Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life – Confucius The average turnover rate among correctional officers in adult institutions in 2000 was 16.1%, compared to 12.65 in 1995. Turnover rates among corrections in 2000 ranged from a low of 3.8% (New York) to a high of 41% (Louisiana). Fifteen states reported rates below the national average for all occupations (13.5%), but 34% of states reported rates for correctional officers above 20% while 6% fell in the range above 30% (according to A 21st Century Workforce for America's Correctional Profession ) If I were the sheriff of Henrico County, the strategies I would implement to improve correctional officer recruitment and retention would be to focus on increasing inadequate pay for correctional officers correctional officers, finding a way to decrease the demanding and time-consuming hours per shift and ensure the safety of all staff members with proper training before they are hired. I believe most OCs lack the drive to stay engaged in a job that pays poorly but yet demands so much of your time. The risk of inmates being injured by unqualified co-workers is also a reason why it may be difficult to prevent our employees from resigning. After doing extensive research, my article will go into detail about poor pay, hours, and lack of training. I hope to be able to explain how my employees will maintain their commitment to a job that demonstrates that our employees play an important, if not the most important, role in correctional facilities and that is why it is imperative to find ways in which they can love the career path they are taking. they embarked instead on feeling and regretting their career choice. Your career should make you want to get up and go to work every day with hope… middle of paper… you can be as alert as you would like if you work 16 hours Straight. Work ethic is an important factor, and you cannot expect your employees to be motivated to work if they are forced to work long hours. Ultimately, my hope for improving and preventing retention would be to make sure my employees feel that their job is a place where they don't get cheated, a place where the amount of work they do is worth the pay they receive. Working as a correctional officer today is a difficult and time-consuming task. I would hate for anyone to get hurt due to exhaustion or something, which is why I plan to make sure the hours are equally distributed among my workers. I also hope that a drastic change will ensure that more skilled workers are willing to apply and stay knowing that they won't take it for granted..