Here are five ways to attract veterans to your operation.
By Kelly McGurk
The military instills unique qualities that are highly transferrable to jobs in the transportation sector—including leadership, loyalty, attention to detail, teamwork, dependability and a focus on safety.
Most businesses today understand the value of the military veteran workforce within their organization. Yet, many find it challenging to tap into this essential pool of talent. A vital part of the American economy and workforce, veterans still face many challenges in transitioning to civilian careers. As a recent study by the Merck Foundation and Hiring Our Heroes highlighted:
- 86% of transitioning military don’t know what they want to do when they exit or retire.
- 70% will go one month without a paycheck—half of this group will go three months or longer.
- Female veterans have a greater challenge in finding their first civilian job.
These statistics identify a particular onus on employers to do more to find and hire transitioning talent.
How to Find Partners to Fuel Your Military Hiring Strategy
Individuals transitioning from the military, and their spouses, face significant geographic dispersion and strict transition timelines. That means frequent outreach and early-stage talent acquisition strategies are key, but also challenging—many companies find reaching former military personnel to be resource prohibitive due to time, money and travel.
On top of the geographic and timing challenges, the Department of Defense (DoD) prioritizes approved Department of Labor Apprenticeship and SkillBridge programs. These programs are supported through grants.
The Department of Labor provides a range of apprenticeship programs available to veterans. Searchable online, these include a range of disciplines. Here are several examples related to transportation and logistics that were searchable as this article was being developed.
Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores provided apprenticeship opportunities for diesel and truck trailer mechanics at several locations: The Love’s Truck Care and Speedco Diesel Mechanic Apprentice program is a company paid training program designed to provide apprentices with classroom, on the job training (OJT) and computer-based training opportunities while working towards certification as a Love’s/Speedco diesel mechanic.
Suburban Propane is strongly committed to hiring ex-military and offered the following at several locations: Looking for a career with purpose? One that grows your skills and contributes to a highly successful team? If you answered yes to these questions, then we would like you to join our industry-leading Delivery Driver Apprentice Program.
“We recognize that military veterans are trained in many of the managerial and service-oriented skills that are perfect for a career at Suburban Propane,” said Michael Stivala, Suburban’s president and CEO. “As a result, we have a growing effort to recruit and hire military personnel through our Heroes Hired program.”
With the company’s program, military veterans who accept a nonseasonal full-time position can take advantage of the reimbursement of CDL and endorsement fees; reservist training compensation; and a Veteran Buddy Program. In addition, some hires are eligible for a military relocation allowance.
The SkillBridge initiative is a separate program that allows transitioning service members, within six months of separation, to participate in civilian job and employment training, including apprenticeships and internships.
And while any company can create a SkillBridge or apprenticeship program, it can take anywhere from a few months to even years to get the program certified, and even longer to expand it across geographic regions.
For this reason, many companies find value in partnering with other SkillBridge programs, apprenticeship providers and public and private sector organizations to effectively market their business to the military community and hire transitioning service members.
For example, TransForce, through its Troops Into Transportation program, offers companies in the trucking industry the ability to hire CDL-certified military veterans for open driving roles.
Troops Into Transportation trains and certifies over 2,500 members of the military community annually, placing them in CDL driving jobs with carriers of all sizes. T2T boasts an international and domestic recruiting footprint, with authorized CDL training locations across the United States.
How to Attract Veterans to Your Open Roles
In addition to developing strategic partnerships, companies must ensure that their own marketing and advertising materials, as well as any internal processes focused on veterans, are well-defined. Having a military talent acquisition and retention strategy is key to being not just veteran friendly, but veteran ready.
Below are TransForce’s top 5 recommendations for employers.
1. Speak Their Language
Sixty percent of veterans struggle to explain how their military experience would interest a civilian employer and list this as their most significant challenge in finding a job.
Your first line of contact in HR should be knowledgeable about the unique qualities offered by the military community—veterans, guard/reservists, and spouses and dependents.
Let veterans know their skills and experience are welcomed by using inclusive and clear language in job descriptions.
Examples of inclusive language might include:
- “Military highly encouraged to apply.”
- “Over 30% of our team have military affiliation.”
- “We offer an apprenticeship program for veterans.”
2. Remove Guesswork From the Career Path
Service members are accustomed to well-defined career progression offered through the military. For employers in the civilian world, it’s important to be clear about the application procedure for your business and the specific role. You want to paint a picture of what employment and growth at your organization looks like.
Detail procedures:
- Ensure all necessary job information is in your collateral and website.
- If you require training for the role, explain the certification process.
- Be clear about whether your business pays for reskilling or accepts the G.I. Bill.
Simplify applications:
- Revise and shorten the application process if applicants are low.
- Adopt a more high-touch follow-up procedure for veteran candidates.
Highlight career path:
- Veterans are accustomed to career growth on two- or three-year cycles, so highlight their advancement opportunities early on.
3. Ensure Representative Collateral and Branding.
Your brand materials give a snapshot of your organization and help recruits to imagine themselves as a part of your team.
Considerations:
- Are your organizational values and commitment to inclusion evident in your website imagery?
- Do you have a dedicated section of your website that speaks to recruiting veterans?
- Does the language on your website show that you respect and understand the needs of veterans?
Be sure to highlight any training programs or VA benefits you have for veterans, feature your military recruiters and highlight the veteran culture in your workforce.
4. Emphasize Quality of Life and Compensation
Like any employee, veterans are interested in employers who can offer competitive pay and quality of life. You may wish to consider:
- Offering financial coverage for reskilling or training.
- Highlighting core benefits like weekly pay, working hours and other distinguishing benefits (401K match, flexible time off, etc.).
5. Establish a Veteran Mentorship Program
Attracting talent from the military alone is not enough to meet your objectives. You need to be able to retain the great talent you’ve found. Mentorship programs for the military community employed in your business are a key strategy for many employers.
By creating a mentorship program linking your internal military community together, you can:
- Create a sense of belonging for new veteran hires.
- Increase camaraderie amongst veterans.
- Further opportunities to network across the organization.
- Build your reputation throughout the larger military community.
- Boost morale and loyalty.
This doesn’t have to be complicated—it can be as simple as making key introductions between military affiliated mentors already in your workforce to newcomers.
Kelly McGurk is the vice president of revenue marketing for TransForce, a leading provider of CDL driver solutions in the United States. TransForce, through its Troops Into Transportation program, offers companies in the trucking industry the ability to hire CDL-certified military veterans for driving roles.
