Sunday, September 28, 2008

Support the Troops -- Hire a Vet!


The great Wally Bock (Three Star Leadership) has an outstanding post reminding people to "Hire a Vet!" He refers to an excellent article from the HR Web Cafe, "Why Not Hire a Vet Today?"

This is a great reminder to all of us with hiring authority. Why not hire a veteran today? Why not support the troops and help one of these warriors in their transition from soldier to civilian? Why not consider what one of our brave service men or women might contribute to your team? Why not employ a "wounded warrior?"

The HireVetsFirst website has the following "10 Reasons to Hire a Vet:"

1. Accelerated learning curve.
2. Leadership.
3. Teamwork.
4. Diversity and inclusion in action.
5. Efficient performance under pressure.
6. Respect for procedures.
7. Technology and globalization.
8. Integrity.
9. Conscious of health and safety standards.
10. Triumph over adversity.

Yes, our battle-tested warriors certainly offer more than just the fact that they've served. They are worthy of consideration for hiring because they are good. They are creative, reliable, fun people who will contribute from day one. They are good leaders and good teammates. They can follow orders...and give them. They understand "mission first...people always!"

Thanks Wally and Julie for this reminder. Thanks to you who will take a chance on a vet! That's Leader Business! Hooah!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great links.

I think a lot of companies do want to hire veterans. A lot of times, the qualifications of the veteran come up short which means we need to do a better job of transition planning for our veterans. Too few veterans take advantage of their GI Bill benefits even after active duty and way too few take advantage of education opportunities while on active duty.

I wrote a post about this a while back that is relevant:

http://gannonbeck.com/2007/06/04/expert-power

Employers want to hire us, but we have to help them.

Gannon

Tom Magness said...

Thanks Gannon. I agree -- we can do so much more in the area of transition planning for our vets.

In the mean time, I like to think of it this way -- we can teach technical skills. But so many of our vets bring those qualities of character, courage, dedication, perseverance, and leadership. They can learn the rest!

Thanks as always for your feedback, my friend! TM