With a background in organisational psychology, criminology and management consultancy, Rebecca has extensive experience in research, evaluation and intelligence, providing operational and strategic insights for decision-makers in the Queensland Police Service, quasi-government agencies and the private sector.
Presentation
Benefits & challenges of recruiting officers with international policing experience: impact of the Queensland Police Service international recruitment strategy
Mrs Rebecca Gollschewski1, Ms Georgia Clarke1
1Queensland Police Service, Brisbane, Australia
A buoyant labour market and changing societal perceptions of policing as a career option, in the context of increasing demand for policing services and a higher than forecast attrition due to age retirement, have necessitated the development of alternative recruitment strategies by the Queensland Police Service. Resultant expansion of the organisation’s international recruitment strategy to include large annual cohorts of up to 500 foreign nationals has provided a unique opportunity to assess the benefits and challenges for officers recruited via this pathway and for the organisation. The concept of reciprocal influence in the process of organisational socialisation is explored as the cohort learn about, adjust to, and potentially modify attitudes, expectations, and behaviours during their assimilation to a new organisation and policing environment.
The longitudinal evaluation design recognises the likelihood of temporal changes in those challenges and benefits to the individual and organisation. The initial evaluation focusses on the eighteen-month period from when the strategy was announced in February 2023 through the stages of marketing, selection and training until initial deployment, and will assess the impact of governance processes and support mechanisms on those stages. Factors influencing retention of internationally recruited officers at each stage are also examined in that context.
Interim findings will inform future iterations of the strategy, enabling challenges to be addressed and benefits optimised.