Internal Line Managers Job Endorsement

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.031157

I note you seek access to the following information:

1) Do Police Staff need to complete or submit a Line Manager Endorsement form or similar/equivalent document to be able to submit an internal job application? If this isn’t required at the initial time of applying when is this required (if at all)?

2) Do Police Officers need to complete or submit a Line Manager Endorsement form or similar/equivalent document to be able to submit an internal job application? If this isn’t required at the initial time of applying when is this required (if at all)?

3) If applicable, do you have a copy of the endorsement form(s) or equivalent?

4) Do you have any policies regarding internal recruitment and if applicable specifically around the endorsement forms?

5) If applicable what is the procedure if a line manager and staff member disagree with the content of an endorsement form?

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - Do Police Staff need to complete or submit a Line Manager Endorsement form or similar/equivalent document to be able to submit an internal job application? If this isn’t required at the initial time of applying when is this required (if at all)?

Police staff do not need to complete/submit a Line Manager Endorsement form or similar/equivalent document. The current agreed process is that all candidates are presented with a declaration which must be acknowledged before proceeding with the application. Declaration attached.

Q2 - Do Police Officers need to complete or submit a Line Manager Endorsement form or similar/equivalent document to be able to submit an internal job application? If this isn’t required at the initial time of applying when is this required (if at all)?

Police officers do not need to complete/submit a Line Manager Endorsement form or similar/equivalent document. The current agreed process is that all candidates are presented with a declaration which must be acknowledged before proceeding with the application. Declaration attached.

Q3 - If applicable, do you have a copy of the endorsement form(s) or equivalent?

Declaration attached.

Q4 - Do you have any policies regarding internal recruitment and if applicable specifically around the endorsement forms?

We do not have one policy that covers the internal recruitment process, so I have brought together the relevant excerpts from the policies we have.

Q5 - If applicable what is the procedure if a line manager and staff member disagree with the content of an endorsement form?

N/A as an endorsement form is not completed.

Please also see the below attached Internal Recruitment Policy:


Deciding to Recruit

Pre-advertisement process for police officers

Before you can advertise a police officer role that already exists you need a Vacancy Management Authority Form to be submitted and approved by Workforce Deployment. The form needs to be submitted to Workforce Deployment People Services. They will review and if approved will provide a VMAF reference, which can be used to set up the Oleeo advert.

For new officer roles you will need to complete the Police Officer Target Change Request Form first and follow up with Vacancy Management Authority Form as mentioned above.
The Target change request form needs to include:
• details of the proposed change
• what is the change
• why has it come about
• what is the scope
• when is it needed

The Target change request form will be completed by the hiring manager and submitted to [HR Mailbox – [X].

Once the appropriate approval has been received the role can be advertised. In some cases corporate approval may be required, for example if it is impacting officer numbers substantially.

Pre-advertisement process for police staff

The authority of the Local Resource Planning Meeting (LRPM) will be required before an existing police staff post can be advertised.

If the role is a new one there are three stages of the approval process:
• LRPM approval
• Job evaluation – Hay review to confirm the pay band
• Target change request form

Once the LRPM approve the creation of the role, it will require a Job Evaluation – Hay Review to determine the Banding for the post. See the Pay Managers Guide page for further details of the job evaluation pay band process.

Once the pay band has been confirmed and in order to add the new role to your team design you will then need to complete a Police Staff Target Change Request Form.
The Target change request form needs to include:

• details of the proposed change
• what is the change
• why has it come about
• what is the scope
• when is it needed

The Target change request form will be completed by the hiring manager and submitted to HR Mailbox – [X].
Once the appropriate approval has been received the role can be advertised.

Placing your vacancy

For permanent and fixed term contract staff roles

As a hiring manager you can place the advert directly onto Oleeo. The Oleeo guidance document is available to assist hiring managers on how to place your advert. If you do not have an Oleeo Hiring Manager Profile, you can contact [X]@[X] to request this, providing you are a Sergeant/Band D or above.

You should, prior to placing your advert, discuss all vacancies at your BCU/OCU Local Resource Planning Meeting (LRPM) or with the budget holder. You should take into consideration:

• budget (adverts are funded locally)
• displaced staff on the OCU
• current or future known change programmes that may impact recruitment to the role(s)

To ensure displaced staff who are at risk of redundancy continue to have access to vacancies first, SSCL Recruitment will ‘pause’ the publication of all adverts for 7 days. This will allow time for the HR Change Team to provide displaced staff with details of vacancies prior to them being published Met wide and externally.

Existing employees will be able to search the vacancies page and apply for new roles. However, it is good practice to share the vacancy with your team once it is live to ensure that those who are interested have an opportunity to apply. You must also share the vacancy details with those members of your team who are absent from work, such as those on maternity and other long-term leave.

For temporary agency worker or police staff temporary promotion

You will need to seek approval to recruit. via your Local Resource Planning Meeting (LRPM) who will look at the need for the post and the budgetary position before being sent to the business group for approval.

Advertising Behavioural

Once you have approval to recruit, you need to advertise your vacancy on Oleeo. If you do not have an Oleeo Hiring Manager profile, contact [X]@[X] to request this, providing you are a Sergeant/Band D or above. Roles will be advertised internally first, unless approval for external recruitment has been granted. This gives a great opportunity to explore the talent and knowledge within the Met.

In general posts should be advertised for between two to three weeks.
A few points to consider when writing an effective advert are:

• Use of inclusive language through the advert
• A brief job description that speaks about the organisation and the team
• Responsibilities section to be concise - not more than five bullet points to highlight only the most important
• Essential criteria and qualifications should be succinct and in bullet points
• Highlight the benefits provided by the organisation including flexible working options if feasible
• Desirable criteria are the qualities, skills and qualifications that will assist you in choosing the best candidate for the job. You may choose to include these in the advert, although you do not have to consider these criteria prior to the interview/assessment stage
• Include the next steps of the process like interview guidance, dates, reasonable adjustments required etc
• Every advert should talk about the Met Police’s commitment to Equality and Diversity.
• Competencies required for the role should be included. These must always be based on our Competency and Values Framework
You can use this template to structure your advert.

Using Competency and Values Framework (CVF) for recruitment

We have introduced the Competency and Values Framework (CVF) for use in internal and external recruitment. The Competency and Values Framework is made up of:

• six relevant and future-looking competencies clustered in three areas (each cluster has a heading and a description of why that area is important)
• four defined and measurable core values – defined by behavioural indicators (Met values)
• links between the CVF and the Code of Ethics (There are nine principles underpinning the Police Code of Ethics)

These have been clustered into the Met values:
• Professionalism
• Integrity
• Courage
• Compassion

This enables simpler and better behavioural assessment of the desired behaviours.

You can see examples of the behaviours that can be used at the different ranks and bands within Competency and Values Framework (CVF) pages.

The Helpful Resources page contains Help Guides to assist the advertising, paper sifting and selection of posts on Oleeo.

As the recruiting manager you are also responsible for confirming any vetting requirements. Further advice on this can be accessed via the Vetting Unit.


Using the CVF for police staff recruitment

There are 3 levels of the CVF which equate to different bands:

• Level 1: Band E staff (all competencies)
• Level 2: Band D staff (all competencies); Band C staff (‘We are emotionally aware’; ‘We are collaborative’; ‘We deliver, support and inspire’; ‘We are innovative and open minded’)’; Band B staff (‘We are innovative and open minded’)
• Level 3: Band A staff (all competencies); Band B staff (all competencies except ‘We are innovative and open minded’); Band C staff (‘We take ownership’; ‘We analyse critically’)

The CVF is designed to be used flexibly and hiring managers have the ability to select the level for all competencies for the role they are recruiting into for police staff.

For example, if a hiring manager is recruiting a Band E analyst role and the job analysis/job description indicates a heightened analytical ability is required, the hiring manager may decide to increase the ‘We analyse critically’ competency to level 2.

You do not need to assess all the CVF behaviours, you can choose those most important for the role, although it is suggested that in interview you assess those you didn’t assess at application. You need to be confident when making your selection decision that your chosen candidate will be successful in the role and against the required competencies for the role.

The Oleeo guide “Completing Interview Review Competency and Values Framework” will guide you through how to use the CVF for recruitment.

Using the CVF for police officer recruitment

All internal and external recruitment activity will need to be aligned to the CVF. The CVF is defined at three levels, and there are descriptions and competencies for each level. For police officers, the levels are nationally defined:

• Level 1: Constables
• Level 2: Sergeants (except ‘We are collaborative’ at level 1), Inspectors and Chief Inspectors
• Level 3: Superintendents and above