Hello, Fans of Plans! The 24 June 2023 this year marks the annual Armed Forces Day event. There will be activities taking place up and down the country for everyone to show their support for serving members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and also the families. 

The Armed Forces community is big in the UK and there are different ways that businesses can help to support them. Here are a few ways to get you thinking about how your organisation may be able to show its support. 

Encourage colleagues to attend a local Armed Forces Day event

Events taking place on Armed Forces Day are supported by local military and can be a great family day out. With activities for children, the chance to learn more about the armed forces (past and present), and can even be an opportunity for looking at careers, both as regular or a reserve. These events can also be important fund raising opportunities for military charities supporting veterans and their families. 

Sign up to the Armed Forces Covenant

Make Me A Plan is proud to have signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant back in 2021. This means MMAP is a forces friendly employer. Being a forces friendly employer includes:

• Promising to ensure serving, veterans and their families are treated fairly
• Help with careers for those leaving the military and their family members 
• Supporting any Reservists you may have in your organisation

Take a look at www.armedforcescovenant.gov.uk for more details on what it means to be a signatory and how you can show others you are a forces friendly employer. 

Recruit the best

Recruiting former military personnel into your organisation can have some brilliant benefits. Here are just a few:

• They have world-class transferable training – those in the military are given a programme of learning, skills which can be well adapted into a civilian workplace. Many of the courses are accredited.
• Fit and resourceful - a certain level of fitness is expected from serving soldiers, so recruiting a service leaver means they know about health and wellbeing. 
• Improved retention from having multi-skilled employees. The armed forces are expected to be able to turn their attention to the task at hand – think of all the different humanitarian assistance our armed forces are expected to assist with. From delivering covid injections, to helping out during flooding events, former service personnel are adaptable to a given situation.
• Teamwork – if there’s one thing that is vital in the military, its camaraderie and teamwork. When your life can quite literally depend on your team, you need to be able to work well together. 

So, next time you are looking at recruiting into your business. Take a look at agencies dealing specifically with service leavers. This can be a great new recruiting pool for many different organisations.