The development of MPS values and behaviours

Report: 10
Date: 3 February 2006
By: Commissioner

Summary

The purpose of this report is to provide members with an overview of the process taken to develop the MPS Values and underpinning behaviours.

A. Recommendations

That Members note the contents of this report

B. Supporting information

Background

1. The Corporate Strategy 2006-2009, including the refreshed MPS values, will be presented for formal approval at the MPA full Authority meeting on 23 February 2006. The Corporate Strategy sets out a clear strategic direction for the MPS, driven by the goals of improved quality of policing and performance. At the heart of this are the MPS values that underpin the cultural change the MPS needs to make to deliver its Corporate Strategy. Behavioural change is critical to the modernisation of the MPS and enabling us to achieve enhanced levels of performance and service.

2. The MPS values and behaviours have been developed through consultation with approximately 5500 MPS staff and other key stakeholders. These behaviours will show our citizens, partners and colleagues how we expect the values to be ‘lived’ in our day-to-day activity. The values and behaviours will apply equally to everyone within the organisation irrespective of role or status.

3. The MPS values and behaviours will be presented to Management Board on 31 January 2006. The Commissioner will officially launch the new values at the ‘Met Get Together’ on 7 February 2006.

Overview of Development Process

Stage: 10kv sessions

Focusing on:

• What does success look like?
• What values are important to achieving this?
• What behaviours would support these values?

Consultation

• MB
• Business Groups
• Service Review Team
• Commissioner’s Focus Group
• SAMURAI
• MPA
• Together Interest Groups
• Academic input from Dr Andreas Liefooghe (Birkbeck College, University of London)

Key findings/outcomes

Emerging values:

• We will commit to open and honest dialogue
• We must have pride in what we do and build on opportunities to learn
• We are all leaders and believe that leadership must be modelled and supported
• We believe success is how the public perceive us - every contact leaves a trace
• We will value each other and recognise that we all contribute to the same goal
• We all have a part to play in making this happen

Existing cultural tensions:

• Personal agendas/career aspirations and silo working vs team working
• ‘Just rhetoric’ vs ‘walking the talk’
• Quick wins and reactive response vs long term solutions and strategic thinking
• Performance vs people and citizen focus
• Police officer vs police staff (e.g. ‘we only value police officers’)
• Politics and media driving our response
• Transformational leadership vs existing culture

Stage: Intranet consultation (Part 1)

Focusing on:

• Relevance of values to MPS mission?
• Personal importance of values?
• Extent to which the values are currently lived within the MPS?
• Anything missed?

Consultation

• MPS
• 2062 responses received (equating to 4.4% of a 47,000 workforce)

Key findings/outcomes

• The majority of respondents agreed that each of the emerging values was relevant to our mission
• The majority of respondents agreed that each of the emerging values was important to them as individuals
• A notable proportion of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that the values are currently being lived within the MPS

Stage: Input from external communications consultancy

Consultation

The Team

Key findings/outcomes

Refinement of value statements by the Together team. We are all leaders and believe that leadership must be modelled and supported removed (viewed as an outcome of values) & We all have a part to play in making this happen removed (considered a statement rather than a value)

Resulting value statement:

Working together with all our citizens; all our partners;

• all our colleagues, we will:
• Have pride in delivering quality policing - there is no greater priority
• Build trust by listening and responding
• Respect and support each other - work as a team
• Learn from experience and find ways to be even better

We are one Team Met - we all have a duty to play our part in making London safer

Stage: Values approved

Consultation

• MB (5 Sept 2005)
• MPA (29 Sept 2005)

Key findings/outcomes

Values integrated within MPS Corporate Strategy 2006-2009

Stage: Service conference (27/9/05)

• Presentation of strategy, Values & cultural challenges
• 10kv focusing on how we can achieve value driven service delivery

Consultation

Senior MPS managers, MPA & staff association representatives

Key findings/outcomes

Emerging themes:

• The need to take personal responsibility
• Communication
• Performance through delivering a quality service
• Allocation of resources to service delivery
• The need to change the internal culture to impact on external performance
• The need to bring processes and structures in line with our values

Stage: Draft development of supporting behaviours

Key findings/outcomes

Identification of underpinning behaviours (both positive and negative) for each value derived from 10kv sessions, intranet consultation (Part 1) and Service Conference data

Stage: Intranet Consultation (part 2)

Focusing on:

• Relevance of behaviours to MPS mission?
• Personal importance of behaviours?
• Extent to which positive and negative behaviours are currently lived within the MPS?
• Need for both positive and negative behaviours?
• What symbols and practices would we need to change in support of these values?

Consultation

MPS: 3161 responses received (equating to 6.7% of a 47,000 workforce) (31,000 people received an e-mail inviting them to complete the questionnaire. With this sample size our response rate equates to 10%)

Key findings/outcomes

Emerging themes:

• Majority of respondents 'strongly agreed' / 'agreed' the values were clear and understandable
• When asked whether the positive behaviours were currently lived within the MPS the majority response was consistently 'to some extent'.
• When asked whether the negative behaviours were currently lived within the MPS the majority response was consistently 'to some extent'
• The overwhelming majority indicated that upholding these standards of behaviour was 'very important'/'important' to them.
• The majority indicated that upholding these standards of behaviour is 'very important'/'important' to achieving our goal of making London safer.
• Majority indicated it was 'very important'/'important' to have both positive and negative behaviours
• Strong dislike of the term Team Met
• Need for plain English and avoidance of vague management speak ('silo working', 'breathing space' specifically mentioned)
• Concern that there are currently too many behaviours
• In terms of support, the data shows that many have already noticed changes for the better and there is a desire to work as a team and focus on quality
• Key tensions that people perceive will get in the way of living the values:
  • The existing blame culture - bullying tactics, threatening behaviour, staff are afraid to be honest or try something new due to fear of reprisal or punishment
  • The focus and pressure around (often unrealistic) targets is preventing staff delivering quality
  • The need for effective leadership - senior managers seen as out of touch, not leading by example, driven by personal agendas and leaving inappropriate behaviour and performance unchallenged
  • Police officer / police staff divide - specifically mentioned the undervaluing of PCSOs

Stage: Finalisation of behaviours

Consultation

• Campaign for Plain English
• MPA
• Management Board
• HR Board
• SAMURAI
• Purple Group (via DCC4)
• Citizen Focus
• Diversity
• Legal Services
• Professional Standards
• Police Staff Misconduct

Key findings/outcomes

Working with data from Intranet consultation exercises and all other groups consulted the values and behaviours were finalised in line with feedback received.

Working together with all our citizens, all our partners and all our colleagues:

We will be proud to deliver quality policing. There is no greater priority.
Put the needs of individuals and communities first. Be helpful and attentive. Make the best use of our resources.

We will:

• understand and respond to the needs of the people and communities we serve;
• balance the requirement to meet targets with the public’s expectation of quality service in every situation;
• use the resources we have available, including our own time, in the most productive way;
• make time to get the little things right;
• suggest improvements in services that will make a difference; and
• lead by example.

We will not:

• forget that quality is a vital part of our performance;
• overlook the importance of routine work; or
• forget that we are here to serve.

We will build trust by listening and responding.
Be accessible and approachable. Build relationships. Encourage others to challenge and get involved.

We will:

• think about how our actions affect others;
• provide opportunities for others to get involved;
• be ‘visible’ so we are seen to be accessible;
• make sure all staff feel comfortable in expressing themselves without fear;
• encourage constructive feedback;
• communicate (face-to-face where possible);
• explain what is happening and use practical examples that everyone can understand;
• give consistent messages – our actions must match our words; and
• act with integrity - be honest and tell it how it is.

We will not:

• see time spent building relationships with others as pointless; or
• use behaviour which others could interpret as intimidating, bullying or lacking in integrity.

We will respect and support each other and work as a team.
Work to bring people together. Trust and value the contribution everyone makes.

We will:

• work across boundaries - bringing different groups together;
• challenge inappropriate behaviour and actions consistently and fairly;
• make sure that everyone knows what is expected of them;
• trust our colleagues to do their jobs properly;
• support each other when making difficult decisions;
• acknowledge and value each other’s contribution;
• respect difference;
• respect the needs of others; and
• treat our colleagues as we want them to treat the public and our partners.

We will not:

• see self-interest as more important than working together;
• put our business group or unit first, and the MPS second;
• ignore inappropriate behaviour or poor performance;
• judge a person’s contribution only on the basis of seniority or status; or
• value police officers and police staff differently.

We will learn from experience and find ways to be even better.
Be prepared to do things differently. Challenge how we work, share experiences and ideas.

We will:

• allow staff the freedom to take considered risks;
• take time to learn from our mistakes;
• encourage creative thinking about new ways of doing things;
• question why we do some things and be open to change;
• share ideas;
• capture what works well and what does not and change as a result;
• invest time and resources in developing future talent; and
• take personal responsibility for change and not just look to others to make things different.

We will not:

• rush to judge when mistakes are made;
• react only to symptoms and not deal with the causes behind them;
• be reluctant to take personal responsibility; or
• withhold information that could help others.

Together: Next Steps

Within the context of the MPS Modernisation Programme

Planned deliverables for Financial Year 2006/2007 (subject to funding):

• MPS values and supporting behaviours
  • Further development of MPS values and supporting behaviours
  • Development of values based 360-feedback tool
• Creation of an MPS Leadership Academy
  • Development of MPS Leadership Pathway
  • Design and delivery of leadership foundation training (1st and 2nd line supervisors)
  • Development of Hydra Operations and operational research capability
  • Creation of a web based learning portal
  • Workplace (OCU level) leadership development
  • Development of coaching within the MPS
  • Development of action learning within the MPS
  • CLP delivery and evaluation
  • SLDP / CLDP delivery
• Values integration into existing MPS management processes
  • Values integration within the policy development framework
  • Values driven selection

C. Race and equality impact

Together is about making the MPS an organisation where all individuals, regardless of the role they play or their personal background, feel valued as part of the collective team. Together will work to build an organisation where all staff feel well treated, respected and invested in so that they feel able and supported in achieving their full potential. The MPS values presented in this report will be at the heart of this driving not only how we behave internally but also how we behave when working with our partners and citizens.

Representatives from the Diversity and Citizen Focus teams have been closely involved in the development of the MPS values and underpinning behaviours to ensure a consistent approach, for example, with the development of the MPS Diversity Strategy.

D. Financial implications

Members have requested information on:

• The cost of developing the values and behaviours and whether there was a budget to meet these costs
• Costs for the development of the values and behaviours were primarily staff costs in the region of £15,000. This amount was absorbed into this year's budget and excludes the minimal amount of staff abstraction time on questionnaires, focus groups, Service Conference and 10kv sessions.
• Costs associated with embedding the values and behaviours throughout the organisation and whether there is a budget available to meet the costs

Together has submitted a growth bid of £2.5M. The MPS Investment Board has approved £1M and the rest is to be secured by negotiations with other Directorates. Leadership has been identified as the primary means of delivering cultural change and embedding the values will come about via many of the Leadership Academy products such as Foundation Leadership Modules, the Commissioner's Leadership Programme (CLP), developing management processes and workplace (OCU level) leadership development programmes. The growth bid has taken account of these costs.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Bill Griffiths, Director of Leadership Development

For more information contact:

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

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