Metropolitan Police recruits

Steve Taylor

Background and situation

Steve Taylor is a police sergeant working at the Metropolitan Police Recruit Training School at Hendon, London. His team has designed the Recruit Foundation Course there. The team also supports the delivery of that course and designs learning resources. Steve offers coaching to students who are on the 18-week recruit training programme run at the school. Coaching is usually triggered by the student, who requests it via voluntary study clubs, run on one evening per week

The coaching was introduced to support the formal training programme, by giving students access to staff other than their instructors, and was partly a result of a high failure rate amongst new recruits.

The process

Coaching is offered via informal ˜drop in study groups; it is usual for students to attend , certainly for the first time, at the ˜failure point “ ie either they have failed one or more of their exams or that they are concerned about their ability to achieve the required standards. The students often describe the problem as not being able to pass the exams; in reality the issue is usually around how they study.

Once a student selects to attend the study group , Steve (or one of the team) coaches them on a one-to-one basis. This discussion follows a systematic pattern:

• Describing the difficulties and their symptoms. Steve encourages the student to talk to him about what the difficulties are and what the student feels is wrong. He asks the student to describe the symptoms as well as what he or she does. This way Steve is able to diagnose the problems whilst understanding the student s perception. Steve believes that you have to work with both the real problem and the individual s perception of what is wrong.

• Summarizing. At this point, Steve summarizes the main points, as described by the coachee .

• Changing perceptions. This is about giving the student increased confidence and putting the problem into perspective. Steve asks the coachee to describe in detail how he or she studies. He then helps the student to draw out what he or she does well, so that the student is able to identify development areas in a more positive way rather than focusing on the negative. For example, changing the student s focus from ˜I can t get more than 65 per cent to ˜I am comfortable with these subjects . Identifying options. Different ways and approaches for completing the study are identified. Steve uses three techniques for helping this part of the process:

  • “ The sharing of personal experiences such as ˜If I was doing this. . . or ˜I had a similar experience when. . . .

  • “ Helping the student understand what learning is by linking to other learning experiences, eg how he or she learnt the alphabet.

  • “ Focusing on the self-checking stage of learning “ what does the student do to check his or her learning as he or she studies?

• Implementing “ ie the student goes away and does what he or she planned to do.

Positive aspects of this approach

Steve believes that the informal style of coaching works well; it is different from the general culture of the programme, which consists of a formally structured timetable of classes, practical group activities and examinations. There are no written records of the coaching sessions, which are held on a one-to-one basis and, therefore, there is no feedback to the student s tutors. This anonymity, coupled with the informality of approach, helps the student recruits feel safe enough to discuss their individual issues honestly and openly. The improvements in pass rates since this coaching began have proved that this different approach is working

Another key aspect is the fact that the students trigger the coaching, which means that they are committed to the process and are open to trying the ideas that are discussed.

Possibly the most important aspect of this approach is the focus on identifying what works for the individual student. The discussions are based on finding out about the individual s learning and working styles, so that these can be used to build study techniques and routines that really work for the individual. A common mistake made by students is that they try to study in groups, and this can force them into learning through a method that does not suit them. Steve helps them identify as individuals the right mode of study for themselves .

Steve and his team have a high degree of expertise in training and development; they know and understand the programme that the students are undertaking as they have written the curriculum, and have, individually and as a team, many years of experience in training. They consequently have strong beliefs and principles around the whole subject of learning.

Challenges faced

The main challenge for Steve s team is that some of the instructors and tutors on the training programme are less experienced than others and this means that students are sometimes given the wrong information or support. This can mean that some students feel uncertain about following the advice of their coach, for fear of being seen to contradict their trainer.

Top tips

• It is vital to build a relationship that has its foundation in trust.

• Coaches need to be selected; line managers (or course tutors in this case) are not automatically the best people to coach as there is a difference between coaching and supervision.

• It is important to ˜get on side with coachees and to relate to where they are at the time of meeting with them.

• Don t tell coachees what to do, offer solutions.

• It is important to check that the coachee is comfortable with you as the coach “ both of you need to have the option to say that it is the wrong relationship and that it won t work for you.

Advice for the coachee

Be honest “ tell your coach how it is. There are no stupid questions.

Authors comments

This case study highlights the importance of having an informal and comfortable environment in which to build rapport. It also shows the importance of having experienced coaches who have both knowledge of the subject and a strong grounding in development. We particularly like the focus on the need to change perceptions “ the implication that it is people s view of their reality that impacts their performance.