Senior PNAC & Senior Police Staff

Assessment Process for the SCCCandidate Briefing Session

25/08/2016

Introduction

The overall intention of this session is to provide prospective

candidates with information about the selection process. It

will include:

• an overview of Senior PNAC/Senior Police Staff

• an update on any changes/developments

• a discussion on preparation activities

• an opportunity to talk through any questions and talk

through myths or rumours

2

Senior Police National Assessment Centre

Aim:

“To identify those who are capable of being an effective chief

officer.”

“This may include highly talented individuals who have some

discrete areas for development.”

3

Senior Police Staff Assessment Process

Aim:

“…to identify those senior police staff who are likely to derive

substantial benefit from the SCC.”

4

Competency and Values Framework for Policing

• Values

• Emotionally Aware

• Take Ownership

• Collaborative

• Deliver Support Inspire

• Analyse Critically

• Innovative and Open Minded

5

Assessment Centre Overview

• Candidate Overview Document (By 3rd October)

• Candidate information letter (approx 4 weeks before the

assessment process starts)

• Ryton from 15th – 25th November

• Three intakes of two/three days for candidates

• Director, Co-Directors and Associate Director

• Four/Five candidates in a group

• Teams of four Assessors

• Service Assessors (Senior Police Officers and

Senior Police Staff)

• External Assessors

6

Exercise Design

7

Horizon Scanning

Stakeholder Consultation

Shadowing Chief Officers

Initial Exercise Writing

Exercise Consultation

Pilot

Exercise Updates & Marking Guide Writing

Legal and EDHR Reviews

Exercise Sign-off

Training Development

Assessment Centre Exercises (2016)

• Management Exercise (2 hours 30 minutes)

• Presentation (50 mins) & Interview (36 mins)

• Partnership Exercise (55 minutes)

• Chief Officer Briefing (2 hours 30 minutes)

• Media Exercise (30 minutes)

8

Not completed

by Police Staff

Management

• Complete number of tasks in written format

• Provided with pack of background information

• Written response on laptop

• Provided with separate keyboard and mouse

• Usual functions of Word available (spell check, etc)

9

Partnership Exercise

• Pack of briefing materials

• 30 minutes to prepare

• Meeting will last 25 minutes

• Meeting with 2 role actors

• Assessors will not take part in meeting, they will just

assess the interactions

10

Chief Officer Briefing

• Briefing pack containing an operational situation that

requires managing within a fictional force

• Number of issues to address

• Present strategy for how you would deal with these issues

• 90 minutes to prepare and produce two page summary of

issues and proposals for assessors

• Further 20 minutes to prepare following this

• 20 minute briefing to assessors followed by 20 minutes

questioning from assessors on your briefing

11

Media Exercise

• Provided with briefing information about a policing incident

which has become the focus of media attention

• 20 minutes to review the situation and prepare for a ‘live’

media interview with a journalist

• Candidates will be in the studio for approx. 10 minutes and

will be assessed for the whole time they are in there

• A different media exercise is used at each intake across

the Assessment Centre

12

Presentation & Interview

Presentation

• Pre-allocated a topic at random

• Presentation topics are reviewed to ensure they are applicable to candidates

from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

• 30 minutes to prepare a presentation to deliver to the assessors

• 10 minutes to deliver this. Following this, the assessors will have 10 minutes

to ask the candidates questions on their presentation

Interview

• Mix of past behavioural and future focused/hypothetical interview questions

• 3 competency areas

• 6 Questions

• 36 minutes in total (approx. 6 minutes per question)

13

Priority Areas (Future Challenges)

Future challenges facing the Police Service over the next 5 years

• Maintaining service delivery during on-going austerity.

• Changing types of crime (e.g. cyber, cross border, population demographics).

• Internal organisational change needed (e.g. structure, service length, low morale, CPD

culture).

• Need for wider and deeper collaboration (e.g. new partners, mergers).

• Effective use of new technologies by the Police.

• Responding to increased scrutiny, accountability, and demands for transparency.

• Increasing influence of the political environment.

• Maintaining public confidence.

• The need to redefine success (e.g. incentive based Govt funding, increased victim

focus).

• Increasing demand beyond just 'cutting crime'.

14

Priority Areas (Qualities)

15

Skills, Abilities and Characteristics needed from Future Leaders

Humility and self professional

development

Open-minded and willing to

challenge existing culture and

practice

Creativity and innovation

Holding a long term, strategic,

vision

Able to lead effective

organisational change

Able to build integrated

strategic partnerships

Internal business and financial

skills

Resilience and positivity

Flexible transformational

leadership skills

Personal integrity and

commitment to public

transparency

Political astuteness

Exercise by Competency Matrix (Senior PNAC)

16

Exercise by Competency Matrix (Police Staff)

17

Assessing Performance: the ORCE Model

18

Observe

and

Record

Classify

Evaluate

Objectively

Using Evidence

Supported by

Examples of

Behaviour

Assessing Performance: Competency Grades

19

Assessing Performance: Exercise Mark

20

Overall Result: Senior PNAC

S* Successful Exceptional, consistently exceeds the level to

demonstrate capability to operate effectively at Chief Officer level.

S Successful, sufficient demonstration of capability to operate

effectively at Chief Officer level. Recommended to attend the

Strategic Command Course.

UE Unsuccessful on this occasion but encouraged to return in the future

having addressed certain developmental needs.

UQ Unsuccessful, question of return left open. Candidate may return in

the future once they have addressed their developmental needs.

21

Overall Result: Senior Staff

S Successful, sufficient demonstration of capability to

derive substantial benefit from the SCC.

Recommended to attend the Strategic Command

Course.

UE Unsuccessful on this occasion but encouraged to

return in the future having addressed certain

developmental needs.

UQ Unsuccessful, question of return left open. Candidate

may return in the future once they have addressed

their developmental needs.

22

Personal Feedback

After the assessment all candidates will receive feedback on

their performance in the form of written feedback reports.

Written feedback reports will include:

• Exercise by Competency Matrix – showing grades and

marks

• Overall Summary – highlighting strengths and areas for

development

• Exercise Specific Feedback – write-up, grades and mark

23

Candidate Preparation

Useful preparation for candidates is to be familiar with the role of a Chief

Officer; the competencies in the Competency and Values Framework for

Policing and how these manifest themselves in practice.

What information do you already have to try to inform these

considerations?

• Role profile

• PDR

• Existing PDP

• Formal/informal workplace feedback

• Work Shadowing Opportunities

Candidates need to be fully aware of the competencies being assessed,

but do NOT simply regurgitate at the assessment.24

Competency and Values Framework for Policing

• Consider how you will prepare with new competency

framework

• Consider how exercises might elicit each competency

• Consider what sort of tasks you would expect in the

exercises

25

Myths and Misinformation

• It’s just a hoop you have to jump through

• There’s a technique to assessment

• Training companies will be able to tell me what to do

• Being good at what I do means I’m ready now – candidate

should consider whether they are good at the role

assessed during the selection process

• You just act the part/give them what they want/play the

game

• Buzz words versus evidence

• Success is down to me; being unsuccessful is down to the

process

26

Advice for Candidates

• Be yourself – don’t try to play a role of who you think the

assessors want you to be

• Use your experience and behave as you would if you

faced this scenario in a workplace

• ‘Demonstrating’ not ‘stating’ - In dealing with the exercises

you should naturally be demonstrating the competencies,

don’t just repeat the definitions

• Read the instructions

• Be flexible – especially if the exercise is not exactly as

expected

• Consider how to spend the time between exercises to

ensure best possible preparation27