Rethinking reward at the National Crime Squad
| Published date | 01 November 2004 |
| Pages | 28-31 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14754390480000578 |
| Date | 01 November 2004 |
| Author | Chris Riley |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
HE NATURE OF THE UK’s National Crime
Squad is such that high performance is only
achieved through our people. Our three
strategic aims are:
1. To bring to justice or disrupt those responsible for
serious and organized crime.
2. To work in partnership with and provide support
to police forces and other law enforcement agencies
in the prevention and detection of serious and
organized crime.
3. To drive forward a culture of diversity which values
our staff and the communities we serve.
The HR plan that supports our strategic aims seeks to
ensure the organization is staffed by a fully trained and
motivated workforce who operate within a supportive
and inclusive environment.
We have a combination of police officers and police
support staff, broadly a 65:35 split. Traditionally, this
has created tensions between the two categories, though
we continue to strive for one culture. Over time, the
roles of police staff have become closer to the
operational duties of police officers. This brings
operational outcomes and the achievement of key
performance indicators closer to the day-to-day
contributions of all individuals. However, this move in
culture and performance management was not reflected
in the pay and reward structure for police staff.
It is within this context that the National Crime
Squad decided to change how we reward our staff. We
wanted to help people in the organization focus on their
purpose; introduce a performance management culture;
and provide a structure to improve recognition.
Drivers for change
In keeping with other public sector organizations, our
financial constraints, together with the requirement to
find efficiencies, meant we had to consider how to
encourage staff to achieve high performance in the
context of finite resources. Additionally, the
conclusions from a cultural audit within the
organization showed that police staff felt reward
structures were not aligned with our HR strategy and
didn’t support a performance management culture.
Further drivers for change were the changing skills
required of police staff that placed us in a more
competitive environment to recruit and retain
employees.
The European Foundation for Quality Management
(EFQM)1process also drew similar conclusions about
our reward arrangements. There was a clear message
that we needed to rethink reward.
Previous pay structure
Like many organizations in the public sector, our pay
structure for police staff consisted of a disproportionate
number of pay bands in comparison to the number of
T
28 Volume 4 Issue 1 November/December 2004
Rethinking
reward at the
National
Crime Squad
Implementing a fair pay structure that
recognizes high performers
Changing the way that career and salary progression
decisions are made can be highly emotive. Chris Riley,
head of HR at the National Crime Squad, explains how
communication and feedback helped the organization
implement a competency-based pay structure that also
rewards exceptional performers.
by Chris Riley
National Crime Squad
© Melcrum Publishing Ltd. 2004. For more information, go to www.melcrum.com or e-mail info@melcrum.com
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