1Introduction
In February 2011 a survey was conducted with staff across Northamptonshire Police to understand current perceptions about the culture and working for the organisation.This report summarises the 1,598 responses to the survey questions in relation to the five key themes for the Force, highlighting differences between staff groups where appropriate.
Participation by role and Command can be seen in tables 1 and 2:
Table 1: Staff survey responses by Role
Role / Responses / Response ratePolice Officer / 805 / 58.8%
PCSO / 103 / 60.9%
Police Staff / 636 / 47.5%
Special Constabulary / 29 / 11.6%
Table 2: Staff survey responses by Command Unit
Command / Responses / Response rateCrime and Justice Command / 458 / 45.3%
Territorial Command / 831 / 49.2%
Organisational Support / 229 / 49.1%
Prefer not to say / 80 / unknown
2Executive Summary
2.1Trust and Confidence
2.1.1The majority of respondents were positive about the extent to which the police were dealing with the things that matter to our communities, and this matched public confidence levels.
2.1.2The majority of respondents described the force as effective in delivering against the trust and confidence agenda, and felt that their role was shaped by this, and were aligned to ‘putting communities first’. PCSOs were particularly positive in relation to these elements.
2.1.3However, respondents were less confident that the processes and systems in the Force allowed them to provide a quality service to victims; this appeared to be a particular frustration for officers. This reflects similar findings to the cultural survey (2008).
2.2Streamlining Performance
2.2.1Perceptions and understanding of how roles, teams and performance are linked to the key themes and contribute to the force’s achievements were very positive. However, there was less consensus across respondents in relation to teams and departments working towards a common goal and sharing credit for successes.
2.2.2There were significant differences between roles and understanding of the functions of various organisations, as may be expected PCSOs were more aware of the Borough and County Councils functions than organisations such as Probation, the Youth Offending Service and the Courts, whilst police officers showed the opposite. This lack of understanding across departments and partner agencies suggests an absence of the ‘Team Northamptonshire’ ethos.
2.2.3There appeared to be a lack of line management and Force recognition and reward for good work. This may increasingly present a challenge in the context of ICAN review processes, which have impacted on individuals’ sense of feeling valued by the organisation.
2.2.4Comments from staff also suggest there is a need for better performance management, particularly in terms of challenging poor performance.
2.3Discretion and Professional Judgement
2.3.1PCSOs were significantly more likely to agree that staff were allowed to use discretion when dealing with citizens requests compared to police officers and staff, and were significantly more confident in acting on their initiative.
2.3.2Less than half of all respondents felt supported when a genuine mistake was made, in particular police officers were significantly less likely to agree with this compared to PCSOs.
2.3.3The majority of staff, particularly police officers, disagreed that senior leaders involve staff in important decisions.
2.3.4Staff demonstrated a desire to make greater use of their talents, and to be able to use their knowledge and expertise in shaping the Force, particularly in the context of current business change.
2.4Improving Communication
2.4.1The vast majority of respondents stated that the force is effective in improving communication and in providing information about changes to the force, the need for organisational change and relevant information to help employees do their jobs effectively.
2.4.2Fewer respondents felt that the force provides enough information on issues that affected them personally or financial matters. It is possible that this is a reflection of staff desire to understand more about the ICAN process and its potential impacts on them for the future.
2.4.3The methods, timings and detail of communications that staff want varied greatly, but consistently demonstrated a desire for the right information to be ‘presented’ to them, rather than reflecting a personal responsibility to seek out the information from available sources. This may be a reflection on how ‘transparent’ the organisation is perceived to be.
2.5Reducing Bureaucracy
2.5.1Respondents felt the Force was least effective in delivering the key theme of reducing bureaucracy.
2.5.2Although there were relatively positive perceptions of how the Force offered value for money; perceptions of the effectiveness of Force systems were poor. This disjoint possibly highlights a lack of appreciation or understanding of how inefficient processes might result in greater costs to the Force.
3Analysis
3.1Trust and Confidence
Overall, 87.7% of respondents stated that the force is ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ effective in delivering against the trust and confidence agenda (see figure 1). PCSOs were more likely to state that the force is ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ effective in delivering against the trust and confidence agenda at 93.2%, however police officers and police staff were not markedly lower at 87.8% and 87.1% respectively.
Overall, 77.4% of respondents ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ agree that the force is dealing with the things that matter to people in the community (see figure 2). Again, PCSOs were more likely to ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ agree, 89.3%, compared to police officers and staff, both at 76.4%.
Overall, 77.9% ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ agree with the above statement, whilst 9.7% ‘neither agree nor disagree’ and 12.4% ‘slightly’ or ‘strongly’ disagree (see figure 3). Again, police officers were most likely to disagree with this statement; 13.5% compared to 12.1% of police staff and 5.8% of PCSOs.
46.4% ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ agree with the above statement, 21.7% ‘neither agree nor disagree’ and almost one third, 31.8%, ‘slightly’ or ‘strongly’ disagree (see figure 4). Police officers and police staff were most likely to disagree with the statement, 33.5% and 31.9% respectively, whilst a markedly lower percentage of PCSOs disagreed, at 20.4%. 7.1% (57) of police officers strongly disagreed with this statement.
One third of all respondents stated that they ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ agree with this statement, one quarter ‘neither agree nor disagree’ and 40.4% ‘slightly’ or ‘strongly’ disagree (see figure 5). PCSO’s were most likely to agree with the statement; 49.5% compared to 36.0% of police staff and 29.7% of police officers. 10.6% (85) of police officers strongly disagreed with this statement, compared to 6.3% (40) of police staff and 1.9% (2) of PCSOs.
3.2Streamlining Performance
Two thirds of all respondents, 67.9%, described the force as ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ effective in streamlining performance (see figure 6). Three quarters, 74.8%, of PCSOs stated ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ effective compared to 70.1% of police staff and 65.6% of police officers.
According to figure 7, the vast majority of respondents stated that the key themes ‘fully’ or ‘partly’ shape the way in which their team operate (91.7%), and that their role contributes to the Force vision of putting communities first (91.4%). For both statements, PCSOs were less likely to state ‘not at all’ than police staff or police officers.
The responses to the above statement were very positive, with the majority stating ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ agree (see figure 8). Of the 14 respondents who stated ‘strongly’ disagree, 12 were police staff and 2 were police officers.
Just over two thirds of respondents agreed that they understood how their role supports/links with other team and departments within their own command (69.4%) and across the rest of the Force (67.6%). PCSOs were most likely to agree with both statements.
57.3% of all respondents ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ agreed with the above statement (see figure 10). Police officers were most likely to disagree with this statement, 30.8% compared to 22.6% of police staff and 9.7% of PCSOs.
Only around a third of respondents agreed with either of the statements above about working with other departments (see figure 11). Police officers were significantly more likely to disagree with both statements compared to both police staff and PCSOs.
The proportion of respondents who ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ agreed with the above statements was relatively consistent (see figure 12), suggesting a reasonable balance in the way good performance is assessed.
Less than half of respondents agreed that the Force recognise good work, with over a third disagreeing with this statement (see figure 13). Although three quarters of all respondents ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ agreed that their line manager thanks them for a job well done, this was significantly lower in comparison to the Staff Opinion Survey undertaken in 2007, where 83.8% of respondents agreed with this statement.
Only around a third of respondents agreed with the above statement (see figure 14). The result for this question has significantly reduced compared to the Staff Opinion Survey in 2007, whereby 57.9% agreed with the above statement, showing a drop of 20.6%. PCSOs were most likely to agree; 47.6% compared to 37.3% of police officers and 35.5% of police staff.
3.3
3.4Discretion and Professional Judgement
Three quarters of respondents described the force as ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ effective in delivering the discretion and professional judgement agenda (see figure 15). PCSOs were most likely to respond positively, 89.3% compared to 79.4% of police staff and 71.3% of police officers. The vast majority of the remaining responses were ‘not very effective’, however 5.1% of police officers stated ‘not at all effective’ compared to 3.3% of police staff and 0% of PCSOs.
Overall, 68.0% of respondents stated that they ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ agree with the above statement (see figure 16). PCSOs were most likely to neither agree nor disagree, 15.5%, compared to 10.1% of police officers and 8.8% of police staff. Police staff were most likely to ‘strongly’ agree; 26.3% compared to 20.6% of police officers and 16.5% of PCSOs.
Over two thirds of respondents ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ agreed with the above statement (see figure 17). Police officers and PCSOs were most likely to agree with this statement; 70.1% and 76.7% respectively, whilst 66.8% of police staff agreed. 6% (38) of police staff ‘strongly’ disagreed with the statement, compared to 2.1% (17) of police officers and 1.9% (2) of PCSOs.
59.9% of all respondents ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ agreed with the above statement (see figure 18). PCSOs were significantly more likely to agree; 77.7% compared to 58.9% of police officers and 57.7% of police staff. Police staff were more likely to neither agree nor disagree; 32.2%, compared to 17.1% of police officers and 14.6% of PCSOs, suggesting that operational roles may have felt more able to answer the question.
Overall, 59.6% of all respondents ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ agreed with the above statement (see figure 19). There were significant differences in responses from each role; 88.3% of PCSOs agreed with the statement compared to 63.7% of police staff and 52.5% of police officers.
Less than half of all respondents ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ agreed with the above statement (see figure 20). Significant differences can be seen in the responses between roles; 55.3% of PCSOs and 52.2% of police staff agreed compared to a significantly fewer 39.8% of police officers.
Agreement with the above statement was significantly lower than the other statements under the discretion and professional judgement theme (see figure 21). Agreement fluctuates significantly based on role type; 46.6% of PCSOs agreed with the statement compared to 39.5% of police staff and 33.9% of police officers. Almost one quarter of police officers ‘strongly’ disagreed with this statement; 23.9%, compared to 18.1% of police staff and 8.7% of PCSOs.
3.5Improving Communication
72.4% of respondents stated that the force is ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ effective in improving communication (see figure 22).
Three quarters of respondents ‘strongly’ or ‘slightly’ agreed that they get the information needed to do their job effectively (see figure 23). PCSOs were most likely to agree at 84.5% compared to 77.2% of police staff and 74.0% of police officers.
Fewer respondents (64.1%) agree that they get enough information on the issues that affect them (see figure 23). Again, PCSOs were significantly more likely to agree; 76.7% compared to 64.3% of police staff and 62.4% of police officers.
Figure 24: How helpful do you find the following in helping keep you informed about the Force:
Resource / % ‘Very/fairly helpful’Chief Officer blog / 69.8%
Email / 80.4%
Updates from Line Manager / 81.2%
Force Orders / 89.4%
Intranet / 90.0%
Police staff were most likely to find the Chief Officer blogs helpful; 75.3% compared to 68.9% of PCSOs and 65.6% of police officers. PCSOs and police staff were more likely to find emails helpful; 88.3% and 84.1% compared to 76.1% of police officers. PCSOs were also more likely to find updates from line managers helpful, 91.3% compared to 81.4% of police officers and 79.4% of police staff. There was little difference in perceptions of Force Orders and Intranet as helpful across roles.
Just over two thirds of respondents stated that the force was ‘very good’ or ‘good’ at keeping employees informed about changes to the way the force is run and about why organisational change is needed (see figure 24). Perceptions were significantly lower in relation to financial matters (55.8%); perceptions across areas of information did not vary according to job role.
The results show an improvement in communication compared to the Staff Opinion Survey in 2007, where 51.4% stated that the force was good at keeping employees informed about changes to the way the force is being run, showing an increase of 18.7%.
Figure 25: To what extent do you feel you understand the functions of the following organisations?
Organisation / % ‘Very/fairly well’Probation / 49.7%
Youth Offending Service / 45.3%
Prison Service / 52.7%
Courts Service / 59.1%
Victim Service / 58.4%
Crown Prosecution Service / 64.4%
Legal Services Commission / 13.7%
Local Criminal Justice Board / 18.3%
Local District/Borough Council / 56.0%
County Council / 53.4%
Police officers were approximately 20% more likely to understand the functions of probation (59.1%), YOS (54.8%) and the prison (64.1%), court (70.8%), victim (71.7%) and Crown Prosecution services (82.9%) compared to police staff and PCSOs. Levels of understanding did not differ across job roles in relation to the Legal Services Commission and LCJB, remaining significantly lower than knowledge of other organisations. PCSOs were approximately 20% more likely to understand the functions of the Borough (80.6%) and County Councils (71.8%) compared to police officers and police staff.
Further analysis will be undertaken to identify the variation in understanding of partner organisations for different Departments across the Criminal Justice, Territorial and Organisational Support Commands.
As figure 26 above illustrates, the majority of respondents were positive about the extent to which they shared the values of the Force (87.8%), and felt proud to tell people who they work for (80.1%). PCSOs were most likely to feel proud to tell people who they worked for (91.3%), compared to police staff (81.3%) or police officers (78.9%). Almost all respondents recognised the importance of being a positive and professional representative of the Force in all situations (97.1%).
3.6Reducing Bureaucracy
Less than half of respondents stated that the force is ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ effective in reducing bureaucracy (see figure 27).
Nearly two-thirds of respondents agreed that the force provides value for money (see figure 28); this is slightly higher than public perceptions[1]. Almost one quarter, 23.5%, stated that they neither agreed nor disagreed, suggesting difficulty in understanding, or a lack of opinion on this statement. Over one quarter, 26.2%, of PCSOs ‘strongly’ agreed with the above statement, compared to 16.5% of police staff and 15.0% of police officers.
The qualitative comments made around value for money suggest that there is a need for better performance management, particularly in terms of challenging and removing poor performers. Several comments referred to reducing both ‘middle’ and senior management, temporary higher responsibility roles and general HR and administrative roles.
4Conclusion
5Recommendations
See ‘Issues to consider’ for each section.
Also see ‘Staff Survey Action Plan’.
1
FINAL