Insight: Aiding successful Armed Forces resettlement

The Career Transition Partnership has been supporting personnel leaving the Armed Forces to find new work, enter education or retire for over 25 years. The Ministry of Defence has appointed Reed in Partnership to deliver a new and enhanced version of this important service. Reed Citizen Services Director, Nii Thompson, explains more about our vision.

Personnel leaving the military after Service are to receive more support to transition into civilian life through the new Career Transition Partnership (CTP) which launches today.

With nearly 200,000 personnel across the British Army, Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, the Armed Forces are one of the largest public employers in the UK. Each person is working to protect our nation and help it to prosper.

Nearly 15,000 personnel leave the Armed Forces each year. The reasons for leaving are varied. Some have a change in their personal circumstances, others may want to try their hand at something new. Others might be retiring after decades of Service, while some may be forced to leave because of an injury or illness they have developed.

As an Armed Forces Covenant signatory, for which we hold the Gold Award, we strongly adhere to the view that supporting Service leavers is a moral obligation. Service personnel may have sacrificed civilian freedoms and faced danger in ways many of us cannot imagine during their Armed Forces career. They and their families deserve our respect and support, particularly when their Service ends and they make their transition back to civilian life.

Many of us will understand the general uncertainty and difficulties people face when leaving a job; perhaps one they have done for most of their adult life. This can include finding a comparable or new career focus and learning and applying new skills, in addition to other holistic challenges, like relocation and housing, the impact on our wellbeing, managing money and family upheaval.

Service leavers face these challenges and more. The vast majority of resettlements end successfully, but where there are problems these can be deep and lasting. Queen’s University Belfast published research exploring what happens when resettlement goes wrong. The three measures identified include homelessness, imprisonment or mental ill-health. The impact on health was also studied by the Royal College of GPs and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) who found that more than half of England’s army veterans have experienced mental or physical health issues since leaving. The Armed Forces Covenant also sets out in detail the kinds of disadvantages members of the Armed Forces may face.

Helping Service leavers make a successful resettlement is beneficial to the individual, their support network and wider communities, and to the UK as a whole. Service leavers can redeploy a range of unique skills and experiences into their post-military life and, whether that is in work, education or retirement, their skills are hugely beneficial to those they interact with.

Reed in Partnership has over 25 years of experience helping people from all walks of life at transitional points in their life. Our experience has informed the way we will approach supporting Service leavers who use the new CTP.

We believe that successful resettlement depends on three key elements:

1. Clear aims: Defining a clear and realistic plan of action is a critical starting point for transition. Each Service leaver will be supported to develop a Personal Resettlement Plan that will help turn aspiration into actionable targets, enabling better planning and measurement of progress.

2. Expert advice: Service leavers will benefit from the guidance of experienced Career Consultants who will define and coordinate the support available to them. Reed in Partnership will enhance the CTP through use of labour market analysis and data, while we will also bring together networks of external experts to inform our support, including Veterans, charities and senior leaders in relevant growth sectors. We are pleased to also be partnering with the Forces Employment Charity (FEC), who have supported the CTP since 1998 and will continue to lend their expertise to delivery of the new service.

3. Access to the right resources and opportunities: Key to the success of the CTP is the bespoke nature of support provided, so that the resources and opportunities provided are appropriate to Service leavers’ specific skills, knowledge, experiences, and aspirations – whether that is in work, in education or in retirement. Our new CTP will broaden the focus of support provided to Service leavers to ensure all aspects of resettlement are provided for, including personal wellbeing, housing and finances, while providing a range of workshops, courses, events, and digital tools focused on jobs and skills development. We will also utilise the power of the Reed Group and the Forces Employment Charity to ensure a range of employers look directly to the Armed Forces talent pool when recruiting for their organisations.

The CTP is long-established and successful in its work, but we are excited to have the opportunity to play our part in delivering the next iteration of this important service for the benefit of those who serve our country.

You can find out more about the new CTP at modctp.co.uk. Service leavers should refer to official CTP and MOD channels for details on how they access the support available.

The CTP will host two Employment Fairs this autumn. We will be in Cardiff on 7 November and Newbury on 21 November. Employers who are interested in joining us should contact [email protected].