Police World Edition 2 2014

AnUpdate from theNEC

Workingon your behalf

Edition1, 2014of PoliceWorld introduced members to threeplatforms in theNEC’s Recruitment andRetentionStrategy. H ere, we catchupon the significant achievements so far andask ‘What’sNext?’ FreeMembership - Platform1 Theofficial launchwas January2014. By28 February2014SectionUKenrolled400new membersunder theoffer. Somebranches enrolleda significant number of newmembers andanelement of friendly rivalry between those ‘higher scoring’ branches ishopefully taking place. (See the tablebelow for the top ten).

JanWagner helpingMarkBullenwithpaperwork

encouragedbywhat heheard, he agreed toendorse IPA tohis officers and thewholeof theGwent Police family. Region2 (Northern Ireland), Publicity Officer BrianKennedy immediately createdapromotional video targeting the servingofficer. You can view anduseBrian’s videoas it is posted at: www.ipa-uk.org/Video-Library Special thanks toall involved in the video, including IPAmember andDCC Judith Gillespie, towhomwe sendbest wishes to followingher retirement inMarch. InRegion1 (Scotland), adisplaywas set upat the Police TrainingCollege. AndyWright, AllanBlue, DaveSmith, DougieWright andMarkHutcheon didanexcellent jobpromoting the IPA, especially professional opportunities available.Markwas able to speakabout theArthur TroopScholarship (formoreon this, seepage23). In11Region, (South LondonandSouthEast London), newmembers appeared intoSussex Branchas if bymagic. SussexBranchPublicity Officer, DonnaPowell, wasdelightedand explained the surge in interest as follows: ‘At least onceamonth, ideally twice, I get anarticle onour Force Intranet under Latest News. An articlewent liveabout FreeMembershipand within4weeks, 22members (21of them serving) hadenrolled. This provesbuilding brandawareness at regular intervals throughout 2013wasworthwhile.’ News of theFreeMembershipOffer is filtering throughmany channels. Various staff associationshavekindly agreed tohost displays or circulate flyers at their conferences. TheCommunications Teamwasdelightedwhen BrianStrutton, National Secretary of GMBUnion, confirmedhewould circulate informationabout FreeMembershipand the fact that IPA is open to police staff. Of course, IPAmembers themselves havebeenworkinghard to spread thewordby

Region

Number

HERTFORDSHIRE

45

NEWSCOTLANDYARD

29

NORTHERN IRELAND - GREATERBELFAST

22

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

18

way of socialmediaand circulating flyers. See page30. VicePresidentMick Luke, whoproduced the recruitment and retention strategy, was asked for his responseandWhat’sNext? ‘TheFreemembershipoffer appears tobe workingwell and I encourageeverymember to play their part inenrollingmorenewmembers during2014. As I repeatedly say, themost important aspect of this strategy is retention. Activity at all levels of theAssociation in terms of events iswhat weneedand thiswill enhanceour members’ experienceandkeep themengaged with theAssociation for the years ahead. Planning and forward thinking iswhat weneed todo.” Mickwroteon the topic of planningat length for a PoliceWorldarticle in2009. (Seepage8, Edition 1, 2009 visit: www.ipa-uk.org/Police-World ). In that articleheasks: howdoweensureeach newmember gets tomeetings andevents?How is anewmember introduced fully towhat the Associationhas tooffer?Howmucheffort do weput in toengagewithnewmembers to find out why they joined the IPAandwhat theywant from it? Mickoffers a cautionary note toRegions and Brancheswanting to retain theirmembers beyond1 January2015. ‘First impressions count. SectionUK isdefinedby howwe, as an Association, treatmembers fromday one, be that at branch, regional or national levels. If wedon’t

BEDFORDSHIRE

17

LONDONSOUTHBRANCH

16

SUSSEX

16

CITYOF LONDONANDWESTMINSTER

12

MIDDLESEX

12

BTP

11

We’veheard inspirational stories from some Regions andBrancheswhohave capitalised on theFreeMembershipOffer. Here’s a few examples. Region4 (Wales) wastedno time toarrangea meetingwithAssistant Chief ConstablePaul Symes of Gwent Police. Usingmaterials available fromSectionUK’sAdministrativeCentre, Ken Davies andPaulWaterswereafforded40 minutes ofMr Symses’ time.

Theywere joined in themeetingbyMr Symes’ staff officer, CarlWilliams, who turnedout tobean IPAmember. Speakingabout themeeting

ForPresentation Materials ,email: lib.jones@ipa-uk.org

Ken said, ‘It was a totally relaxedand informative meeting.We learned thatMr Symes knewnothing of the IPA, prior to research inadvanceof our meeting.We informedhimof theprofessional and social elements of the IPAandhow the Association canprovide valuable support to servingand retiredofficers.’Mr Symeswas so

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POLICEWORLD Vol 59No. 2, 2014