Post-9/11, the most prominent narratives about veterans are a study in extremes. Not all veterans are decorated heroes and not all veterans are victims. More than 200,000 warriors return to civilian life each year, and nine out of 10 are proud of their service and would do it again.
At Retails BIG Show, Lieutenant Colonel Brian Gilman presented the business case for recruiting, hiring and retaining veterans. Todays returning veterans are diverse, creative and innovative, but often discover it challenging to readjust to civilian life and find understanding and opportunities when they leave the military.
To serve successfully in the military, new recruits must subordinate their self-interest to the organization and put their own individual needs aside. But finding a job in the private sector requires talking about yourself, and many vets find it difficult to articulate individual contributions.
Gilman encouraged attendees to think about the last person their organization fired, and the reason for letting that person go. Chances are it was an issue of soft skills accountability, integrity, discipline, maturity, performance and this is where its easy to see why veterans often experience less turnover than their civilian counterparts once theyre hired. Especially when companies develop strong programs for recruiting and retention, veterans bring high levels of productivity and commitment to their work. Gilman offered some suggestions for retailers developing new talent acquisition programs.
Tips for recruiting
- Get senior leadership involved. Make sure executives understand the value of veteran employees and commit to seeking out veteran hires.
- Educate the non-veteran workforce. Help increase understanding at all levels of the company, not just among hiring managers and HR departments.
- Dedicate resources specifically toward veteran recruitment. The most successful internal programs are often led by veterans within the organization and build upon existing veteran networks.
- Sign up to mentor a job-seeking vet. The best way to thank a vet is to provide opportunities.
and retaining veterans
- Offer career-oriented training. Look for opportunities to use the GI Bill to support professional development.
- Give vet hires a mission and let them work on your companys biggest problems. Vets are looking for a challenge and a sense of purpose. Its also important to inculcate company values in the onboarding process.
- Develop partnerships within the retail industry to combine resources, share data and best practices, and expand opportunities. (Start by learning more about NRFs Talent Acquisition Group and downloading the Retail Recruiter Toolkit.)
- Offer assistance programs for deployed members of the Reserve and National Guard.
Adding vets to the payroll can have a positive impact on the bottom line. But when retailers develop a strong veteran workforce, it has direct impact on national defense and security: An all-volunteer force can only be sustained when young recruits feel good about signing up for service and know theyll have options when they leave the military.
