Upon retirement from the military many personnel who have performed FM roles (although often without a fancy job title) move into civilian FM roles that match their project management and strong organisational skills.
Military personnel tend to retire at quite a young age, generally around 45, so they have a lot of working life left. They’ve developed a bank of experience performing FM type support roles within the military so moving into civilian FM roles can often be an attractive proposition. They are also equally attractive to employers.
“Ex-military personnel have skills in logistics, people management and team leading. Many with engineering skills move across into hard services management and the management of more complex buildings that have a higher standard of technology, as they understand new technology very well and are able to use this knowledge to good effect,” says Anne Lennox-Martin, managing director, at FMP360.
Ex-military personnel have an excellent ‘can do, get done’ attitude and strong organisational and people management skills. They can envisage how to get from A to B easily. They have logistical and co-ordination skills, they’re comfortable managing projects or managing buildings and they’re good at co-ordinating operations, all of which means that they fit FM roles.
Directly prior to leaving the armed forces back in 1994, Rob Farman was a staff officer at HQ RAF Support Command at Brampton in Cambridgeshire. One of his last roles involved developing a command management plan reporting against performance indicators including time, quality, quantity and cost — a project brought about by the devolved budgets introduced by NATO at the time. These are clearly the kind of skills ideally suited to FM, but Farman says that as much as FM is often misunderstood by those leaving the forces, they too need to better explain the skills they can bring so that potential employers understand their potential.
“I’ve been astonished at what I’ve seen,” says Farman. “One chap explained that he’d been an artillery observer. What does that mean, I asked? It involves co-ordinating the fire power of guns and mortars and air power while advancing with the miltiary, adjusting your plan of attach as you move forward, bringing shells down as little as 150 yards next to your own infantry. Someone who can do that is quite incredible.”
Get Some In
Angela Unsworth, transition manager at Carillion Amey, says ex-military personnel are used to finding solutions and delivering results.
“A military career, on the whole, builds competent, capable operators. Astute, pragmatic and quick to cut to the heart of a problem, their focus is on the commander’s intent; understanding his or her operational output requirement is key to them delivering ‘service excellence’ and achieving the objective. It’s not difficult for them to change the emphasis of this to focus on the customer’s intent and on understanding the customer’s requirements in delivering service excellence,” says What ex-military personnel do find challenging is understanding that in civilian life they can delegate tasks upwards. They have a military command structure ingrained in their minds.
“They’re used to instructing others lower down the structure to complete tasks and in turn being instructed by their superiors. It’s challenging for them to be in a civilian FM role where they may instruct someone to do something and they might not do it,” says Jane Wiggins, director at FM Tutor & Associates.
“This mindset, however, serves them very well in public sector jobs such as in the NHS or in local authority or education environments, or organisations such as financial or construction, where there is a strict process that must be adhered to all of the time, perfectly, to avoid accidents. They tend to be logical and methodical and used to working within a structured environment.”
While there are certain similarities, there are also big differences between military and civilian FM. Military FM is often more varied and pressured. A military FM based in Afghanistan, for example, might be setting up a temporary camp, or be involved with the logistics of catering for a large number of people on the move. There are many FM roles in the military that would not be required — or would be different — in civilian FM.
FM roles within the military are usually referred to by military terminology such as QMs RQMs, logistics managers or storemen. These jobs are not often regarded as powerful roles, but the amount of experience that they can gain is still significant and can be very useful in civilian FM roles.
Rob Farman was in charge of 170 soliders and airmen in the Falklands War, providing ground equipment and maintenance support to the aircraft and mechanical transports. Farman believes that the demand for developing and conforming to standardised workflows and procedures in the armed forces provides future employers in FM with a mindset attuned to the tasks in hand.
“In the armed forces things have to be careflully planned and procedures standardised,” says Farman. “With people moving around the forces frequently, teams have to form quickly in response to crises. That’s when you want things standardised as much as possible. Also, the army and RAF both have separate standards and procedures so it was important to resolve any conflict between the two.
“Compare that to the skills involved in, for example, the data centre environment – they each require similar procedures to ensure that this mission critical service is kept running. In fact, mission critical is a phrase that originated in the armed forces.”
Training for transfer
Training may be required for ex-military personnel moving into civilian FM and even if they may already be competent from a qualifications perspective they may face cultural issues.
“Ex-military personnel are comfortable with taking orders and following instructions, they’re very used to it so there’s a cultural difference between military and civilian life,” says Lennox-Martin. “Ex-military personnel working in civilian FM roles do find that working with people who have different opinions can be challenging at first. When they have intelligent and capable people reporting into them they have to allow them empowerment and they can find that really tough. It’s a psychological difference,” she adds.
Training may be required to learn new skills and methods of communicating. In terms of commercial skills they’ll also need to understand how a business works and to align their service to what’s needed.
“Moving into civilian FM they’ll have soft FM skills such as catering, management and leadership that they’ve developed throughout their military career. They’ll have been educated and trained, but these skills may not have been formalised in a badged qualification such as NEBOSH, IBOSH, a PRINCE2 or a APM qualification,” says Wiggins.
Ex-military personnel who move into civilian FM roles in the middle of their working lives can be in a good position to take advantage of opportunities for career progression into senior positions. “Ex-military personnel can often double, triple or even quadruple their salary within three to 10 years of moving into civilian roles. They’re used to changing roles and moving around in terms of geographical postings,” says Wiggins.
“They’re used to developing new relationships and new friends, comfortable with regular annual performance reviews and stretching themselves in the work environment. They’re adaptable and capable of hitting the ground running, which makes them capable of being successful quickly,” says Wiggins. Upon leaving the military they have many challenges to face — finding a new job, deciding where to live. It’s a big adjustment for them and their families. Fortunately, there’s a lot of help available. Commission periods are usually 12 to 20 years, but they can be up to 30 years.
When nearing the end of their commission, personnel are given a two-year transition period. This is an important time as it will shape the rest of their working careers and personal lives. During this time they may receive training. It’s good for them to gain a BIFM-recognised qualification to verify their ‘on the job’ knowledge.
Other skills such as health and safety and project management skills are useful. Some will have technical trade skills from working as chefs, electricians, or military police officers. In order to transition they’re given an ELCAS grant, which helps to pay for training and qualifications. Assistance also covers housing, job interview skills and social services.
“This help and resettlement period is very important as if someone joins up to the Army, Navy or RAF at 16 to 18 years of age and doesn’t leave again until they are in their late thirties they may never have had a real job interview and lack the skills to perform in this environment. To come out of the military might be a shock, especially if they are being made redundant,” says Wiggins.
On a positive note they are mature and have a good deal of common sense. They are able to look after people and buildings; this is an attraction for FM employers. They’re used to helping other people in their unit and have lots of life experiences and practical abilities. When they move into civilian FM in a steady, safe, environment it’s easy for them to help other people.”
Orders is orders
There are other practical differences between military and civilian FM. The often-cited concerns within FM about the lack of board-level recognition and the role of FM in organisations is something ex-military people will also have to overcome. They could find organisations that allow free-thinking difficult to understand. They expect board members and managing directors to be respected without question.
Why don’t people do what they are told? Why would it be necessary to consult people about space management and change? Why would they need to persuade someone to do something? These are all real questions that ex-military personnel ask when moving to civilian FM roles. But they are usually able to quickly adapt.
“Military people are extremely flexible and adaptable as a result of working with very fluid, dynamic, operational activity; consequently, we’re very effective contingency planners. Our extensive experience in conflict resolution can be of great benefit to any organisation. We’re strong characters with well-developed leadership and people skills. We’re able to resolve disagreement and seamlessly align people and resources to the task,” says Unsworth.
“All of the outputs of contracted services have a profound and direct impact on the output of the client. Any lack of joined-up service delivery could fundamentally undermine the CEO’s output. It’s imperative that the FM has full oversight of every aspect of the business. When I was in this role it was fundamental that I sat on the board to manage those risks. I was able to capture fleeting opportunities that enhanced our business, opportunities that I would have no sight of if I was positioned elsewhere in the organisation. It’s here that employers are missing business opportunities in FM — if you want to be even more successful, get your head of FM on the board,” she adds.
“Military personnel can have a perceived maverick streak to how they operate that may alarm the faint-hearted. But if you interpret this as having the intellectual capacity to make rapid and accurate decisions and the moral and physical courage to apply those decisions, then who wouldn’t want such an asset on their staff? Look at it this way, it’s not maverick behaviour, it’s innovative behaviour. We’re energetic, agile, loyal and committed and we don’t stop until we have a solution that is sustainable from all perspectives,” says Unsworth. – See more at: http://www.fm-world.co.uk/features/feature-articles/military-precision/#sthash.v6NXkPXF.dpuf
