Sustaining and sharing the innovation.
Sustain the innovation
An innovation is considered sustainable when it becomes fully embedded in the organisation and is treated as business as usual. Sustaining change means ensuring that individuals do not revert to previous ways of working or earlier performance levels.
To support sustainability:
- embed the innovation into standard performance practices at both organisational and departmental levels
- establish clear ownership and accountability for maintaining the change
- recognise that benefits may not be fully realised at the point of delivery, time saved by officers or staff often needs to be reinvested into operational activity to deliver full value
Sustainability should be part of a wider continuous improvement culture. The continuous improvement self-assessment matrix (CI SAM), can support forces in embedding this approach.
Scale up and share the innovation
Successfully implementing an innovation can inspire others and build momentum for further change. It is valuable to:
- reflect on lessons learned
- share insights through regional forums, knowledge-sharing events and the College of Policing's networks
- recognise and celebrate the efforts of those involved
Practice bank
You can share your intervention with other organisations through the practice bank. This includes:
- promising practices
- new or innovative approaches
- interventions that did not work, but offer learning
An intervention does not need to be formally evaluated to be shared. The practice bank, for example, includes many practice examples that have not been formally evaluated yet.
National and international adoption
If your local project shows positive results on evaluation that have been replicated in other forces, the approach may be selected by a national body as a programme for national adoption. Examples of national bodies here include a National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) committee, the College or the Home Office.
If your project is already a programme rolling out across all forces, it may create interest internationally, with opportunities to share good practice with other countries. In some cases, you may need to license your approach to:
- protect the integrity of the approach and its brand
- make sure it continues to deliver positive results
Get in touch at productivity@college.police.uk if you have any questions about adoption or anything else in this guidance.