CAREER PURSUIT 2021

RESOURCES 76 POSITIVE TRANSITION magine a time when transition is holistic and supports families too. Having delivered transition support for 20+ years, it is clear to me that transition is about so much more than employment. It is about more than the service leaver − needing to include their family and dependants too. It is not as simple as the administrative process of leaving, outlined in the Service Leavers’ Guide. It is more significant than the act of removing a uniform, handing in an ID card, and walking through the gate as a ‘civvy’. The question is, is it clear to other people, other than those who experience it? The transition from the military to civilian life is the move from a well-provisioned, secure, connected, and supported environment into the free-flow, dog-eat-dog world that is so radically different in relation to language, values, and motivations. The transition should be addressed holistically. It needs to: • Be a family managed process. • Be addressed from the start of their career, recognising a high probability of them leaving before they are fully retired. • Cover all the aspects of transition, not purely employment. • Be delivered to empower the individual and their family to manage it, rather than leaving it to the overtasked front-line commands. • Accommodate the opportunity for social mobility and support the serving person and their family in upskilling for positive outcomes. As was identified in the Veterans’ Transition Review (Ashcroft, 2014), bad transition negatively impacts the four Rs – Recruitment, Retention, Reputation, and Reserves. Why? When you leave with a poor overview of the support experienced, then you are not inclined to promote the Services as a prospective career path. You are not inclined to review your decision and extend your service. The reputation of the MOD and the Government dips in your eyes. Further, you are less inclined to transfer your Service knowledge, skills, and background to your local reserve unit. Poor transition costs the UK approximately £110 million every year. So, howdo you address these diverse issues and requirements? The resources are out there and reasonably easy to find, but the fact is, if you don’t know what you need to know, you are scuppered from the start. +t is a digital platform developed to deliver a holistic experience to the serving person, their family, and dependants, based on their circumstances and aspirations. Twenty-three years of experience, 24months of development Positive Transition (+t – pronounced 'plus t') is a new digital platform that will modernise and transform the transition process for serving military personnel and their families to civilian life. Founder and CEO Tim Jones introduces this innovative and inclusive new development in transition support. I ©Crown Copyright 2021