3 Big Reasons Why Organizations Should Hire Veterans

LTC Matt Louis — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 09:59:00 -0400

"What our servicemen and women want, more than anything else, is the assurance of satisfactory employment upon their return to civil life. The first task after the war is to provide employment for them and for our demobilized workers… The goal after the war should be the maximum utilization of our human and material resources... We must make provision now to help our returning service men and women bridge the gap from war to peace activity. When the war is over, our men and women in the Armed Forces will be eager to rejoin their families, get a job, or continue their education and to pick up the threads of their former lives."

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Message to Congress, November 23, 1943

Much like the case at the end of World War II, our nation is the current recipient of large numbers of trained members of the military departing their final duty station (~200,000 every year) following conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The experience and skills these veterans bring with them are precisely what today’s organizations seek in experienced hires. But not nearly enough are taking advantage of the opportunity. Why should they? Here are three critical reasons they might consider:

1. Veteran employment is critical to both the national economy and the country overall. Although veterans make up only ~8 percent of the nation’s adult population and just over 6 percent of the civilian labor pool, they have an outsized influence over the future of the country’s all-volunteer force that defends our freedom, protects our liberty, and enables capitalism to thrive. If military service is not seen as providing a gateway to successful civilian careers, future participants in the nation’s all-volunteer military may be dissuaded from serving. It is thus a matter of national security: “The success of veterans after service, and the positive perception of veterans as assets to their employers and communities, is vital to the success of our military.”

2. Even more directly, the Department of Defense (DoD) must pay Unemployment Insurance for Ex-Servicemembers (UCX) to states whose veterans are not employed. These funds, whose amounts have varied from $300-900+ Billion in recent years, subtract from DoD’s operating budget and thereby sacrifice funds that could otherwise be spent on our common defense. Bottom line: everyone wins when you hire veterans.

3. Skilled, sufficiently educated labor with a superior work ethic is routinely cited by most organizations as one of their most needed resources – and one they routinely find in inadequate supply. Veterans of the United States armed forces have the skills, training, character, and work ethic that most organizations overwhelmingly desire. In fact, veterans are perhaps one of the most valuable components of an organization’s diversity and inclusion efforts. Not only do they emanate from an already diverse talent pool (40% of active duty service members come from racial and ethnic minority groups), they bring a bevy of transferable skills and are readily available. With more than 200,000 of them matriculating from the military annually, they represent an ongoing just-in-time talent play. And their impact is palpable. Cumulative Gallup Workplace Studies uncovered a 22% increase in productivity at organizations that create inclusive environments that include veterans.

About me: Matthew J. Louis is the President of Purepost, Inc. and the author of the HarperCollins book Mission Transition: Navigating the Opportunities and Obstacles of Your Post-Military Career, a practical guide for veterans and service members in career transition. Louis holds an MBA in operations and finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and a BS in mechanical engineering from West Point. He is a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College. Louis served in the Southwest Asia combat theater and on the staff of the US Army’s Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel.

Attribution:
The public papers and addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt. 1943 volume, The tide turns: compiled with special material and explanatory notes by Samuel I. Rosenman, “Message to Congress,” November 23, 1943, 523-528, accessed August 17, 2018, https://rly.pt/3N9v7WC

Call of Duty Endowment and ZipRecruiter, “Challenges on the Home Front: Underemployment Hits Veterans Hard,” accessed February 26, 2019. https://rly.pt/3L903o3

Nathan D. Ainspan and Kristin N. Saboe, Military Veteran Employment: A Guide for the Data-Driven Leader (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2021), 2.

Mark Kaplan and Mason Donovan, The Inclusion Dividend: Why Investing in Diversity & Inclusion Pays Off (Brookline, MA: Bibliomotion, Inc., 2013), 37.

3N9v7WC

Response by SPC Kevin Ford made Mar 22 at 2022 10:01 AM

SPC Kevin Ford — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 10:01:41 -0400

I did not know number 2. Is that just recently released veterans, or people who are veterans who are on unemployment 30 years later?

Response by CWO4 Terrence Clark made Mar 22 at 2022 10:59 AM

CWO4 Terrence Clark — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 10:59:37 -0400

Preaching to the choir here, COL. As a repentant Director level HR wienie, to include Fortune 500 companies, first certified PHR in 1996, I would opine the low hanging fruit impeding veteran hiring is the Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM). Particularly since the early '90s, as a group, they have established their prominence within companies to an equal footing with operators. They have a vision of "diversity" and "multiculturalism" that is not, to use their phraseology, " inclusive" of veterans. To be more specific, they neither train for, nor are appreciative of, the myriad transferable skills veterans have to offer and this is best represented during the hiring process. While most companies come to appreciate the qualities of their veteran employees, "getting their feet through the door" is largely through networking or serendipity. Until SHRM is brought on board, they will always remain a sticky gate in the hiring process. Which puts the onus on those veterans who DO get hired, especially at higher levels, to champion the potential of veterans.

IMHO

Yes, I'm opinionated.

BTW. 1st I've heard of #2. Like it.

Response by CW3 Chuck Eastman made Mar 22 at 2022 12:55 PM

CW3 Chuck Eastman — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 12:55:53 -0400

"Mission Transition: Navigating the Opportunities and Obstacles of Your Post-Military Career" is one of the best transition guides out there. Fascinating research and great guides for success!

Response by SrA Ronald Moore made Mar 23 at 2022 5:01 AM

SrA Ronald Moore — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 05:01:28 -0400

Share this information

Response by GySgt Glen Silva made Mar 23 at 2022 11:15 PM

GySgt Glen Silva — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 23:15:27 -0400

3 big reasons organizations should hire veterans.
Loyal, service members at all ranks are taught to be loyal. Having someone in your organization that is loyal brings so much more with it. That is a person that will work overtime come in on weekend because they believe in you and your mission.

Communication would be the second big reason. Military members again are great at communication. They have a hard time beating around the bush. They will be the first to not only tell you something is messed up but offer suggestions on how to fix the issue. Organizations have plenty of people that complain, change that by hiring veterans who will offer up solutions.
Out of the box thinking skill! Again, just looking at most military members. We are all taught that yes here is the best situation, and you will need a-z to get the job done. In the military they give you g, t and maybe z and tell you to make it work. So you get less or none of what you need to be successful but are still required to succeed. Veterans are great at seeing the problem, understanding it and figuring out how to make it work, no matter what. Go it alone or with a team. Thinking outside the box and accomplishing more with less has always been something I loved about any veteran I ever met. They never had the victim mentality or the failure mentality.

I hope you enjoy my two cents, I could have kept going but you only asked for 3.

Response by PO2 Dru Popham-Snavely made Mar 24 at 2022 10:43 PM

PO2 Dru Popham-Snavely — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 22:43:27 -0400

1) Having a job is very important to a vet, they need to feel useful and needed, and once they have that job they are obligated to it.
2) They have excellent attention to detail and are great OJT learners.
3) They know what responsibility is which means they are on time and willing to go above and beyond to prove they are the best hire.

Response by SFC(P) Larry Nahalea made Apr 2 at 2022 11:19 PM

SFC(P) Larry Nahalea — Sat, 02 Apr 2022 23:19:32 -0400

Its sad to see the homeless and unemployed veterans out in the streets.

Response by 1stSgt Daryl Allen made May 11 at 2022 12:07 AM

1stSgt Daryl Allen — Wed, 11 May 2022 00:07:28 -0400

I would most definitely agree our Veterans have some of the best experience in the world. We are taught to lead, taught to go above and beyond but not all companies want those of us who have experience. I fought over two long years to get the job I wanted. My resume was looked at and I was told by so many people that I was over qualified. Even telling them I just wanted a job didn't seem to help. I hope those who get out or retiring get a better chance then those of us from the Vietnam Era.