Police engagement again above state sector benchmark

Police engagement again above state sector benchmark

2 September 2013 - Levels of engagement by Police staff continue to remain well above the state sector benchmark, its annual independent workplace survey shows. Today's release follows the earlier release of the organisation's high level results in May.

Acting Commissioner Viv Rickard says results from the 2013 New Zealand Police workplace survey show an adjustment from past increases, with opportunities to make the most of previous success.

Mr Rickard says that while levels of engagement amongst Police staff have fallen slightly in 2013, they still show impressive growth over the last four years.

"Police is going through some significant change and we would expect that performance indicators would reflect the impact this change has on our people”.

"We have seen change to our strategies, structure, process and workforce design at a variety of levels throughout the organisation.

"The changes have significantly impacted the way we operate and our approach to managing crime. This year's report gives notice of some fine-tuning that needs to be done as a result of these impacts, and reveals opportunities to really consolidate the growth of the last four years."

The number of people in Police identified by the survey as being "fully engaged" decreased from 27.8 percent last year to 24.5 percent. This remains well above the State Sector benchmark of 19.9 percent. Police also has over five percent fewer disengaged staff than the benchmark.

"It is worth noting that New Zealand Police is still performing much better relative to 2011 and 2010," the report says.

Mr Rickard states there are many positives to take from the survey, citing high commitment from staff: "The survey has shown us that we have strengths in our strong sense of camaraderie and commitment to the organisation and are proud of the positive impact our work has on the community."

"We are an organisation of people and therefore it is important to maintain employee wellbeing, to support, coach and stretch our people, to work to communicate with them, and pay attention to their views and opinions."

The survey results are available at: http://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/publication/new-zealand-police-workplace-survey

ENDS

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