Our diverse workforce is something we are immensely proud of at Lancashire Police, as we consistently aim to keep our recruitment as balanced as possible. Recently, this commitment was recognised in The Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers List, where we ranked fourth.
We have over 5,000 employees, representing a larger organisation in North West England. Our members consist of various staff, including special constabulary officers, police cadets and community volunteers – all vital to the force.
Lancashire Constabulary’s recruitment team is invested in developing and delivering the best initiatives that are created to make a real impact on our workforce. With the help of our Granicus govDelivery email communications platform, we have been maximising employee recruitment efforts since early 2020.
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A unique use of a communications platform
Cloud-based integrated communications platforms are used primarily by government organisations for citizen communications. However, at Lancashire we are using the advanced features in a unique way – to drive recruitment.
The flexible low-code platform allows us to create alerts that notify interested applicants of available Lancashire Police roles and email them with action-oriented information about working at Lancashire.
This supports recruitment drive at Lancashire Police by keeping potential applicants informed on the application progress and giving potential employees opportunities for police officer roles and other staff roles, as part of the nationwide national police uplift programme.
A postcard to a new role
We utilise the relationships our neighbourhood officers have with the community to find prospective candidates who may be suited to the force.
While on duty, officers carry postcards with recruitment information on. If they have a conversation with a member of the community who showcases the skills needed to be an outstanding member of the force, they can hand them a card.
These cards feature a QR code, which one can scan to take them to the recruitment website sign-up page powered by the platform. This page is an accessible and encouraging way to promote detail input from prospective candidates and guide them to an email campaign with information on careers with Lancashire Police.
Data to tailor the recruitment experience
Using govDelivery gives the force the opportunity to manage all its communications together. Marketing and HR led the recruitment, choosing the platform for its data management that effectively targets applicants with relevant information. This means Lancashire Police can now provide tailored sign-up job alerts.
We also use it to keep recent applicants engaged throughout the up-to-12-months application process. Through the platform, Lancashire Police targets individuals with relevant information and updates during the entire process.
Multi-media to improve engagement
This platform is great for both recruitment communications and for strong usage of multimedia. We can create engaging content, including striking visuals.
We’ve already seen an improvement in our recruitment service interaction - including over 7,000 people signing up for job alerts since implementing the platform. This is what encourages us to think creatively about how our email platform can attract interest.
The successful channel shift and level of engagement is why we’re looking at fully rolling out govDelivery across Lancashire where we can explore the support the platform could offer to other areas of our organisation.
Hayley Wallis is recruitment marketing lead at Lancashire Police.
