30	Inspector	Country	M
7	Superintendent	Regional	M	31	Superintendent	Country	M
8	Superintendent	Regional	M	32	Deputy inspector	Regional	F
9	Deputy superintendent	Regional	M	33	Inspector	City	F
10	Chief superintendent	City	M	34	Deputy inspector	City	F
11	Chief superintendent	City	M	35	Deputy superintendent	City	M
12	Deputy inspector	City	M	36	Superintendent	Regional	M
13	Inspector	City	M	37	Superintendent	Regional	M
14	Deputy inspector	Regional	M	38	Deputy Inspector	Country	F
15	Deputy superintendent	City	M	39	Inspector	City	F
16	Superintendent	Regional	M	40	Superintendent	City	M
17	Superintendent	City	F	41	Deputy inspector	City	M
18	Superintendent	City	F	42	Inspector	Regional	F
19	Deputy superintendent	City	M	43	Deputy inspector	Regional	M
20	Chief superintendent	City	M	44	Inspector	Country	M
21	Chief superintendent	City	M	45	Deputy inspector	City	F
22	Inspector	Regional	M	46	Deputy superintendent	Country	F
23	Deputy inspector	City	F	47	Deputy inspector	Country	F
24	Inspector	City	M

The final round of data collection was an activity log designed to understand day-to-day roles and responsibilities of TPS line managers. Design of the activity log drew on themes derived from Phases 1 and 2 of the research to investigate items including the span of working hours, length of working days, location of work, structure of work, and activities undertaken when on-call and outside rostered work hours. Activity log data were entered online through a smartphone app to allow respondents to complete the log at a convenient time and location for them. This approach resulted in a high response rate with both a large number of participants in the activity log (222 Commissioned Officers - a participation rate of 66 per cent) and a large number of entries for each participant (a total of 1231 completed logs). The activity log was divided into 3 sections. The first contained mostly demographic questions. Questions in Sections 2 and 3 were delivered to participants on alternate days for 3 wk to minimise any potential response bias created by participant fatigue. All managers were sent a text message at 7 pm each evening for the 20 days of the project. Within these short surveys, participants were asked the time of their first ‘work-related’ activity for the day; the time of their final ‘work-related’ activity (to determine span of hours worked); the focussed number of hours they worked for the day (including if it was a day off); and whether they had the required resources to complete their role tasks adequately. Eleven officers chose to withdraw from the study, because they went on recreational leave. Daily logs took on average, 2 min, 59 s to complete.

Findings

Overall, the clear overarching theme that emerged from the data was that the centralisation of HR support creates an environment of extreme work in itself but it also makes the extreme work brought about by the increasing frequency of major disasters more intense both during and after the event. Although this is interesting, it is perhaps not surprising. It is by looking at how the HR practices create an environment of extreme work and how it makes the extreme work brought about by environmental and societal changes more intense that the research questions are answered in full. These mechanisms are now considered.

Long hours and extreme work

By any definition, and certainly the micro-definition used for this special issue, the sample of line managers in our study are engaged in extreme work. Drawing on our illustrative survey data, these managers work, on average, 9.5 h on rostered work days and around 4.5 h each day on days that they were not rostered to work—aggregating to 56.5 h per week. While this fits the standard definition of long working hours, the span of working hours is even more extreme. Activity log data reveal that the normal span of working hours (the time between their first work-related activity and their last work-related activity of the day) for line managers in TPS is more than 13 h a day even on days that they are not rostered on to work. This is partially because 97.6 per cent of officers report starting work related activities before 6am and most work at home after their shift, often late into the night. More than 50 per cent of officers report two or more interruptions per evenings when they are at home, with 95 per cent of respondents reporting at least one work related interruption per evening. This continues when the line managers are on leave and on rostered days off. Long work days of up to 18 h for 5 or more days straight to manage major events and critical disasters affected almost all participants in this research. In addition to these activities, the span of work hour is increased by the need to be on-call; almost 90 per cent of officers report on-call duties with half of these saying they are ‘always on-call’ in a formal capacity (remote locations) or an informal capacity.

Most of our participants indicated they begin work early in the morning before leaving home to check overnight reports and disseminate required information to their superiors. In fact, activity logs indicate emails are attended to by 5am for almost half the observations and by 6am for nearly every observation recorded. Officers indicated they organised their day this way as it allowed them to ‘get ahead’ before they arrive in the office, typically around 7am. One line manager, referring to overnight emails and crime reports, stated ‘no one wants to be the one who misses the one that matters’ (LM7)—a view that was reiterated by most within the interview phase of the study. When pressed to explain, participants commonly refer to a small number of high-profile cases where a middle manager did not respond to a phone call or open an email from a commissioner or deputy commissioner who was addressing the media and the officer’s career was derailed as a result. In combination this chain of command and flow of information resulted in what interviewees referred as a constant and increasing pressure to their work—long hours, a long span of working hours, and an increasing work intensification—in short, unsustainable extreme work. These internal changes in expectations of line managers are paired with external changes in expectations over the course of a decade that have led to further extreme work conditions. The first of these is societal changes in what is perceived to constitute a police matter.

Everything is police business now

In the state where this research was performed, there are statistics related to crimes and police call outs, however these data are unable to complete the picture of change. For example, official TPS online statistics and annual reports show that drug offences have risen from just over 30,000 in 2000 to more than 80,000 in 2020. Unlawful entry statistics show almost precisely the same numbers in the opposite direction. Overall, the aggregated number of offences have only risen from approximately 450,000 to 500,000 during the same time-period. Throughout the same two-decade span, the number of police has risen from (rounded) 12,000 to 17,500. Thus, the ‘crime’ statistics are not adequate in explaining this increased load faced by our research participants.

According to our participants, extreme work pressures are further exacerbated by a cultural shift in expectations and ideas about the role of police within the community whereby almost ‘everything’ is now police business to the general public. While one might think of a natural disaster like a bushfire is the domain of firefighters, our sample of line managers unanimously explained how they are often seen as a first port of call for most community issues. Interviewees unanimously explained that they have witnessed their roles expand to areas well beyond traditional police matters. The impetus for these expanded responsibilities appears to be a result of changing views within the general community and by successive governments over the last three decades. Many feel these community and government views influence the expectations of senior management. Indeed, some interviewees stated that what makes the police different to other organisations is that ‘they never say no, no matter what the issue’ (LM23).

In addition to the growing work demands and job expansion mentioned above, there has been a significant growth in extra and divergent work created by technology advances and by the media. All middle and frontline managers outside a major city centre referred to constantly monitoring messages delivered by the media about police or genuine matters relevant to the police, many of which include footage captured by a member of the public on their mobile device. The also report spending considerable time trying to: shape the media; diffuse potentially inflammatory messages sent out by the media; and, providing reassurance to the community as a result of media reports. Importantly, this involvement in media activities occurs irrespective of whether line managers are rostered on to work. Analysis of our activity log data demonstrate no significant difference between time spent on media related activities between rostered days on and off.

Similar findings were found for time spent on community engagement activities. In addition to the time spent on media tasks, frontline managers reported spending increasing time on matters aimed at improving confidence in policing and the police brand externally and managing perceptions of mismanagement or poor management in the role internally. They claim this is critical, particularly in regional areas for attracting possible new recruits into the service and for securing cooperation from the general community.

A huge change for us is the amount of accountability for frontline services in relation to general calls for service. People love recording devices now and the media love a good video of police. We are heavily scrutinised so we spend a lot of our time reviewing multiple systems to determine if we’ve complied with policy. We have to determine if actions are appropriate, proportional, legally defensible and in line with policy. We have to do 5-10 of these a week, each one takes a minimum of 45 min to 1 hour. (LM22)

Many consider the policing role, but particularly that of line managers has moved to one that is more about managing relationships and perceptions, particularly through the legacy media, new social media and community groups. In regional areas the media and community expectation were seen as both important and intersecting yet further compounded the increased workload. Many noted that within regional communities, particularly those outside city centres the line managers were well known figures and the community generally had an expectation that the ‘top cop’ would have both a media presence and an involvement in all significant events occurring in the community. Quite often this meant the job usually fell to one or two people alone as the presence of a lower ranked delegate at an event would not be considered acceptable by the community or would be portrayed as unacceptable by the media. Regional-based line managers indicated they were in the media up to five times a week often with almost no notice and early in the morning before leaving to go to work.

Others note that police are now considered a ‘one-stop shop’ (LM4) for anything to do with the government, particularly in geographical areas outside the metropolitan area. The new public management driven closure of support services in regional areas or the closure of these services after hours in city centres creates considerable work particularly when it involves children, as is often the case, or someone with a mental health problem. As noted by one frontline manager:

We are supposed to be another government department, but all other departments go home at 4 o’clock and we become that department. So if there is a child that may be in danger, the child welfare people have gone home – we have to deal with it. If there’s a horse running loose near the freeway – nowadays that seems to be a police issue. (LM17)

And another:

We are reaching into areas that are not our expertise. This impacts on our ability to meet our core demands. The demands for our services are increasing. (LM18)

As such, when the long working hours that are already performed by line managers are confronted with a critical disaster, other aspects of the role mount up and have to be attended to either at the same time or when the line managers return to normal duties. This of course means that when dealing with an extreme event, their long hours continue beyond the disaster period.

There are still 1000 people to manage. Things don’t go away with the weather. They mount up in our absence. No-one else is going to do it, the daily churn keeps going. Putting things on hold for something like a reimbursement that is special and important to that person is not acceptable. (LM19)

And:

Our Chief Super becomes the disaster coordinator and they are relieved (from their regular duties). Everybody else does two jobs because they’re asked to relieve up as well. (LM29)

Managers involved in natural disasters report performing extra hours at home each day. These hours were in addition to their hours at the disaster centre or a minimum of eight hours on the next two days when they were not rostered on to ‘catch-up’ on tasks related to their substantive position. It is also noteworthy that despite these very long hours, these managers’ report no capacity for compensation after returning to normal duties. For example, when there were floods, cyclones, and bushfires many officers in those localities report working long hours with no compensation in financial terms or in lieu time. According to our interview participants, the approach to disaster management has changed substantially in recent years with what is referred to as the ‘pre-positioning’ of middle managers. Essentially this means that when a major disaster is anticipated or has occurred, a group of middle managers are sent to the area to coordinate the disaster response in a timely manner. Again, this pre-positioning means more long days for the line managers during and after the event.

It is important to note that while natural disasters are the only events that occurred during the research period they are not the only events that result in extended work hours. For example:

It’s also riots in indigenous communities … and there is always the tyranny of distance. The logistics to connect with staff and to get where you need to go to do your job are huge. There is extra money, extra work, extra time required to do the same job. (LM6)

Compounding these long hours, officers working conditions during critical disasters are often substandard:

Sleeping on the floor in a station and working 16 hours a day is not acceptable but it’s what we have to do. And for no real extra payment. It’s so small it’s insulting, $50 I think. Inspectors get sent in to where the cyclone hits. Everybody else is getting out. Other Government Departments won’t go. They say if there is no accommodation or no ‘suitable’ accommodation they won’t go. They are not sleeping on the floor. (LM5)

Together, these working arrangements create an increasingly difficult situation where there is constant pressure, limited capacity to release the stressors and, as indicated below, very little functional support within reach for the line managers. This lack of support extends to day-to-day HR matters as well as special needs presented by major events.

Owning, hosting, and on-call pressures

A restructure of the TPS a decade ago resulted in supervision changes that are unevenly distributed throughout the team of middle and frontline managers. Not only was there a removal of HR support located at the station level, particularly at non-metropolitan stations, but the restructure came with a notion of ‘owning’ and ‘hosting’. A HRM structure that created day-to-day concerns for managers outside the main city area. When a manager ‘owns’ a group of employees, the relevant employees report directly to that manager, however, a ‘host’ manager means that the employees are stationed geographically at a workplace but report directly to a manager in the capital city—sometimes up to 2500 kilometres away. As one manager explains, this created some complexity in the HR function to which he is required to attend:

In short, they have two bosses but their allegiances are to the boss in (head office). We currently have seven hosted people with (HR) problems here. Most aren’t being dealt with; some (problems) are 18 months old. It has a huge impact on everyone around them and on me trying to manage them on a day-to-day basis. (LM33)

As hosting occurs mostly in regional areas, another element of complication occurs with workloads and disaster management. For example, when a matter might take the ‘owned’ police from one area there is the flexibility to second ‘hosted’ police to assist with local policing matters. However, this has proven to be problematic for many regional line managers. Line managers within our sample find these situations difficult to manage and the lack of immediate HR support creates additional pressures for them, particularly when on-call given the workload pressures they face.

Almost half of the line manager workforce (44 per cent) see themselves as always on-call. For these people ‘we can’t go out to dinner, have a drink or any sporting or social life that takes you away from the phone’ (LM47). One line manager noted since taking on the role he is yet to ‘make it through a gym routine in less than two hours because there are always at least 2-3 calls to take’. (LM43)

Another interview participant explains, however, even if an officer has the option to utilise the on-call roster, the culture of ‘needing to stay on top of things’ means they do not ‘push’ to have other officers take their on-call roster (LM14). Commonly, this is because making this request would result in another line manager being on-call for two different roles at the same time and our participants suggest they view this is both unfair and not manageable—in essence, these line managers are not taking appropriate breaks in an attempt to protect their colleagues from unmanageable workloads. These line managers refer to the concern that ‘there’s just not enough people around to do it’ (LM54) as a reason they find themselves always on-call. Others say it is irrelevant if they are on-call or not because ‘if the Deputy Commissioner rings you, then you’d better take the call within three rings and you’d better know the answer’ (LM36).

Related to this notion of multiple on-call responsibilities there is evidence the pressure to have more than one on-call responsibility at a time is more prevalent in regional areas. The line managers who work outside the metropolitan area suggest that this is because their resources are generally ‘thinner’ and as a result they are less likely to rotate their on-call responsibilities for fear of compromising an investigation. That is to say, the replacement on-call officer may not have the background information about an investigation or event, or personal relationships to ‘get things done efficiently’ (LM27), so many line managers argue that the current structure of the workloads means that they are reticent to run the risk of making mistakes or equally as important, not inheriting the mistakes of others. As one regional officer states (and the sentiment is reinforced by many):

Regional policing is different. I can’t have a beer, I have to be ready every moment of the day…Our job doesn’t forgive mistakes; everything has to be 100 per cent correct. (LM32)

The nature of modern policing means that sometimes the interruptions people face when on-call may be as simple as text message updates of an ongoing investigation, a quick phone call for clarification or information, or something more substantial. However, these interruptions add up and usually require additional work:

There’s the call, the follow-up call, text messages, call from the hospital and then thinking about it. I have to ring the superior too so he can brief the Assistant Commissioner if needed. (LM37)

It is for this reason that line managers see telecommunication advances as both aiding and adding to their work.

Having text messaging is a double-edged sword. We now get them every day, all day, whether we are at work or not. People now include everyone in every text because it’s easy and it saves them being told someone wasn’t informed. It’s far more pervasive. (LM12)

HR centralisation and responsibility decentralisation

Thus far we have presented data that illustrates how an extreme working environment has become more extreme for line managers. We now shift to explore the way changes to HR support further exacerbating this extreme work experience. As discussed in the literature review, the centralisation of HR support and subsequent decentralisation of responsibility for day-to-day HR matters to the line managers is not a unique phenomenon. In this context, however, the stripping of support personnel (particularly from the regional worksites) for HR specific matters, leads our sample of line managers to report significant difficulties with securing assistance and support in determining appropriate actions for HR matters of concern. This assertion is supported through the activity log data where more than 1000 data points show that line managers are spending on average three hours a day on the online HR systems and emails related to HR matters. Furthermore, looking at all responses over the course of the activity log combined, almost a quarter of responses (22 per cent) were of line managers who reached the end of their working day and felt that they did not have adequate HR support to complete all of the day’s required tasks. This was particularly prevalent in regional areas:

At our level we have no chance of getting any face time with HR. No chance of email response, they are flat out talking to the (higher level managers).(LM 23)

and

In regional areas … we are expected to handle it all locally as well as run the station. Getting the additional support we need out of [capital city] is really difficult so we are not just trying to deal with whatever is happening, but also trying to convince central we need help. (LM47)

Being under-resourced in remote areas compounds this problem of centralised HR support yet decentralised HR responsibilities:

We are powerless to deal with recalcitrant staff. If a grievance is lodged in a remote area then 2-3 months goes by while its considered and there is no bum on the seat. It is left unattended.(LM36)

And

We have to take on so many additional roles now that have nothing to do with keeping the community safe. We are landlords now. I cover (a regional town), all staff get a government house. There is a lot of managing that comes with housing with the new housing policy. It can and should be done by other, more suitable staff – it’s not a policing matter. For example I’ve got a couple (of new officers) arriving and only one spare two-bed room. So I don’t have enough housing to fit them. This makes my day blow out. (LM43)

In summary the consensus from the interviews is that the online HR systems has led to a substantial increase in line manager workload, and a reduction in adequate levels of support staff, many officers reported a great deal of time taken away from their police and management work to deal with bureaucratic responsibilities.

Discussion

Our first research question was to investigate how changes in modern society have changed the ‘extreme’ aspect of policing work? The data we have provided here demonstrate that there are many factors placing pressures on the role of employees and managers at TPS. These changes include: the notion that ‘everything’ is police business and the accompanying increase in workloads; the accountability and accessibility that is required from line managers in relation to the senior managers, the media, and the general public; and, the restructuring of the organisation around notions of ‘owning’ and ‘hosting’ coupled with on-call pressures for managers. One final externality that has made the working lives and experiences of the TPS line managers more extreme is the increase in significant events: floods, bushfires, cyclones, etc. Collectively, these changes—only some of which are within the control of the organisation,—have led to significant increases in hours of work, span of hours, and overall pressures. This means in relation to our first research question, the changes in modern society have changed the role of policing—so much so that our unit of analysis, the line manager—is now facing extreme work as a common part of their everyday work, not as an exception. However, as explained by our overarching JD-R model, all occupations contain ‘bad things’ at work that deplete workers’ energy and ‘good things’ at work that assist them to manage work demands (Schaufeli, 2017, p. 121). Therefore this theory would suggest these demands placed upon line-managers in the policing context from outside the organisation that have increased significantly to result in an extreme work environment, are unlikely to be a problem for middle-managers unless the resources provided are not adequately increased at the same level. Our second and third research questions address this possibility when they consider how changes in the internal and external context of police work influence job demands and job resources of line managers and their HR needs and experiences in this extreme work environment.

International literature demonstrates that our understanding of HR systems has developed substantially in recent years, however it also indicates that as quickly as we develop better understandings, there are more changes occurring. One of those changes includes the HR function being decentralised to line managers who must balance operational pressures and their increasing HR responsibilities, with many researchers explicitly considering these competing demands, focusing on tensions and stress. There is also an established body of literature that suggests when the organisation emphasises the importance of HRM, this can increase line manager openness and commitment to HR practices and foster their willingness to accept their HR responsibilities (see for example, Kellner et al., 2016). However, many of the line managers at TPS (particularly those located outside capital cities) view the removal of the co-located HR support personnel and the shift to an online system as the opposite to supportive; it made a difficult and extreme job more extreme. Hence, while the demands have been increasing, not only have the resources not increased at a commensurate rate, but the resources have also been withdrawn and reduced from this cohort of managers.

Theoretical and practical implications

Line managers throughout the world are now required to play the conflicting and even ambiguous roles of building relationships with staff to encourage commitment and engagement, while also acting to enforce organisational rules and standards (Saundry et al., 2022). Our study has identified several factors that influence the experience of line managers who are facing this devolved responsibility at the same time as a centralisation or workplace level removal of HR support and a changing work environment. While it is well established that HR departments play a critical role with the broad organisational systems of people management (Townsend et al., 2013, Trullen et al., 2020), different groups within organisations respond differently to HR initiatives (Cafferkey et al., 2020). This case study presents an investigation of both broader societal changes, which to date have not been considered in the context of the JD-R model, but also the impact of HR changes on a group of employees already known for working in an extreme work environment, middle and frontline managers working in the policing environment. Using the JD-R theoretical framework, we found the extreme work they traditionally performed as part of natural- and human-led events has changed from being a rarity to a normalised and regular part of their role. These occurrences are both exacerbated and accompanied by changes in societal expectations of their role often assisted by technological advances allowing greater scrutiny and exposure. These changes leave the line managers desperate for HR advice and support, yet for most line managers in this role, (particularly those outside the major city centre who no longer had dedicated HR personnel co-located in their workplace), the centralisation of HR has resulted in line managers taking on the role of HR in addition to their traditional policing role and doing so with limited training, knowledge or expertise, and shrinking available resources. Overall—these line managers were faced at the same time with increased demands (from both inside and outside the organisation) and reduced resources. This finding supports the call to expand the JD-R model beyond the organisation (Bailey et al., 2017) to identify demands place on, and resources provided for employees.

In discussing theoretical implications, this study has been inspired by ongoing debates about how the modern world of work is changing and antecedents of work stress. Despite employee stress and strain having been researched for decades, the academic literature still calls for research to explore and deepen the understanding of work stress and how to manage it (Bailey et al., 2017; Demerouti & Bakker, 2023). These calls are both accompanied and driven by major global economic, technological, environmental and societal changes external organisation that are impacting on internal operations in a way never experienced before, and has never before been conceptualised in relation to many important work-related attitudes or as part of the JD-R Model (Demerouti & Bakker, 2023).Therefore, this research considered the impact of a these combined forces of change and demonstrated how extreme work can become the norm in an environment where it was traditionally possible and likely but abnormal and short-lived. Scholars using the JD-R model have increasingly recognized the significance of external forces in shaping job demands and resources, this study is the first piece of research to highlight how interrelationships between internal and external domains operate to exacerbate the effects of each change and create additional, unique challenges for middle managers.

The practical implications of the study findings for police and other emergency service organisations operating in similar environments also highly relevant. Research literature is very clear about the impact decentralisation of HR responsibility has on line managers (see for example, Bainbridge, 2015; Townsend et al., 2012). What this literature tells us is that for line managers top operate successfully, organisations provided them with the time and skills to implement HR policies, and the support from an effective HR department to perform their managerial responsibilities. However, the line managers at TPS operate in a context that is very different from a ‘typical’ work environment. Thus, the limited time and skills are only two pressures that are faced by these line managers. TPS line managers were faced with multiple pressures from both within and without the organisation making an extreme job almost impossible to maintain and certainly more extreme. The key outcome here is that HR department in these organisations ‘should not be ignorant of LMs’ real needs or detached from them’ (Trullen et al., 2016: 466). In the TPS case, the HR department has not only become figuratively more detached from the line managers, but indeed, the HR support has become geographically, and practically, more detached from the line managers.

Limitations

Our study examined a research problem specific to the police service in one Australian jurisdiction, where work is often performed outside a workplace and the environment cannot be controlled. These findings do not apply to most workplaces, although many concepts relate to other jurisdictions within law enforcement, and other emergency service organisations including fire response and paramedics. While we acknowledge limitations of generalisability of case research, it is valuable where limited extant research exists, as contextualised data can provide deep theoretical understanding of the problem (Patton, 2014).

This study garnered rich insight of the individual experiences that line managers have had, although we acknowledge these accounts may not always be objective or accurate given they have transpired over many years. As a means of further understanding the issues discussed within our research, we encourage higher-level interviews with government representatives, policymakers and key industry players to build a more holistic understanding of the challenges of managing in this environment and possibilities for change and improvement in the future.

Conclusion

Police work can be difficult work and managing within police organisations would often fall within the category of extreme work, albeit from a managerial level employee. This case study demonstrates that organisational restructures and the removal of HR support to a centralised and online system exacerbates the complexity of managing extreme work and creates extreme work characterised by long work hours and an even longer span of work hours, in its own right. When externalities like changing public perceptions, political expectations, and complex environmental problems are added to the context, there is a sense amongst the participants that things must change—their current extreme conditions are simply unsustainable.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

As of the time of writing, data is being used for commercial activities and has restricted availability.