The system will not work in my eyes. Too divisive and there are not enough positions available for the Exec stream to make it all viable. I can see a situation where a so called 'mong' who's happy say in his OC BSW job at RAF Snoring, where manning said he could be for 5 years, being moved on by an Exec stream needing a promotion tick.
It will create a 2 tier air force of haves and have nots. The whole manning system is opaque and the rules seem to change as personalities change.
The pyramid only allows for a few jobs at the top and desk officers should have should have a better system for identifying those people. Reporting officers need to be more realistic and honest when writing reports instead of blowing smoke up people's ar$es. There is too much weak leadership where 'mates' fail to report on their subordinates correctly as they don't want to upset the apple cart or face any conflict - so they usually capitulate.
There are too many people vying for the same top jobs when that prospect is untenable to most. If manning were able to give people realistic career ceilings and guidance - ie, "you are 34, you have not done an op tour, you don't have a Masters, you have not done any professional development and your reports are average - you only have the max reach for Wg Cdr in your time left' then I'm sure that the workplace would develop a much better and more amenable culture. This would, in turn, produce a Royal Air Force that was able to meet outputs without breaking the moral contracts that it has with its people. Fewer people would be gunning for promotion courses and 'one-upmanship' over their peers, and maybe then they might concentrate on their day jobs and managing their personnel.
Still, I'm glad to be leaving it all behind...