4
POLICEWORLD
Vol 59No. 2, 2014
AnUpdate from theNEC
Workingon
your behalf
Edition1, 2014of PoliceWorld introduced
members to threeplatforms in theNEC’s
Recruitment andRetentionStrategy.
H
ere, we catchupon the significant
achievements so far andask ‘What’sNext?’
FreeMembership - Platform1
Theofficial launchwas January2014. By28
February2014SectionUKenrolled400new
membersunder theoffer. Somebranches
enrolleda significant number of newmembers
andanelement of friendly rivalry between those
‘higher scoring’ branches ishopefully taking
place. (See the tablebelow for the top ten).
We’veheard inspirational stories from some
Regions andBrancheswhohave capitalised
on theFreeMembershipOffer. Here’s a few
examples.
Region4 (Wales) wastedno time toarrangea
meetingwithAssistant Chief ConstablePaul
Symes of Gwent Police. Usingmaterials available
fromSectionUK’sAdministrativeCentre, Ken
Davies andPaulWaterswereafforded40
minutes ofMr Symses’ time.
Theywere joined in
themeetingbyMr
Symes’ staff officer,
CarlWilliams, who
turnedout tobean
IPAmember.
Speakingabout themeeting
Ken said, ‘It was a totally relaxedand informative
meeting.We learned thatMr Symes knewnothing
of the IPA, prior to research inadvanceof our
meeting.We informedhimof theprofessional
and social elements of the IPAandhow the
Association canprovide valuable support to
servingand retiredofficers.’Mr Symeswas so
encouragedbywhat heheard, he
agreed toendorse IPA tohis officers
and thewholeof theGwent Police
family.
Region2 (Northern Ireland), Publicity
Officer BrianKennedy immediately
createdapromotional video targeting
the servingofficer. You can view
anduseBrian’s videoas it is posted
at:
Special thanks toall involved in the
video, including IPAmember andDCC Judith
Gillespie, towhomwe sendbest wishes to
followingher retirement inMarch.
InRegion1 (Scotland), adisplaywas set upat the
Police TrainingCollege. AndyWright, AllanBlue,
DaveSmith, DougieWright andMarkHutcheon
didanexcellent jobpromoting the IPA, especially
professional opportunities available.Markwas
able to speakabout theArthur TroopScholarship
(formoreon this, seepage23).
In11Region, (South LondonandSouthEast
London), newmembers appeared intoSussex
Branchas if bymagic. SussexBranchPublicity
Officer, DonnaPowell, wasdelightedand
explained the surge in interest as follows: ‘At
least onceamonth, ideally twice, I get anarticle
onour Force Intranet under Latest News. An
articlewent liveabout FreeMembershipand
within4weeks, 22members (21of them
serving) hadenrolled. This provesbuilding
brandawareness at regular intervals
throughout 2013wasworthwhile.’
News of theFreeMembershipOffer is
filtering throughmany channels. Various
staff associationshavekindly agreed tohost
displays or circulate flyers at their conferences.
TheCommunications Teamwasdelightedwhen
BrianStrutton, National Secretary of GMBUnion,
confirmedhewould circulate informationabout
FreeMembershipand the fact that IPA is open to
police staff. Of course, IPAmembers themselves
havebeenworkinghard to spread thewordby
way of socialmediaand circulating flyers. See
page30.
VicePresidentMick Luke, whoproduced the
recruitment and retention strategy, was asked for
his responseandWhat’sNext?
‘TheFreemembershipoffer appears tobe
workingwell and I encourageeverymember to
play their part inenrollingmorenewmembers
during2014. As I repeatedly say, themost
important aspect of this strategy is retention.
Activity at all levels of theAssociation in terms of
events iswhat weneedand thiswill enhanceour
members’ experienceandkeep themengaged
with theAssociation for the years ahead. Planning
and forward thinking iswhat weneed todo.”
Mickwroteon the topic of planningat length for a
PoliceWorldarticle in2009. (Seepage8, Edition
1, 2009 visit:
.
In that articleheasks: howdoweensureeach
newmember gets tomeetings andevents?How
is anewmember introduced fully towhat the
Associationhas tooffer?Howmucheffort do
weput in toengagewithnewmembers to find
out why they joined the IPAandwhat theywant
from it?
Mickoffers a cautionary note toRegions and
Brancheswanting to retain theirmembers
beyond1 January2015. ‘First impressions
count. SectionUK isdefinedby howwe, as an
Association, treatmembers fromday one, be that
at branch, regional or national levels. If wedon’t
Region
Number
HERTFORDSHIRE
45
NEWSCOTLANDYARD
29
NORTHERN IRELAND - GREATERBELFAST
22
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
18
BEDFORDSHIRE
17
LONDONSOUTHBRANCH
16
SUSSEX
16
CITYOF LONDONANDWESTMINSTER
12
MIDDLESEX
12
BTP
11
JanWagner helpingMarkBullenwithpaperwork
ForPresentation
Materials
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