Recruiting, Developing and Retaining Diverse Talent to Break Cycles of Reoffending (PID066)

2.30pm – 3pm GMT+03:00, 27 October 2025 ‐ 30 mins

Thematic Workshop Sessions

Prisons need talented frontline staff to run safe and purposeful regimes focused on preparing prisoners to lead successful lives post-release. These staff need motivation, training and support to deliver that. This presentation focuses on the work of Unlocked Graduates, a charity working across England and Wales focused on recruiting, developing and retaining talented graduates to drive change in the prison service. Drawing on findings from interviews and surveys with serving prison officers we explore the cultural and organisational factors shaping their experience of their work, wellbeing, sense of possibility and motivation to remain in the prison service, before setting out some proposed solutions based on our learning to date.
 
Moderated by Doug Dretke, Deputy Chair, Staff Training and Development Network, ICPA, United States