Retention of Police Officers and Special Constables

Report: 9
Date: 6 January 2011
By: Director of Human Resources on behalf of The Commissioner

Summary

The aim of this report is to provide members with details of measures being undertaken to address the issues surrounding the retention of police officers and special constables in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). The report will summarise the key developments in this area, with particular emphasis upon the exit survey, corporate staff survey (Your Views Count) and the leaver notification process recently introduced for special constables. The report will conclude by highlighting key changes to these processes and how the new HR structural model will help facilitate improvements in retention.

A. Recommendation

That

1. Members note the report.

B. Supporting information

Background

Retention

1. The retention level of regular police officers has remained at one the best levels in the last ten-years. Overall turnover remains very low at 3.8 percent (2009/10) with turnover levels amongst black and minority ethnic (BME) and female officers lower than amongst white and male colleagues (i.e. 2.4 percent BME versus 4.0 percent white; 2.5 percent female versus 4.2 percent male). The resignation rates amongst regular police officers remains very low, accounting for only 285 (22.3 percent) leavers in 2009/10. The resignation rates amongst both BME and female officers decreased in 2009/10, with the gap between comparator groups narrowing significantly by comparison to five-years ago. In 2009/10 only 38 BME and 74 female officers resigned from a year-end regular police workforce of 3,100 BME and 7,680 female officers.

2. The attrition levels amongst special constables has increased to around 20 percent. However, any differences between BME/white attrition levels (having discounted those who have become regular police officers) are very minor (i.e. 19.1 percent BME versus 18.2 percent white). The female attrition level is around 1.3 times higher than the male MSC rate (i.e. 21.8 percent female versus 17.1 percent male).

3. During the first six months of the current financial year, the BME resignation rate amongst regular police officers has increased slightly. However, there is an expectation that the business benefits of measures being developed from exit and staff survey findings, along with organisational research best practice, will have a positive impact upon retention and reduce the gap. The remainder of the report discusses the exit and staff surveys, along with the MSC notification scheme and other steps being taken to address retention.

Exit Surveys

4. The MPS has been undertaking exit surveys for a number of years, with HR Organisational Development (OD) taking responsibility for the exit surveys in June 2009. The sampling frame (i.e. group of people included within the survey) for the exit survey is currently comprised of those who ‘voluntarily resign’ from the MPS or ‘transfer’ to another police constabulary.

5. Currently, the exit survey is in two formats – online on the AWARE system with an access link sent to participants on their last day of service, and postal survey for those without access to AWARE. Participation rates vary considerably according to data collection methods, with the online survey achieving around 70 percent, whilst the postal survey response rate is consistent with the industrial standard at around 13-14 percent.

6. During the last two-years (i.e. 2008/09 and 2009/10), the sampling frame for regular police officers has decreased by over 26 percent (i.e. 598 to 442), reflecting the lower resignation rates amongst police officers and police staff. Nevertheless, whilst the actual number of police participants decreased very slightly from 174 to 172, in relation to the sampling frame, there has been a significant increase in the participation rate, increasing from around 29 percent to 39 percent.

7. The same improving trend is evident with police staff, including PCSO and traffic wardens, where the participation rates have increased from 37 percent (221) to 43 percent (239), notwithstanding the decreasing size of the sampling frame (i.e. 595 to 558).

8. Whilst special constables (MSC) do not appear to have been included within the 2008/09 survey, this important group has been included in the 2009/10 survey, with 36 participants from a sampling frame of 533 MSC leavers. The low participation rate for MSC (7 percent) was mainly due to the majority of MSC leavers not having had access to the AWARE system and the online form at the time of the survey.

9. The findings from the last two years in relation to police officers and police staff appear to show that the top reasons for leaving are centered upon desire for career change, family and other caring responsibilities and accommodation/traveling. The main reasons for special constables leaving were due to a change in main work commitment (58 percent), followed by caring/family commitments (39 percent) and working hours (33 percent). The findings from exit surveys have been discussed at HR Board. However, issues around sample size, particularly in relation to differences between diversity groups where sample sizes are often very small and unrepresentative, means that findings should be treated with caution.

10. The participation rates of the exit survey have increased for both regular police officers and police staff. The development of the online survey is an important component of the planned improvements to the exit survey. There is also an expectation that due to the increased access to the AWARE system by MSC, there will be increased participation rates for those who chose to resign. The sampling frame is likely to be widened to include people who have retired and not taken up other roles in the MPS.

MSC Retention Unit

11. The MSC OCU recently introduced a new process to help address the issue of MSC wastage. Under the new process, which was introduced in July 2010, line managers are required to complete a notification form (i.e. form 3230) when they become aware that a member of their team intends to leave. The form, which is based upon the corporate exit survey, includes a range of leaving reasons (e.g. family/caring, career change, transport, etc.), as well as factors relating to management intervention arising from discipline, misconduct and failure to meet service expectations. The form also asks managers to summarise any action taken to resolve issues (e.g. reasonable adjustments, action plans, transfers, etc.). The form must be completed in all cases. Since its implementation in July 2010, there has been a compliance rate of over 80 percent, and there is an expectation that the rate will increase further due to further communication between the MSC OCU and Business Groups.

12. The preliminary data provided by the MSC OCU for August and September 2010 collapsed the various leaving reasons into three categories: Firstly, normal turnover (e.g. career change, travel and family or caring responsibilities, etc.); secondly, discipline, misconduct or performance-related loss; and thirdly, loss arising from disillusionment or dissatisfaction with the MPS. The MSC data for August and September 2010 suggested that the majority of leavers (i.e. 66 percent, n = 46) fell within the first category of normal loss, whilst 33 percent (n = 23) fell within the second category. During the reporting period only 1 person left as a result of “disillusionment” or “dissatisfaction” with the MPS. HR is working closely with the MSC OCU to develop data analysis capability to make full use of the ongoing data collection.

13. The new MSC notification process and exit survey differ in important ways. The exit survey provides leavers with an opportunity to express their reasons (albeit within a constrained way) for leaving the MPS. Conversely, the retention team’s new process asks managers for their view of why individuals are leaving. However, these are very different forms of data collection and can lead to contradictory findings due to the differences of perspective; for instance, a manager may state that the departure was due to “poor performance” or “misconduct”, whilst the leaver may feel that the fault lay with “poor line management”. Consequently, the findings from the leaver notification survey should be treated with caution due to perceptual differences and interpreted in light of other information, such as the exit survey and corporate staff survey. Nevertheless, the leaver notification scheme will provide important additional insights into retention and is likely to become an important component in developing the knowledge base around retention.

14. Additionally, the MSC retention unit has introduced a process of contacting individual MSC officers where records show that their duty attendance has been significantly lower than that agreed upon joining the MSC (i.e. around 200 hours p.a.). The increased level of attrition is partly due to this activity where MSC officers are unable to meet the service expectations and no compromise can be agreed.

15. A preliminary evaluation of the leaver notification data covering the three month period (August – October 2010) revealed that from the 114 reported cases the main reason for leaving was career/work commitments (39.5 percent, n = 45), with very minor differences between gender (41.7 percent female, 38.5 percent male) and BME/white groups (46.9 percent BME, 40.3 percent white). Family/caring commitments accounted for very few of the cases (n = 8, 7.0 percent), with 5 white female and 3 white male leavers under this category. The gender and BME representation levels amongst the 114 reported cases were broadly proportionate to the MSC workforce (31.6 percent female; 28.1 percent BME).

Corporate staff survey

16. Organisational research and literature reveal a correlation between engagement and retention. The MPS corporate staff survey - Your Views Count - is an important way to engage with staff to help improve retention. The Your Views Count survey has been in existence since 2007. The anonymous, online survey provides members of the MPS with an opportunity to provide feedback on a range of themes, including work location, line management and role undertaken twice a year. The findings, broken down into Business Groups, are published on the MPS intranet site.

17. The survey has been improved in a number of important ways. Firstly, rather than randomly sampling staff from across the organisation over six month periods, staff working on a particular BOCU new receive the survey at the same time twice a year, so that key messages can be sent directly to staff in advance of them receiving the survey. BOCU commanders or Heads of Unit are sending emails locally to encourage participation in the lead up to their BOCU being surveyed. This is in addition to corporate communications throughout the year.

18. Secondly, engagement goes beyond satisfaction (as was the previous focus) and now includes additional dimensions such as loyalty, discretionary effort and motivation. As such the survey now measures ‘Alignment’ (relationship to senior management and organisation’s goals), ‘Involvement’ (motivation and fulfillment with current job) and ‘Loyalty’ (relationship to the organisation); these dimensions correspond with the Ipsos MORI’s Engagement Model.

19.Thirdly, alignment to the 5 Ps – as part of the measuring process, against the 5 Ps, some survey items have been used as Key Performance Indicators within the Performance Management Framework of ‘P’ Boards. To reflect this alignment, the survey has been re-themed in line with the 5 Ps.

20. Each Business Group has an Action Plan in place in order to respond to the key staff experience issues raised within their business area. At the corporate level, these are coordinated by the HR OD Team on behalf of the Director of Human Resources. The HR OD Team also looks at cross-cutting themes that, for example, may impact upon a specific group of staff and lead on the response to these.

21. Territorial Police survey data is monitored at the quarterly strategic tasking meetings and is considered in relation to public/user satisfaction and confidence, and relationships are explored and actions are set. A specific example of activity undertaken is the partnership work between the HR OD team, the Disabled Staff Association (DSA) and DCFD to explore the main areas of concern amongst disabled staff and managers, using Your Views Count data, existing DSA research, focus groups and 10,000v methodology. Interventions are also being developed to support managers around Deployment, Attendance Management, Progression, Development and Reasonable Adjustments, and FAQ’s for PeoplePages, SOP reviews and other targeted activity. Further, good practice is being shared amongst Business Groups. For example, DoR are establishing a forum to consider progression of BME staff at senior levels, upon which an action plans will be developed.

Regular police recruitment and training model

22. The consultation process and equalities impact assessment identified that an ongoing evaluation of job satisfaction levels was a key contingency to reduce the risk of inequalities arising through the new recruitment and training model. Consequently a key strand of the implementation programme will be the development, implementation and maintenance of a monitoring system, combining staff and exit survey data. The approach is new and it is hoped that the meta-analysis will provide a greater understanding of the issues underpinning attrition and wastage. This understanding will inform broader policymaking decisions.

23. The evaluation process will be a component of the wider risk management plan. It is anticipated that the findings from the evaluation process will be shared with HR Business Partners for discussion at Business Group level. This approach will be consistent with that adopted by HR OD for the dissemination of wider exit and corporate staff survey findings. The enhanced data analysis capability of the MSC leaver notification scheme is one stage of the new evaluation system being developed.

Moving forward

24. HR board has discussed changes to the exit survey, including content changes where the questions focus upon the participant’s top three reasons for leaving; other changes will include widening the sampling frame to capture people who retire, particularly important for police officers who have chosen to leave the service rather than consider alternative roles in the MPS. Access to the online exit survey will be improved by placing the survey instrument on AWARE (through PeoplePages). HR OD will call participants before sending the postal survey to improve willingness to participate. The new streamlined form became/will become available from November 2010.

25. Initial feedback from the current exit survey and process from Business Partners and Business Managers has largely consisted of a request for regular information presented by BOCU with a wider Business Group and MPS comparison to allow comparison of the findings. Thus once the new survey has been in place for a quarter, information will be presented to each Business Group via Business Partnerships. This information will include a breakdown of completion rates by Business Group to highlight areas for targeted action by HR OD in conjunction with the appropriate Business Partner. Appropriate links will be made with corporate staff survey action plan items, which relate to job satisfaction. There is an expectation that findings from this new process will be shared with Business Partners at the end January 2011.

26. The Your Views Count corporate survey has been developed further as a diagnostic tool and now includes additional dimensions covering jobholders’ roles, relationship between management and organisation. The survey now reflects the 5 Ps, with certain measures included within the wider Performance Management Framework. The methodological changes to sampling means that staff on BOCUs will be primed for forthcoming online surveys, thus increasing the participation rates. Themes emerging from the survey are being explored by Business Groups and OD, often in consultation with staff associations.

27. The regular measurement of satisfaction levels linked with exit survey and retention data amongst MSC has been identified at a key work-stream within the programme to implement the new model for police recruitment and training. This work stream has been included within the wider risk management plan as contingency to reduce the risk of inequalities arising from the new model.

28. There is an expectation that by drawing together the findings from the enhanced exit survey, corporate staff survey and MSC leaver notification data, the information on retention will become more reliable, improving the validity of findings. The new Business Partner framework will provide better communication opportunities to share findings with BOCU and develop local action plans to help address retention.

C. Other organisational and community implications

Equality and Diversity Impact

1. The processes highlighted by the report will require more time before significant conclusions can be drawn relating to diversity. The additional processes in relation to HR business partners using the current data analysis and working with B(OCU)S to develop interventions where required is a good step forward and will also help to unpick and mitigate any diversity related issues highlighted through the data capture.

Consideration of MET Forward

2. The MetPeople theme of MetForward will be supported by the developments outlined in this report by ensuring that the MPS makes full use of the improved retention information and takes action, where appropriate. Furthermore, the recruitment of special constables is a key activity under the MetStreets theme.

Financial Implications

3. All cost associated with the activities set out in this report will be contained within existing HR and Business wide budgets

Legal Implications

4. This report is provided as part of the governance process with the aim set out in the summary. No legal implications arise save that taking action to address dissatisfaction with the service may serve not only to improve retention but may also serve to reduce employment tribunal claims.

Environmental Implications

5. There are no apparent environmental implications arising from the report.

Risk Implications

6. The associated risks are covered in the main body of the report.

D. Background papers

None

E. Contact details

Report authors: Duncan Arnold (Strategic Researcher), Stuart Martin (Senior Occupational Psychologist), Katherine Paterson (Occupational Psychologist), Dick Weaver (Chief Inspector, MSC OCU), Gabrielle Nelson (Director of Recruitment and Workforce Planning), MPS

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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