“The Resourcing Coordinator role requires you to have a variety of skills because you’re dealing with the entire recruitment process from beginning to end for all police officer and police staff posts within SWROCU. It’s a really busy function which involves liaising with individual applicants, colleagues at our five regional forces, and people wanting to transfer to join the ROCU from outside the region.”
What the role involves
The current Government’s manifesto committed to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers in England and Wales by 31 March 2023 – called the Police Uplift Programme (PUP).
“The PUP, as well as organic growth within the Unit has meant our Recruitment Team has had to grow too. A key part of the Resourcing Coordinator’s role is involved in processing these applications.”
The role also requires you to have good attention to detail, excellent communication skills and be organised as the Recruitment Team is currently managing over one hundred processes within the Unit – that includes dealing with individual roles at different stages of the recruitment journey and developing future job adverts.
“You are part of a really supportive team who work together and are on hand to help you when needed”
“I enjoy working on my own initiative, prioritising tasks, and managing the competing demands on my time, which you have to do in this role. And you are part of a really supportive team who work together and are on hand to help you when needed.”
The scope for promotion
After just two months of being at SWROCU Lisa was promoted to Regional Admin and Finance Officer – a more senior position within the Business Team.
“Recruitment comes under the umbrella of my new role, but I am now also one of the line managers of the Admin Team in our Northern hub near Bristol.”
This involves overseeing everything from maintenance of the building, ensuring all colleagues have access to the correct IT equipment, estates management, car parking, and health and safety.
On the administration side Lisa is involved in budgeting, staff pay, purchase orders, reporting and the induction of new starters.
“There is excellent support for growth within the ROCU – we retain really good people, encourage them to thrive and they progress their careers with us”
“It’s an extremely varied role and what I love about it is that no two days are the same, every day is very different.”
With around three hundred staff to support, demands on the Business Team are high but Lisa says that’s what keeps it interesting.
“Because of the type of work the different teams do at SWROCU they’ve all got different needs. For example, if there’s operational activity happening, we might be asked to book 24 hotel rooms in Bournemouth at the last minute, or teams may need access to a variety of fleet cars at short notice. This is work the Admin Assistant would get involved in and which I would supervise.”
And that’s the key to the Business Team – they connect with all departments within the ROCU including the 20+ capabilities, assisting and facilitating the important work they do. The team is vital to the smooth running of the Unit.
Other opportunities on the Business Team
The Business Team often have openings for Admin Assistants; it is a position many have initially joined the ROCU in but have developed and consequently been promoted internally.
“There is excellent support for growth within the ROCU – we retain really good people, encourage them to thrive and they progress their careers with us.
“The Business Team itself is relatively small but everybody is supportive and relaxed but professional. I think your working environment is really important and, for me, the Team is great to be part of – it’s a really positive environment.”
Lisa is one of three Admin and Finance Officers within the Unit all of whom link in with each other regularly to ensure work is done as efficiently and effectively as possible across the Unit’s multiple sites.
“Because the role is so varied it would be quite difficult to keep up with all the detailed aspects of each business area, so the three of us play to the specific specialist skills we have, which complement each other. One leads more on the finance stream, that’s her area of expertise. I’m leading on recruitment because that’s my area of expertise. And one leads on the admin side of the business.”
Many of the roles within the team are blended – meaning there is flexibility to work from home, as well as at one of SWROCU’s main hubs.
“The Admin Assistants work more days in the office than the Resourcing Coordinators but there is still some flex within their roles. I currently work one or two days a week in the office – this flexibility means it’s great for working parents or other people that want to find that work-life balance.”
The Business Team’s standard working week is Monday to Friday office hours, leaving weekends and evenings free.
“You will be welcomed with open arms into the Team. On my first day everyone made the effort to come into the office to meet me and have continued to get to know me as a person. My line manager keeps in regular contact with me and within my first week I sat down with the Head of the Unit who was really approachable and knowledgeable. And they do that for every single person who joins the team. I don’t think that happens as standard within many settings and it definitely made me feel like a valued member of the team.”