Making The Mark Again
By Supt Augustine Chiew & DSP Lawrence Beins

The SPF of Yesterday The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has a heritage that is almost as old as that of modern Singapore. Formed in 1819, it is one of the oldest communities in Singapore, with deeply rooted traditions. The early 1990s was a time of change. Although the SPF was an effective crimecontrolling organisation, the environment in which it was operating was becoming increasingly dynamic and the challenges of policing were evolving to become more complex in nature. The future demanded a change within SPF, so that it could better face the challenges of a rapidly changing landscape. However, change within SPF at that time usually took too long as its officers were comfortable with the status quo and reluctant to seek improvements. This was compounded by the presence of ‘cliques’ or segregations of officers based on educational qualification and rank, which resulted in information being shared on a need-to-know basis. Hence, silos emerged across the entire organisation, rendering it cumbersome and slow to respond to the kinds of changes that were necessary. The SPF Today Fast forward to today, and SPF is now an agile, customer-centric organisation focused on delivering quality service. This drive is supported by world-class systems and processes developed through the adaptation of best practices. SPF has also fostered a culture that recognises the vital strength of its people. They are the ones that lead and serve with passion every day to keep Singapore safe and secure. The organisation is also highly regarded by the global policing community as an effective and reliable ally in the fight against crime and terrorism. Through earning numerous local and international awards and accolades, SPF has proven itself to be a leader in both operational and organisational excellence.

A World-Class Force

How did SPF, which was once riddled with problems, transform itself into the worldclass organisation it is today? Firstly, it needed to instil strong leadership skills in its officers. There had to be a transformation at every level of the organisation to ensure that it moved forward holistically. This was achieved through the introduction of the Learning Organisation concepts in 1997, which started with the crafting of a Shared Vision. This Shared Vision sought to unite the Force through a common set of beliefs, which provided a direction for officers to strive towards in terms of work attitudes.

The impetus for further transformation of SPF came from the realisation that given the quick pace of change, it was no longer feasible to operate as a traditional public sector organisation. In order to achieve greater organisational agility, it was important that we modelled ourselves after competitive, enterprising and customer-oriented organisations

Against the backdrop of a changing world with a new order, SPF found that these principles, traditionally espoused by private sector organisations, would better position it to deal with new threats. This formed the context for its Organisational Excellence (OE) journey and quest for the Singapore Quality Award (SQA). In adopting the SQA framework to guide its OE efforts, SPF made every effort to develop and apply the core values and concepts of the framework, which serve as invaluable guiding principles of how a world-class organisation should be.

Achieving the SQA in 2002 was a strong validation that we had evolved and matured into a professional and forwardlooking organisation. This was followed by successes in achieving the Singapore Innovation Class in 2003, the Singapore Service Class, People Developer Standard and the Distinguished Public Service Award in 2004. In 2006, SPF also won the Top Public Service Award – the highest accolade for OE in the Singapore Civil Service.

Special Commendation for Organisational Excellence

In the spirit of continuous improvement and to ensure that our structures and processes continue to be relevant and world-class, the Planning & Organisation Department (P&O) spearheaded SPF’s efforts for SQA re-certification.

SPF had made history in 2002 by becoming the first public sector organisation to achieve the SQA and was making history again by being the first public organisation to go for SQA recertification. It was also an important decision as SPF was aware that failure to achieve the SQA standards this time around would negate all efforts that had been put in previously to achieve the Award in 2002. Ultimately, SPF was driven by the belief that it was better to risk losing and to learn from mistakes than to remain ignorant and not learn at all.

The SQA Steering Committee, made up of the members of the Leadership Group and headed by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Khoo Boon Hui, was then formed. To ensure that the organisation was engaged holistically, a top-down, bottom-up approach was employed where senior management provided strategic directions while the ground units highlighted their capabilities and excellent initiatives.

Internal communications packages were also disseminated to the units to ensure clarity in our efforts to attain the award. Following the submission of a 90-page application report, which highlighted our world-class initiatives under three headings of People, Process and Structures, the recertification culminated in a three-day site visit conducted by a team of 10 assessors specially chosen by SPRING Singapore.

Prior to this, SPF had successfully engaged the SQA assessment team during the presite visit, which covered its achievements in terms of results and accolades garnered as well as the various enhancements made to the areas for improvement previously identified in the 2002 assessment.

During the site visit, the SQA assessors visited 11 units across SPF including the Police Headquarters to learn about its processes and interview its officers. In the course of this visit, the assessment team were treated to many ‘wow’ practices and initiatives such as SPF Corporate Planning Process, the Management of Mistakes Framework, the capabilities of the Bomb & Explosives Investigation Department of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), as well as the state-of-the-art Integrated Tactical Training Centre at Police Coast Guard.

The management and staff of the various units played host to the assessors and arranged for interviews and guided tours highlighting the various systems and processes employed by SPF. At the end of the site visit, the assessors were impressed by the diversity of SPF’s services, its efficiency of systems and the vibrancy of its officers.

As a result of its hard work, SPF was awarded the SQA with Special Commendation. This special award recognises only former SQA winners for scaling greater heights of business excellence and demonstrating global leadership in key business areas. With a score well above 800 points, SPF surpassed its first SQA achievement in 2002 and became the first public organisation to receive this prestigious award.

The Next Steps

The SQA assessment has proven to be an invaluable tool in developing the people, process and structures within SPF. As part of the process, the assessors shared with SPF their findings on its strengths and areas for improvement. SPF has quickly put in place initiatives to bridge any gaps so as to build the necessary foresight, agility and resilience to continue operating as a worldclass organisation.

Collective Leadership Development Competency Framework

Recognising that senior leadership development is the key to building up the necessary foresight for SPF to tackle future challenges, P&O is now looking at incorporating learning organisation principles and practices into the existing senior leadership development programme. Specifically, a new Collective Leadership Development Competency Framework (CLDCF) will be introduced to bring the collective leadership in SPF to greater heights. Besides enabling its officers to function more effectively by continuously harnessing the collective wisdom of their senior leaders, the Framework also seeks to enhance the officers’ ability to respond well to future challenges.

Operationalising Enterprise Risk Management

Through Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), SPF has developed the critical ability to identify and proactively address risks and opportunities so as to protect and create greater value for its stakeholders, including officers, customers and the community.

Taking a step forward, SPF is now working on integrating risk management principles into the resource allocation framework so that better decisions can be made when deciding trade-offs between various developmental initiatives. This is necessary in ensuring the resilience of SPF in the face of rapid changes in our operational environment.

Through better resource management and appropriate risk treatment plans, SPF is able to deploy its resources optimally without overstretching its officers, generating maximum value from its investment while maintaining greater work-life balance.

Implementing SWAT Teams

As the operating environment becomes increasingly volatile, there is a need for SPF to move away from traditional methods of planning, towards strategies that are more flexible and with greater speed of response. SWAT teams utilise the concept of quickly forming networks, enabling the rapid formation of project teams to identify problems and develop solutions using minimal resources. This concept replaces the cumbersome step-by-step planning process with an agile system for SPF to continuously improve while using fewer resources.

Looking Beyond SQA

The success of SPF in staying at the forefront of crime-fighting lies in its ability to engage its customers. In order to achieve this, SPF incorporates the voice of the customers in all stages of its corporate planning process to ensure that they receive convenient, assured and personalised services. As SPF works towards achieving the Service Excellence Award, it will continue to develop its service capability to enhance customer experience and foster greater confidence within the community.

However, it is not enough to rely on worldclass systems and processes to deliver service to our customers. Ultimately, policing is a ‘people’ business which relies on the human factor in each and every interaction with customers.

People are regarded as the most valued asset in SPF. Through the pursuit of a robust assessment process such as the People Excellence Award, SPF will continue to scale new heights in its people management capability.

Continuous improvement forms the bedrock of SPF’s culture. With the on-going threat of terrorism and with a public that is growing in sophistication, SPF will increasingly depend on innovation to meet these challenges. By developing its pioneering capability through the attaining of the Innovation Excellence Award, SPF will be able to seek out better, faster and more efficient ways to conduct its duty.

Beyond the Business Excellence framework, it is important for SPF to explore the application of other possible business excellence standards or awards to augment the existing SQA framework. One such example is the Weber Seavey Award, which is given to agencies and FEATURES departments worldwide in recognition of standards of excellence contributed by law enforcement agencies to the quality of life in local communities. Another possibility is the IBM Innovations Award in Transforming Government which recognises the world’s most transformative government programmes that have had a profound impact on citizens’ lives.

Ultimately, achieving such awards and accolades is only a means to an end and never an end in itself. Developing a sense of trust and security within our community, igniting the passion and sense of value in our employees, inspiring our partners in the global fight against crime and terrorism – these are the true indicators of excellence in policing. As Senior Assistant Commissioner Ang Hak Seng puts it, “Excellence is not something that can be purchased or borrowed. It can only be developed through constantly striving to be better and SPF will continue to pursue its perpetual journey of continuous improvement towards excellence!”