Question
Is the Stronger Together Community of Practice a PSNI heading for a number of different associations/organisations or is it an actual structure that has joint meetings and/or other joint activities? How does the Stronger Together Community of Practice work and how does it function?
Answer
The Stronger Together Community of Practice is a new approach in the Police Service designed to help strengthen our equality, diversity and inclusion work and is complementary to the work of the People Plan Delivery Groups. Its purpose is to demonstrate representation, intersectionality and promote that we are ‘stronger together’. It will enable all our support and staff associations to work collectively and contribute in the co-design, co-development and co-delivery of our police service. The ethos is one of mutual support, inclusion, working together to share learning and harnessing diverse perspectives to generate new ideas and innovative approaches for the benefit of organisational development and policing delivery.
Under the Stronger Together Community of Practice the initial focus will be on developing five individual Communities of Interest. These have been decided and agreed by our support and staff associations, around the following thematic areas:
- Learning and Development
- Communications
- Recruitment & Progression
- Policy & Practice
- Health & Wellbeing
New communities of interest can be developed as the need arises and as agreed by the complete Stronger Together Community. These five Communities of Interest will have representatives from our Staff Associations, Trade Unions and Support Networks who have an interest or specific skill set in these areas. The ambition is to assist in breaking down organisational silos, enable knowledge sharing and support innovation through collective leadership and involvement of all our staff.
Each of the five Communities of Interest will hold their own meetings, at a frequency agreed by them, to determine key priorities, workplans, actions and measurements under the thematic area but aligned to the strategic need of the organisation and its staff. The complete Stronger Together Community of Practice will meet quarterly initially to share learning, best practice, progress and outcomes from each of the five Communities of Interest. Any outworking’s of the Communities will progress through normal governance arrangements within the organisation as required. Regular updates will also be provided through the People and Culture Board and the Chief Constables ‘Your Voice’ Forum.
Stronger Together is open to all individuals, working in all roles, ranks and grades across our organisation. As this concept matures within the organisation it is envisaged that the Communities would include community representatives. Those involved will act as ambassadors for collective leadership and inclusion, working within the organisation and communicating key messages, as and when required.
Linda Dillon Sinn Féin