Arqiva, the communications infrastructure and media services company, has today announced that it has signed the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Armed Forces Corporate Covenant, a voluntary pledge signed by businesses and charitable organisations who wish to demonstrate their support for the armed forces community.
Every year, over 20,000 skilled and experienced individuals leave the Armed Forces ready to enter the civilian workforce. Many of these will face challenges in their transition from military service to civilian life however, and particularly in the job market, where they may lack a comparable employment history and qualification record.
One of Arqiva’s flagship schemes for the armed forces community is the Arqiva ‘Taster Day’, where servicemen and women are invited to operational sites to find out how the company works and what it does, as well as the various opportunities available to ex service personnel for employment. The aim is to hold at least two taster days a year. Individuals who have attended the taster day are also able to benefit from additional opportunities of shadowing an Arqiva employee for one or more days. This activity truly allows them to understand what the role requires and how they would fit in to Arqiva.
Becky Russell, Arqiva’s Account Manager at Recovery Career Services Partnership, an individualised careers service that empowers wounded, injured and sick service personnel to achieve a fulfilling second career said, “Arqiva held their first Taster Day which was a great success. Clients who attended were able to find out more about Arqiva, talk with employees working in specific roles which the client expressed an interest in, and hear about live opportunities that are available in Arqiva. Together we are looking to build on this success and are planning Arqiva’s Taster Days for 2015.”
Arqiva has also funnelled a lot of resource into making sure its People and Organisation team – the company’s HR function – truly understands the key attributes of an armed forces skillset and how they can be applied to civilian workplaces. This addresses the fact that military technical skills and qualifications can often have unfamiliar names, causing organisations to overlook their value, in spite of them being fully comparable to civilian qualifications.
Other Arqiva policies aimed at ex services personnel include a strong and flexible Reservist policy – one of the most popular benefits of which is entitlement to participate in annual training camps, on full pay for the first week.
David Crawford, Managing Director of Satellite & Media and Corporate Sponsor at Arqiva said, “Arqiva recognises the unique blend of passion, skill and dedication the armed forces community can bring to a business and has a strong tradition of hiring ex-service personnel as a result. Signing the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant was a natural next step for us and builds on a commitment we have already been putting into practice for a number of years.”
Simon Keyes, ex-Army Officer and current Head of Pre-sales, Process and Programme Management at Arqiva said, “I learnt a huge amount in the armed forces. You get the opportunity to gain transferrable skills and qualifications in dozens of trades, ranging from medical to engineering through to accounting to marketing. These skills continue to be a huge asset in my role here at Arqiva.”
An adjunct to the MoD’s overall armed forces covenant – a policy document that outlines both the moral obligation the nation has to members of its armed forces and their families, and how they should be treated – the corporate covenant lays out a number of commitments that the signing organisation agrees to stand by to support armed forces personnel. These include the two key principles of the armed forces covenant:
- No member of the armed forces community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen
- In some circumstances special treatment may be appropriate, especially for the injured or bereaved
Organisations signing the corporate covenant are encouraged to offer a range of support options for services personnel. These could vary from employment support for veterans, reservists, service spouses and partners, to discounts for the armed forces community.