Relationship management is one of the core skills in the policing professional profiles.
First published
Relationship management is the ability to work confidently and effectively with other people in a variety of contexts and situations. It involves listening to and understanding what is important to others. It is also about the ability to build operationally effective relationships and break down barriers. This includes recognising and valuing cultural and other differences to create a working environment that helps achieve positive performance outcomes.
Level 1 – relationship management
- I am able to extend my knowledge of other colleagues, partners, and other stakeholders to work effectively across team or other boundaries.
- I am able to retain the trust of others by working in a way that is reliable, responsive, and transparent.
- I present myself well and demonstrate appropriate professional confidence.
- I consistently show an interest in getting to know and listen actively to the content, perspectives and opinions of what others are saying.
Level 2 – relationship management
- I am able to act with diplomacy and tact.
- I consider the perspectives of people from a wide range of backgrounds to help choose the best course of action.
- I am able to adapt my style and approach according to the needs of the people I am working with, adapting my approach and behaviours to achieve the best outcome.
- I take prompt action to maintain positive working relationships and resolve areas of conflict to support the delivery of shared organisational outcomes.
- I am able to strengthen relationships by involving others in decisions and giving recognition.
Level 3 – relationship management
- I listen to and ensure stakeholders’ needs and concerns are fully understood and take care to respond to these in timely and appropriate way.
- I use different skills to check understanding and build trust-based, collaborative and productive working partnerships with others.
- I create stakeholder relationship plans and act on these to achieve results in partnership with others.
- I am able to act as a liaison between different stakeholder groups.
Level 4 – relationship management
- I am able to gain support by negotiating a mutually satisfactory outcome that aligns objectives of different stakeholders.
- I am able to identify the proper thing to do without allowing conflicting stakeholder demands to unfairly influence actions.
- I constructively address relationship management difficulties when they occur and display the confidence to challenge others without compromising established trust.
- I build genuine and long-lasting partnerships collective aims and not just on our own organisation.
Level 5 – relationship management
- I lead and influence stakeholder relationships at the most senior levels to help achieve organisational and police service objectives.
- I draw on the strength of my professional network and relationships to enable collaborative working, resolve issues, and reconcile conflicts of interest to ensure the complex needs of public safety are met.
- I develop long-term collaborative relationships with key partner organisations from all sectors that interact with the police.
- I remove potential barriers to collaboration and decision-making to enable others to take practical steps in building relationships outside the organisation and in other sectors (public, not for profit, and private).
- I understand formal and informal politics at local and national levels and what this means for our partners, to gain support, build effective long-term links, and influence outcomes by working within decision-making structures.