Overall Assessment of Impact

This section considers key impact measures and evidence that assesses the effectiveness of recruitment, promotion, talent and succession planning processes.

Recruitment

Candidate Experience

Since Q1 2024/25 survey information is collected from successful and unsuccessful applicants. Key findings to date are:

Officers

88% of applicants found overall experience positive. Only 3% of unsuccessful applicants found experience below average

23% of successful applicants found length of process negative (compared to 5% of unsuccessful)

Staff

24% of unsuccessful applicants found overall process negative compared to 2% of successful

Most negative views of those successful linked to length of process

Insight

Early indications show broadly positive candidate experience. Most significant issue relates to length of process

Time to Hire

Linked to findings above and the Independent Recruitment MOT (Appendix B) recommendation to reduce the Time to Hire period, the table below shows the extent Time to Hire has changed over time.

The pre-appointment stage can have the biggest impact on Time to Hire as this includes medical/vetting and references. Priority is being given to ensuring the vetting team are properly resourced and an independent review of the criteria and process in relation to medical assessments has taken place (see Appendix B). Other aspects that can cause delays can relate to candidate preferences regarding the timing of joining, notice period with current employer and waiting for a specific division/posting preference.

Police Officer Application Rates

The rate of officer retirements has increased in recent years following changes to pension regulations. This has resulted in significant work to ensure sufficiency in applicants of a suitable quality to replace retired officers with new recruits. 952 probationers joined Police Scotland in 2024. This is the highest annual intake in the history of Police Scotland. This is testament to work progressed to ensure a sufficient pipeline of new recruits.

The data below shows trends in relation to applications, with these currently tracking higher than 2023/24 when there was no advertising campaign, and at a similar level to 2022/23 when there was also a marketing campaign.

Application rates that least represent the wider population census data are females (51%) and those with a disclosed disability (20%). The ONS Annual Population Survey in Scotland consistently highlights there is a significantly lower employment rate for disabled people compared to non-disabled, highlighting a broader societal issue. There is also a need to consider that there are limitations on the occupational suitability to the role which is determined by medical professionals. That said, the percentage of applicants with disclosed disability has increased year on year since 2022/23.

The above demonstrates that the work of the Positive Action Team (see Appendix B) is having a positive impact across the protected characteristics. There will remain a continued focus on the attraction, engagement, support and encouragement of female candidates. The recruitment team also provide consistent and meaningful engagement and implementation of reasonable adjustment considerations to potential candidates, where appropriate.

Police Officer Application Success/Failure Rates

The extent to which applications are successful supports an assessment of the quality of candidates and supports projections of the estimated number of applications that will be required to recruit sufficient candidates to meet organisational requirements going forward.

With regard to protected characteristics, the data below shows how applicant success rates compare to overall success rates.

This shows lower success rates for BME and disabled in 2023/24, although this relates to relatively small numbers and was also not the case in 2022/23. A more detailed review by each stage of the recruitment process has highlighted that BME candidates are disproportionately unsuccessful at shortlisting and vetting stages. The PAT are looking more closely to understand this and ensure consistent, appropriate advice and support is provided. Specifically in relation to vetting, a number of proposals have been initiated which would facilitate earlier engagement and intervention in support of BME candidates, such as:
• Face-to-face discussion for BME candidates in advance of a potential vetting refusal to fully ascertain key concerns or barriers.
• Liaising with the PAT to provide a vetting input as it is recognised that the PAT are generally the first point of contact for potential BME candidates.
• Further researching of the candidates who were the subject of a vetting refusal contained within this report.

Promotion

Candidate and Assessor Experience

Surveys (with assessors/candidates) and workshops (with senior leaders and statutory staff associations) have taken place to assess the effectiveness of the process. Feedback from assessors was overwhelmingly positive. Feedback from candidates was broadly positive with some dissatisfaction on lack of communication from local division and more detailed understanding of what to expect at assessment, including assessor expectation. More detail is included at Appendix B including detail of planned improvement actions.

Meeting Demand

Since November 2023, 645 officers have been promoted. Promotion activity aligns to workforce attrition data forecasts over 12 months to meet demand. Quality assurance processes show promotion pools are ‘clearing’ within the planned forecast period of 12 months evidencing that talent pools in line with moderation scoring are delivering against organisational demands.

That said, there is a significant reliance on acting/temporary promotion. As at 29 October 2024 a total of 631.87 FTE officers were undergoing periods of temporary duty at a higher rank. More detail on issues associated with acting and temporary promotion and plans to resolve are included at Appendix B.

There is longer term work required to consider whether the approach should focus on ‘Just in Time’ or ‘development of talent pools’ together with operating principles in relation to talent management (see Section 4).

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Female applicants tend to perform better at assessment centre when compared with males.

Data relating to other protected characteristics can be more variable due to the vast difference in group size, but no issues of concern are noted from analysis of the data.

Talent/Succession Planning

Accelerated Leadership Programme (ALP)

The recent process saw an increase in applications from previous years. However, there is emerging anecdotal feedback that the overall quality of applications is not high enough, which is reflected in the high ‘burn rates’ at each process stage. This position is recognised by the national sifting panel with a view there is a general failure to anchor evidence/thinking around the real strategic challenges facing the organisation at this current time. Whether the programme is reaching and attracting those who genuinely should see ALP as something for them, or there are other factors at play needs to be considered as part of a review of the programme. In addition, there are continued concerns that the programme is not attracting a diverse pool of applicants.

A decision has been taken to progress a continuous improvement review of the approach, policy and impact to ensure ALP remains fit for purpose and achieves its intended objectives (See Appendix B).

3.3.2 Other Programmes

Other programmes are in place that seek to support talent management and succession planning including Your Leadership Matters, mentoring, coaching, a review of the Competency Values Framework, and targeted support for newly promoted Superintendent/Chief Superintendents.

More detail on these areas will be included within the Bi-annual Leadership & Talent Update.

The ALP was launched for officers in September 2020 and more detail on the programme is included at Appendix B. Twenty-four officers split across four annual cohorts have participated in the programme.