Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

The excitement and novelty of working in a civilian environment is now starting to wear off and the reality kick in. I used to think terms like “military efficiency” and “planned with military precision” were something of a joke given how inefficient and chaotic Army life can often be. I am now coming to realise that I was pouring scorn on these phrases from the point of view of a person who has only ever worked in a military environment and presumed that the drive to make money in the private sector would ensure things ran smoothly. How wrong I was…

“Ask twice a day, every day for two weeks and it should get done.”

This is actual advice that was given to me by my mentor within the MEP department with regards to getting some work out of the Carillion structural team. All that I need from the structures team is an instruction allow some BWIC holes to be cut through the concrete slab and sheer walls for service to penetrations. The holes were on the original drawing but were either put in the wrong place or missed off when the pour took place, so it shouldn’t take much work for Buro Happold (structural consultant) to approve the holes. Having read Nick’s blog from earlier in the year with regards to civilian’s interpretation of tasks, and from my own experience of working with civilians as a staff officer I was aware that a simple email wouldn’t suffice. A conversation with the appropriate member of the structural team, email and additional conversation later I was confident that the task would proceed. This is when I was given the advice in the quote above. As my mentor predicted a week has passed by and various excuses have been given, the problem passed around the structural team and all attempts to pin down a date for a solution been dodged – for what should be a fairly straight forward task. I am now thoroughly bored and embarrassed with the daily grind of asking the same question (although this appears to be the SOP here) and have decided to take a different tack – apply some military process to the problem. I’ve managed to get the buy in of the structural team to using a simple tracker so that we know what needs to be done and produced a request for work template which specifically details the works needed on one piece of paperwork as opposed to several emails and drawings. Hopefully this will clarify what needs to be done and make the job of approving the work easier for the structural team so that they will turn it around more promptly. We’ll have to wait and see….

Rose wasn’t too impressed when she found out how Carillion do business.

Although the novelty is starting to wear off I am enjoying phase 2. Life in London is great – I’d definitely recommend it as a location for anyone on next years course if there are any jobs available. I’ve got a quarter in the Keep, Kingston-Upon Thames. The quarters aren’t going to win any awards for architecture and certainly don’t blend in with the Victorian town houses, but they are very nice once you’re inside. Richmond park is a 10 minute walk away as is the Thames and it’s possible to be in central London in under an hour on the train. I am currently getting my PT sessions in by cycling to work most days, which at 50 minutes each way is a quicker commute than the the train by about 15 minutes.

One of the stags I regularly pass on my cycle into work.