PEOPLE Our Greatest Asset
By Supt Sim Seok Ling & ASP Lim Chun Zhi

The greatest asset of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) is not its hardware or software but its people. Each and every officer is an asset to the SPF. To achieve a high degree of professionalism, dedication, efficiency, competency and loyalty in its officers, SPF uses a combination of methods including education, training, adoption of best practices, acquisition of new technology, as well as career development and staff welfare schemes. This helps boost confidence and ensures that its officers can meet even the most exacting demands and challenges.

Developing People and Leaders

In the pursuit of Organisational Excellence, it is necessary for SPF to continually develop its officers, so that it will have a pipeline of leaders at all levels to uphold the mission of the Force.

Fast-Track Career Development

SPF has an Acting Inspector (AI) scheme in place to enable high-performing Police Officers to be promoted to Senior Officer ranks, recognising their talent and developing their capabilities to better serve the organisation. Last year, two significant changes were made to the AI promotion system to enable speedier development of good officers. Firstly, the long-standing rule that only Police officers below the rank of Senior Station Inspector (SSI) could be considered for AI appointment was removed. With this move, Senior Station Inspectors (SSIs) and Senior Station Inspectors 2 (SSI2s) are now eligible for AI appointments.

Secondly, a change was made to the scheme to permit SSI2s with outstanding leadership qualities to be promoted directly to the rank of Inspector without having to go through the one-year provisional or acting phase.

Besides the direct benefits to the organisation, these changes have provided deserving officers with the opportunity to realise their aspirations to become Senior Officers and challenged them to reach their fullest potential. For promotion year 2007, six SSIs benefited from this policy change.

Leadership Competency Framework

Through the Leadership Competency Framework (LCF), all officers can now identify the types of competencies that they should have, regardless of whether they are frontline or management officers. The LCF is depicted as a hand leading the way with its five fingers representing the five clusters of competencies. It also states that all officers are leaders who should take charge of their own leadership development.

The LCF has given us the basis for the design of all other SPF leadership programmes. For instance, it has been incorporated in selection tests such as the Leadership and Command Development Centre (LCDC), where officers are officially selected for the rank of Acting Inspectors.

Leadership Development Programme

The clear objective of the Leadership Development Programme (LDP) is to identify and groom leaders of the future by developing high-performing officers with the potential to progress to senior ranks.

Under the LDP, SPF Units are responsible for developing their officers’ talents and for developing leaders in conjunction with the Leadership Competency Framework. Each individual unit has a secretariat appointed to customise unit activities and systems that include exposure to project work, dialogues with key officers, developmental courses and presentations.

Leadership and Command Development Centre

The Leadership and Command Development Centre (LCDC) is an assessment centre that gauges candidates’ competencies using multiple exercises that are designed to detect behaviours relevant to the job. Each candidate going through the LCDC would be tested over several exercises and assessed by independent assessors.

The LCDC has two roles: It selects and develops. The Centre produces reports identifying the areas for personal leadership improvement, which are then submitted to the participating officers. It also selects potential high-calibre Police Officers for Acting Inspector rank. Candidates would have to go through about two days of testing on multiple exercises and be assessed by trained assessors and senior officers with at least the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police. The report from the LCDC is then used for the final selection.

Boosting Morale and Sustaining Resilience

During prolonged operations and crises, SPF officers are expected to work long hours under arduous conditions. To sustain officers’ resilience and boost their morale, SPF conducts a series of preparations before, during and post-event. In such cases, psychologists, paracounsellors and Psychological Services Officers (PSOs) from the Police Psychologists Services Division (PPSD) would then be called upon to measure and monitor morale force-wide. In addition, resilience and morale are also boosted through a total human resource approach that includes welfare, rewards and recognition.

Careful Planning and Preparations

To help officers prepare for such operations, PPSD conducts mental preparation training programmes for different groups of officers involved such as Police National Servicemen (PNSmen), Special Operations Command (SOC) officers and Division Tactical Team (DTT) officers. Commanders and Directors send personalised letters to the family members of deployed officers to keep them informed as well as to seek their support. We also produce and distribute brochures to help officers better understand and deal with operational stresses and remain vigilant.

Lifting Morale During Operations

During operations, the morale of officers is a key consideration of SPF’s management. Therefore, command visibility and presence by walking the ground, talking to the men and hearing their concerns are all paramount. The Commissioner of Police and his key officers, as well as the divisional Commanders conduct regular visits to enhance cohesion and increase the morale of officers on the ground.

Guidelines have also been provided to units on how to manage officers and team morale before, during and after such operations. Our police psychologists, paracounsellors and PSOs conduct morale-sensing exercises by interacting with deployed officers to identify issues that would impact the operational effectiveness of police officers and units during the crisis.

The Welfare Division also plays a major role in enhancing officers’ resilience and operational readiness by improving the overall morale and health of officers. To sustain officers’ health, SPF provides food supplements to officers and a ready supply of off-the-counter medication for quick relief to frontline units. SPF also ensures that the rest areas are well stocked with refreshments.

Rewarding Hard Work

As a reward for their efforts, visits to chalets and overseas apartments are arranged for officers at the end of the operation. Units are also provided with funds for post-event celebrations.

Enhancing Staff Well-Being

SPF has various schemes to reward officers and foster a sense of belonging. For FY 2007, SPF enhanced its staff welfare system with significant programmes.

Total Wellness Campaign

A total wellness campaign with the theme ‘Achieve a Whole New You’ was launched in October 2007. The campaign aimed to raise the awareness of officers and staff on various aspects of health and the importance of personal well-being. Four aspects of health were emphasised – physical, mental, social and financial. As part of the campaign’s activities, a series of mental health talks were planned for all in-service classes between January and September 2008. Monthly Health and Wellness screensavers were also utilised to give out tips and reminders to staff on how to live a healthy and happy life.

We emphasised the importance of keeping healthy in the following ways:

Weight Management Subsidy

To help staff stay fit and healthy, a weight management subsidy was introduced in August 2007 for staff with a high Body Mass Index (BMI). All eligible staff can now claim a subsidy (amounting to 25% of the cost or capped at $60) when they sign up for an approved weight management programme offered by SPF.

Hearing Conservation Talk

As a workplace safety and health initiative, the Welfare Division funded an audiometric test for officers working in conditions with prolonged exposure to noise for several years, such as firing range instructors or band members. A hearing conservation workshop was also organised for affected officers where they can learn how to protect themselves from hearing loss.

Free Fruits Day

Healthy eating is another consideration that can easily be overlooked, so the ‘Free Fruits Day’ was launched in July 2007 to encourage staff to eat healthily. On this day, which takes place once a month, fruits are given free to all officers.

Subsidy for Hepatitis Vaccination

To further encourage staff to take care of their health, the subsidy for off-site health screening was extended for use in hepatitis vaccinations. The vaccinations can be taken on their own or as an add-on item to the various health screening packages offered by the current service provider. SPF subsidises 40% or $100, whichever is lower, of the vaccination cost or the total health screening and vaccination cost if staff opt to have both services.

Staying Committed

2007 was a challenging year for SPF on all fronts. In the year ahead, SPF will continue to face a growing number of security deployments due to the growing Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) industry, amidst two contrasting themes: an improving job labour market and the ubiquitous threat of terrorism.

With an increased workload and higher demands and expectations of the public in FY 2008, SPF will continue to proactively develop and take care of its human resource (HR) capital to respond effectively to these challenges in FY 2008.

For its efforts thus far, SPF saw some surprise wins at the annual Human Resource Management (HRM) Awards Gala held on 5 March 2008 at the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Hotel. A first-time participant, SPF won three out of the four categories for which it was nominated. The awards it won were for Best Leadership Development, Best Performance Management, and Excellence in Health and Safety. SPF’s wins in the Best Leadership Development and Performance Management categories were particularly remarkable as these categories were the strong domains of banks and financial institutions.

The awards will serve as valuable recognition of the hard work of our HR staff and extended HR fraternity, as well as spurring everyone on to provide better HR policies and initiatives for all officers.