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Delivery of the Army Air Corps Apprenticeship: An Analysis of Issues and Challenges

Autor:   •  July 18, 2018  •  3,871 Words (16 Pages)  •  510 Views

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The AAC and training partner have a joint aim: to see their soldiers gaining trade qualifications but this is very one sided; precedence is placed on military training over apprenticeship courses thus lowering existing standards instead of raising them, which in fact, results in falling short of a Level 3 Apprenticeship which is the Corps vison.

The ‘Military task driven’ ethos of field units leads to an increase in pressure to complete the apprenticeship within the three year time frame, which goes against the ‘Whole Life Development Strategy’ which outlines that: “whole life development is the context for making the most of an individual’s potential to ensure current job competence and future employability within an Army career, whilst laying the foundations for success in later civilian life.” (The Army Air Corps Whole Life Development Strategy, January 2012. Para1).

This ethos also potentially sets some soldiers up to fail as they simply cannot balance the requirements of their unit with the demands of their apprenticeship. The military chain of command, in conjunction with the model of leadership, also raises the likelihood of failures; this is in direct contravention of the whole life development strategy as the document states that being able to provide development opportunities is important component of AAC personnel strategies[7]

The focus on ‘Solider vs tradesman’ impacts an individual’s whole career as it can prevent them from achieving timely promotion, this is because they have not had the time to develop their trade skills; the Army has a socioeconomic responsibility to ensure that all service personnel are adequately provided for and able to achieve their full potential; this is reflected in the necessity for the Army Air Corps Whole life development strategy.

This could be addressed by a combined input from HQAAC and the training partner, which would raise the profile of the employer within the apprenticeship; by doing so, this would make them fully aware that it is their apprenticeship and will ensure greater ownership, whilst also having a lasting impact on engagement, the ‘buy in’ would be greatly improved further if the progress of apprentices is directly linked to their middle manager’s performance; by doing so, it would place greater emphasis on ensuring that the forward progress of their apprentices is maintained, thus more formally involving them in the process and making them accountable, after all it is the responsibility of middle management to assist in the career management of their soldiers; they are instrumental in the successful progression of apprentices, and it is their ‘buy in’ which is crucial for it to work.

National Standards vs ‘In House’

An important component to ACC personnel recruitment and retention is their commitment to maximise accreditation opportunities available to its members; their whole life development strategy outlines that ‘new recruits’ are offered the opportunity to commence an appropriate apprenticeship.

In principle, this is said with good intentions; however, in reality this rarely is the case as the main focus within Corps is to keep the ‘helicopter flying’ and recruits are simply split into their respective trade groups, often loaded onto apprenticeships which are above their academic ability, this severely disadvantages all potential apprentices; those with SpLDs will struggle with the more academic side of the apprenticeship as the network in place to support them is misunderstood; resulting in no defined outcome and those of a more academic nature struggling with the more practical aspects of the trade, the Corps focus goes against what against what it outlines in its whole life development strategy.

This issue could be solved with a more rigorous screening program at recruitment; trade selection would be based on an academic streaming and reports should be used throughout a soldier’s career, and with the addition of one set of standards with the addition of the military requirements, thus ensuring a more valuable qualification whilst meeting the Corps statement of maximising the opportunity of accreditation.

Education VS Training

The Armed Forces Covenant states that “service personnel should expect to receive appropriate training and education for both personal and professional development, including the opportunity to gain nationally recognised qualifications, in order to support them through their Service career and to prepare them for life after leaving the Service”[8]

The primary motivation within the organisation is promotion, this motivation stems from an institutionalized ethos, which in my view blocks progression, and this ethos can be closely linked to the contrasting theory of Douglas McGregor’s X&Y theory[9]. This theory has helped form the concept of command and control which underpins the Corps focus in “Keeping the helicopter in the air”, this focus highlights the importance of having people in the right role and steering away from the task driven ethos.

The fundamental issue here is that the middle managers, who have the control over manpower, do not have the ‘buy in’ and until this is achieved, the apprenticeship delivery within field units will still fail. An interesting point is that some would argue that the RCMO[10] should not be responsible for tracking career progress, as despite being a regimental asset, they do not have the authority to control manpower, meaning that the interests of the apprentice are not taken into account as they are only focused on the academic abilities in line with promotion and therefore only interested in the Functional Skills[11] which links back to promotion.

Career progress should be down to the appointments of the RSMI within a regiment, who would have a greater understanding of the process and wider knowledge of their trade thus raising the standards of the apprenticeship to meet the Corps vision of a Level 3 Apprenticeship.

To solve the conflict of Education VS Training; a combination of both McGregor’s Theories would ensure that the relationship between the RCMO and middle managers is one that will benefit the delivery of the apprenticeship, as x, suggests a more hierarchical and centralised approach, and y which allows for a greater scope of an individual’s initiative, this would increase the motivation of the middle managers to perform well, resulting in standards being raised and having a positive impact on the apprentices.

In addition to this; a weekly training program, which is split down in to the needs of the apprentices could be implemented which would also

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