New research shows benefits to business of employing Reservists

Team building and communication abilities top the list of skills employees and their managers say military reservists are most able to bring back into the workplace.  This is according to new research undertaken by Serco in advance of Reserve Forces day on Wednesday 24 June into how having military reservists helps performance in the workplace. 

Reservists have long played a critical role in the defence of the UK and have been deployed on operations around the globe, but this research demonstrates how having reservists also makes a significant contribution to the businesses they work in.

The research, conducted amongst Serco's Armed Forces reservists and their line managers, indicates that it is the softer skills that they pick up whilst being reservists that they are best able to bring back into the workplace.  Team building and communication rank one and two respectively, and whilst technical skills transferability is still considerable, problem solving, resilience and an appreciation of individual strengths and weaknesses rank higher in terms of learning that can be applied by reservists in their day job.

According to line managers who have reservist in their team, the top ranked benefits in support of business performance are having good behavioural role models for other members of their team; helping to support the broader contribution to the community and being able to bring different skills, experiences and perspectives to their business challenges.

"We have always thought that supporting reservists is good for the country but our latest research provides more concrete evidence of the types of skills your employees can get and how best to get the most out of the reservists in your business" says  Kevin Craven, CEO UK Central Government at Serco.  "With over 125 reservists, sponsored reservists and adult cadet instructors in our UK business, at Serco we firmly believe that having reservists as part of your team is not only the right thing to do for the defence of the country but is good for development and good for business performance.  This is why we are signed up to the Corporate Covenant and proactively encourage reservists in our business"

These benefits are not necessarily a given and Serco's line managers highlighted the need to take time to understand the skills of their reservist employees and to let them use their initiative. 

To get a copy of the research and to find out more about how Serco is supporting its reservists visit Serco.com

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