Dive Brief:
- In conjunction with Military.com, Monster has named the top employers for veterans. These employers were chosen for recognizing the value of hiring veterans and taking the lead in innovative program development for ex-military men and women. ManTech won the top spot, followed by CACI International Inc. and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
- In a poll of more than 300 veterans for the 2018 Veteran Hiring survey, Monster found that 94% of veterans look for jobs after leaving the military. More than 200,000 service people transition from the military to employment a year, according to the report. Two-thirds prepared for a job before leaving active duty, and 63% spent three months or less preparing to find their next job. The survey also revealed that the majority of veterans prefer to work for companies that accept military training instead of civilian credentials, have a track record of hiring veterans, employ recruiters who are veterans, offer onboarding programs specifically designed for veterans, and provide support groups for employed veterans.
- More than two-thirds of respondents said they did not find their work to be at a comparable level to their military service. About half said recruiters and HR professionals failed to understand their military skills.
Dive Insight:
Employers can use surveys like Monster's to develop a veteran recruitment program or hone the one they have, and they can learn from veterans' preference for workplaces what kinds of programs to offer them. In a press release from Monster, Steve Jordon, retired U. S. Navy Captain and Executive Director of Veterans Employment Initiative for the Northern Virginia Technology Council, said, "These survey results tell us that while employers want to hire veterans and veterans want to find work, the employers are not fully aware of the skills the veteran is bringing with them from the military." In looking to expand their talent pools in the competition for candidates, employers must be sure not overlook veterans.
Veterans bring a range of skills to the workplace. In an opinion piece for HR Dive, Jeff Morin, chief of staff at Sallyport Global and veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, wrote that hiring veterans can be a good move for businesses and that employers that want to get the biggest benefit from investing in U.S. troops transitioning to civilian life can do more to help that effort.
Morin also wrote that all branches of the military have a clear mission and vision that serves as a guide for organizational operations. "Veterans will feel welcome when businesses hold similarly strong values," he wrote. "Service members will thrive at companies with a sense of purpose and direction and at businesses in which a commitment to a greater goal is imbued in every aspect of the work." Veterans learn to respect hierarchy, Morin said, and while not all companies are as rigorously organized as the military, those with a clear path for upward mobility can encourage and engage veterans.
Not all veterans have the same situation, however. For example, active-duty personnel require specific types of support from HR. The Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act (USERRA) is enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor and protects retired and active-duty military, including members of the Reserve. USERRA sets several provisions for these workers, like those around notification of duty and return-to-work rules. The law's "escalator principle" mandates that service members are entitled to the same pay, seniority and job status they would have had before they were called started military service.
