I hate to say this, this forum does have a negative impact on both recruitment and retention.
People who are innocently googling for information can be directed to this forum.
If thats a prospective new staff member they are likely to be reading all the non factual personal sometimes overly agressive opinions that get put on here. If thats a current member of staff sometimes it can destroy moral in an instant.
We need to separate what is fact from personal opinion, learn to approach the correct people and challenge appropriately.
All of us do great work but this will be getting harmed by outsiders reading sometimes quite pretentious opinions on here. Even when AOC 22 Group joined people were displaying levels of respect that you would expect in a primary school.
There already are shadow boards. They are even mentioned in ACP 7.
Just remember that ACP 7 is only a directive, a vision, it’s not actually policy . . . we’re certainly not an Air, Space and Cyber focused uniformed youth organisation as mentioned on Page 4.
Err, it’s a directive, orders from the AOC. But my point is shadow boards already exist and are running.
So who’s on them? Not seen them advertised or offered.
I appreciate they are meant to be shadows but some thing more transparent would be helpful.
I only know of one person who is an Sqn OC in my Region and they definitely advertised the roles, both when they were created and more recently, when there were some vacancies, as I know that’s how he volunteered.
The commandant’s advisory panel is a thing.
That was advertised, at least locally.
Not sure I’d call it a shadow board though - as I understand it’s more a similar set up to a town hall, just with less people.
This is not a surprise.
CFAV’s have been treated as crap by the organization for decades.
Now, they’ve gone further.
They took away the VR(T) in 2017.
They took away any legal protections and rights that people had.
They’ve removed pay for people who sacrifice personal time from careers and family.
They have taken away legal status as an employee largely because of their own inept ways of dealing with volunteers .
They treat people like crap, bullying and harassing them if they dare to say anything.
They treat them like idiots when many CFAV’s have greater qualifications and it experience than permanent staff who are only doing those jobs because in the majority, they couldn’t get work elsewhere!
Why would anybody want to be involved with this organization? If it’s about helping young people, best off going to the scouts rather than being treated like dirt.
I rarely see straight up lies on here. And when I do, they are often called out.
You can’t blame the discussion of problems on the recruitment and retention issues. Blame the problems themselves.
Tried it, got a disciplinary. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact.
There are some strong views on here, I agree. But open debate is good. I compliment where appropriate, but call out rubbish too. I’m a big fan of posting on the celebrating success thread, but at the end of the day, there is always going to be more negative talk compared to positive. Especially when it actually feels like there is less good than bad generally.
As I’ve said elsewhere, as valid as some of your points may be, you’re attacking the symptoms and not the disease.
Rig sounds just an RC I’ve come across in the past.
A lot of this is factually incorrect.
You’ve never had employment status. They’ve not taken away pay, it’s a volunteer allowance.
They haven’t taken away any rights or legal protections (unless you can name them).
And some of the people paid to support us are doing their best and genuinely care so I don’t think that’s helpful.
Your post appears to be factually incorrect, and I feel compelled to address it. Our goal here is to improve the organisation for everyone, and correcting misinformation or false statements is a crucial part of that.
Could you provide some examples to support this claim? While I understand that morale may be low and communication might be lacking, it’s important to substantiate such statements with specific incidents.
What specific benefits did the VR(T) status provide? It’s worth noting that if someone joined primarily for the badge, rank, or uniform, I’d suggest their motivations do not align with the core values of our organisation.
What legal protections are you referring to? CFAVs have never had employment status, which seems to be the implication here.
CFAVs have never been salaried. If you’re talking about volunteer allowance, that’s a different matter. Arguably, if someone is volunteering primarily for the financial compensation, their motivations may be misplaced and again not align with our core values. Although the volunteer allowance might have helped cover some costs, reasonable expenses like fuel can often be reimbursed by the Squadron Civilian Committee. Remember, the emphasis is on being a Cadet Force Adult Volunteer.
CFAVs have never had employee status.
This is a sweeping statement that would be more credible if supported by specific examples.
This is an unfair and insulting generalization about a significant portion of civil servants.
I understand that you’re frustrated with the current situation, but there’s an appropriate way to express that frustration. Remember that this forum is public and accessible to the media, prospective cadets, parents, and potential CFAVs. While it’s important to voice concerns, we must ensure our discussions are factual and professional.
But don’t forget of the other side of it they brought the NCOs up.
We are now equal as Adult Staff - I know a lot of us treated everyone right but a lot of people didn’t because they weren’t VR(T)
Ultimately VR(T) to CFC didn’t make a huge amount of difference
Who’s they? In my experience is that the paid staff have in general always tried to look after the volunteers & a lot of the pettiness, empire building & mistreatment has come from the adult volunteers.
We’ve got a perfect storm & things have come to a head. Hopefully now things are in the open we can start moving forward, let go of the past, & fix things together.
Not correct. Suggest you look at the various employment cases involving CFAV’s.
And I stated majority, not all.
Care to share? Not seen any personally.
Uhh no, you come making sweeping generalised claims you come with the proof.
Show me evidence and I’ll believe you. Right now you’re coming across as exactly the type of problem the organisation could do with less of. Entitled, self-righteous, knows everything and focused on yourself. You might not mean to, but that’s what it looks like.
Bring proof and I’ll engage with you.
It could do, but also the actual organisation does have a negative impact too - it’s just here people can see it.
There is actually quite a lot of factual information presented here, certainly more than we’ll ever see from within the organisation but yes alongside that there is definitely frustration, anger, annoyance and certainly at points embellished truths.
You’re either new to the organisation or so high up you’ve never tried to challenge from within. It simply doesn’t work, as many have found out to their cost.
It’s great we’ve had someone like AOC 22 group join and engage with us, however much we might disagree, but respect is earned and not given by virtue of a position held.
Just to add, that the user in question created an account under their personal nickname rather than their position.
On here everyone is equal & we should treat each other respectfully.
Challenge the ideas, the points being made, allow for a little venting but not make things personal.
What a person thinks, feels & especially says & does about a particular matter will differ depending on whether they are acting in their personal or professional capacity.
Many of those in command of something disagree completely with a situation but understand that it’s not personal & supportive of the process & those who are making the decisions.
@Rog Your analogy to a primary school is interesting as it cuts both ways. Yes some are stamping their feet & want everything their own way that matches their own ego.
On the other hand you get others who then go into saviour effect hero worship of here is the person who is going to fix things with a magic word & click on their fingers.
It expects that an individual will solve all their problems & that the individual will spoonfeed them the answers. This then leads to the individual being flooded with information, cc’d into various different comms & asked to give thoughts, opinions and decisions on matters they don’t have the full information on. This is how management errors occurs - particularly is someone doesn’t say “stop”.
The more adult & circumspect of us understand that people are human, with different pressures, politics & philosophies. We need to act as each others “critical friend” so we can succeed together without breaking one person or having them the single point of failure.