i agree here
that is probably was as a guide(ish) and discretion could be used, but for the weaker (tick box only SNCOs) it is harder to argue a “no promotion” case when 100% of boxes are ticked.
I think that’s about everyone from OC up though being on the same hymn sheet around standards.
I was just looking at the CFC promotion matrix and was a bit shocked to see that Activity First Aid is listed as one of the List A qualifications.
What does that show anyone? How is that regarded as showing development?
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As we all know by now.
Its shows nothing.
These matrixs have been conceived in an attempt to try and force ‘enabling’ quals to be held by all.
It’s a blunt tool in a desperate attempt to save the org.
But as has been pointed out. Can and does lead to individuals being promoted to their point of failure simply becuase they have met the matrix requirements.
Can immediately think of one in my immediate area, who was recently promoted. Has been disciplined already due to epic levels of H&S non compliance.
And I mean EPIC levels.
To be fair there are basic qualifications that all officers should have. AFA is often required for more complex activities especially AT & shooting.
As such it makes sense for this to be part of the basic qualified side of the matrix rather than the experience side.
Ditto with risk assessments as as officer you would either be writing them or reviewing them.
What about taking a completely different approach on the rank thing and look at it from the functions end of the microscope using the long term view of ASTRA and work backwards from that.
What will the organisation look like (it wont be the same either in locations/numbers/ support systems or offerings). Keep a hierarchical system only as far as it meets the minimum requirements of the sponsoring service; yes individuals will continue to have different and escalating responsibilities but I have always thought that falling back on the requirement for a CoC is a nonsense for a youth development organisation that should be collegiate ( and, as far as I am aware, despite the CoC it cannot arrest you under military law for not following “orders” - you just leave if you not longer want to contribute under the current rules).
Lastly, those of us with with a long history in the organisation will by then be long gone. Learn the lessons of an organisation’s history but don’t be trapped by it.
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I like your thinking however this would produce a top down structure which is common to all military rather than a ground up which is what volunteer organisations are.
You will always need someone to take control to coordinate the volunteers & for accountability for when/if things go wrong.
In order to do what you suggest you would need to do an in depth study on what motivates people to volunteer & keep volunteering. Not many of us volunteered specifically to write risk assessments, conduct monthly H&S checks & scan letters in.
There are plenty of unglamorous tasks in the organisation than need doing & without which the organisation would fail.
However (& this I think is this this thread had tried to grapple with), there are too many fair weather volunteers in the organisation who are neither being motivated, taken to task or managed out.
There are also the active disengaged - the previous all star volunteers who now just do the bare minimum & what they are interested due to having been treated poorly & the organisation loosing its “magic”.
The promotion process & matrix is treated as a tick box because it’s how we as volunteers have allowed it to be developed & not taken ownership of proper CPD for the uniformed volunteers outside of the cranwell courses.
In short volunteer development has focused on delivering the minimum viable product, focusing on the immediate rather than the long term & the least amount as possible.
If we want the culture to change then it needs us volunteers to take ownership and start pushing suggestions through.
I actually do have a lot of faith in HQAC and believe for the most part they work work with the best intentions.
however they can only make decisions on the information & advice they get from the volunteers. If the volunteers are giving duff info or if the only people providing the advice are duff volunteers then funnily enough, things on the ground will remain duff.
I would say that is exactly what is being done.
The old promotion system was fairly arbitrary and appeared to be geared towards appeasing volunteers with an illusion of ‘progression’. In fact, it did little more than look as though it served a purpose.
The current system is very much geared towards making the organization work better.
In my own words I would summarise it as:
What does the organization need to operate at the coal face?
- It needs keen, well-trained, and well-supported volunteers, who can turn up several times a month, to deliver the activities and training that the cadets sign up for. In the NCO realm, these people are Sgts (though of course there are also CIs and Officers doing similar jobs).
How do we ensure that those Sgts are given the necessary training and support to perform their Sqn role to best effect?
- We appoint keen, competent people, who have gained the necessary experience (and qualifications where required) to allow them to up-skill their fellow Squadron-level volunteers, as ‘line managers’ as it were. Their role is to ensure that the Sqn staff are working to the common principal and are getting the support that they require to ensure that the cadets benefit. In the NCO realm, these people are FSs.
How do we ensure that the ‘line managers’ are not being over-tasked in both their primary role on Sqns and secondary role at Sector or Wing level; and how do we ensure that the training and development they deliver to Sqn staff is correct, up-to-date, and of the required quality?
- We appoint SMEs to oversee their AOR; providing the FSs with the necessary training, development, and support to perform their role. These people receive the most up-to-date information regarding their AOR and ensure that it is cascaded downwards; and they assure that the training and line management provided by the FSs is in line with the Corps vision.
In this way, the Sgs and FS need not worry about staying abreast of updates, changes, and information. There is no need to constantly poll for changes - they can focus on the delivery, knowing that there is an SME above them who will tell them when things change, and guide them in the direction that the Corps wants to go.
In the non-commissioned realm, these people are WOs.
Whilst the current SNCO promotion matrix is still fairly arbitrary, the actual intent is very much that promotions will be given to backup the plan outlined above. This is supported by the need for the CoC to approve a promotion following a board. It is not automatic on completion of the matrix.
OCs Wing, Wg WOs, and Sqn OCs are all guided in this intent.
Among the first work I do when a recommendation for FS appears from a Sqn OC is to look at the ‘trades’ that the Sgt is following and approach the relevant Wing SME(s). I need to ascertain what level this person actual works at, do they set the example for others, do they stand out above their peers at Sgt level, and are they capable and competent to take responsibility for the management of others.
Anyone in the chain who is still under the impression that Sgt Bloggs is ‘due’ for FS because they’ve done 4 years and a suitable number of camps, and they picked up a heartstart instructor qualification 7 years ago (for example), is going to be re-educated, until such time that everyone in the Corps is on the same page.
It’s also really important that the message gets across to individuals too, so that there is no misunderstand; no stigma, and no unrealistic expectations.
Promotion to FS is available to everyone - if that person has the time and desire to progress to the level required. Promotion to WO is open to everyone too, but not everyone will be successful. It will be given to the best person for that job at that time.
I would hope to see the matrix updated to reflect that actual need, and move away from what appears to be little more than a means to filter the number of ‘recommendations’ being received.
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Which is all very sensible, but to continue to make sense needs to be underpinned with all NCO’s are in fact Sgts, with rank to role for FS and WO. And have specific posts scaled to that rank and only those posts come with that rank… The minute you step away from it you go back to sgt with no stigma and without it being a surprise or demoralising. It should just be how it works.
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All good in theory, but when you get referred to a CoC that contains apathy and roadblocks what’s the point in trying?
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Yes it could. However, if you recognise that this is a volunteer delivered organisation the first question should be how do we reorganise the full time staff to free/enable volunteers to deliver safely to cadets. Less admin more subject matter expertise would be my start point.
Again yes and understood. We have to avoid the system pushing tasks to volunteers because they are unable/unwilling to do them.
Again agreed,
Once again both agreed.
Once again some excellent suggestions. Implementation is always a huge challenge. However, if we are serious as an organisation about changing culture my suggestion would be to find a single squadron to field-test new ways of working. Somewhere that while meeting all the legal requirements and responsibilities we are not constrained by non-effective and outdated administration processes. If we find better ways of working then look for a wing to test at the next level. Each would have access to a Rapid Development Team at HQAC ( modelled on the RAFs Rapid Capabilities Team at the MOD) which would deploy an element forward to work alongside and mentor squadron staff. This will probably need new skills/attitudes within the full time cadre and will not be inexpensive but maybe, just maybe, it would prove to be an effective invest to save measure in the long run.
Dreams, after all, come free.
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Where do our real lives get taken into account in this?
By this I mean home and work, which provide pressure and stress, that eclipse anything the Air Cadets brings. Ultimately you can take time off from the Air Cadets with no penalty. How so do we ensure Air Cadet “line managers” are not “over tasked” by their real lives? it doesn’t matter what level you are within the CFAV cadre, to have work and family pressures which directly affects anything you might do or want to do within the Air Cadets.
At no point have I ever felt that the Air Cadets appreciates or takes our real lives into account and what you have suggested doesn’t bring any notion of this.
HQAC is very top down and as mentioned on many occasions prone to dumping all manner of things on us to do, with a do it or else you can sod off, which unfortunately is a sentiment expressed by a number of our fellow volunteers, which is a very sad and bizarre situation.
That’s not separate - it would have to be a critical factor in defining over-tasking.
However, the final consideration couldn’t be a catch-all and would require more local management. Many will OC a Sqn and hold a couple of secondary roles easily, while others are chocka as a non-role Sqn CFAV.
In full fairness, this also requires CFAV to better manage themselves and delegate.
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The same place they’ve always been taken into account… You’re not raising anything new.
People have been volunteering for additional activities this whole time. Some people have very little additional time to give to the Corps, others have more.
Simple.
People give what they can. The only difference is that with a better defined structure we can take the time and skill they give us and make better use of it, which is better for all concerned.
Nobody wants to give up a weekend and at the end of it think “well, I really wasn’t needed on this at all… I could have stayed at home”. If people feel like their skills are being used and that they’re making a positive contribution they are more likely to feel happy about volunteering.
As many are so keen to keep reminding… This is a hobby. We choose to do it because we enjoy it. So let’s give the people who want to take on a more active management role, a more active management role. The people who don’t want that or can’t give up the time needed won’t be given it.
In my experience, the vast majority of successful FS candidates are already working at what will be the expected ‘FS level’ by the time their recommendation comes around. It’s most often a case of ‘You’re doing the job already; let’s give you the rank to go with it.’
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Never laughed so much in my life - so true!!
Having joined SJA they have this. It’s really simple to use. You can log time on the unit, time doing admin, time on call time attending events, traveling time. Simple drop down menu. They use it to record if you’ve done your 60 hours a year towards your service medal. Doing that for us would surely give some usable stats for Wing/TEST and above to assess the volunteer contribution
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It’s quite common with volunteer organisations now with many of them reporting how many hours have been volunteered that year or month.
It’s a really common metric & it’s odd that the air cadets are struggling with the basic concept of needing to recording hours much less using as a way to shout out how much we do.
I average about 10hrs a week so circa 480hrs or so a year. Say average of 8 staff per Sqn & then approx 30 Sqns a wing gives 115,200 hours a wing a year.
Whilst we don’t get paid to quantify this in monetary costs if you use the Uk minimum wage of £9.50 per hour this means each wing benefits from equivalent of paying £1m of wages each year (not including the associated admin costs etc)
Why the organisation hasn’t cottoned on to the easy win metric of giving us a simple way to record hours I don’t know. However if more people lobby for it to the VDT then hopefully they might start to implement it.
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Yeah… and how is that policed.
The number of fraudsters would be immense.
Trouble is would HQAC ever be comfortable with us self reporting our hours? As it would no doubt quickly show all the extra hours done outside of Squadron nights / Cadet facing activities.
Bit optimistic there Chief…
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