We understandably worry about the effect that losing a number of staff would have, but we are also keenly aware that it’s often the same faces running activities again and again.
I wonder just how much of an impact it would have if we were to take all the biffs and either make them CI or lose them altogether (likely by their own choice having been taken out of uniform)?
At my Wing level I don’t think we’d notice much difference. The majority of the biffs are never seen at Wing courses and rarely at other activities. Those biffs who do attend could easily be replaced by the many keen and competent people waiting on the sidelines. I know of a few such people who avoid Wing events because they don’t want have to work with or under such incompetence.
Not only that, but incompetence spreads… You put a biff in charge of something and that mindset gets passed to those below who are learning.
At Squadron level where staff numbers are more of a direct concern we might notice a blip.
But I don’t think it would be a devalue to CIs to prevent some unsuitable persons from going into uniform. Remaining as a CI they will be able to provide that cover where required.
There will always be 3 types of CI regardless:
- Good CIs who would be cracking in a uniform post but choose not to for whatever reason,
- Good CIs who wouldn’t be suitable for uniform,
- Bad CIs who we could do without.
We do have an overall shortage of staff but I don’t think it would greatly harm the organization to raise the standard and remove some of the dead weight.
For example.
Take a hypothetical random selection of 20 staff. Let’s suppose that 10 of them are active and good at their job; 5 of them are active but incompetent, and 5 of them do nothing at all.
What you’ve actually got are 15 staff - 10 of them good and 5 of them a hindrance.
You’d be better off with just 10 good staff and lose the others altogether.
On paper you’d have a staff shortage but in reality the affect would be positive. Those who did nothing anyway would not be missed and those who were a hindrance would be gone.
The overall effect on the whole Corps would depend on the ratio of good to bad staff. I believe that the bad staff are in the minority so therefore the balance is in favour of a positive change by raising the bar.
Any temporary shortfall would hopefully be made up by the better trained staff coming through.
I can believe that some of the current biffs wouldn’t have ended up that way had they been more actively trained in the first place, and/or not placed into positions of power.
Now, I’m not suggesting that we necessarily should bin off every member of staff who doesn’t quite come up to scratch; I am purely exploring the theory of it.
What I do think we must do for all uniformed staff, especially if SNCOs become VR(T), is raise the standards expected before initial appointment, promotion, and subsequent appointments to specific roles of responsibility and authority.
We could be presenting a far more professional image and achieving far more if we have the right kind of people generally, and specifically the right people in the right roles.
