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Sometimes the best way to attract good people is to show them how easy it will be for them to leave you. The Royal Air Force in the UK is an employer of choice because they can demonstrate the employability of their “graduates”.

John Konrad is an international researcher in Vocational Education and Training [VET] and a policy advisor to British and European governments He is a national and European Expert on the Transparency and Recognition of Qualifications and Competencies.

The Royal Air Force will only recruit and retain the sort of skilled people they need if those people, after they’ve finished their engagement, can go and work in the civilian industry and have their qualifications easily recognized.

That’s something that the RAF started in the ‘60s and they were way ahead of everybody else in that respect.

And in fact, one of the recruiting problems in the British army is that they have been way behind the ball in doing that. They’ve failed to recognize, for example, that senior non-commissioned officers, to do their job, have very high levels of human resource management knowledge, skills, and competences.

And if you don’t provide a framework within which those can be recognized by qualifications with civilian currency, then you won’t retain the people you need almost regardless of how much you pay them.

Find more about the RAF’s career development offerings here