MPS response to the Talent Management and Succession Planning Scrutiny 2007 – October update

Report: 4
Date: 6 November 2008
By: the Director of Human Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report presents progress to date against each recommendation from the MPA Talent Management and Succession Planning Scrutiny Report. It details how the new MPS strategy for talent management, positive action and succession planning is being developed, implemented and embedded within the organisation, with early indicators demonstrating that the MPS is already deriving measurable success from it.

A. Recommendation

That Members note the progress highlighted within the report.

B. Supporting information

The initial MPS response to the challenges and recommendations contained within the Scrutiny Report was presented to the MPA at the end of April 2008. The response set out the MPS talent management framework as the model for the future management and progression of talent in the organisation. The approach represents a fundamental change to how talent is managed in the MPS, with wide-ranging implications for the advancement of talented individuals.

This report now marks our progress 6-months on, with some further clear developments and improvements having been delivered to a number of our talent and promotion processes. The paper describes the many aspects of the talent management framework that have already been implemented, including the establishment of a dedicated Talent Management Team within the HR Directorate; the identification of designated talent management leads across Business Groups; the launch of the MPS positive action strategy (the Promoting Difference Programme and Equip to Achieve Programme); the introduction of an extended work-based assessment promotion pathway to Superintendent for high potential police officers; the re-alignment of the London First Leadership Exchange Programme to offer greater support to senior members of the talent pool, and the development of a formalised succession planning process for Chief Inspector, superintending ranks and senior police staff.
This section of the report takes each Scrutiny recommendation in turn and provides a progress update against the MPS response from earlier this year. Where appropriate, it also sets out key new proposals to build on our early successes and further improve our approach to talent management and the ways in which it can deliver benefit for the MPS.

1. Recommendation 1: That talent management and succession planning is expressly identified as an additional enabler – there are currently five - to the MPA’s and MPS’s seven strategic priorities, i.e. together with ‘a modern and diverse workforce’, ‘enabled staff’, ‘better use of resources’, cohesive partnership working’, and ‘clear communication’.

1.2 This has been agreed and factored into our current business plan.

2. Recommendation 2: That a succession planning and talent management strategy is developed by the MPS, with oversight by the MPA, explicitly incorporating positive action initiatives for under represented groups.

2.1 The MPS talent management framework was presented in the April response. Broad organisational consultation was undertaken on the strategy, with feedback from Business Groups and Staff Associations generally positive (see Appendix 1, Talent Management Framework, Pg 20-21, for details). Many aspects of the talent management framework have now been implemented to ensure more effective identification and development of talent, more formalised succession planning, and greater engagement with, and ownership of, talent management across the MPS.

Identifying Talent:

2.2 Much work has been progressed to ensure line managers are supported in spotting individuals with potential in their team and encouraging them to apply for one of the talent management programmes. A guide to effective management in the MPS has been developed and circulated to all OCUs. This provides clear guidance for managers on how to get the best from their team, and how to develop and nurture staff members. Alongside this, a specific Guide to Spotting Potential has also been circulated to managers. The guide asks key questions to enable managers to make objective assessments of the potential of team members, and encourages them to realise their role of identifying talent across the organisation.

2.3 Over the last few months, the Talent Management Team has been engaging in some innovative pilot work with a selection of MPS Boroughs to encourage them to become more pro-active in identifying and nurturing talent. With our support, these Boroughs are now implementing local talent management processes, which will underpin the corporate talent management approach. The aim is to build on good practices identified at these pilot sites and roll them out across the MPS to support effective recognition and development of talent across the organisation.

Case study - Hackney Borough
Hackney has implemented a local talent programme with the objective of nurturing talented officers and police staff. They have adopted a “bottom up” approach, empowering line managers to identify their best staff, using a guide to spotting potential. The 18 members of staff selected were invited to join the Hackney Talent Programme. Following a launch event, a SMT mentor assisted with the formulation of a 12-month personal development plan. Individuals have already taken advantage of a weekend development event, involving leadership and teamwork challenges to encourage their problem solving, lateral thinking and initiative. Feedback from the participants is that they have greater self-confidence, enhanced communication skills and a better understanding of leadership and teamwork. Other development opportunities available include shadowing of community leaders, participation in the Borough Improvement Team, mentoring a 4-11 year old child living in Hackney and attending bespoke workshops in order to meet identified development needs. Evaluation of the programme is ongoing and will enable improvements to be made to the 2009 talent programme.

Developing Talent:

2.4 The MPS now has a clear and agreed framework to develop talent, which embraces all levels and aspects of the organisation.

2.5 The revised national High Potential Development Scheme (HPDS) is open to constables and sergeants only. It is aimed at a smaller number of officers who have the potential to progress to ACPO level, whereas the former scheme selected officers evidencing the potential, desire and commitment to reach Superintendent. Accordingly, the places available each year will be very limited. In recognition of this, the MPS has developed its own internal high potential scheme to develop and support high potential officers in all ranks up to Superintendent.

2.6 The Intensive Development Programme (IDP) for high potential police staff has been running for four years. The first cohort of the IDP (10 staff members) have completed and graduated from the 3-year programme, with all demonstrating lateral development and the majority attaining promotion. The IDP is now subject to a full evaluation process, with the findings to be circulated by the close of November 2008. A number of options are under review, including abandoning the current time bound nature of the programme to replicate the processes for high potential police officers, and expanding the approach to provide a development solution for senior police staff.

2.7 A business case for a graduate development programme for police officers has been scoped to ensure we attract the brightest and best recruits into the Service. A similar approach is being developed for police staff, with a view to presenting a combined business case to HR Board by the end of this year.

Succession Planning:

2.8 The MPS has developed more formalised succession planning processes, to be applied across all superintending ranks and senior police staff bands from November 2008 (further detail is provided later under Recommendation 3).

2.9 In recognition of the fact that the corporate Superintendent promotion process is a generic test of competence at that rank and does not always meet broader organisational need, an extended work-based assessment promotion pathway up to Superintendent rank has been introduced for high potential police officers (further detail is provided under Recommendation 15, 16 and 17). This facilitates more effective succession planning, particularly within certain specialist OCUs. Given the more controlled career management of HPDS officers, it also ensures they can be explicitly developed to benefit the organisation.

2.10 A proposal has been developed to change the way superintendents are selected for promotion to chief superintendent. The aim is to allow more effective succession planning in filling the most demanding command positions at chief superintendent level. The competitive process would be replaced by a simple test of competence (through a rigorous assessment process). Those meeting the threshold of competence would be eligible to compete with existing chief superintendents for command vacancies. Superintendents selected for a post would be promoted to chief superintendent. Each chief superintendent vacancy would be filled on a post-by-post basis allowing a best fit between the requirements of a particular post and the skills and experience of those seeking to fill the post. This process would allow effective succession planning as the most suitable individuals at chief inspector and superintendent would be given the opportunity to gain the necessary experience to fit them for command.

Developing Organisational Ownership of Talent Management:

2.11 Clear provision has been made available within the Transforming HR structure for dedicated resources to support the delivery of talent management. A central Talent Management Team has been identified, with clear ownership for delivering the organisational strategy and framework for talent management for the MPS, including associated strands, such as positive action and work-based assessment. Designated leads for talent management have been identified across each Business Group (HR Business Partners) to support local implementation and compliance.

2.12 Evidence from our discussions with OCUs across the MPS suggests that the reality of talent management is becoming more embedded within the organisation, with the response moving away from a tactical one to a more strategic appreciation of the issues and challenges involved. In part this has been achieved through the enhanced involvement of superintendents, chief superintendents and commanders across the MPS in assessing high potential staff and officers as part of the annual talent management processes. In addition, existing members of the high potential programmes are been utilised as talent champions within their OCUs to support local talent spotting, mentoring and development initiatives.

Positive Action Initiatives:

2.13 Progress continues to be made on the positive action initiatives and programmes incorporated within the talent framework.

2.14 Under the scope of the Promoting Difference Programme, areas where representation is of particular concern are diagnosed and, in collaboration with the Staff Associations, relevant interventions introduced to address these. A review of MPS promotions data [1] for the previous 12-months (April 2007-March 2008) underlines the strategic importance of the positive action initiatives. With the exception of the Constable to Sergeant Part 3 process in May 2007 and the Constable to Detective Constable process in October 2007, the success rates for non-BME officers are higher than those of their BME colleagues. In all promotion processes, females accounted for a significantly lower percentage of the applicant pool than their male colleagues (most notably for those processes relating to the higher ranks). However, when directly comparing the success rates of males and females for the promotion processes, it is apparent that the female success rate is higher than the male in all cases, save the July 2007 Inspector to Chief Inspector process. In some cases this is fractional, but the rate can be as much as 9.21% higher.

2.15 To address some of these issues, the Promoting Difference Programme has been progressing and achieving success across the following project strands:

2.15.1 Establishing an external mentoring scheme in partnership with the `Safer London Foundation. 23 minority ethnic police officers at sergeant / inspector rank have been matched with mentors from under-represented groups within the business community. Organisations taking part include Barclays, Abnamro (Bank of Scotland) and KPMG.

2.15.2 Holding a workshop, in partnership with the Disabilities Staff Association, for over 50 Deaf and Disabled Staff to examine barriers to career progression. A strategy is now being devised to address the issues identified.

2.15.3 Trialling a new career development workshop, in collaboration with the Association of Muslim Police, with specific input around interview and application form technique, and broader career planning support. The workshop is now being evaluated, with a view to extending it to other Staff Associations and Business Groups.

2.15.4 Developing and piloting a mentoring scheme in partnership with the Gay Police Association.

2.15.5 Securing Government Train to Gain funding to introduce an accredited development programme for minority ethnic constables who have proven successful at promotion processes. A similar programme for Sergeants and police staff is currently being reviewed.

2.15.6 Reviewing training for all selection assessors within the MPS, with a view to ensuring assessors have completed additional diversity and cross-cultural training by the close of April 2009.

2.16 By the end of September 2008, it is anticipated that over 160 people will have benefited from elements of the Promoting Difference Programme.

2.17 The Equip to Achieve programme was launched in May 2008, with the aim of identifying talented under-represented police officers with the potential to progress quickly into senior leadership roles. The programme has been initially targeted at minority ethnic constables, sergeants, inspectors and chief inspectors, who have been assessed as having the potential, desire and commitment to successfully join the High Potential Development Scheme (HPDS) and/or the MPS talent pool.

2.18 Applicants for the programme take part in a 3-stage selection process, including application form, interview and development centre. 36 officers applied for the programme, 27 were successful at Stage One and 21 at Stage Two. The final selection stage will take place on the 22nd – 24th September 2008, with the intent to select up to 18 participants for the first intake.

2.19 The programme will be run over one year, offering intensive two-day development sessions, 1-2-1 coaching, mentoring, feedback and learning events. A member of the HPDS or Talent Cascade will mentor each Equip to Achieve participant to enable them to develop more understanding of what it takes to be successful as a high potential officer. The programme will also be accredited, with each participant expected to complete a Certificate in Leadership Development.

2.20 Once Equip to Achieve participants are accepted onto the HPDS or talent pool, they will access the work-based assessment promotion pathway to Superintendent, which will allow them to achieve rapid promotion, but demonstrate through rigorous on-the-job scrutiny that they have the right skills to support the future leadership needs of the organisation.

3. Recommendation 3: That Management Board formalises a ‘top down’ scanning process to inform decisions about talent management and succession planning, career development and skills needs / gaps. This should include a review across Superintending ranks and equivalent police staff about an individual’s performance and potential in comparison with their peers. This should be replicated at Business Group level for middle ranking managers (Inspecting ranks and equivalent police staff) and at OCU and BOCU level for other staff. Each scanning process should cascade upwards.

3.1 An informal review involving Management Board members, Workforce Planning and the Senior Careers Advisor already takes place. However, this is currently being formalised, and going forward will include HR Business Partners (as designated leads for talent management and succession planning within their Business Groups), in addition to the Senior Careers Advisors and Workforce Planning. This new process will include the identification of talented Chief Inspectors and Superintendents for succession planning purposes, and will be in place from November 2008.

4. Recommendation 4: That any externally provided training should be clearly linked to the needs of the organisation and the development of the individual. The Career Management Unit should maintain a central record of these courses, including electronic copies of any research or written dissertation.
4.1 Externally provided training is already assessed on the basis of the benefit to the organisation and the individual. Any training undertaken by an individual will be recorded on MetHR as a matter of process and these records are then subject to analysis by the HR Business Support Team.

5. Recommendation 5: That for senior leadership, hard to fill and specialist roles, career pathways and succession plans are developed.
5.1 This will be reviewed within the formalised succession planning process outlined in Item 10 above.

6. Recommendation 6: There should be a designated ACPO ‘champion’ for succession planning and talent management within the MPS as a vocal, high profile advocate of the approach set out in this report, including ‘driving through’ the recommendations and acting as a focus for advice and support. In addition, each Business Group should have a succession planning and talent management ‘lead’. (This proposal should also be replicated at a national level).

6.1 DAC Roberts, Deputy Director of Human Resources, and future director of the Strategic Centre (as part of THR), is the designated champion for talent management and succession planning. He is the current MPS ACPO lead for the HPDS, IDP, positive action programmes and National Senior Careers Advisory Service (NSCAS). Under the THR model, HR Business Partners will be designated leads for succession planning and talent management within their Business Groups to enable implementation of the talent management framework.

7. Recommendation 7: The MPS should encourage all ACPO and Superintending ranks to provide internal coaching and mentoring or work shadowing opportunities as part of the talent management and succession planning strategy. This should be in addition to the external coaching and mentoring opportunities for senior police officers and senior police staff with London First. In the absence of personal coaching, mentoring or work shadowing opportunities, coaching and mentoring opportunities should be provided with or by external organisations.

7.1 Work continues to encourage ACPO and superintending ranks to draw on their skills and experience to coach and mentor more junior staff and officers as part of a Talent Cascade, with almost 100 now providing formal mentoring. In addition to traditional coaching and mentoring opportunities, the Talent Cascade has now been extended to provide more senior members of our cascade with specific and accredited skills to nurture talent through the organisation.

7.2 From September 2008, approximately 24 of our high potential Chief Inspectors and Superintendents will be accredited as Action Learning Set facilitators, and will in turn use this training to facilitate mixed learning groups of more junior scheme members (across the HPDS, IDP and Equip to Achieve Programme). This will promulgate the sharing of good practice and learning across our talent network, encourage information exchange, networking, and also develop understanding of strategic issues.

7.3 All of our high potential Chief Inspectors will receive formal promotion and selection assessor training, and a number of our Chief Inspectors and Superintendents will be accredited as A1 work-based assessors. This will provide dedicated assessor resources for all talent management selection and assessment processes, but also provide resources across the MPS who are skilled in identifying and spotting talent, and offering local support for these individuals in preparing to apply for the talent pool.

8. Recommendation 8: The opportunity to expand existing senior secondment initiatives with organisations such as London First should be explored, together with secondment opportunities to and from other parts of government, local government and the criminal justice sector for lower and middle ranking officers.
8.1 The MPS relationship with London First continues, with 200 police and business leaders now working in partnership together under the Leadership Exchange Programme. A full evaluation of the programme was commissioned earlier this year, with feedback highlighting a range of personal and organisational benefits, including the sharing of ideas, discussion of improved ways of working and development of a more business-minded approach. The Commissioner hosted a special event in September to celebrate the successes of the Leadership Exchange Programme in promoting individual and organisational development.

8.2 Over the last few months, the MPS have also been working closely with London First to expand the business partnership approach, and offer work shadowing and attachment opportunities for members of our talent pool. These opportunities are aimed at providing our talent with exposure to the business world, in order to share good practice on management issues and develop transferable skills to assist them in becoming more effective and efficient leaders. An example would include a recent development opportunity we have sourced for a member of the IDP to shadow a senior manager working within a similar specialism in KPMG. This work builds on, and represents a more targeted approach to, an earlier business secondments programme that the MPS piloted with London First in late 2006 / early 2007, where we struggled to secure the release of operational personnel for secondments. Targeting the programme at our talent pool enables us to link opportunities more closely to the development of the individual, and to evaluate more fully the benefit to the MPS.

8.3 In addition to this, we continue to maintain our relationship with other private sector companies, running high potential and talent programmes. In 2006, we established a network between members of our talent programmes and other future leaders in similar programmes at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Oxfam, BBC, Laing O’Rourke, AXA and Scottish Power, with the aim of creating networks across a range of industries, sharing ideas and ways of working. This summer, we ran a joint development event with Oxfam for members of our talent programmes, which was designed to develop leadership, team-building, creativity and business skills.

9. Recommendation 9: The opportunity to incorporate existing police development programmes into the talent management and succession planning strategy should be explored as part of a “development centre” programme, e.g. using programmes run by the NPIA.

9.1 This is the approach taken within the talent management framework, which builds on existing national programmes, such as the HPDS and NSCAS.

9.2 Looking internally within the MPS, the Senior Careers Advisor continues to explore how an integrated approach to development activity can be achieved across leadership, talent management and diversity areas in collaboration with the Director of the Leadership Academy, the Deputy Director of Human Resources and the DAC for Diversity & Citizen Focus.

10. Recommendation 10: That MPS ACPO rank officers should be involved in every promotion interview for Superintendent and Chief Superintendent rank and as assessors for the SPNAC.

10.1 Further to the April response, ACPO rank officers now chair Business Group Recommending Panels for Superintendent and Chief Superintendent rank promotion processes, advertised in 2008. ACPO rank officers will also be invited to assess at Chief Superintendent assessment centres, for which specific training will be provided.

11. Recommendation 11: That the MPS and MPA jointly develop a process for filling Senior Management Team vacancies on Boroughs that includes the meaningful involvement of local partners.

11.1 The MPS recognises that the development and maintenance of an effective working relationship between a borough SMT and external partners is a key enabler to successful service delivery. Local partners can provide very valuable perspectives on the operating context in their particular borough and may be invited to give an opinion of the skills they feel any new SMT member should possess. There are protocols already in place to ensure this consultation takes place and these mechanisms are undergoing a constant process of development and improvement at a rate consistent with the demands of particular boroughs.

12. Recommendation 12: That Business Groups should be responsible for quality assurance testing of promotion and selection processes. This should include an element of independent scrutiny.

12.1 As a result of the MPS Strategic Review of Police Promotion Processes [2], quality assurance now has an increased profile in each promotion process. The Sergeant to Inspector 2008 promotion process has now concluded, where Business Group quality assurance panels were central to ratifying results.

13 Recommendation 13: That consideration is given to introducing independent scrutiny into selecting candidates for SPNAC and in other central promotion processes.

13.1 The terms of reference for a specialist advisory group, to provide independent scrutiny of processes, have now been scoped. 16 external business leaders have been recruited for the group, all with a range of expertise in equality and human resource issues. Members include the Chief Executive of the Safer London Foundation, a Vice-President from KPMG, a consultant who lectures on employment law at Birkbeck University and nominees from the Association of Muslim Police (see Appendix 2 for further detail). An initial meeting of the group has been scheduled for October 2008 and we anticipate the group will become actively engaged in the Chief Superintendent process to be advertised in November 2008.

14. Recommendation 14: That data available to support earlier recommendations is made more reliable.

14.1 The MPS recognise that more should and can be done in respect of the capture of biographical data relating to the promotional journey of under-represented groups within the MPS. The Career Management Unit is now working in close liaison with the HR Business Support Team to capture biographical data to track individuals from under-represented groups throughout their MPS career. Based on this analysis and through close partnership working with the Staff Associations, the Career Management Unit is then able to develop appropriate development interventions to support the progression of diverse groups across the organisation.

15. Recommendation 15: That as part of the approach to a revised HPDS, the MPA supports the MPS proposals around:

• graduate recruitment linked to a work based assessment promotion route to Superintending rank; and
• for existing police officers a work based assessment route to Superintending rank, linked to NSCAS.

16. Recommendation 16: In the absence of NPIA support for the proposals at Recommendation 15, the MPS develops its own programmes along similar lines.

17 Recommendation 17: That in terms of under-represented groups, tailored training and development programmes are produced as part of a work-based assessment route to Superintending ranks.

17.1 Following internal consultation, a trial of the work-based assessment promotion pathway to Superintendent commenced in June 2008. Numbers for the trial were fixed at three individuals, allowing a full evaluation to be undertaken prior to extending the scheme across the talent pool. Feedback from the consultation paper (see Appendix 3, Feedback and Comments Report) was incorporated into the process.

17.2 A rigorous “gateway” selection process to access the work-based assessment was designed, including a requirement for each applicant to secure a recommendation for promotion from their OCU Commander; a face-to-face competency-based assessment with two trained assessors; followed by a further panel interview with three senior police officers, at which their OCU Commander was also asked to present their feedback on the individual.

17.3 Candidates were placed in a merit order according to scores, with the top three selected to begin work-based assessment (including one minority ethnic officer). The other candidates (six) were not successful for the work-based assessment, but secured their recommendation for the corporate Superintendent assessment centre later this year.

17.4 The three successful officers have each been posted as temporary Superintendents and have begun their 6-month work-based assessment period.

17.5 Work-based assessment for HPDS Inspectors to Chief Inspectors continues and will now be applied for any newly promoted high potential Chief Inspector.

18. Recommendation 18: That the MPS, in consultation with HMIC and the appropriate ACPO leads, produces tailored positive action programmes for ‘pulling through‘ under-represented groups into specialist roles, particularly more senior roles, as part of a development programme.

18.1 This is being progressed through the Promoting Difference Programme.

19. Recommendation 19: That the MPS, in consultation with HMIC and the ACPO lead on Workforce Modernisation, carries out further work on making specialist roles and specialist career pathways more attractive to those seeking development and / or promotion opportunities.

19.1 To a large extent this recommendation (and recommendation 22) has been superseded by the recent Green Paper on Policing and the improvements in MPS promotion processes. The robust application of the rules of the promotions system, developed in consultation with Staff Associations, ensure equality of opportunity for promotion irrespective of business group or specialism. Thus since specialism creates no disadvantage, there is no need in general terms to enhance the attractiveness of all specialist career pathways. Problems have been identified in the specific area of attracting officers to the detective constable roles and consequently work is in hand under the direction of the Assistant Commissioner of the Specialist Crime Directorate to address this. In broad terms, it is intended that all Business Groups will be required to take on a training role for new detectives rather than just Territorial Policing. Additionally, qualified detectives will rotate through different Business Groups to ensure that a detective career is more attractive to the individual and that there is a far more even spread of expertise and experience throughout the MPS.

19.2 In respect of the management of high potential officers, it is already apparent that an appropriate proportion seek out the challenges of various specialisms. The HPDS has thus become a vehicle by which talented officers develop rapidly, but also by which their talents are made more widely available to the MPS.

20. Recommendation 20: For specialist officers seeking promotion or lateral development, consideration should be given to providing advice and support for programmes run by business schools or the Leadership Academy in order to broaden their awareness and enhance their promotability / suitability.

20.1 Current Leadership Academy courses are designed to equip officers and staff from across the organisation with generic leadership and management development training, irrespective of their particular area of work. Officers transferring from a specialism or seeking promotion should, therefore, have no requirement for further training over and above that offered by the Leadership Academy.

21. Recommendation 21: For specialist officers who notify their intention to seek lateral development, consideration should be given to internal coaching and mentoring or work shadowing opportunities in the period leading up to their transfer to another area of work.

21.1 Under THR, identifying development needs and finding appropriate mechanisms to meet them will be a line management responsibility. The Expert Centre will be able to provide appropriate advice and support to line managers, as required.

22. Recommendation 22: That the national Workforce Modernisation programme be asked to look at practical and innovative ways of encouraging officers to seek lateral development opportunities to broaden their careers, i.e. into and out of specialist or non-specialist roles.

22.1 The views of the MPS have been passed onto the Workforce Modernisation Programme for review. Additionally, the recommendations of the recent Green Paper on Policing has taken account of, and subsumed, recommendation 22 (See Items 33 and 34 above).

23. Recommendation 23: That this report is submitted to the National Policing Board to consider how appropriate recommendations can be implemented at a national level.

23.1 The report has been circulated to members of the National Policing Board and ACPO Workforce Development for their attention.

Implications of the Policing Green Paper “From the Neighbourhood to the National”:
The MPS have been engaging with the designated talent management lead at the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) to ensure we remain cognisant of, and aligned to, national best practice. We welcome the findings of the Green Paper in relation to talent management, specifically the prospect of a national graduate fast-track scheme to attract quality graduates into policing and the development of a clear positive action strand to underpin national talent management initiatives. These developments both reflect and complement our own internal talent management initiatives.

C. Race and equality impact

The proposed talent management framework will help the MPS manage all staff, not just an elite few. It includes specific initiatives, namely the Promoting Difference and Equip to Achieve Programmes, which will aim to improve representation across all ranks and bands. Both the Equip to Achieve and Promoting Difference Programmes are subject to full monitoring and evaluation. At this early stage, much of the analysis around the Promoting Difference Programme is qualitative, with case studies of individuals clearly demonstrating the benefit of the interventions and the value in progressing their career. In the medium and longer-term, individuals who participate in the Promoting Difference Programme will be tracked through corporate promotion processes to assess the impact of the programme on career progression.

With regard to the Equip to Achieve Programme, through its linkage to the work-based assessment promotion pathway, it is anticipated that by 2012 the Equip to Achieve Programme will have doubled the number of BME Superintendents within the MPS, from 8% of the Superintendent population up to 17% (see Appendix 4 for detailed projections).

D. Financial implications

The implementation of the talent management framework and positive action initiatives has some resourcing implications. A detailed business case has been drawn up and approved by the Director of Human Resources to secure an appropriate level of HR resources from within its current resources under THR to allow talent management to be delivered effectively.

Once the principles of the talent management framework and associated business case are agreed as a way forward, detailed costs will be calculated for specific programmes and initiatives. Some of the systems are already in place to support the new talent framework, others would need to be developed from scratch. There will be costs associated with the extension of the internal MPS talent pool, from ‘gateway’ assessment events and the new development events. However, most of the cost will comprise the opportunity costs of managers’ involvement and individuals’ commitment to developing themselves.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author(s): Tamsyn Heritage, Career Management Unit, MPS

For information contact:

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

Appendix 1

MPS Talent Management Framework

Introduction

Talent management has been identified as an increasingly important strategic challenge for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). Looking across the changing demographics of the UK population, the talent pool from which the police service traditionally recruits is shrinking. By 2010, projections by the Director General of City and Guilds, backed up by the Government’s Leitch Report (2006), suggest that the UK economy could have 2million skilled jobs unfilled. Policing is unlikely to escape the problem. The prospect of such a dearth of new ‘talent’ will place the MPS in a position where we increasingly have to compete for potential employees with the private sector and the higher salaries that can be commanded outside the public sector. The last two decades have also seen the psychological contract between companies and employees renegotiated away from the idea of job security in return for a generous pension, towards one where individuals maintain their ‘employability’ through managing their own development and career progression.

Against this backdrop, the MPS cannot afford to assume that the organisation can draw from an ongoing external supply of high potential, high performing people. The challenges for the police service in attracting and retaining talent are unique in comparison to other organisations. Effectively, the MPS has to survive on the talent recruited at the junior levels of the service and then nurtured up the ranks. In this context, the MPS needs to do more, both to attract talent into the organisation, but also to retain and effectively deploy the talent we already have.

Projecting forward to the Olympics, it has been highlighted that many senior officers, who can lead Command Teams and have the necessary Public Order experience, will be eligible for retirement by 2012. Work is required now to develop succession plans and to ensure we are “pulling through” the requisite talent. The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) are all looking closely at talent management processes within the MPS. At senior levels, the MPA has expressed concern about the number, quality and diversity of the talent pool eligible to fill Commander posts and this prompted the recent MPA Scrutiny into Talent Management and Succession Planning across the MPS. The report from the Scrutiny lists a number of recommendations, including the need to articulate talent management as an express enabler of the MPS’s seven strategic priorities, to develop and implement a succession planning and talent management strategy, and to develop positive action initiatives as part of that strategy.

The Commissioner has recently stressed the strategic importance of talent management to the MPS, and Martin Tiplady, HR Director, also highlighted talent management as the key challenge for HR in the MPS in 2008. With this in mind, this paper outlines proposals for a talent management framework and structure for the MPS that will ensure we are developing and progressing our ‘brightest and best’ at all levels to deliver a more representative and assured pipeline of talent across the organisation.

Talent Management Framework  [3]

The new talent framework [4] focuses on facilitating the progression and succession planning for those identified with the greatest potential to rise to the highest levels of the organisation. The framework will build on existing talent management programmes, but enable the MPS to introduce a more cohesive and robust approach to identifying and developing talent, with rigorous talent assessments and validation processes at each stage of the talent pipeline. The core of the talent pool will come from the formal High Potential Development Scheme (HPDS) and Intensive Development Programme (IDP). Around these schemes, the MPS will introduce and run associated programmes to ensure sufficient numbers in the talent pool. A graduate development programme will be introduced for police staff and officers to ensure we attract the brightest and best recruits into the organisation, and feed these through to the talent pool. Depending on the outcomes of the NPIA work on a combined national high potential scheme for staff and officers, the MPS would look to implement further high potential programmes for staff and officers at varying bands and ranks. These programmes would offer a range of development experiences within the organisation, including coaching, development meetings, project assignments, internal secondments, mentoring and work-based assessment to test and validate skills.

Currently, the HPDS finishes at Chief Inspector rank. Under existing processes, there is no structured career development available to senior talent outside the National Senior Careers Advisory Service (NSCAS). In the new framework, the MPS talent pool will be extended to include senior talent (superintending ranks and Band A / B police staff), offering individuals at this level bespoke career development and career management. Access onto this senior talent pool will be via a new Senior Leadership Development Review, incorporating 360-degree feedback and leadership diagnostics, to identify the best at this level and enable effective succession planning.

Work-based Assessment

Within this framework, questions arise as to the most appropriate ‘development path’ for those identified as talent. A review of our current promotion processes suggest they are not functioning as effectively as they should in getting talent to the top of the organisation. One option is to introduce a work-based assessment pathway to Superintendent, which would allow our most talented individuals to achieve rapid promotion, but demonstrate through rigorous on-the-job scrutiny and assessment that they have the right balance of operational, strategic and managerial skills to support the future leadership needs of the organisation. This would effectively allow the organisation to realize the Commissioner’s Vision of enabling our best talent to reach Superintendent rank with 8-9 yrs service.

Work-based assessment to Superintendent would only be introduced for members of the talent pool and the positive action strands. Officers outside the talent pool would continue to progress through the mainstream promotion processes (i.e. the process would affect 120 or so officers as opposed to the 2,500-3,500 officers taking part in the mainstream promotion processes).

Robust assessment processes within the talent pool would be used to identify those Inspectors and Chief Inspectors who are suitable for promotion. Those officers identified as suitable would be temporarily promoted at the higher rank (Chief Inspector or Superintendent) and rigorously assessed in the workplace over a period of 6 months, to test and prove their competence. Only those officers who demonstrated that they met the relevant standard would be substantively promoted, those found to be unsuitable would revert to their former substantive rank.

Such a process would enable the MPS to better monitor the effectiveness and capability of its talent pool through scrutiny at each rank, and give greater confidence in the pool of talent the organisation has at Chief Inspector and Superintendent level.

Positive Action

It has been widely recognised that the MPS needs to do more to ensure that any talent pool is selected to include a diverse and representative group. Data from promotion processes over the last twelve months highlight a number of progression issues amongst BMEs, with only seven BME officers promoted to the rank of Sergeant and no BME officers selected for promotion at Chief Inspector rank and above. Only two BME officers have applied for the High Potential Development Scheme (HPDS) over the last two years, neither of these individuals proving successful in their application. This would suggest our current promotion and talent spotting processes are failing to support the progression of BME officers.

The talent framework includes a programme (Equip to Achieve) to develop our brightest and best BME officers to level the playing field and ensure we have a more representative pipeline of talent across the organisation. The Equip to Achieve programme will target BME Constables, Sergeants, Inspectors and Chief Inspectors. The overarching objective is to develop effective leaders and managers from minority groups, currently under-represented in the leadership and management levels of the MPS. Under the talent management strategy, the Equip to Achieve programme will be one of the places we look for potential candidates to apply for the talent pool and, ultimately, move onto the work-based assessment pathway for promotion to Superintendent.

Officers on the programme will benefit from intensive two-day development sessions based around core personal development and leadership modules; 1-2-1 coaching; mentoring; feedback and learning events. The programme will be explicitly linked to the MPS talent pool, with each Equip to Achieve participant mentored by a high potential officer to enable them to develop more understanding of what it takes to be successful as a member of the talent pool. The programme will also be accredited, with each participant expected to complete a Certificate in Leadership Development.

Such an approach will enable the MPS to take positive action to address current promotion and progression issues, but within the constraints of the legal framework.

Consultation

Organisational feedback has been sought on both the positive action strategy and the work-based assessment promotion pathway through a structured consultation process. Feedback was generally good with Business Groups and Staff Associations indicating that the proposals would have a positive effect on the issues highlighted.

Specialist Operations (SO) supported the proposals. Specialist Crime Directorate (SCD), Territorial Policing (TP) and METTUS gave broad support, although highlighted that at some future date they would like to see the Equip to Achieve programme expanded to embrace all the diversity strands and to include police staff.

Both the Leadership Academy and the Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate (DCFD) indicated that they would like to work in closer partnership with the Career Management Unit (CMU) to support positive action initiatives, such as Equip to Achieve. However, DCFD identified that their capacity to work with HR in these terms is limited, rather their role is to provide advice on diversity and equality issues at a strategic level.

The British Association for Women in Policing (BAWP), the Ibero-American Association, the MPS Chinese and SE Asian Staff Association and the Association of Muslim Police all offered their support to the proposals. The latter did, however, stress the importance of the programme developing credibility over time by proving successful in getting BME officers promoted. The MPS Chinese and SE Asian Staff Association also made it clear that the positive action strategy needed to be carefully marketed and positioned corporately to ensure the majority workforce did not feel alienated or resentful. This was a theme that was picked up by the Superintendents’ Association. No feedback was received from the other Staff Associations, although a series of meetings are planned at the beginning of February 2008 to ensure their engagement in the strategy.

The Federation returned no feedback, although the Superintendents’ Association did respond at some length. In principle, the Superintendents’ Association support the introduction of positive action programmes. Some of their feedback is already taken account of in the proposals, for instance the need to incorporate wider national developments when designing the strategy, the need to gather the views of DCFD on the proposal, and the requirement that any candidates progressing through positive action programmes meet national minimum standards. They also flagged up that there has to be proper governance of the schemes proposed and proper risk analysis undertaken; this risk analysis should provide for safeguards to ensure that we avoid fast-tracking unsuitable candidates through the promotion system. They also highlighted that the timescales for the launch of the Equip to Achieve programme appear unrealistic, particularly if we are to communicate and market the proposals in a way that secures widespread support.

With respect to the work-based assessment, the Superintendents’ Association remain unconvinced that the introduction of alternative promotion processes outside the existing corporate processes represents the right way forward. There was some concern expressed at the reliance on work-based assessment to Superintendent within the framework and the assumption that the work-based assessment trial at Chief Inspector level would prove a success.

Additionally, the Superintendents’ Association felt the proposals might become the subject of legal challenge in future. Specifically, they were concerned that Equip to Achieve participants would gain automatic access to the HPDS and/or work-based assessment to Superintendent. In fact, Equip to Achieve participants will still need to pass the national assessment centre for HPDS or any in-force selection processes, which are open to any MPS candidates evidencing the requisite potential. The papers were also circulated to the Directorate of Legal Services (DLS) for their views and they have indicated that the proposals fall within the legal constructs of section 38 of the Race Relations Act 1976.

The Way Forward

Given the broad organisation support following consultation, it is suggested that the proposals in this paper are taken forward as a blueprint for the future management and progression of talent within the MPS.

In this area, the MPS has the potential to break new ground and accordingly will be subject to national scrutiny. To ensure the effective implementation and management of the processes described, there is a clear requirement for sufficient resources and staff to be made available. At present, there is no one agreed department that holds accountability for talent management and there is no adequate resourcing provision for this area. The Career Development Team within the Career Management Unit, a team of four individuals, is largely driving the current work around talent management. The staffing level of this team is inadequate to deal effectively with current talent programmes (HPDS, IDP and senior career development), let alone the development and delivery of the expanded framework detailed in this paper. In any event, there is no provision within the Transforming HR (THR) model for any dedicated resources to support talent management processes in the future (be they current or proposed talent processes).

There is a clear business need to allocate specific resources to this area within the THR model to ensure that talent management and positive action strategies can be delivered effectively. As one of the Corporate Priorities for 2008 and given its strategic focus, it is proposed that this team would fit better within the Strategic Centre under THR, rather than Expert Services. The Talent Management Unit will be setting the organisational strategy and framework for this area for the MPS, cutting across all Business Groups, and with heavy links to external organisations, such as the NPIA, MPA and HMIC. Decisions made on behalf of the MPS around positive action and extended work-based assessment will be scrutinised closely by other police forces and agencies, and it is likely any MPS work on senior talent management will have national repercussions. Reporting this team into the Deputy Director of Human Resources in the Strategic Centre will underline its strategic importance and ensure a lead of sufficient stature to drive the work forward and maintain momentum.

HR and Management Board are invited to agree the above as a basis for implementing the proposals described. Specifically, approval is sought for the following:

• That the above talent management framework should be introduced to ensure we are identifying, developing and deploying talent effectively across the organisation
• That the Strategic HR Advisors under the transformed HR model are designated leads for succession planning and talent management within their Business Groups to enable implementation of the talent management framework
• That a Talent Management Unit should be formed within HR Directorate with appropriate resources made available to enable the MPS to scope, deliver and review the talent management framework
• That the work-based assessment pathway to Superintendent is piloted on existing HPDS officers and evaluated, prior to full rollout across the talent pool
• That the positive action Equip to Achieve programme is launched by HR Directorate in Spring 2008 to target BME officers with the highest potential

Appendix 2

Members of the independent police promotions scrutiny group
Member	Organisation
Azad Ali	President of Civil Service Islamic Society
Peter Beeby	Chief Operating Officer, Prospectus Recruiting
Alison Bennett	Co-ordinator for Westminster Befriend a Family Project
Peter Ford	Various Non Executive Directorships
Bonita Hopkins	Lead Consultant, Gainsborough Training
Sally Humphreys	Ops Director and Head of Partnerships for New West End Company
Richard Krishnan	Vice President, KPMG
Elizabeth Manning	London Crimestoppers Manager
John Norman	Head of Contingency Planning, BAA plc
Richard Reid	Chairman KPMG, London
Ellis Rich	Chair of Performing Rights Society
Michael Rooney	Chief Operating Officer, London First
Alan Shaw	Group Secretary, Chelsea Football Club
Tony Shepherd	Chief Executive, Safer London Foundation
John Silton	Independent Consultant
Maria Veerapen	Regional Project Manager, Citigroup

Table1: Members of the independent police promotions scrutiny group

Appendix 3

Talent Management Framework – Extension of the high potential promotion pathway to Superintendent via work-based assessment - Feedback and comments report

1st April 2008

Purpose:

In January 2008, a draft Strategic Review of Police Promotion Processes within the MPS was circulated to:

• A cross section of ACPO from each Business Group
• Superintendents’ Association
• The Federation
• Career Management Programme Board members
• SAMURAI

Part of this report was dedicated to a new talent management framework, including a proposal to introduce a work-based assessment promotion pathway for High Potential Development Scheme (HPDS) Inspectors and Chief Inspectors. Feedback was requested on the proposals and approach set out in the draft document by 13th February 2008.

This report specifically documents the feedback received on the talent management framework.

Feedback:

The feedback received has been collated under a number of headings. Overall, there was broad support for the introduction of a work-based assessment promotion pathway for HPDS officers, with an acknowledgement that it is appropriate for those selected for promotion to perform and prove themselves in the higher rank before being substantively promoted. Specifically, there was support for such a process for HPDS Inspectors applying for promotion to Chief Inspector. However, there were a number of concerns expressed about the proposed extension of this promotion pathway up to Superintendent.

Talent management

There was support for the development of a broader talent management strategy for the MPS, in particular a “talent pool approach”. Few questioned the need for a talent pool or for the HPDS, suggesting that although there may be some concerns around certain elements of the scheme, the concept of a high potential scheme catering for an elite few is now embedded in the organisation. There was support for a more confident approach to identifying and supporting our best talent, with varied talent pools and routes to senior leadership roles. Linked to this was the need for a clearer definition of what talent is within the context of the MPS.

This suggests that the work currently being progressed by the Career Management Unit to develop a talent management framework for the MPS is timely. Once resources are made available for delivery of the talent management framework, there is a clear need to develop appropriate underpinning strategies and implementation plans in consultation with key Business Groups and stakeholders.

Business case for extending the promotion pathway to Superintendent

Within the feedback received, there was a clear request for clarity around the business case for extending the HPDS promotion pathway up to Superintendent. A number of feedback recipients expressed concern around the whole concept of “fast-tracking” HPDS, with a clear consensus that if HPDS officers represent the best talent that the organisation has, they should be successful in the corporate Superintendent process. There was a strong view that developing officers to progress to Superintendent rank with 8-9 years service, in line with the Commissioner’s vision, was too quick and could potentially pose a significant risk to the organisation.

Clearly, if we proceed with the extension of the HPDS promotion pathway up to Superintendent, there is a need to fully articulate the business case behind this. This should reference the following:

• The need to develop talent pools to embrace all under-represented groups participating in promotion and selection processes and develop tailored positive action initiatives to address progression issues, as part of a work-based assessment route to Superintendent
• Concerns expressed by the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) about the calibre and diversity of applicants coming forward for Senior PNAC, with the suggestion that our current corporate promotion processes may not be facilitating the progression of the best talent up the organisation
• The so-called “War for Talent”, with predicted skills shortages across the UK job market by 2010, the prospect of a “dearth” of talent and fiercer competition with private sector companies who offer higher salaries, all affecting the ability of the police service to attract in the best recruits. If we are to compete in such a climate, the MPS will need to develop an attractive offering for graduates, which will enable them to progress their careers quickly, at the same time as facilitating the development of the requisite operational competence
• The importance of establishing a viable alternative if we are to avert the introduction of direct entry into the police service at higher levels
• The national imperative to introduce talent management processes which will identify and nurture the best talent for future ACPO positions. The aim of the revised HPDS is to develop a smaller pool of elite scheme members for ACPO, unlike the former scheme which developed officers for Superintendent rank
• The benefits of a more “joined-up” approach to talent management, facilitating the progression of HPDS officers to Superintendent, where they can then apply for the National Senior Careers Advisory Service (NSCAS) Level 2 and begin their preparation for Senior PNAC
• The fact that the corporate Superintendent promotion process is a generic test of competence at that rank and does not always meet broader organisational need, for example, it does not always support succession planning within certain specialist OCUs. Given the more directive career management of HPDS officers, they can be explicitly developed to benefit the organisation in this way

Work-based assessment process

Overall, there was support for the introduction of work-based assessment, certainly at the Inspector to Chief Inspector level. There was, however, some confusion around how the process itself would work, with some feedback recipients assuming that line managers would undertake the assessing and expressing concerns that they would not be robust enough if their officer did not meet the required standards. There was also some scepticism around the rigour of work-based assessment in general. One feedback recipient explicitly asked for further information on how the work-based assessment would be structured; another questioned if there would be an appropriate underpinning assessor infrastructure to support this.

It is evident from these responses that there is a degree of support for work-based assessment, but that this could be increased by more pro-active communication around the process. It is proposed that independent assessors from the Career Management Unit will assess HPDS officers on work-based assessment. Provision will need to be made for these assessors under THR and ideally they should be of the same rank as that aspired to by the officer being assessed, i.e. a Superintendent assessor should assess an HPDS officer seeking promotion from Chief Inspector to Superintendent.

Calibre of individuals on the HPDS

Amongst the feedback, there was a call for more rigour in removing officers from the HPDS. A number of feedback recipients could cite officers who they felt should be removed from the scheme and could also reference other non-HPDS officers who they felt were more competent, particularly in an operational arena. A few felt that too much emphasis was placed on academic success for HPDS officers, rather than operational competence.

If we are to introduce a credible work-based assessment pathway up to Superintendent, these concerns will need to be addressed. There needs to be confidence that the pool we are selecting from for the work-based assessment truly represents the best talent within the MPS. Reviews of each rank on the HPDS are in progress, with a number already removed. These reviews should continue, with HPDS officers signing up to increased scrutiny of their performance, if they are to benefit from an extended promotion pathway.

Issues of fairness were raised as part of the consultation feedback, with some concern this would impact on the morale of mainstream officers applying for promotion to Superintendent. With the revised HPDS now only open to officers at constable and sergeant rank, there needs to be opportunities for officers at inspecting ranks to apply for the internal talent pool. These processes will need to be scoped within the talent management strategy work.

More broadly, the feedback suggests that the HPDS needs to be marketed more effectively across the MPS to negate some of the perceptions surrounding scheme members. Over the last 18 months, HPDS officers have been pushed to maintain and evidence their skills across a spectrum of operational, managerial and strategic competencies, and are no longer permitted to languish in “risk averse” strategic roles. A rigorous “gateway” to access the work-based assessment has been scoped, including a requirement for a recommendation from their OCU Commander; a face-to-face competency-based assessment with two trained assessors; followed by a further panel interview with three senior police officers, at which their OCU Commander is also asked to give their view on the individual. Communicating this plan more actively may assuage some of the concerns expressed by feedback recipients.

Conclusions:

There is clearly a great deal of interest in the proposed extension of the promotion pathway up to Superintendent, with mixed views held by feedback recipients. A number were not clear about the rationale for extending the promotion pathway or the practicalities of the process. The request for greater clarity regarding issues raised will need to be recognised and addressed. Specifically, the following is recommended:

1. Resources must be made available for the further development of the talent management work, specifically the requirement to work with Business Groups to develop talent pools to meet their succession planning needs
2. The business case for extending the promotion pathway for HPDS officers up to Superintendent needs to be clearly documented and communicated
3. It is suggested that a trial of the process is initiated, before any bid for full roll-out across the scheme, to enable the process to be tested and refined, including the duration of the assessment period, the underpinning assessor resource requirement and the standards to be achieved
4. The review of the HPDS members should continue on an annual basis, including the use of independent Superintendents and Chief Superintendents from across the organisation to develop greater confidence in the calibre of the HPDS pool
5. More rigour must be exercised with all scheme members, including the provision of more directive career management, with the clear threat that scheme members will be removed from the scheme unless they perform
6. Selection and assessment processes should be scoped, so that officers at all ranks can access the internal talent pool and need not just come from the former HPDS
7. Appropriate communication channels should be established to ensure that developments on the HPDS are clearly and quickly communicated to all stakeholders to secure broader organisation support

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