St Kitts: Manager and supervisors retained to better assess performance

As part of its commitment to continuously enhance its internal operations, the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force is retraining members of staff in the use of the Performance Development Review (PDR) Appraisal Instrument.

Force Personnel Officer, Clifford Govia, and Director of the Bramshill Policing Advisors, Steve France-Sargeant, have been discussing how the PDR process can be improved during special consultations. Sessions were held in each district with Gazetted Officers (managers) and supervisors, also referred to as Subordinate Police Officers (SPOs). The final consultation was held on Friday, March 15, in District "A", while Districts "B" and "C" were done earlier.

The PDR is critical in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of Police Officers and helps to guide the internal training agenda of the organisation. Departmental objectives are established based on role and rank, then each Officer is held accountable to achieving those objectives and is assessed on their performance annually.

Mr. France-Sargeant has been in the federation for several weeks as a consultant working along with the Police High Command. He stressed the need for managers and supervisors to ensure that officers under their command discharged their duties by completing the objectives set out for them during an operational year. If any development needs are identified along the process then the managers and supervisors have a responsibility to address those needs and provide the necessary support.

"We want to keep the best officers in the federation, and we want to recruit people that are going to become the best officers in the federation and the only way to do that is to set them objectives that are measurable and to make sure there's a transparency around what they achieve so when they want to progress into other roles, when they want to progress into supervisory roles, then there's a transparent process that assess them all on an even playing field," Mr. France-Sargeant said.

The Bramshill Police Advisors Director spoke to the importance of managing the assessment of Police Officers from the time of enrolment in the Force all the way through to the rank of Commissioner. The PDR plays a significant role in the advancement of an Officer when they are being considered for a promotion as it provides feedback and evidence on an individual's performance. At the consultation a template PDR was presented and suggestions were solicited from the participants on how the document could be improved. He reminded the Officers that the use of the PDR Appraisal Instrument increased accountability and was effective for realising the objectives that have been set according to the Six-Point Plan and the Police Strategic Service Plan. Follow-up sessions are planned for the future.