1. National Occupational Standards
Professionalising the police service
This series of slides has been designed to be adapted for various types of presentations to different audiences.
All the slides might be used during a whole-day implementation workshop to help personnel and/or training specialists understand in-depth how to use the standards.
A half-hour introductory presentation to senior managers might involve the following slides:
1. National Occupational Standards for Legal Advice
2. What are National Occupational Standards?
3. Why National Occupational Standards?
4. How were the Standards developed?
5. How can the Standards be used?
6. What do NOS for Advice cover?
7. What other NOS are available?
19. Benefits for Individuals
20. Benefits for Line Managers
21. Benefits for Organisations
22. Further Information
A half-day workshop to introduce staff and volunteers to the standards might involve:
8. Generic Units
9. Knowledge Units
10. Levels of Knowledge Units
12. Identifying Relevant Standards
Relevant role profile examples from slides 13-16
18. Performance Management
A whole-day workshop to help line managers use the standards to manage the performance of their teams might involve:
17. Guide to Good Practice
Other materials required would include copies of the Legal Advice Standards and other relevant National Occupational Standards, and copies of the National Occupational Standards Toolkit for Legal Advice.
Don’t forget to use Unit L19 Facilitate learning in groups through presentations and activities from the Learning and Development Standards to help you plan, deliver and evaluate your presentation.

2. What are National Occupational Standards?
Providing visible written expectations
Standards of performance
expected of staff and volunteers
Knowledge and understanding
Skills
National Occupational Standards describe the standards of performance expected of staff and volunteers as they carry out their duties. These standards of performance have been established by researching effective practice in delivering independent information and advice in a wide range of organisations across the UK.
As well as the statements of effective performance, the standards specify what the worker needs to know and understand, and the skills he or she needs, in order to perform competently.
Working to National Occupational Standards will assure the delivery of high-quality, consistent information and advice across all organisations working in the Legal Advice field.

3. Why National Occupational Standards?
Improve the skills of those working in the police family
Create a more flexible workforce by enhancing the transferability of skills
Create more coherent career development paths
Raise professionalism
The key drivers for developing National Occupational Standards for Legal Advice were:
The need to improve the quality and consistency of legal advice provided to the general public
The desire to create a more flexible workforce by enhancing the transferability of skills for staff moving within the legal advice sector
The desire to create a more coherent career development path for the legal advice workforce
The need to raise the profile of legal advice generally in order to: - encourage new entrants to the sector - encourage members of the public to access services
The need to find a way to enhance access to funding support for the training and development of workers across the sector.

4. Uses of the ICF Succession & Workforce Planning
Recruitment & Selection
Performance Assessment & PDRs (appraisal)
Inefficiency Procedures
Training & development
Obtaining qualifications
Promotion
Integrated Competency Framework (ICF) is now being used in a range of areas to:
Give robust and defensible selection criteria for selection
Focus training on the requirements of the role
Allow staff to obtain a nationally recognised qualification, in recognition of their skills
Allow for assessment of performance against activities and behaviours and the detail of NOS where required
help and protect an individual and the line manager in inefficiency procedures by focusing effort on the actual requirements of the role
give objective criteria for the required rank which can be assessed in the workplace, assessment centre or during interview
Allow forces and managers to see whether there may be skills gaps (if no one is doing particular activities) and plan to fill that gap.

5. How can the Standards be used?
Benchmarking organisational practices
Developing job descriptions and person specifications
Recruiting and inducting new staff and volunteers
Identifying individual learning needs and organisational skills gaps
Designing, delivering and evaluating learning and development
Because they have been developed by studying effective practice across the UK, organisations and individuals can use National Occupational Standards to check to see if their own practices come up to scratch, and adjust their practice accordingly.
The standards can be used to support all management and development activities, such as:
Developing job descriptions and person specifications
Recruiting and inducting new staff and volunteers
Identifying learning needs and skills gaps at both individual and organisational level – indeed they can help identify skills gaps even at partnership or sector level
Designing, delivering and evaluating learning and development
Managing and developing the performance of individuals and the team.
National Occupational Standards provide a common language which helps to define the roles and responsibilities of the various individuals and organisations in a partnership.
In the future, the National Occupational Standards may become the basis of nationally-recognised qualifications, as standards have done in many other sectors.
Managing and developing individual and team performance
As a common language for developing the police family
A national base for standards

6. Behaviour Area - Leadership
Strategic perspective Looks at issues with a broad view to achieve the organisation’s goals. Thinks ahead and prepares for the future. (A, B or C)
Openness to change Recognises and responds to the need for change, and uses it to improve organisational performance. (A, B or C)
Negotiation and influencing Persuades and influences others using logic and reason. Sells the benefits of the position they are proposing, and negotiates to find solutions that everyone will accept. (A or B)
Maximising potential Actively encourages and supports the development of people Motivates others to achieve organisational goals. (A or B)
The Behavioural Library is split into 3 broad areas – Leadership, Working with Others and Achieving Results. This slide illustrates the content of the Leadership area within the Behavioural Library.
Within each broad area there are 4 Behavioural Competency Headings - each split into either 1, 2 or 3 categories.
These categories are not rank or hierarchically related, but refer to the requirements of the role.
For example a PC may require category A in a particular behaviour because of their role whereas someone of higher rank would require a category B.
The reason for the categories is that, for example, Strategic Perspective could mean different things to different roles and the categories allow us to be more specific about the needs of each particular role.
Also there is not one behaviour called Leadership – but there is a behavioural area called Leadership. This area has four behavioural competencies which together define the behaviour of a leader.
The Police Leadership Development Board and Professor Beverley Alimo-Metcalfe approved the combination of all of the 12 behavioural categories as demonstrating transformational leadership skills.
There is a specific Respect for Diversity competency, this issue is also covered throughout the Behaviours and the Activities.

7. Benefits for individuals
Support individuals’ professional development
Open a wider range of career possibilities
Help them to transfer their competencies to other jobs or work contexts
Give them confidence they are working to good practice standards
Help them speak with authority & present a professional image
Provide nationally recognised qualifications
National occupational standards provide a ready-made structure for individuals to plan and manage their own professional development. The standards clearly list the knowledge, understanding and skills required. Individuals can make sure they have these.
The standards apply not just to one job, but to a number of different contexts, both within and outside the police sector. The standards show how knowledge, skills and competence can be transferred from one situation to another, opening up a wider range of job opportunities and career prospects.
People working to national occupational standards are confident that they are doing the job to good practice standards, they can speak with authority about their work, present a professional image to colleagues and represent their organisation externally.
Individuals’ competence can be recognised through NVQs or SVQs that prove they can do the job to the standards required. These qualifications are work-based so do not require individuals to spend extensive periods away on courses.

8. Generic Units Unit Summary Elements Performance
Knowledge and Understanding
Skills
Units are introduced with a brief summary, describing the key aspects of the unit: what it is about, who it is for and how it was developed.
Units are usually divided into two or more elements that describe the activities the person has to carry out.
For example, Unit LA3 Develop and manage interviews with clients is divided into three elements:
LA3.1 Enable clients to explore their problems and concerns
LA3.2 Manage the interview process
LA3.3 Bring interviews to an end.
Each element contains clear statements that describe what workers must be able to do to perform effectively.
For example, in Element LA3.1 Enable clients to explore their problems and concerns, the worker needs to be able to:
Create an atmosphere and environment in which clients feel comfortable enough to express their problems and concerns
Identify and recognise clients’ circumstances, responsibilities and priorities
Provide clients with opportunities to explore their issues, etc
National Occupational Standards also specify what people need to know and understand to do their jobs effectively.
The knowledge and understanding for Element LA3.1 Enable clients to explore their problems and concerns include:
The types of atmosphere and environment that are appropriate to different clients
What situations could make clients feel uncomfortable and how to minimise them
Organisational procedures for when a client is receiving advice and support from another agency and why it is important to establish this
National Occupational Standards often specify the skills required to carry out the activity effectively.
Someone working to Element LA3.1 Enable clients to explore their problems and concerns will need skills in, for, example:
questioning
active listening
presenting information
summarising
reviewing and reflecting.

9. Firstly there is a Rank Profile
The Activities and Behaviours required by every person of that rank or grade
Lets look at a specific rank,
that of Constable
Covers the 4 support staff levels as well.

10. Firstly there is a Rank Profile
The Activities and Behaviours required by every person of that rank or grade
Lets look at a specific rank,
that of Constable
Covers the 4 support staff levels as well.

11. Rank Profile A list of things that any Constable should do
Core Responsibility
Personal Responsibility
Health, Safety & Welfare
Community Safety
Intelligence
CONSTABLE
ACTIVITIES
The role holder should effectively deliver these key requirements:
Maintain standards of professional practice
Promote equality, diversity & Human Rights in working practices
Comply with Health & Safety Legislation
Work as part of team
Complete administration procedures
Make best use of technology
Provide a force response recognising the needs of all communities
Provide first aid
Adopt a problem solving approach to community issues
Use intelligence to support policing objectives
Make best use of technology
Core Responsibility Areas
This shows the Core Responsibility Areas with the relevant Activities for this rank, examples highlighted on the right – with a behavioural profile taken from the Behavioural Library attached – mote of that later.
Use intelligence
Behavioural profile

12. Behavioural Framework
BEHAVIOURAL LIBRARY
Behavioural Framework
Click on letter to view
Area
Behaviour
Category
Leadership
Strategic perspective
Looks at issues with a broad view to achieve the organisation’s goals. Thinks ahead & prepares for the future. A B C
Openness to change
Recognises & responds to the need for change & uses it to improve organisational performance
Negotiation & influencing
Persuades & influences others using logic & reason. Sells the benefits of the position they are proposing & negotiates to find solutions that everyone will accept
Maximising potential
Actively encourages & supports the development of people. Motivates others to achieve organisational goals
Working with others
Respect for diversity
Considers & shows respect for the opinions, circumstances & feelings of colleagues & members of the public, no matter what their position, background, circumstances, status or appearance
Teamworking
Develops strong working relationships inside & outside the team to achieve common goals. Breaks down barriers between groups & involves others in discussions & decisions
Community & customer focus
Focuses on the customer & provides a high quality service that is tailored to meet their individual needs
The Behavioural Library is split into 3 broad areas – Leadership, Working with others and Achieving Results. There are 12 Competency Headings also split into either 2 or 3 categories. These categories are not rank or hierarchically related but refer to the requirements of the role. For example a PC may require category A because of their role whereas someone of higher rank or a specialist would require a category B.The reason for the categories is that, for example Strategic Perspective could mean different things to different roles and in having the categories this allowed us to be more specific.
Also there are no specific competencies called Leadership – the research showed that leadership means different things to different people and is therefore covered throughout the framework. The same could be said of diversity and although there is a specific Respect for Diversity, this issue is covered throughout the behaviours and the Activities.

13. Role Profile - Patrol Constable
Provide an initial response to incidents
Respond promptly & take control of the incident by correctly identifying the nature of incident & take appropriate action to ensure that it is dealt with & recorded effectively.
Effective performance will include the following:
Where possible attend the incident within specified Charter Standard response times. Accurately identify the nature of the incident. Take immediate action in line with the nature of the incident. Follow procedures for the type of incident, prioritising your actions. Recognise where an incident is a ‘racial incident’ & respond accordingly.
Consider your safety & that of others at the scene. Direct people positively to a place of safety. Act to prevent other Police staff from coming into danger areas. Attend to casualties at the scene, taking account of personal safety, providing First Aid where appropriate.
Assess the facts. Provide situation reports to the control room & supervisors including information on the location, casualties, hazards, access routes & emergency services present & required. Request further resources as appropriate.
Provide adequate advice & support to those involved, explaining legal & procedural processes. Communicate sensitively in line with people’s needs & take into account community & diversity issues.
Accurately complete all incident related documentation & submit for supervision within agreed timescales. Inform & update other staff as appropriate.
When dealing with a major incident, assume interim command until relieved by a more senior officer & liaise closely with other emergency services & agencies present.
Knowledge & Skills
Here is an example of one of those Activities. Each Activity includes a title, a definition and a description of effective performance which is not a minimum standard or visionary but built to be ‘achievable good practice’. At the bottom is a link to the Knowledge and Skills required for that Activity.

14. Role Profile Patrol Constable
Behaviours
Patrol Constable
Resilience (A)
Shows reliability & resilience in difficult circumstances. Remains calm & confident & responds logically & decisively in difficult situations.
Effective Communication (B)
Communicates all needs, instructions & decisions clearly. Adapts the style of communication to meet the needs of the audience. Asks probing questions to check understanding.
Community & Customer Focus (C)
Provides a high level of service to customers. Maintains contact with customers, works out what they need & responds to them. Is aware of issues of diversity & understands & is sensitive to cultural & differences.
Respect for Diversity (B) Understands other people’s views & takes them into account. Is tactful & diplomatic when dealing with people. Treats people with dignity & respect at all times, no matter what their background. Status, circumstances or appearance.
Teamworking (C)
Works effectively as a team member & helps build relationships within it. Actively helps & supports others to achieve team goals.
Personal Responsibility (B)
Takes personal responsibility for own actions & for sorting out issues or problems that arise. Is focused on achieving results to required standards & developing skills & knowledge.
Problem Solving (C)
Gathers enough relevant information to understand specific issues & events. Uses information to identify problems & draw logical conclusions. Makes good decisions.
Behaviours
This is the Behavioural profile built from the library. Through further research we identified the prioritised behaviours for the ranks and roles which means that instead of having to use all the library, only these, in this case 7, behaviours are needed. The letters denote the required category so that for more detailed use, such as for selection or development the further detail can be used.

15. Role Profile Patrol Constable
For this role there are….
Role Profile
Core Responsibility
Community Safety
Police Operations
Investigation
PATROL CONSTABLE
To patrol the area for which responsible, to prevent crime& disorder, maintain safe road conditions & to respond to calls from the public.
ACTIVITIES
The role holder should effectively deliver these key requirements:
Conduct patrol
Contribute to maintaining road safety
Drive police vehicles safely
Provide initial response to incidents
Participate in operations
Conduct initial investigations
Search person(s)
Interview victims & witnesses
Activities
and….
Summary of the Role Profile which includes CRAs, relevant Activities and a Behavioural profile.
Behaviours
Behaviour details

16. Role Profile Patrol Constable
Effective Communication (B)
Communicates effectively, both verbally & in writing. Uses listening & questioning techniques to make sure that they & others understand what is going in & can effectively transfer ideas & information.
Communicates al needs, instructions & decisions clearly. Adapts the style of communication to meet the needs of the audience. Asks probing questions to check understanding.
Positive Indicators
Deals with issues directly
Clearly communicates needs & instructions
Clearly communicates decisions & the reasons behind them
Communicates face to face wherever possible & if it is appropriate
Speaks with authority & confidence
Manages group discussions effectively
Summarises information to check people understand it
Supports arguments & recommendations effectively in writing
Produces well-structured reports & written summaries.
Negative Indicators
Is hesitant, nervous & uncertain when speaking
Speaks without first thinking through what to say
Uses inappropriate language or jargon
Speaks in a rambling way
Does not give full information without being questioned
Writes in a unstructured way
Uses poor spelling or grammar
Assumes others understand what has been said without actually checking
Does not listen & interrupts at inappropriate times.
Such as shown here in Communication - Category B. Each category shows a further definition and positive and negative behaviours. Each category within each competency has the same negative but different positive behaviours. The entire Behavioural framework has been subject to Plain English (crystal mark awarded) and adverse impact scrutiny for diversity issues.
Negative indicators were included because line managers found them of use in helping to identify what someone was or was not doing and aids objectivity. They are though only indicators and not all would apply in some roles.

17. Identifying Relevant Standards
4. Produce the role profile
3. Identify relevant knowledge units
One of the first tasks to undertake, when starting to use National Occupational Standards is to identify the standards that are relevant to a particular job. In the jargon, we call this set of standards a “role profile”. This is how you create a role profile.
1. List the tasks, duties or responsibilities of the job
Make a list of all the tasks, duties or responsibilities that the worker has to carry out. If the worker has a job description, this information may already be available (but check that the job description is up-to-date and accurately describes the individual’s work).
2. Identify relevant generic units
Consider each task, duty or responsibility in turn.
Look at the Legal Advice units numbers LA1 – LA30 and other sets of NOS and identify the unit, or units, that are relevant to the task, duty or responsibility. (It’s a good idea to make a note of the relevant units against the appropriate line in the job description or list of tasks, duties or responsibilities for the job.)
As you do this activity, you will probably find that
some units are relevant to more than one task or responsibility
for some tasks or responsibilities, there is a single unit which matches very well
for some tasks or responsibilities, there are a number of units which are relevant
for some tasks or responsibilities, there is no appropriate Legal Advice unit (if so, look for the unit in other sets of standards).
3. Identify the relevant knowledge units
The Legal Advice NOS also contain units which describe the knowledge that workers require when they are working in a particular specialist area (such as criminal law, welfare rights or housing) or with a particular client group (such as students).
Consider which areas of specialist knowledge a worker in this role requires and to what level. The knowledge units LA31 – LA64 are usually presented at two or three levels:
first-line advice
advice and casework
specialised advice and casework.
It is important to read the units carefully to select the appropriate knowledge level for the job.
4. Produce the role profile
When you have identified all the units from the Legal Advice NOS and other sets of NOS, which are relevant to each task, duty or responsibility, you may eliminate any duplicates and produce a role profile – the set of units of NOS relevant to that particular role.
Each worker needs a copy of their role profile and the units of NOS that are in it. Role profiles help workers understand exactly what is expected of them, and what they need to know and understand if they are to do their jobs effectively.
In an organisation, many role profiles will be similar, or at least share a number of common units. This is helpful for understanding what are the core NOS required by the organisation, what are the subtle differences between roles, and what workers may need to learn if they are to progress successfully from one role to another.
2. Identify relevant generic units
1. List the task, duties or responsibilities of the job

18. Guide to Good Practice 5. Evaluate your performance
4. Use the standards as checklists
3. Plan the task
Individual workers can use occupational standards
to help them plan to carry out activities
to provide guidance on how to deal with less familiar tasks
to give them ideas for improving the way they go about familiar tasks
to help reduce the anxiety and stress associated with more difficult tasks
to lead to an immediate and measurable improvement in their performance.
You just need to do the following.
1. Choose a task you are about to undertake that you think will be a challenge or about which you are not completely confident.
2. Identify which units or elements are going to be useful.
3. Plan to tackle the task using the performance criteria.
4. Use the performance criteria as checklists when you are carrying out the tasks to ensure you are working to best practice
5. Evaluate your performance, seeking to improve and develop continuously.
2. Identify relevant standards
1. Choose a task

19. Performance Management
6. Provide feedback
Preparation
5. Appraise performance
Regular reviews and support
4. Perform to standards
3. Agree support required
This slide describes a step-by-step process to help line managers and supervisors use the National Occupational Standards to manage the performance of team members.
Performance management includes activities that are known as objective-setting, supervision, appraisal, performance review and feedback, and draws these into a coherent framework.
Step 1 Agree objectives
Performance management does not happen in a vacuum. In order for performance management to have its full impact, team members must be working towards objectives that are consistent with the organisation’s objectives and business plan and also recognise the team member’s personal aims and ambitions.
Objectives should focus on the critical results that team members must achieve if the organisation is going to be effective and develop.
Discuss and agree with your team members a manageable number of objectives that are SMART.
Specific – precisely what must be achieved?
Measurable – how will you be able to tell if it has been achieved?
Agreed – do the individual and their manager really agree on the objective?
Realistic – is the objective achievable?
Time-bound – by when must the objective be achieved?
Step 2 Identify relevant National Occupational Standards
Identify which units of the Legal Advice Standards and other sets of National Occupational Standards are particularly relevant to each objective.
A meeting with the team member to look at the occupational standards will:
lead to a shared understanding of the objective
help joint planning about how the objective will be achieved
specify the standard of performance required when achieving the objective
highlight areas where the team member is not confident, lacks knowledge or skills, or needs resources or support
identify the sorts of evidence that can be used to show the team member has met the objective.
Step 3 Agree support required
Agree the support that a team member requires to achieve their objectives. This may be coaching, training or development to improve their knowledge or skills, or it may be providing access to the people, information or resources they need.
Step 4 Perform to the standards
The team member can use the National Occupational Standards to plan activities, decide on working methods and check on their standard of performance throughout the year.
Interim review meetings between the line manager and the team member provide further opportunities to use the National Occupational Standards to focus on any problems or issues arising and develop strategies to overcome them.
Step 5 Appraise performance
You will have laid the foundations for appraisal during the preceding steps of the performance management process. The objectives are clear, the standards of performance have been established and the evidence of satisfactory performance identified. Interim reviews will have checked that the team member is on course towards objectives, and corrective action taken to address any problems.
There should, therefore, be no surprises at the appraisal meeting for which both the manager and the team member need to prepare. Team members should be asked to prepare for the appraisal by assessing their own performance against the agreed objectives and standards, and provide evidence of their performance to their line manager. The appraisal meeting should not be a confrontation, but a joint consideration of the evidence and agreement on achievements or, where objectives have not been achieved, on any remedial action required.
Step 6 Provide feedback
National Occupational Standards contain statements of effective performance which you can use to provide very specific feedback to team members about which aspects of their performance were effective, and which were not so effective, and base your comments on facts, not opinions.
Timely feedback on good performance provides very strong motivation for an individual to redouble their efforts. Negative feedback, based on factual evidence and offered with constructive suggestions about how to achieve the performance required, is likely to be viewed as a genuine attempt to help, and therefore accepted positively.
Always give feedback about the performance, not about the team member. National Occupational Standards help to focus on the performance and remove much of the conflict and embarrassment that can sometimes be present when giving and receiving feedback.
1. Agree objectives
Strategic objectives and personal aims
2. Identify relevant standards

20. Benefits for Individuals
For individuals, National Occupational Standards…
support their professional development
open up a wider range of career possibilities
help employees to transfer their competence to other jobs or work contexts
give employees confidence that they are working to best practice standards
help employees to speak with authority and present a professional image
Make clear the development requirements and improve fairness for selection
For individuals, National Occupational Standards
support their professional development
open up a wider range of career possibilities
help them transfer competence to other jobs or work contexts
give them confidence they are working to best practice standards
help them speak with authority and present a professional image.

21. Benefits for Line Managers
For line managers, National Occupational Standards…
ensure their staff are clear about their responsibilities and competent to carry them out
provide a ready-made framework for performance management and appraisal
make assessment an integral part their work
help employees to provide specific feedback designed to improve performance
Allow employees to delegate responsibility to staff with confidence
ensure their staff comply with legal and organisational requirements
For line managers, National Occupational Standards
ensure their staff are clear about their responsibilities and competent to carry them out
provide a ready-made framework for performance management and appraisal
make assessment an integral part their work
help them provide specific feedback designed to improve performance
allow them to delegate responsibility to staff with confidence
ensure their staff comply with legal and organisational requirements.

22. Management/HR uses Workforce planning Succession planning & promotion
Job descriptions
National occupational standards
Recruitment & selection
Training & development
Benefits – Hopefully self-explanatory but:
Managers and human resource specialists can use national occupational standards as an integrated framework to underpin all human resource management and development activities.
National occupational standards have been developed, or are under development, to describe all the functions carried out in organisations within the Police Sector. HR specialists can use the standards to identify all the functions to be covered and the numbers of staff required. They can design jobs with an appropriate mix of units and use these to develop job descriptions and person specifications.
These, in turn, form the basis for fair and objective recruitment and selection processes. The standards help to define what job-holders will need to do and the knowledge, skills and competence they require. Assessment techniques can be developed to select the most suitable candidates for the jobs. Similar techniques can be used for succession planning and preparing individuals for promotion.
National occupational standards also help to identify very precisely the specific skills and knowledge about the organisation and the job that individuals need to develop during their induction period. This helps HR specialists design induction programmes and ensures that staff can be deployed in critical roles within the shortest possible period.
The knowledge, understanding and skills specified in the standards provide ready-made learning outcomes to help design, commission and evaluate training and development. The efficiency of training and development can be evaluated by assessing the competence of staff in their jobs.
Induction

23. Benefits to the organisation
Improved quality of service by raising the motivation & skills base
Standardisation with external organisations
Align individual effort with organisational goals & targets
Assure the quality required to win & regain contracts
Enhance public confidence in the sector
Benchmarking with other forces
Strategic & coherent training provision
Ready made tool for Performance Needs Analysis (T/PNA)
Provide integrated structure for HR management and development
This is all about improving skills and therefore organisational performance – e.g. arrest rates.
Standards will allow for easier comparisons because many of them are common to other organisations.
Will allow easier benchmarking with other forces e.g. what do their people do in particular roles and what are the benefits?
If everyone had a development plan relevant to their role and this was captured organisationally – this would help provide a strategic development and training plan for the next year.
Starting with the role profile when carrying out a training or performance needs analysis can save time and ensures that interviews with staff are focused on the organisational requirements of the role.
Selection procedures are more efficient.
National occupational standards have been developed by employers, because they are critical to ensuring that every member of staff is contributing their full potential to achieving the organisation’s goals and targets. Organisations that do not deploy their human resources effectively and efficiently will quickly find themselves disadvantaged.
The standards provide a ready-made framework for integrating all human resource management and development activities, ensuring the availability of a highly-skilled, multi-skilled, flexible and motivated workforce.
National Occupational Standards help partnerships work more effectively as everyone can agree on common expectations, common standards and common measures of performance.
They can also help to build public confidence in the organisation and the Police Sector as a whole. They help the public understand what the sector is trying to achieve and that it is committed to working to the highest professional standards.

24. Putting the Standards to Work
Strategic
objectives
People management and development
Workforce
planning
Recruitment &
selection
Job design
Working in teams/ partnerships
Succession planning
Career
development
Induction
Assuring quality
National Occupational Standards can help plan the workforce needed to deliver an organisation’s, team’s or partnership’s strategic objectives. The units in the Legal Advice National Occupational Standards have been developed by analysing all the activities involved in providing independent information and advice and identifying the standards of performance required. People’s jobs can, therefore, be designed, and job descriptions created, taking account of both strategic objectives and individual competences. The units also list the knowledge and skills that workers need, so they provide a good basis for developing person specifications that can be used for assessing and selecting candidates during recruitment or for promotion.
National Occupational Standards can then be used throughout the people management and development cycle to:
identify what people new to posts need to find out and what skills they need to develop during their induction period
provide workers with guidance on what is expected of them and help them perform in line with the standards
develop objectives with individual workers and teams and support them in improving their performance and achieving their objectives
assess whether workers are performing to the required standards, and if not where the problems may lie
identify learning needs, design training and development activities and evaluate the impact of training and development on the individual worker’s knowledge and skills, on their performance and on the achievement of strategic objectives
recognise competent performance through feedback, certification or reward
provide a clear framework so that individuals can plan, manage and evaluate their own continuing personal and professional development
help individuals understand what is involved in new posts they might like to apply for, what competences they could bring to these posts, and what new knowledge and skills they would need to develop
prepare individuals to take over from others when they leave or retire, and select the right individuals for the jobs.
Using National Occupational Standards will impact on organisational culture and competence, as all workers work to a model of good practice and take personal responsibility for delivering a quality service in line with the organisation’s quality framework. They also provide a common language for different organisations within a partnership to communicate with each other, negotiate, agree and understand each others’ roles and responsibilities, to support each others’ work and hold each other to account.
Learning & development needs analysis, design, delivery & evaluation
Personal performance
Performance
management
Continuing
personal &
professional
development
Developing organisational culture & competence
Assessment
Recognition

25. Does this provide for better policing
Explains what a person’s role is
Does it benefit the public
Does it benefit the manager
Does it benefit the individual
Is it an iron cage