The initiative has been taken by the District Management Team in the form of a programme called "Individual Career Plans (ICP)", in support of the Force's management priority to develop a comprehensive Human Resources Management Strategy for the development of JPOs.

In coming up with the concept of the ICP programme, the management team has taken into consideration a number of factors, including exigencies of the District's operational requirements, availability of training resources and JPOs' training needs.

TW DIST Commander Austin Kerrigan has described the ICP programme as a "forward looking and practical document" designed to provide information on whether officers are satisfied with their current posts; ensure officers are continuously developing and maximising their potential; identify and meet training needs; and to ensure officers qualified for promotion are competitive when appearing before the promotion board.

In many respects, it formalises the current practice but has a major advantage in that important information is captured on a database and can be easily retrieved for selecting officers for acting appointments, postings and training courses.

Summing up the merits of the ICP programme, Mr Kerrigan said: "The beauty of the programme is that supervisory officers can monitor the career development, postings and progress of every member of their staff throughout the latter's stay in the District, and each JPO knows where and how his career path would proceed. Another advantage is that the District Management would be able to draw on a pool of officers for acting appointment."

Given the organisational changes being introduced as a result of the Efficiency Savings Programme, there will be an impact on the number of promotion vacancies. In such circumstances, job satisfaction will take on more importance. For a large percentage of junior officers, the ICP will simply be a tool to ensure they have opportunities to perform different tasks, expand their exposure and build up their experience so that they are competitive on entering the promotion zone. However, for those who have decided not to compete for promotion, discussing the ICP provides an opportunity for the supervisor to determine whether the officer is satisfied with his current posting. If he is, further encouragement will be given, and if not, the situation can be discussed in more detail and if possible, appropriate action will be taken. For those already in the promotion zone, the ICP will be used to discuss their competitiveness, provide encouragement and if necessary, identify areas where they can improve their competitiveness.

Main feature

The main feature of the ICP programme is that a supervisory officer of Chief Inspector rank will tailor-make a career plan for each member of his staff by conducting an assessment interview to ascertain his aptitudes and potential, strength and weakness, as well as suitability for acting appointment; identify his training needs and areas for development; and make recommendations for meeting the needs. At the interview, the JPO can freely express his posting preference, as well as view and aspiration of his career development.

Information of the interview, such as work experience, aptitudes, preferred postings and recommendations, etc., would be recorded in an ICP Form to be signed by the interviewer and interviewee. The details will then be input into an electronic database, which will enable the management to monitor the human resources in the District and strengthen development programmes for both potential officers and other JPOs. In practice, the data input by designated GR staff can be accessed by Chief Inspectors when considering officers for acting, posting and training, etc.

TW DIST started implementing the ICP programme on a full scale last November, following two successful pilot schemes.

The first pilot scheme was completed last June for the Sergeant to Station Sergeant promotion exercise, with 83 candidates from UB and CID participating and completing the ICP proforma. Among the officers, 20 were subsequently found suitable for acting appointment.

In the second pilot scheme conducted for the PC to SGT promotion exercise, 124 UB candidates participated and completed the ICP proforma. Among them, 88 were identified suitable for acting appointment, 33 showed interest to join the "UB Secondment to Crime Duties Scheme", and two were eligible to join the Potential Officers Development Programme (PODP).

Officers with potential for promotion will be given priority to perform acting duties, attend training courses and work in various units to gain more experiences and exposure. Those, who are less competitive but have potential for future advancement, will also be given similar opportunities.

Upon full implementation of the ICP programme, an ICP assessment interview will be conducted at three stages - immediately after a JPO has been posted to the District; when completing a JPO's Annual Report is due; and when a JPO has been recommended for promotion.

Mr Kerrigan, who regards human resources as an important asset for the management, said the ICP programme would help to boost staff morale, allay job frustration among JPOs, and project a caring image for the management.

"The ICP will also go a long way to make the staff more loyal not only to the District but also to the Force as a whole!" Mr Kerrigan noted.

ICP welcome

As Mr Kerrigan has expected, the JPOs OffBeat has spoken to, welcome the ICP programme, in particular Police Constables Chiu Hung-wai and Chow Kwok-hung.

PC Chiu commented: "The IPC programme is a very good initiative on the part of the management. The CIP might not have much time to see his officers, and when an officer first arrives at a sub-unit, he might not know anything about his CIP. It's a good thing if at the very beginning you can see the CIP and let him know your ability, the work you've done and your expectations. This will bring extra work to the CIP but he knows better his staff's working ability, for example someone might be good at computer, Japanese language or communication skills.

"Moreover, the programme's database contains a lot of information on the ICP forms. The management can get information from the database if it has to find suitable staff to perform acting duties, fill certain posts or do special jobs, without going through the normal selection and related procedures. This would save the management a lot of time and administrative work."

PC Chiu pointed out that the ICP programme could also serve as a stepping-stone to the District's Potential Officers Development Programme, of which he has been a member for the past one and a half years. Under the PODP, he has gained exposure to the work of six sub-units in the District through attachments each lasting for three months.

PC Chow said the IPC programme allowed him to plan his career development at an earlier stage and show his aptitudes and potential. "For the short-term, I'm aiming at promotion to sergeant, and I hope the ICP programme would help me achieve this goal. Another good thing about the programme is fostering better understanding and communication between supervisory officers and their staff," he added.

TW DIST TSRO Simon Tse informed Offbeat that details of the ICP will soon be available on TW DIST's Website.

Mr Kerrigan regards human resources as an important asset for the management