To be effective, police leaders must be in tune with the sentiments of those they lead. Being present, having regular discussions with staff and conducting effective PDRs are some ways to garner intelligence on wellbeing. Staff surveys are another, more quantitative method.
The Metropolitan Police’s staff and officer survey has recently been published on their site. In this exclusive premium podcast, I pick out for you the key highlights from the 35-page report. I include commonalities between forces, including where you can make a difference as an aspiring police leader.
Here’s the episode below if you want to listen in (subscribe for access). There are so many insights to support your leadership and emotional intelligence, it’s one you won’t want to miss, no matter your force…
Met Staff Survey Headline Results
Are you in the Met Police? Have you seen the latest staff survey results? In this new premium podcast episode, I run through the key highlights and findings for you.
With over 20,000 responses from the Met’s officers and staff alike, the recently published latest Met Police staff survey results (from their 2024 survey) is a highly representative. It would be foolish to ignore the thousands of hours of time that respondents gave to completing the survey. Otherwise, why ask in the first place?
The results tend to corroborate the Police Federation’s national Pay and Morale survey, in terms of the challenges and stressors faced in policing. Highlights from this multi-discipline survey include:
- Enthusiasm: 2 in 5 respondents feel enthusiastic about their job. 1 in 5 would recommend the Met as a good place to work.
- Loyalty: The Met faces a massive turnover threat, with half its workforce actively thinking about leaving in the next 3 years. Another quarter are unsure. The top reasons cited were pay, public scrutiny, lack of senior officer support, workloads and lack of development opportunities.
- Effectiveness: Origins of performance failure appear to be multiple, with lack of resources, conflicting demands, or lack of tools/information preventing people from working effectively.
- Career: 1 in 5 respondents rated career progression as good. End of year PDR reviews were rated poorly and a third of people feel unchallenged in their job.
- Management: Line managers were rated well on their support, feedback and encouragement of respondents. Though only a third of line managers themselves felt equipped with the right training to be effective managers. Senior leaders came out poorly in terms of confidence in their decision making, communication, and approachability.
Plus there was a bunch more feedback from the approximately 100 questions asked in the survey. I pick out more highlights from these and give pointers on how you might respond as an aspiring leader in the episode.
As an aspiring police leader, all this is relevant to your ongoing CPD. How are you supporting wellbeing and development of those you lead? How will you support and inspire? Whether you’re in the Met Police or another force, many of the findings will be the same. Listen in for all the leadership pointers to support your CPD and promotion ambitions!
“I follow you on YouTube & listen to your podcasts as well as using free products you provide & those I had purchased previously. I was able to pass my Inspector board this year after a break to have a baby. What you provide is thought provoking & I feel that’s the best type of preparation.” – Sam
Notably, only 8% of the 20,000+ Met Police respondents believe that any actions came from prior staff surveys. It will be interesting to see whether Met senior leaders do anything with this one. Let me know if you’re in the Met and feel free to join the conversation on any of these issues.
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Kind Regards, Steve
Seeking police promotion? Want a MASSIVE head start right now? Hit the ground running with your personal digital promotion toolkit, and/or my market-leading Police Promotion Masterclass and CVF explainers. There’s nothing else like it to effectively prepare you for success in your leadership aspirations. You can also contact me to arrange more personal coaching support. Or try my podcast for your ongoing police leadership CPD covering a range of fascinating subjects.
