The Royal Air Force’s head of recruitment has outlined his strategy to quadruple the percentage of personnel from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds from its current 2% to 8%. 

“There is a public perception that we are made up of white, middle-class males. The challenge is to attract more people from ethnic minorities,” Group Captain Ian Tolfts told Recruiter.

“It is important that we’re representative of the society that we serve,” said Tolfts. But also the RAF is missing out on “some brilliant people,” he added.

The RAF is hiring 1,900 people this year, and expects to recruit 2,500 next year. Tolfts estimated that the RAF will need 25,000 applications to fill next year’s roles. He emphasised this was a long-term strategy, and that achieving the 8% target — roughly 2,700, based on the current RAF workforce of 34,000 — won’t be achieved overnight.

Key aspects of the strategy

• Starting in the autumn, the RAF will run pilot programmes in Liverpool and Birmingham aimed at members of the BAME  community.

The aim was to build lasting trust and understanding on both sides, and raise awareness of the RAF, said Tolfts. 

The programmes are expected to last three years.

Working with community groups and selected schools and colleges, Tolfts said the programmes will focus on developing life skills, such as communication and team working, and interview techniques. They will also help build skills and capabilities in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). 

• There will also be targeted events to engage with the BAME audience, from 16-24-year-olds up to parents and other gatekeepers who influence potential recruits. In July RAF personnel gave a presentation to mainly parents and elders at a Hindu temple in Birmingham.

• A media campaign to raise awareness nationally of the RAF and RAF careers.

Tolfts said the RAF was ready to adapt its approach, and to fine-tune those activities that hadn’t worked in the past. For example, he said that when visiting schools to talk about opportunities, it used to send people from ethnic minorities on their own. 

However, after some schools accused it of tokenism, Tolfts said the RAF now used “a more subtle approach”. As a result, he said, it now sent representatives from a mix of ethnic backgrounds.