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Personnel Today Awards 2001: The winner of the Frazer Jones award for innovation in recruitment and retention was the staff development department from North Wales Police. HR team leader: chief inspector Terry Stanton.
What they did
In May 2000, North Wales Police created a partnership with the Employment Service with the aim of enhancing its recruitment techniques and delivering financial savings through increased efficiency. The Employment Service provided expert advice on the recruitment function and carried out recruitment processes such as call handing for applicants, assembling and dispatching recruitment packs and conducting a non-judgemental paper sift of all applicants. NWP formed a partnership with Chwarae Teg (Fair Play) in order to target female recruits. As with the Employment Service, Chwarae Teg advises on the design of campaign material. NWP is also involved in creating an Internet site where the first pages to be developed will be recruitment-focused.
Why they did it
Before the initiative, one advert for NWP was described by a potential recruit as being akin to a "death notice". The recruitment team realised a new strategy was needed which would inject more "buzz" into attracting people. At the same time the force faced several recruitment challenges.
The Crime Fighting Fund allocated a further 104 officers to the force over three years, the Rurality Fund created the opportunity to take on another 15 officers and a Home Office grant meant a further 19 officers would be required for a specialist unit. At the same time NWP's chief constable introduced a "no vacancies" policy for the force, resulting in the need for 30 more officers.
Benefits and achievements
"The initiative has increased the volume of applicants to the force while helping us maintain the standard of people we're looking for," says chief inspector Terry Stanton of the staff development department. "It has also meant we can target specific recruitment challenges to the force." A total of 961 application forms were received in 2000-2001 - an increase of over 100 per cent on the previous year. At the same time, the force has identified efficiency savings of m
