Force must nurture its beleaguered officers

SOUTH Yorkshire Police must nurture its officers to get the most out of them, Federation Chair Zuleika Payne has said.

She was responding to the latest PEEL report on the force by HMICFRS, which criticised the force for not “understanding the skills and capability of its workforce”.

Zuleika said: “What is interesting to note is that when we had our peer review it did highlight a concern that leaders don’t listen. And we now find ourselves in a situation where we’ve got an HMIC report which suggests that leaders aren’t acutely aware of the skills and the skill sets amongst their staff, which echoes some of the sentiment in that peer review.

“But as an organisation what we have done is start to explore this with senior leaders, to look at the talent within the organisation and how we manage that talent to develop and nurture it.”

South Yorkshire was rated as ‘requires improvement’ in the report, and Zuleika said time would tell whether the changes made by the force would make a real difference.

She said: “It hasn’t been easy for officers here in South Yorkshire, and the legacy issues haven’t served us well. Where the HMIC identified that we do have plans and measures in place, I suppose it’s only natural that what they want to see is the service moving in the right direction and ensure that this is sustainable.

“So perhaps, here, time is a key factor when it comes to measuring the organisation, in as far as we need to make sure that while the intention is there, that we actually deliver.

“What must never go unnoticed is the resolve and stoicism demonstrated by our officers who strive to deliver in these incredibly difficult times”.