I hope they filled in the right forms.
1 Like
I had an OC - as a CI - who wanted, and made up forms and everything, any member of staff who was going to be away from home for more than 5 days/two parade nights, to apply for LOA…
Just, like, the actual…
I remember as a cadet having to put in a LOA for family holidays and needing to get the OCs sign off. None ever got refused and looking back I wonder what would have happened if they had refused. Mum and dad wouldn’t have said we can’t go.
Where this need to seek permission/justify to not turn up for volunteering came from and why just saying I won’t be there is not sufficient, baffles me. If staff or cadets say we won’t be at something, while annoying, there is no point in getting excited, life’s too short.
I completely get asking staff to tell you if they aren’t going to be down, it avoids training programme screw ups. But I always operated on a “tell me, don’t ask me” basis when OC
@Adminvortex is right, the organisation should be actively managing those in the NEP with a view to getting as many back as possible.
The concept of NEP is great, but I actually wonder whether our Great Leader and his staff know how many people are in at any given time? I’ve proposed in the past that those going in to the NEP have a ‘sponsor’; someone who looks after them, contacts them regularly, talks to them about what they want to do - it didn’t gain any traction at Wg. If someone goes NEP because they’re moving Wgs/Regions, the HQs need to talk to each other, losing Wg advises gaining Wg etc and they then allocate a sponsor.
All of the NEP staff are valuable assets and at the moment, our ‘leaders’ seem happy to let them go with little, if any, effort to encourage them to stay.
2 Likes
I agree that it’s a good idea that we need to keep engaged with volunteers, whether on NEP or not. However, I’ve learnt as an OC that it’s very easy to spend a lot of time encouraging volunteers without getting any output from them. Some just drift away…
The limited time and effort available can be better spent developing and supporting volunteers who are active, rather than those who have decided that the ATC isn’t for them anymore.
And I know that’s generalising and there will be lots of cases where volunteers come back from NEP enthusiastically. Most of these just need a point of contact to get them back up to speed and onto a Sqn or into a Wg role.
1 Like
I’m technically on a career break from the civil service, though its almost certainly a deferred resignation, so similar to NEP. They continue to send me the departmental weekly newsletter and my team weekly newsletter so that I’m kept in the loop about changes and what’s happening (mainly at the moment it’s making me happy I’m not there as my old area of responsibility has blown up, as I advised them it would).
Should we do something like this for people on NEP? Copy them into key information, with an opt out if they don’t want it. Obviously this would require us to solve the communication problem that HQ have with active staff, but in theory it could help
1 Like
Thank you.
I was made to feel very welcome and I’m being eased back gently. It certainly feels good to be back! 
6 Likes
HQAC should fix this, then share a subset with volunteers on NEP. Comms with active volunteers has to be the priority though
2 Likes
There’s a balance of the two - if you don’t at least retain engagement at sqn or wing level, you’re more likely to completely lose someone (whether they initially thought they intended to return or not) if you do absolutely nothing. That person could be completely energised when they return and very valuable.
It doesn’t take HQAC to manage and would be less effective if that were the case - however proactive.
Friendly voice of someone you know, taking an interest in your life and welfare, without pressure to return but making clear that the door is open, is the absolute minimum we should be doing full scale. It doesn’t take so much effort to consider it a waste.
I’ve had staff take leave and I kept in touch - why should you stop caring about people because they aren’t in front of you?
2 Likes
They would probably argue that if interested they can check Facebook for news…
Good to hear!
How was contact while away?
Likewise. I wasn’t suggesting zero contact and certainly not that I stopped caring. Active management can take a lot of time though and sometimes that time is better spent elsewhere. There needs to be an individual judgement.
2 Likes
Good to have you back!
1 Like
I was using the Royal “you”, don’t worry!
1 Like
My OC contacted me at the six month mark asking what my plans were and then contacted again in good time for the return process, which went without hitch. He was very supportive.
However, nothing organisationally whilst I was away.
2 Likes
At least OC had some sense to reach out. Sounds like you’re ok there.
2 Likes
Question.
Now that VRT is gone. Why do we need the the formality of NEP?
If someone needs break, handle it locally.
3 Likes
Local management is always the best solution, but that only applies if someone wants to stand down from their current unit for a while. What if someone is moving locations? That’s perhaps where NEP works best (or in theory should do). Setting up home, schooling, jobs etc is the priority and without regular contact from the organisation and dare I say encouragement, it’s easy to forget what we once did.
There are many on here, me included, who know how difficult it can be to ‘get back in the saddle’ even after a relatively short absence from your own Sqn. A bit of ‘reaching out’ (I hate that expression) will go a long way to ease people back in.
1 Like