Guest Editorial
Colonel Mike Bullard MBE, AH CSS APC Changes to REME Career Management and Top Tips on How to Get the Best from Your Career
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ow back in Glasgow and in my last job as Colonel Career Management (CM) of the CSS Branch, overseeing CM for all REME and RLC Officers and Soldiers, I want to take this opportunity to provide a rapid update on how we are managing careers in the REME CM Branch and provide some focused insight on opportunities to carve out the best career for yourself. I will start by highlighting recent changes to how business is being done by the APC, not because of COVID (although it has been a great catalyst) but, because we absolutely recognise the need to keep pace in the digital age and to provide an efficient and professional service. I will also touch on the Army’s People Change Programme CASTLE - and the impact we can expect to see in the coming years and I will finish with some important career top tips from a Desk Officer perspective. First, I think it’s worth reminding you of what we do in the REME CM Branch. The principal CM functions are to Manage, Assign and Advise all REME Officers and Soldiers. By dint of this we conduct and assure Appraisals, Promotions, Assignments, Terms of Service and End of Service action. Whilst this sounds process heavy, everything we do impacts on Soldiers and their families, employers and delivers operational output. So, it is both a fascinating and rewarding place to work, supported by a team of dedicated and talented civilian and military staff. If you ever get the opportunity, please come and pay a visit – it is well worth it. At this stage it is also worth highlighting that there is a difference in the level of service provided across the Branch; on average between 500-800 REME Soldiers are served by a single Desk Officer, whereas for Officers it is around 200. Inevitably, this means that particularly our junior Soldiers are not afforded quite the same amount of time as given to others. We mitigated this by having the chain of command and RCMOs to help provide excellent distributed career advice. This works, but we still recognise that there is a disparity and we aim to address this in the near future as we deliver enhanced career management to all.
Changes to Career Management There have been many changes over the past 12 months resulting from direction to work from home. Like many, the staff have had to adopt new ways of working to deliver the same outputs:
E-Boarding Since March 2020, all REME Boards (grading, employment and assignment) have been conducted remotely, still in accordance with regulation, but with Board members communicating from their distributed locations. This has had its challenges, not least the need to digitise all Board evidence, but has demonstrated there is no longer the need for hardcopy AR Books or P/Files. This development has fundamentally changed how business is done by the APC, offering greater flexibility, transparency and significant efficiencies. Of note is the development of the Career Management Portal software application, which digitally replicates and automates the 6 craftsmaneditor@reme-rhq.org.uk
boarding processes (Pre-Board filtering, Access to ARs and Manning Profile Sheets, Scoring, Line Drawing and publishing Board Results by Trade/ YoS/ EED). As at January this year over 500 grading Boards have successfully been carried out using this application. Initial calculations confirm that the time spent by staff preparing, conducting and publishing Boards is less than half that previously required. The aim is for this saving to be reinvested into providing ‘broader and deeper’ career management to all and in so doing also help close the gap between the service provided to our Officers and Soldiers. Whilst the Career Management Portal Grading App is now Business as Usual for the APC, generating savings in time, paper and space, the next phase is the delivery of the Appointing App which also gives the option for formal Appointment Boards to be conducted remotely and electronically. Also running in parallel has been the development of the MyCareer App which aims to be delivered after Easter and will allow all service personnel to actively manage their careers via their personal iphones/PEDs. The MyCareer App has the potential to be a real game changer as it will really empower users and allow them to: • See a full list of appointments/posts in their current rank and trade and one rank up at Regimental Duty, E1 and E2. • Submit PPPs. • See their service details i.e Engagement Type, Current Assignment, Future Availability Date, Rank. • See all their SJARs and OJARs. Know whether they are eligible for promotion and if not why, i.e. which eligibility criteria they do not meet, time in rank (seniority), trade qualification or education, i.e. ALDP (CLM).
Communications The REME CM Branch recognise that there is a real thirst for accurate and timely career information and so great effort has gone into
