New Leadership Standards Are ‘Much Needed’

THE College of Policing’s new leadership standards are much-needed, but they’ll make no difference if there isn’t the time and resources to implement them, Hampshire Police Federation has said.

The College has published new leadership standards for police officers, staff and volunteers, setting out the knowledge, understanding, skills and behaviour expected of effective leaders.

Hampshire Police Federation Chair Zoë Wakefield said: “A lot of what it says is good, and it could definitely reduce what I call the ‘line manager lottery’, so that we’ve got more consistent leadership, of a higher standard, throughout forces.

“But that depends on whether any of it will actually happen or if it will just be another document that the College has produced. To introduce any of these things takes time and resources, which we just don’t have.”

More support and guidance for new policing leaders was “much needed”, said Zoë.

She said: “We’ve got lots of people who are getting promoted, and then given very little guidance or training on how to be a manager or leader. They’re just left to get on with it because that time isn’t being invested in them.

“That’s where a lot of mistakes happen, and it has an impact on all the other people around them. If these leadership standards were brought in and adhered to, it would massively reduce the amount of work the Federation does.

“So much of our work is people saying: ‘My manager has said this. My manager has done this. My manager’s told me I’ve got to do this’. And we say: ‘No, he can’t do. That’s wrong. Right, I’ll speak to him’. If we had more consistent leadership, of a higher standard, it would be great. But I can’t see it happening soon.”