The Business Case for Hiring Veterans

The recent end of the war in Iraq and drawing down of troops in Afghanistan have helped focus the attention of the public on the need to help transition our Veterans into meaningful, rewarding employment in the civilian world. Much of the coverage that I’ve seen has focused on the benefit to the Veteran but little has been made of the benefit to the employer. As important as it is to support our Veterans, the reality is that the employment of Veterans simply makes good business sense as these men and women tend to have superb skills in a wide variety of areas, including organization and leadership.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is doing an admirable job of helping Veterans transition into the civilian workforce and also helping the business community better understand how the hiring of these Veterans can improve their bottom line. There are a number of case studies published at its America’s Heroes At Work web site, including the following:

Defense technology provider and CollegeRecruiter.com client Raytheon Company has long demonstrated its commitment to diversity in the workplace. Its world-class Employee Resource Groups initiative consists of seven diversity groups, including the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Allies (GLBTA); Raytheon Black Employees Network (RAYBEN); Raytheon Asian Pacific Association (RAPA); Raytheon Hispanic Employees Association (RHEA); Raytheon American Indian Network (RAIN); Raytheon Women’s Network (RWN); and the Raytheon Persons with DisAbilities (RPDA). A past recipient of the U.S. Department of Labor’s New Freedom Initiative (NFI) Award, RPDA focuses on helping employees with physical and mental disabilities prosper in the work environment.

To that end, Raytheon also champions the employment and support of veterans. Bob Foley, a Raytheon corporate human resources manager and a retired combat Marine himself, says that to identify and place veteran job candidates, Raytheon works closely with public and private sector national partners. These partners include the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, and groups such as the Military Severely Injured Center and the Department of Labors Recovery and Employment Assistance Lifelines (REALifelines) program, which provides wounded and injured veterans, and their family members, with the resources they need to successfully transition to a rewarding career. Disabled veteran employees who are hired by Raytheon experience inclusion, support and respect. From the CEO level down, the company fosters a corporate environment that reaches, recruits, nurtures, sustains and retains veterans primarily because the company recognizes the value that veterans bring to the workplace. And thanks to employee and supervisor education courses on diversity and disability employment, Raytheon preempts the stigma that can sometimes accompany disabilities and conditions such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

When veteran employees need support in the workplace, Raytheon’s leaders and managers work with the community and use cutting edge technology to determine appropriate accommodations, such as the use of assistive technology. As an example, Steve Tamburro, RPDAs co-chairman, shared the story of an employee who had limited speech and use of his arms and legs. In response, Raytheon completed an analysis to help identify an appropriate speech recognition technology that today enables the employee to succeed at his job. Tamburro says that Raytheon believes in a “holistic approach that focuses on the employee, their family and their community, providing solutions such as transportation resources or teleworking opportunities, with advanced technologies that allow employees anywhere in the world to be able to contribute and participate in the companys success.”

According to Foley, “fear of doing something different may lead to procrastination, but if companies educate themselves on how different employees can contribute, then they can build on those successes.” David Wajsgras, chief financial officer and RPDA Executive Champion, agrees. “Raytheons culture didn’t happen by accident, but through leaders and managers within Raytheon driving the message home.”

Raytheon encourages other companies to actively recruit and hire wounded and injured veterans with both visible and invisible conditions. “It’s a matter of looking at the ability and skill set required by the position, reaching out to the appropriate individual and determining the best method to achieve success together,” says Foley.

I’m proud to say that CollegeRecruiter.com is a small part of the solution. As a leading job board, our business is to help connect thousands of leading employers with hundreds of thousands of job seekers. One way that we’re doing that is to through a number of partnerships with various areas within the VA. Some of those efforts are live and others soon will be. One partnership effort that is already bearing fruit is with their VetSuccess.gov website.

VetSuccess.gov is a veteran-centric tool, providing comprehensive transition and employment resources for all veterans. Veterans, Servicemembers, and their families can access a variety of interactive tools and information available throughout the Veteran lifecycle from transition to college, career, retirement, and family life. VetSuccess.gov also serves as a virtual employment resource center for Veterans seeking employment. Veterans can access VetSuccess.gov to:

• Browse job listings;
• Post resumes; and
• Apply for positions online.

VetSuccess.gov contains a job board of over 1,800 jobs which are posted on the site by employers who are specifically seeking to hire Veterans for those positions. The site also provides links to over eight million jobs on the VetCentral site and links Veterans to the Veterans Job Bank, Indeed, Google, Simply Hired, CollegeRecruiter.com, and other job boards. Veterans may also apply for various VA benefits through the website.

If your organization has job opportunities which would be suitable for Veterans then contact the VA today. Your country and your bottom line will be grateful that you did.