6 Little-known Ways to Enable Culture Change at Toronto Police Service

Transforming culture is the hardest change an organization can make. It also is the one that produces the greatest benefits.

Every organization has a culture – a collection of mindsets, actions and behaviours that define how things get done and how people interact. Changing them is difficult because they are hardwired into all aspects of the organization. Also, these norms are constantly reinforced by stories told (good and bad), visual symbols seen, and rewards and punishments given. They don't change easily.

Culture change is definitely worth the effort. It can eliminate unproductive behaviours, build capabilities, and realize outcomes currently not possible. It also can increase people’s engagement, create personal meaning in their work, and enable achievements they can take pride in. 

In February 2016, Toronto Police Service formed a Transformational Task Force with a mandate to "develop and recommend a modernized policing model that is innovative, sustainable and affordable." Recently, the task force published its final report: Action Plan: The Way Forward, Modernizing Community Safety in Toronto.

The report identifies cultural change as being central to implementing all recommendations. It also notes the size of the task given the highly regulated, procedure-driven and, as some stakeholders have said, "restrictive and inflexible" nature of emergency service organizations.

Wendy Gillis' Toronto Star article, Neighbourhood Policing at Centre of Toronto Force's Plans for Change, explores the types of cultural change needed to adopt a recommended "neighbourhood-centric policing" model. Officers will be dedicated to specific communities for a minimum of three years and will have a mandate to partner with communities and support agencies to co-develop solutions to issues. 

The officers will be more empowered to make decisions to customize service-delivery based on the needs of the community. They will be selected based on their interaction, collaboration, partnering, engagement and empathy skills. Importantly, the ability to demonstrate these capabilities will be a key part of their career development including evaluation, rewards and promotion.

The report identifies cultural change as being central to implementing all recommendations. It also notes the size of the task given the highly regulated, procedure-driven and, as some stakeholders have said, "restrictive and inflexible" nature of emergency service organizations.

Wendy Gillis' Toronto Star article, Preparing for the Changing of the Guard, explores the types of cultural change needed to adopt a recommended "neighbourhood-centric policing" model. Officers will be dedicated to specific communities for a minimum of three years and will have a mandate to partner with communities and support agencies to co-develop solutions to issues.

The new model requires significant changes to how officers operate and are managed. They will be more empowered to make decisions to customize service-delivery based on the needs of the community. They will be selected for these roles based on demonstrated supportive skills – interaction, collaboration, partnering, engagement and empathy. Importantly, demonstrating these capabilities will be a key part of their career development including evaluation, rewards, and promotion.

Here are six ways Toronto Police Service can enable the culture change needed to implement task force recommendations:

Set expectations for cultural change success

The report acknowledges that culture change takes time. Be more specific. It will take at least a year to define current and future mindsets and behaviours and build awareness of them across the 8,000 members and external stakeholders.  The new ways will also need to be integrated into training programs and people management processes. Year one will show few gains on their performance scorecard even if they execute perfectly – culture change is a multi-year initiative.

Include members of all key stakeholder groups on the implementation team

Full participation will ensure breadth of planning, reduce risk and enable faster transition. This includes the police union that has been critical of the report's findings; engaging now will reduce resistance and save time later. As Alok Mukherjee, former Toronto Police Board Chair cautions, "Unless the association agrees, you won't be able to do it.” All partnerships need to begin on the implementation team.

Align HR processes with the new culture before building it

People's behaviour is guided by their managers and the rewards they give. Launching culture change that conflicts with how incentives are earned leads to resistance and preservation of the status quo. Force-wide hiring profiles, training, goals, assessments, rewards and promotion criteria all need to be in sync with the new culture before building begins. HR processes consistently aligned with future expectations send a powerful message that leaders are serious about transforming the organization.

Clearly define leaders' roles and provide support to fulfil them

Leaders' behaviour define an organization's culture. Since people emulate their leaders, being clear on the mindsets, actions and behaviors they need to demonstrate to their teams is an important early step. 

The report states that transformation is the Toronto Police Service Board's most important priority for the next few years. Board members will provide support through "resources, advocacy, advice, and priority setting." Being clear on how they will do so needs to be a key part of the change management strategy. They will need support to fulfil their roles including knowledge, skill building, feedback, and coaching. Plan and resource for it.

Design and schedule leadership review meetings now

Progress reviews are essential to ongoing transformation management. The performance scorecard designed to facilitate them looks comprehensive and complete. Define the ways of working around using it now, before time pressures risk deprioritization and cutting corners – how it will be discussed, how much time will it require to properly do so and what process the team will use to follow up on advice given are important decisions that will impact the quality of reviews. A bonus tip: secure an early spot on the Board's agenda to minimize risk of shortened time slots or member fatigue.

Begin with pilot tests to refine thinking and demonstrate value

Translating recommendations into effective implementation plans requires pre-testing. Small trials provide feedback on what does and doesn’t work and uncover practical adjustments to achieve desired outcomes. Pilot tests also produce positive results observed by stakeholder group members. Testimonials from these people can make believers of skeptics and create demand for quicker roll-out of the program.

Successful culture change is a requirement for any large transformation. It aligns people's mindset, actions, and behaviours to enable adoption of new ways of working. It also builds capabilities and creates outcomes that could not be achieved within the status quo. As Chief of Police Saunders said in the report, "the members of Toronto Police Service are the organization's greatest assets." Building a new culture will enable them to create their recommended future.

Phil