Depending on where you live, spring is a time that gets us thinking about new possibilities. For many, it's a natural time to renew, refocus and plan ahead.
This issue of Gazette magazine applies that thinking to how the RCMP strives to recruit new people, retain the best talent and, as careers progress, help employees plan for retirement.
Our cover story and our Q&A feature the work of some of the RCMP's recruiters who not only share their practical knowledge with prospective cadets but are models of inspiration in their own right.
Aside from seeking recruits who are the best fit for the RCMP, they offer a personal approach that can make the difference in a competitive world.
Once here, what factors impact an employee's decision to stay or go elsewhere? Four employees tackle this question in our panel discussion.
From recognition to career development, there's a way for all of us to positively affect the workplace, our colleagues and the people we supervise. While the panel responses are all different, there are a few key areas of consensus that managers in particular might find enlightening.
For many, the decision to work at the RCMP is all about opportunities.
Patricia Vasylchuk writes about changes to the RCMP's Emergency Response Team program. The physical standards, the selection process and the course are now more representative of the job, and have opened up new possibilities for male and female officers with an interest in this challenging role.
Support is another common-sense approach to keeping employees healthy and able to fully contribute.
Paul Northcott describes a northern program that helps employees in the remote detachment of Fort Smith, N.W.T., take care of their mental-health. The program flew in a psychologist to visit with the detachment and provide mental-health strategies and individual counselling that aren't otherwise available in the community.
Support goes beyond day-to-day challenges. Vasylchuk looks at the inspiring story of an officer whose partial vision loss could have put an end to his operational career. Read how Cst. Michael Jaszczyszyn trained relentlessly to adapt his vision to meet the current standards, and paved the way for others with monocular vision to get a second chance at active duty.
Thinking about retirement? Good. There's much to look forward to after a successful career. But S/Sgt. Doug Wasylenki talks about the development of a retirement guide for fellow officers in Alberta to take some of the mystery out of planning.
And for officers who aren't quite ready to hang up their police hats, read Travis Poland's story on the RCMP Reserve Program. There are plenty of opportunities to serve as a Reserve in communities across Canada, including the North.
We close our issue with the timeline of a cadet whose journey to join the RCMP came full circle when she herself became an informal recruiter.
It's a role that each and every employee can take on.