Ending the Police Recruiting vs. Police Retention Debate!

Thanks for reading the Marketing 'For Cops' Newsletter. Want this newsletter delivered straight to your email every week so you don't have to check LinkedIn? Join my Police Marketing Squad and I'll send it to you every Thursday morning! Always free, always delivering knowledge, and never spam!

Recruiting gets people in the door.  Retention keeps them there.  So, which is more important for your police agency's future?  Buckle up because I’m putting an end to the police recruiting versus police retention debate forever...keep reading! 👀

Hey everyone, it’s Tom Sye your Police Marketing FTO and this week, let’s talk about recruiting and retention and which one your agency should be focusing on here in 2024. 🔭

Over the past couple years, this debate has become as contested as the chicken and the egg and which came first...but the answer is nowhere near as complex and doesn’t require quantum physics to try and figure it out...in fact, there’s a really simple answer to this question... 👇

Ready? 

Remember...you wanted this...

The answer to which is more important is simply...both. 😜

Ok...before you go thinking I’m copping out and trying to please everyone at once...let me give you the reasoning behind this answer with another simple question. 👇

When it comes to recruiting and retention, why do you keep pitting these two things against each other as if it’s an either/or problem? 😳

Look, recruiting is incredibly important.  Your agency is sunk without it.  So is retention.  If you abandon one over the other, and it doesn’t matter which you place more importance on, if you only do one of these two things, you’re going to fail. 🤷‍♂️

So, next time you’re in a passionate argument over this topic, remember...if you’re picking one side over the other, your argument is an encouragement for your agency to fail.  You have to do both, always. 💯   

Ok, now that we got that out of the way...here’s the real recruiting and retention problem that I want to teach you about...

Police recruiting and police retention cannot be handled by the same people.

 

Sure, there’s going to be some crossover here and there, but you cannot continue to task your recruiting or backgrounds unit with long term retention of police officers or other police employees.  Quite frankly, it’s just not their responsibility and makes absolutely no sense to think that it is. 🤨 

I’ve talked to hundreds of laterals over the past few years who were considering coming to my agency.  Literally, hundreds of them.  Do you know how many times I heard ‘my recruiter never contacted me after I got hired’ as a reason they were thinking about leaving? 🤔

That’s correct...zero times. 0️⃣

So, who is responsible? 

Here’s a quick and easy responsibility check that you can start employing at your agency to get things in order. 

Who’s responsible for recruiting? 

👉 Recruiters

It’s a recruiters job to find quality applicants for your agency, bring them into the hiring process, and help them through it until the point that they are hired.  Once someone is through the process, the recruiters job is to go back out there and find the next one, bring them into the hiring process and help them through until the point they are hired.  This process will repeat itself until the end of time or until your agency no longer exists...whichever comes first. 😀   

Now, who is responsible for retention? 

👉 Everyone else 

That’s right...contrary to popular leadership training programs, it’s just not the job of the Chief, or command staff, or other high-ranking members of the agency to make sure people are encouraged and feel supported.  They play an enormous role in this, mind you, but if you want to have more people staying once recruiting gets them through the door, it’s going to require a massive culture shift from top to bottom away from ‘that’s not my job’ and ‘no one helped me when I started’ to an environment that encourages employees to help and support each other. 🤗

Those same laterals I was telling you about earlier...whether they had a few years on or multiple years on, that’s their number one gripe.  They don’t feel supported and are tired of everyone being so negative every second of their workday. 😩

Now I realize that fixing this is way easier said than done, and it’s going to require the realization that culture starts at the top...but it doesn’t end there. 

Suggestions to help with retention   

If you want to retain more employees through the academy, it’s going to require your training staff getting involved to help both those who are struggling and those who are doing well.  We typically just leave it up to the recruits to police themselves, but that’s really a blind leading the blind philosophy.  Hosting study sessions, having mentors for recruits to turn to for help, and assigning a trainer to give more one-on-one training away from the academy to ensure success are all great starting points. 🙌  

Having problems with officers making it off of Field Training?  Encourage your FTO’s to move from a ‘sink or swim’ mentality to more of a compassion in teaching one. 👨‍🏫👩‍🏫

Look, I was an FTO on patrol too once upon a time and I know how frustrating it can be when someone just doesn’t seem to get it.  This is when you have to dig down deep with the heart of a teacher and remember...you didn’t know either at one point.  I don’t know why we forget that sometimes. 😉

There’s a lot going on in a trainees mind and a lot of pressure that simply isn’t there for you.  Unfortunately, that seems to be getting lost all too often these days as our applicant pool gets younger and younger and that inexperience really tests an FTO’s patience. 😧

Once a newer officer hits the streets it’s up to their squad mates and Sergeant to make sure they’re doing ok and fitting in...not the other way around.  It’s very common for newer officers to feel like they have to prove themselves to their new squad and that also puts a lot of undue pressure on them.  That pressure can make them feel inadequate, ostracized, and even downright stupid at times. 😬 

If you want to see officers staying longer, welcome them to your squad when they get there.  Take them under your wing and show them the ropes.  It’s amazing what that will do for both their and your morale! 📈

This same philosophy applies to your more veteran officers as well.  It’s no secret that this job can put you through some real stressors in both your personal and professional life.  If you’ve noticed someone has taken a turn towards negative town, reach out to them.  Invite them to lunch.  Be there for them and offer your ear to help. 👂

As an agency, this is where it is hugely important to have wellness programs in place.  Real wellness programs, not just the standard ones that you threw together because everyone else has a wellness program so you should too.  Wellness can add years to an officers career if it’s done passionately and genuinely. 🥰    

Here’s the bottom line on retention...all the raises, incentives, benefits, take home cars, or whatever else you come up with to try and get people to stay are really nice and they are appreciated...but they’re temporary fixes for a cultural problem. 🤫

If you treat people well, they’ll stay.  Treat them poorly, and they’re gone.  Retention is as simple as that.  😎

Well, I’ve given you a ton of ideas here for retention but if you need some more help getting started with the recruiting end of things...my Road to Better Recruiting course is going to blow your mind! 🤯

You can learn more about what’s included by visiting: forcopstraining.com/rtbr.

Know someone at another agency who’s been debating about retention or recruiting?  Give this newsletter a like or share it with them so they can learn too.  Remember, we’re all in this together and it's gonna take all of us to strengthen the future of our profession.  🤝

Have more questions about police recruiting, marketing, or anything else you're struggling with? Don't hesitate to reach out...I’m always here to help. ⛑

Until next week my Police Marketing Squad, happy recruiting! 😃

Tom

---

Did you find this newsletter valuable? Make sure to like & comment below. 👇

I'd love to hear from you! 🤩

Also, if you know someone who needs to see this content, please share my newsletter with them! I would appreciate the help in spreading the knowledge that will benefit us all and make our profession stronger! 💪

Have a marketing or recruiting topic you would like more info on? Drop me a message 📩 and let me know what you would like to learn! It might just make its way into next week's newsletter! 🤞

---

👋 I’m Tom Sye, your Police Marketing FTO. I founded ‘For Cops’ Training to teach Police Departments how to attract more qualified candidates through the same tried and tested methods I’ve used for the past ten years at my own department to keep up with turnover and stay ahead of vacancies.

Want to learn more about police marketing and recruiting? 👇

🔔 Follow my profile

✅ Connect with me

🗞️ Subscribe to the Marketing ‘For Cops’ Newsletter

You can also connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, X, or visit www.forcopstraining.com to learn more about my Police Marketing and Recruiting courses which will be enrolling soon!