EMPLOYERS
DOES YOUR EMPLOYER KNOW ABOUT THE ARMED FORCES COVENANT? If not, encourage your manager to visit armedforcescovenant. gov.uk to find out more. The site has a list of all employers who have signed the Covenant, and you can filter the list to find those who have pledged to support the Cadet Forces.
FACING PAGE, LEFT: SSI Jamie Bell is lucky to have understanding employers FACING PAGE, RIGHT: Lt Col Glyn Potts (right) advises detachments to build positive links with employers THIS PAGE: Aecom’s Nick Forwood is a champion of the Armed Forces Covenant
Aecom, the engineering consultancy, also gives him 15 days’ paid leave each year – on top of his usual allowance – to meet his cadet commitments. “It’s excellent,” says Ed, who served with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers for six years. “The other thing is that I am moving to another company [which offers similar support] but Aecom still let me have the paid leave to go on camp. They genuinely honoured their commitment.” That commitment covers cadet instructors, reservists and veterans thanks to the firm’s decision to sign the Armed Forces Covenant (AFC), says Nick Forwood, a former reservist who is now the director of government frameworks
and the AFC champion at Aecom. “We offer the same support to cadet instructors as to reservists because they still have training needs and they still commit a lot of their personal time to serving others, so we felt that they had to be included,” he said. As well as the extra paid leave, Aecom works with hiring managers to make sure that they know that cadet instructors are, like veterans and reservists, well-trained and well-motivated people. “They bring leadership training and experience of working with teams to the business, both of which are important to us,” says Nick. “There is a lot of anecdotal evidence about how well they deal with people, with
stressful situations and challenges, and how well they can adapt. That is attractive to us. “We know that our reservists and our cadet instructors are highly engaged with our organisation. I would recommend that all cadet instructors speak to their employers about the Armed Forces Covenant and, if they have not signed it, to advocate for it. It is a way for employers to demonstrate their support… it is an investment but there are also rewards.”
FIND OUT MORE CVQO offers a range of vocational qualifications that recognise the work by young people and adult volunteers within the ACF. Find out more at armycadets.com/partnerships/cvqo
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