NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF VETERAN-SERVING ORGANIZATIONS
Helping Companies Engage and
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Retain Veteran Talent Overview
During this webinar, you’ll hear from some of the nation’s leading experts on veteran employee engagement helping you move your efforts from merely “veteran-friendly” to “veteran-ready.” Today, we’ll focus on improving veteran employee engagement and retention through powerful solutions focused on understanding the culture gaps between veterans and employers and learning about leading practices to bridge that divide. Let’s begin….
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Facilitator: Chris Ford
Chris Ford is the Founder and CEO of the National Association of Veteran-Serving Organizations (NAVSO). In this role, Chris is responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day management of the organization. NAVSO provides essential resources to those who serve veterans and military families, fund efforts aimed at helping them or work to employ them so they are more effective in meeting their needs. He is a 20-year Air Force veteran retiring in 2014 from the Joint Chiefs of Staff where he served in the Chairman’s Office of Warrior and Family Support. In this role, Chris leveraged his perspectives on veteran reintegration to assist communities across 18 states seeking to improve their support for military families. He previously served in nearly a dozen countries around the globe supporting Operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Chris was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, University of South Carolina, Naval Postgraduate School and the FBI National Academy. You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Panelist: Phil Carter
Phillip Carter is Senior Fellow and Director of the CNAS Military, Veterans & Society research program. His research focuses on issues facing veterans and military personnel, force structure and readiness issues, and civil-military relations. Mr. Carter began his career as an Army officer, serving for several years in the active and reserve components as a military police and civil affairs officer, and later served as a political appointee in the Obama administration. In addition to his military and government experience, Mr. Carter has worked in the private sector as an attorney and business leader. Mr. Carter writes extensively on veterans and military issues for Foreign Policy, the Washington Post, and other publications, and serves on numerous boards and advisory councils in the veterans and military community.
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Panelist: John McGarrity
John is the Executive Director for Talent Delivery Programs and is responsible for USAA’s college and intern program as well as recruiting for all executive roles across USAA. His team also has the responsibility for the engagement and support of candidates as they progress through the hiring process. Prior to his current role, John was the director of staff for Human Resources. He also served in similar roles in Corporate Services and the Property and Casualty company. John spent his first four years in P&C Actuary primarily as an auto pricing analyst. John joined USAA in 2006 after completing a 20-year Air Force career. During his career he was a squadron commander at Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea and served in a variety of assignments to include the United States Air Force Academy, the Pentagon and the Air Force Personnel Center at Randolph Air Force Base. John earned an MS in Economics from the University of Texas. He received his BS from the Air Force Academy (in both Economics and Operations Research) where he was also a four-year letterman in swimming. You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Some Assumptions for Today’s Webinar • Your company wants to hire veterans and may already be doing so • Your company sees value in hiring veterans • You have some, if not total, leadership buy-in • Despite the above, recruiting, hiring and retaining veterans has proven difficult at your company
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM You May Have Experienced:
• Difficulty in translating military experiences and skills into meaningful information for hiring managers • Difficulty convincing hiring managers to give a veteran a chance for an upcoming vacancy • Difficulty identifying and moving veteran candidates through the hiring process • Naysayers who think you need to build out a completely separate HR function to hire veterans • Challenges with your brand screening out candidates
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Veteran Employment Overview
• Moving from “veteran friendly” to “veteran ready” requires effort but it’s not difficult and you don’t have to do it alone • To do this well, four important phases require equal attention: – Recruit Many companies stop – Hire here… – Onboard – Retain …but success happens here.
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Upfront Tips During Each Phase
• Recruit: leverage existing veteran employees, ensure your brand is consistent, focus on value proposition • Hire: look at desired characteristics, build trust with hiring managers, leverage veteran employees • Onboard: connect veteran to values, mission and team, debunk myths • Retain: connect to higher mission, give opportunities to contribute beyond current role, throw toughest problems at veterans, foster teamwork
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Terms Matter
“Military-Civilian Drift” Military Civilian Drift (or is it a divide?)
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Understanding Transitions
Most veterans undergoing separation from the military are taught to view military-to-civilian transition as a basket of economic choices: one must secure employment; pursue additional education or vocational training; possibly relocate; secure housing; access health care and benefits – all with the intent to assume a new role as a satisfied, productive and purposeful civilian. [The VA] proposes a different conception. MCT is fundamentally a psychological and cultural evolution, in which veterans need to find a path to reorientation and self-redefinition, sometimes while acclimatizing to a new definition of wellness, but always while moving quite abruptly from a collectivist community to an individualist one. Life transitions of any kind are some of the most challenging, most impactful, and often misunderstood experiences in the human condition. The key difference is that a transition is, at its core, a psychological process…
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM - Dept of Veterans Affairs The Narrative v. Reality
Broken Hero
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM The Narrative v. Reality
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Induction v. Separation
Induction Service Separation
99% 99% 1%
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Induction v. Separation
Induction Service Separation
99% 99% 1%
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Transition Realities
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Transition Realities
Military Post-Military • Risk measured in lives & • Risk measured fiscally mission accomplishment (margin, profits) • Clearly defined tasks, • Ambiguous roles and mission and purpose duties • Perform as highly trained • Perform more teams independently • Support systems are • Support systems are consistent and easily confusing and elusive accessed
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Transition Realities (cont’d)
• Service members just left a Super Bowl winning team • Most veterans are job ready but not clear on what to do next (“I’ll do anything”) • 53% will experience unemployment • Most will miss the camaraderie (re: Tribe) • Treatable mental health issues affect a significant portion of veterans at one point or another • Asking for help is not the norm • Systems navigation is growing as the largest obstacle
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Lost in Translation
The Civil-Military Divide and Veteran Employment
JUNE 2017 Agenda
• Introduction • Hypothesis: the civil-military divide may the root cause of veterans transition challenges • Civil-military divide effects on: – Society – Employers – Veterans • Recommendations
21 “Lost in Translation: The Civil-Military Divide and Veteran Employment”
Phillip Carter Kate Kidder Senior Fellow Bacevich Fellow
Amy Schafer Moira Fagan Research Assistant Nye Intern
CNAS would like to acknowledge and thank Comcast NBCUniversal for its support of CNAS and this research effort.
22 Background and Hypothesis
• Research identifies persistent social and cultural dimensions to the problem of veteran unemployment • Hypothesis: the civil-military divide is a significant root cause of transition challenges facing veterans – Many of the downstream effects of the civil-military divide could be mitigated by further efforts in the private, public, and nonprofit sector, yielding benefits to all
23 What is the civil-military divide?
24 The Effects of the Divide
Who is affected? Demonstrable Effects • Society • Geographic Isolation • Employers • “Familiarity Gap” • Veterans • Gaps in Expectations and Perceptions
25 Recommendations for Government
• Regularly review and revise TAP curriculum – Consider partnership and connectivity with private sector organizations • Enable and encourage better networking among active-duty personnel, particularly enlisted service members • Better support reserve component members through USERRA revision and added predictability • Provide parallel eligibility to programs for spouses and military family members • Improve base community relations programs to create greater connectivity to communities
26 Recommendations for Employers
• Build military cultural competency and leverage employees who possess it to “bridge the gap” • Establish EAP resources and affinity groups to ease initial cultural clashes between military and civilian employment • Improve internal familiarity with the military and veteran experience, particularly among HR and managers, with emphasis on best practices for engaging with newly onboarded veterans
27 Recommendations for Veterans
• “Pay it forward” and mentor newly hired or transitioning veterans – Serve as a resource to civilians unfamiliar with military service • Focus on building professional networks that include veterans, service members, and civilians • Build ties in the community through civic engagement
28 September 7, 2017
Programs Addressing Cultural Barriers For New Veteran/Spouse Employees
John McGarrity Talent Programs Delivery
Public Information
THE USAA OUR MISSION STANDARD
The mission of the association is to facilitate • Keep our membership and mission first the financial security of its members, • Live our core values: Service, Loyalty, associates and their families through Honesty, Integrity provision of a full range of highly • Be authentic and build trust competitive financial products and services; • Create conditions for people to succeed in so doing, USAA seeks to be the provider • Purposefully include diverse perspectives of choice for the military community. for superior results
• Innovate and build for the future
Public Information 30
Effective Cultural Barrier Programs
Subjects
• New Employee Orientation
• Internal Mentoring Programs
• Vet/Spouse Employee Resource Group
• Leader Training
• Recognition
Public Information 31
Effective Cultural Barrier Programs
New Employee Orientation
• Onboarding for all new employees • Vets/spouses part of this initial process • Recognize vets/spouses in the class • Have time to discuss the military and military service • Lifestyle • Sacrifices – financial, family, mission • Basic facts regarding how the military functions – Branches, missions, roles • Q & A
Public Information 32
Effective Cultural Barrier Programs
Internal Mentoring Program
• Focused on recently separated vets • Paired with more “culturally experienced” vet employee or non-vet employees with a desire to help • Could be part of veteran employee resource group, HR, or other business units • Expectations • Based on business needs/culture • Mentoring guardrails – what it is and isn’t • Sounding board • Guide/Battle Buddy
Public Information 33
Effective Cultural Barrier Programs
Vet/Spouse Employee Resource Group
• Should be inclusive – Vets, Spouses, Other supporters • Business Case • Business process improvements • Volunteer opportunities • Mentoring • Employee engagement/education • Camaraderie – Shirts, pins, etc. • Senior level executive sponsorship - $ • Grassroots developed/managed – Core team of volunteers • Business plan, Comm/Marketing plans • Engagement Platform (SharePoint)
Public Information 34
Effective Cultural Barrier Programs
Leader Training
• Management Development Training – Hiring Managers • Vet/Spouse interview tips • What to/not to ask – stay away from mission if violence-focused • Vet employee speaker/presenter – Q&A • Recruiter Training • Understanding a vet/spouse resume • What to/not to ask – stay away from mission if violence-focused • Vet employee speaker/presenter – Q&A
Public Information 35
Effective Cultural Barrier Programs
Recognition
• Celebrating vet related days in visible, meaningful ways • Speakers • Picnics/luncheons/refreshments • Handouts focused on the event • Open invitation to all employees – video and post if possible • Veterans Day • Memorial Day • Service Birthdays • If able, storyboards about vet employees and their service • (Walls of Honor)
Public Information 36 Key Takeaways
• The drift is real (1% or 17%) but solvable • Many vets are thriving but some struggle • (re)Integrating veterans requires a village to meet complex needs of the vet and the family • These realities promulgate themselves in the home, at work, in education and everywhere
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Key Takeaways (cont’d)
• Veterans may have experience and education gaps but they have the characteristics your company wants; they are: – Loyal – Accountable – Team-players – Adaptable – Resilient
#VetTalent You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Key Takeaways (cont’d.)
• Focus on value, both for your company and for the veteran • Changing your HR processes will improve your ability to recruit and hire veterans • Improving your onboarding and retention strategies will help you keep veterans
#VetTalent You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Key Takeaways (cont’d.)
• Be consistent in your brand but make sure veterans understand all you do • Leverage existing veteran employees to help recruit, hire, onboard and retain • Make veteran hiring “personal” by allocating time to listen and seek
#VetTalent You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Continue today’s conversation in our online Forum!
Connect with like-minded professionals focused on the same issues.
Gain access to new insights and best practices from around the nation.
Share your perspectives on innovative solutions to support veteran employees and candidates.
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7049987 You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM INSERT GARTNER “DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS” SLIDE WITH PANEL THUMBNAILS HERE
You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM Miss Part of This
Employment Series?
Replay Webinars Here: www.navso.org/events www.navso.org You Serve Them. We Serve You.TM