I just read an interesting article by Lord Dear (former Chief Constable of the West Midlands) on the leadership crisis in the Police Service - see it here (warning: Times paywall) - which reminded me of several pieces of work I have overseen at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. One of these pieces of work went to achieve some notoriety (Independent on Sunday, Christopher Meyer, Telegraph).

Back in 2007 we conducted an interesting survey at the FCO targeted specifically staff who had joined 2 years previously. The aim was to understand the change in their attitude to their job since they first joined. The results were startling. Time and again we heard the same thing: the inability to climb the ranks quickly on merit was stifling these ambitious young people. Some felt they had been mis-sold. Some said they wished they'd taken that highly paid job in the city they had turned down for an organisation with prestige and influence. I expect there are some in the Police Service who feel the same way.

According to the feedback we received, they were not able to progress at their own speed due to the 'dead wood' that blocked their progress up the organisation. This unflattering term applies to those who have spent their time at the FCO performing below standard and have got away with it for years. They move from post to post (each posting is typically 3 years in length) shrugging off criticism and suggestions for personal development as they go around. Such people inevitably block the path for the more junior staff who are keen, willing and able to develop their skills and have a desire to perform to the best of their ability.

In HR this is called a 'Performance Management' issue. Managers at the time were simply not tackling the problem. Tackling an underperformer (i.e. trying to improve their performance or giving them the sack) was a cultural no-no. It just wasn't the done thing. And if you did try to do it, it was a very long, risky and arduous task. Better to brush it under the carpet - Bloggs is about to move on to his next post - why make life difficult for yourself? Let someone else deal with it.

It is not hard to imagine similar cultural problems in the Police Service, compounded by the lack of a formal career path for high achievers. So how do you fix it? How do you change an organisation's culture? How do you instil in managers that it is 'the norm' to tackle underperformance?

Well at the Foreign Office things have changed. First of all, a strong, ambitious and focused HR Director was in place. You need people at the top who naturally have a strong vision, strong personality and a desire to change things.

Second, remove the structural obstacles. Cut down on the paperwork and time required to get someone out of the organisation. Make it less onerous for managers to tackle underperformance. Make the appraisal system highlight underperformers while also measuring managers on their ability to deal with them. Make feedback and review a part of everyday office life.

Third, bring about a change in the culture by repeated communication of the 'new way'. We ended up talking to the top 1000 diplomats and managers in all corners of the world, training them on the principles of performance management and effectively 'selling the benefits' to them. To be honest, the skills required are not hard to learn. Most important is the fact that all over the world, groups of senior people are collectively learning that change is necessary: change in the organisation and change in themselves, their daily practices, their frame of mind.

The result? Well, we've yet to run the same survey again with recent joiners but the word on the street is that the attitude to performance management and the problem of dead-wood has changed profoundly for the better.

The Police Service clearly has its work cut out. Internal problems are causing an 'employer brand' problem: weakening its ability to recruit the very best. Graduates and school leavers are not motivated by money alone. They value ethics, pride and above all meritocracy. If the Police Service can offer these, it can once again be one of the great British institutions.