January 2021 saw the long anticipated launch of JOINED UP, a proactive platform created to connect North East employers who aim to actively recruit from the Defence Community (including Service Leavers, Veterans, Reservists, Cadets and Military Family Members).
What a huge success it’s been, with the support of 100’s of employers, a wide range of vacancies are now available via both LinkedIn and Facebook. JOINED UP is a fantastic collaboration of North East businesses & organisations, all of which understand the value of employing from the Defence Community. Key benefits which have been highlighted are: Those from the Armed Forces community have a proven ability to quickly adapt, and learn new ideas, skills and concepts. Transferable skills ensure organisations can enhance their existing workforce increasing productivity.
Service Leavers often have funding to up-skill or re-train, enabling them to adapt to your organisation’s requirements. Leadership skills, in the military you are taught to lead by example, delegate, inspire, direct and motivate, who wouldn’t want someone with those skills? Teamwork is key to a career in the Armed Forces, an understanding of the benefits of working together to achieve a common goal, communication and responsibility to your fellow colleagues. Integrity and respect ensure that an employee from the Defence community will be on-board with your vision and company mission, working hard to achieve success. A positive attitude, forged from ‘triumph over adversity’ enables those with an Armed Forces background to get on with the job in hand. The government also provides National Insurance contributions relief for employers who hire veterans. The project has provided a great opportunity for those seeking employment, as there’s such a wide variety of roles available coupled with the confidence that these organisations are actively recruiting from the community, it’s a Win Win situation! JOINED UP’s key objectives are; To promote the value and integrity of the Defence Community to employers initially in the North East To actively engage with Employers to understand their needs and promote the sharing of best practice To promote and engage with the Defence Community, raising awareness of JOINED UP and ultimately to gain employment To work with existing recruitment/resettlement partner organisations in promoting To promote membership of the Armed Forces Covenant, and the Employers Recognition Scheme (ERS) which promotes businesses and provides ongoing support. Launch JOINED UP founded in December 2020 and launched in January 2021 is Co-Founded by Jacky Stansfield Smith and Richard H Tucker MBE, who are supported by Ruth Anderson as Secretary along with 15 committee members. Many of our members, are highly active spokespersons for the Armed Forces community and employers in the armed forces business forum, who see the value of a dedicated supportive network offering opportunities for our service leavers and veterans.
ne month from inception on LinkedIn we have 147 Companies following, supporting and placing roles, whilst our sister site on Facebook which has a higher slant towards those seeking work now has 258 members with 41 live jobs. In addition to this the link for JOINED UP has been added to several veterans’ groups together with additional search engines and platforms including the REME Association being added daily. Indeed, companies based in the North West are also adding roles, which shows a potential that we could roll out a similar model almost immediately in the region amending the Compass point to reflect the North West slant.
The Future
To conclude, we have shown there is a model that has developed, that can not only influence job opportunities in a region but develop a network which can be strengthened and rolled out across the country, enabling a direct route for our Veterans and Service Leavers to have access to great career opportunities.
