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We signed the Armed Forces Covenant in 2021 and recognise that those leaving the armed forces may be disadvantaged in terms of securing meaningful employment and adjusting to a civilian environment. We want to be a great employer with outstanding leadership and a talented, agile workforce. We believe that a diverse range of talent is vital in creating an effective workforce who can bring different skills and experiences to the table. We also recognise the contribution that members of the armed forces community can make to its staff group in terms of the soft skills, attributes and values they bring to the organisation.

 

Support for Veterans

We recognise Veterans bring an excellent work ethic and high value skills to our organisation and often their meticulous attention to detail and record keeping is incredibly beneficial when working within the construction industry, therefore We work with ‘First Military Recruitment’ as well as the CTP to exclusively advertise vacancy positions, ensuring we have an increased opportunity of employing skilled veterans and service leavers.

Veterans/service leavers are offered an internal mentor to aid their transition to the workforce along with support and guidance from our HR Department and the Armed Forces Network – Hampshire Division. External organisations such as ‘SSAFA- Forcesline’, ‘HeadFIT’ and ‘Defence Recovery Capability’ are all promoted and encouraged to support Veterans mental and physical health. At Habens we are proud to support The Mental Health Charter, and are company supporters of ‘The Lighthouse Club’ a construction industry-based charity providing proactive support, training and assistance for all employees and their families within the construction industry.

 

Support for Reserve forces and cadet force adult instructors

We support our staff to be reservists and cadet force adult instructors through the following:

• Additional leave for those serving in the reserve forces or those volunteering their time as adult cadet instructors for undertaking their annual camp or other training specific to their reserve or adult cadet instructor role
• Flexible Working Policy to provide equal opportunity in employment
• Reservists who have been mobilised will receive support from their line manager and other colleagues before, during and post mobilisation.

 

 

Support for Spouses of serving regulars and reservists

• Spouses and civil partners of serving Regular or Reserve Forces personnel may be required to adjust family arrangements following their partner’s posting or deployment. This can place additional burdens upon the spouse/family and they may wish to consider the option of flexible working or Time off for Dependants as a temporary or permanent measure.
• Where appropriate, compassionate or special leave may be granted to spouses to assist them in dealing with critical issues arising from deployment or illness, injury or death wholly or partly attributable to being in service.
• We also utilise sites such as ‘Forces Families Jobs’ & ‘Recruit for Spouses’ when advertising relevant job roles to ensure we are supporting military families by offering employment to dependants of military employees.

 

Work experience scheme

Work experience may be offered for those who are:

• Armed forces personnel within 12 weeks of their discharge date
• Ex-armed forces personnel within 2 years of their date of discharge
• Spouses or civil partners of currently serving armed forces personnel
• Applications from those who are in the wounded, injured sick (WIS) category or medically discharged are welcomed.

 

Work experience placements are usually unpaid and last between 1-2 weeks.

 

Service Charity Support

Previously, we have supported ‘BLESMA’ a military charity for limbless veterans, by attending a charity fundraising night at The Queens Hotel, Southsea as well as supplying raffle prize donations from local suppliers.

This year we will be taking part in Combat Stress for Veterans Mental Health ‘March in March’ Challenge. Combat Stress is the UK’s leading charity for Veterans Mental Health who provide specialist treatment and support for former service men and women with mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Anxiety and Depression. At DM Habens we strongly support Mental Health charities and as a company we support The Lighthouse Club, a construction Focused Charity that provides mental health support so we felt choosing to support Combat Stress was natural link and extension for our ex-service personnel and ongoing community work.

The March in March challenge is open to everyone within the company either individually, as a team or department or joining us on a team walk. The Challenge entails, walking or running 10 miles over March, however we are choosing to go a step further with our challenge and as a Team Habens walk 100Miles in March!

This challenge is so beneficial our employee’s mental health, team building and motivation as well as raising the much-needed funds for the Combat Stress charity and raising awareness for their ongoing work.