The National Talent Development Strategy for Policing (NTDS).
Supporting police forces to deliver the College of Policing NTDS
The NTDS: Action needed
The publication of the NTDS is a pivotal moment for policing.
It’s part of the push to create an evidence-based framework for consistent, inclusive talent development across all forces – identifying and developing both police officers and police staff.
Equally important is the emphasis on transparency, fairness and equality of opportunity.
The challenge for forces is how to deliver this and its 6 requirements.
Police forces realise the need to be able to access accurate, up-to-date and usable data – and a robust set of tools to draw from. Together they enable confident talent decision-making.
A talent management platform is fundamental. But as important as knowing how to configure and deploy it effectively – and how to access and utilise the insights the data provides.
Our Police Talent Passport presents – in one report – an individual’s talent profile, integrating 360-degree feedback results, performance ratings, skills and development areas, previous roles and career aspirations/mobility.
Working with Head Light
The College of Policing is developing a toolkit of resources and practices to support forces in delivering on the requirements.
For forces seeking to digitise and roll out these practices, we align ourselves with the requirements of these forces and the wider sector so that they are able to implement at speed, knowing that their implementation choices are sound and can evolve as their needs grow.
The Blue Light User Group provides a forum to learn from others, refine their plans and adopt the tools and software that best serve them – and that they can see have already had success in other forces.
We are already working with a number of forces towards the NTDS.
Requirement 1 – Local chief officer sponsorship
Getting buy-in from the outset is crucial – not only from the most senior officers but across the organisation.
Make use of our Executive Briefing Pack – developed specifically to provide a tailored briefing to chief officers – that outlines the NTDS vision and how our Talent modules help deliver it.
When a new chief officer for talent development is appointed, book a complimentary workshop with us so we can help them get up to speed on how our software works.
Having accessible, up-to-date analytics means you can offer real-time visibility of adoption and compliance metrics. Our implementation team ensures that your dashboard presents exactly as you want.
Our Blue Light Services User Group shares their experiences about what’s worked – and what hasn’t.
Requirement 2 – Workforce data and talent analytics
To inform your decisions and plans, you need real-time talent analytics that can be sliced any way you wish – by rank, department, cohort, or diversity group.
Equally important is clarity of data presentation: easy to grab screenshots for reports, simple charts to share with colleagues, configurable reports for individual officers, staff, mentors and coaches.
Our Talent platform offers this – plus a National Benchmarking Service for 360-degree feedback data, allowing you to compare your force’s data with the combined, anonymised dataset compiled from other forces.
Read how Northamptonshire Police use the Police edition of our Talent Performance (PDR) tool.
Requirement 3 – Positive action in talent development
You need your DEI/EDI analytics at your fingertips to track and show progress over time.
Our configurable Talent platform presents your data – however you have coded it.
You’ll be able to answer those important DEI questions asked of you, such as:
- How many females at a certain grade have managers who believe they’re ready for promotion – compared to males?
- How would the diversity of a current group change if talent pipelines produced their intended successors?
- How many individuals of a certain diversity factor have high talent scores versus others?
The Talent platform delivers the transparency you need to demonstrate meaningful progress on positive action commitments, giving you immediate answers to stakeholder questions and advancement opportunities.
Requirement 4 – Development of talent and potential
Our Police-specific 360 – based on the CVF – helps identify those with leadership potential as well as pinpointing areas for focused development. The tailored report offers different visual summaries for the individual themselves, as well as the feedback facilitator or internal coach.
Read how Thames Valley Police has implemented this.
The flexibility of the Police edition of our PDR reflects how you choose to implement PDR. It can mirror policing PDR cycles (anniversary and non-anniversary) and link to templated competency frameworks (CVF-aligned). The digital workflow drives buy-in, action and tracking beyond the annual review.
Read how Cleveland Police deployed it.
Our Police Talent Passport presents – in one report – an individual’s talent profile, integrating 360-degree feedback results, performance ratings, skills and development areas, previous roles and career aspirations/mobility.
Requirement 5 – Police Leadership Programme and succession planning
The NTDS highlights the power of talent management and succession planning.
The Police edition of our Talent Successor module works with the key elements and characteristics of ‘talent’ found within the policing environment (and those of staff too).
Talent Successor helps to identify fairly high-potential individuals, track their development and match them to leadership opportunities based on readiness and organisational need.
You’ll establish transparent, evidence-based succession pipelines, building confidence amongst aspiring leaders whilst demonstrating fairness and opportunity for all.
Requirement 6 – Talent mobility and flexibility
This is central to the NTDS; encouraging talent mobility and flexibility.
Our Talent Finder tool sits alongside the other modules, drawing data from across all inputs. Combined with the extensive bank of talent analytics and visuals, it allows you to map skills gaps against internal mobility opportunities. You can identify internal candidates who match specific role requirements or have the capabilities needed in emerging priority areas.
It also provides the capability to visualise mobility patterns, helping you identify barriers to movement – and measure improvement in workforce agility.
Rather than talent remaining siloed, you’ll cultivate a genuinely flexible workforce prepared to meet the evolving demands of policing as well as supporting career development ambitions.
The Blue Light User Group
Implementing NTDS makes it more important than ever to bring talent leaders together to share experiences and discuss solutions.
Our Blue Light User Group does exactly this – connecting talent and L&D professionals from police forces and fire and rescue services who face the same unique challenges.
Chaired by a member on a rotating basis and hosted by Head Light, the Group meets twice a year (online or in-person).
Together, they collaborate to create best practice resources – implementation guides, learning materials, internal communications and launch materials, all designed to make life easier and sidestep any issues when implementing talent management.
The Group influences future software development, making sure that tools meet real Blue Light needs.
Your talent management platform partner
You need a talent management partner who understands your needs within policing and can demonstrate consistent software implementation success.
Check that they have ISO27001 accreditation, as evidence of their commitment to rigorous data management and information security standards. For worry-free purchasing and implementation, ensure your partner is part of the G-Cloud procurement framework.
Practical experience matters – and prevents costly mistakes through trial and error. Choose a partner with a proven track record within police environments and clients willing to share their experiences.
You’ll want UK-based Helpdesk and Implementation teams providing local, accessible support when you need it.
Above all, partner with an organisation committed to building a long-term and collaborative relationship – working with you to maximise your data’s value and adapt to your evolving needs.