The document discusses leading change at the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in London through engaging employees. It describes designing values for the MPS which included input from over 20,000 employees. The values were then embedded through leadership programs and other initiatives. Challenges to change included an existing blame culture and focus on targets. The document also discusses implementing change at the local level through a program called "LA local" which empowered employees and improved morale, community engagement, and performance.

1. The MPS Values – enabling change
through engagement
Leading change in the Metropolitan Police Service
Darren Perks
Chartered Psychologist (Registered Occupational)

2. About me…
Chartered Occupational Psychologist
Employment History:
• Metropolitan Police Service
• DHL
• Barnardo's
• Hay Management Consultants
• Associate Consultancy
Work Portfolio
• Implementing change management
• Competency design and performance management
• Selection & Assessment
• Coaching and personal development
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3. The context: The MET
Vision: To make London the safest major city
in the world
• Over 43,000 staff, making us • Over 1,300 buildings
the largest employer in • 185 police stations
London
• Over 4000 vehicles
• 30,000 Police officers
• 24 Boats
• 11,800 Police staff
• 430 Horses and dogs
• 1,200 PCSOs
• 3 Helicopters
• Traffic wardens
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4. What's the Culture like?
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5. Your Task…
Context
•New Commissioner: Sir Ian Blair
•Forward thinking
•Need to change the culture – what would you advise?
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6. Designing the Values for the MET
Case Study

7. Do Values work?
The Values Spine
Behaviours
Seniority Most common area
‘amplification of perceived
Promises
effect’ breakdown
Intentions
Values
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8. The Big Debate
•When Designing Values – whose views actually matter?
•Top Down vs. Bottom up
•What do you think?
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9. Designing the MPS Values
Step 1
•10 KV Methodology: ran across all Business Groups. Staff
Associations, MPA
Step 2
•Intranet consultation with all staff: have we missed anything?
• 2062 responses
Step 3
• Values presented to Top Management at Service Conference
(250 senior managers & MPA/staff associations)
Step 4
• Consultation with all staff on the behaviours (3161 responses)
• Launched by Commissioner
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10. The MPS Values
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11. The Cultural 'Tensions'
Key Tensions staff felt would get in the way of 'living' the
Values:
1. The existing blame culture: bullying tactics, threatening
behaviour, staff afraid to be honest due to fear of reprisal
2. The focus and pressure around (often unrealistic) targets
preventing staff delivering quality
3. 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
4. Police officer/police staff divide – specifically mentioned the
undervaluing of PCSOs
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12. Embedding the Values
Integration
Into HR processes
Leadership
Working in
Programmes
'the Field'
5 levels
360 Values Leading your
feedback And people modules
tool Behaviours at multi-sites
HYDRA
Coaching
Operations
and
centre
action learning
TeamMet.com
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13. Leading Change at the local level
Development and implementation of LA Local

14. The challenge at local level
The Values Spine
Behaviours
Seniority Most common area
‘amplification of perceived
Promises
effect’ breakdown
Intentions
Values
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15. The local level….
Territorial Policing (TP)
• The largest of the operational commands
• TP comprises the 32 London Boroughs and over 635 Safer
Neighbourhood Teams and includes representatives from
all the police family; police officers, police staff and PCSOs.
• TP also has responsibility for developing policy in relation
to criminal justice (Emerald), neighbourhood policing and
partnership; volume and violent crime; diversity and citizen
focus; patrol and command and control.
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16. Designing LA local
What are the key elements that lead to change?
• Engaging and Empowering Staff to have a say in what
matters
• Working with Leaders and senior management teams
• Putting into place a feedback loop that enabled
performance barriers to be addressed at senior levels
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17. Bringing it All Together
Improved
leadership
capability
Helping the
SMT Lead
effectively
Bringing Improved team
working &
Providing together the support for
officers/staff central MPS each other
with tools that Communicating
messages Treating our
will help them what matters to officers &
lead effectively the BCU staff in the Improved
morale and
way we satisfaction
Providing expect them
Communicating
officers & staff to treat the
what matters to
with tools that public
the Community
will help them Involving Improved
Officers & Communication
understand the
community Staff in
Sharing what
decisions
works well
Improved
across the sharing of what
MPS works
Improved
Citizen
Experience
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18. How does it work?
1. Steering Group
Democratically chosen
Representative of all officer/staff levels
Union involvement
Briefed on Performance Priorities
2 KEY QUESTIONS:
 What in your view would make this a better place to
work?
 What in your view would help this BOCU achieve
performance?
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19. How does it work?
2. BOCU Survey and Action Plan
Based on views of BOCU
Action Plan developed – Quick Wins, Short-term- Long-
Term
 Environment
 Process/Resources
 Behaviour
Next Steps Locally determined and owned
Will include provision of tools and skills
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20. How does it work?
3. Driven by Leadership
SMT
Programme of SMT Leadership development
Input into SMT development from BOCU findings
Input from local Community and citizen focus
Team Leader: Sergeant/Inspector/Staff
Tailored programme of Leadership development – locally
driven
Input from local Community and citizen focus
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21. The Challenges of Organisational Change
Leading Change at the local level
So what happened to LA local?

22. LA local: what happened?
LA local as a 'pilot' ran for a period of six months – each borough had a
representative steering group, developed an action plan and work was
undertaken with the Senior Team.
Staff Engagement
•Each BOCU was inundated with volunteers for the Steering Group
•The Borough Commander launched the programme and briefed all
officers and staff
•The Steering Groups are still running for many of the Boroughs – a
year on – some with subgroups
Action Planning
•BOCU action plans identified quick wins, ST, MT and LT actions. QWs
were implemented immediately, LT actions were fedback to the Project
Governance along with particular 'wicked issues'
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23. LA local: Benefits/Outcomes
Community Engagement
•Community satisfaction with local policing improves significantly in one
of the poor performing BOCUs– attributed to LA local
•Existing community channels broaden to include wider community
networks e.g. Safer Neighbourhood contacts
•Relationships are generated with external organisations who were keen
to work with local police as part of the learning coming out of LA local
Performance
•HMIC inspection indicates that LA local is a positive enabler particularly
in respect of improved leadership and that many of the issues
highlighted by the HMIC had already been identified as part of LA local.
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24. LA local: Benefits/Outcomes
Staff Engagement
•SMTs use LA local as a communication vehicle to brief the Borough on
key performance messages
•Communication improves significantly on BOCUs
- middle managers now talk to senior managers
Senior Management Teams
•Data shows relationship between the Leadership Style of the Borough
Commander, Senior Team performance and BOCU performance
•Work with the Senior Team's significantly impacts on SMT performance
– belief in capability and confidence
•ATPI – psychometric measuring team performance- indicates before
and after significant improvements in team performance
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25. Data from the Evaluation:
Chief Superintendents:
‘Bloody fantastic – for a management team it’s absolutely incredible’
‘First time I have seen the organisation put something in place that runs’
‘Don’t abandon us too quickly – don’t go straight to the short-term focus the Met
is so used to. This needs to embed so that it becomes culturally the norm. At the
moment we are at 1 or 2 on a scale of 1-10 in making this the norm’
SMT Champions
'Has made a real difference to the dynamic of the SMT –we are now in a much
stronger position'
'Key messages are now getting through to staff' – Inspectors now voice their
concerns to the SMT'
'The steering group is the power-house of the whole approach'
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26. Data from the Evaluation:
Senior Management Teams
100
95
% Confident/Very Confident
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
Perform Motivate team Build Strategies for Develop Communicate Assess team Overall
across confidence complex teamwork effectively strengths and confidence
situations tasks weaknesses
Pre Post
Figure 1: SMT leadership confidence levels
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27. Evaluation Methodology
It was important to evaluate LA local as it was a pilot. The
following methodology was implemented:
1. Full Benefits Realisation
2. Before and After measures
• SMT perceptions of Team effectiveness
• BOCU Survey – covering community satisfaction and staff
engagement and perceptions of leadership
• ATPI – validated psychometric assessing team performance
3. Qualitative Interviews
• BOCU Commands and SMT Champions and Steering Group members
4. Integration of external assessment data (HMIC inspections)
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28. The challenges of leading
change…
" Darren, thanks very much for your note last week. I
have had a great number of messages of support but I
was very touched by the tone of your email and the
trouble you had gone to in putting together the
attachments, particularly around the success of LA
local. Best wishes, Ian Blair"
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29. Questions…
Contact Details:
Darren.perks@blueyonder.co.uk
07956 420153
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