Veteran’s Day is a time of parades and platitudes, well-spun rhetoric and stirring speeches about the value of service and sacrifice, of a nation’s debt and a people’s gratitude. Easy stuff to write, and even easier to say in front of cheering, patriotic crowds. I’d like to propose something different this Veteran’s Day – let’s actually start taking action to make their lives better once they leave the service.

The evidence suggests we’re not doing such a great job of this right now. Unemployment among Gulf War II veterans is 65.3% higher than the general population, and while unemployment for all other groups has gone down year over year, it’s actually gone up 1.5% among this class of veterans. So much for the warm welcome home for our returning heroes…

As HR professionals, the best way we can help is not through goodwill and charity, but through enlightened self-interest. Veterans, particularly those from Gulf War II, represent a particularly deep talent pool that businesses are under-utilizing. In this post, I’m going to lay out the case for veteran hires, particularly Gulf War II vets since they are in the worst shape from an unemployment perspective, and share some ideas on how you can begin to act on this recommendation.  Those of you interested in the role that HR can play in reducing broader unemployment may also want to read a related post from last week:  “What’s Really Going On With Unemployment.”

A Deep Talent Pool

The conventional wisdom is that the military pulls disproportionately from under-privileged and under-educated groups with limited career options. People close to military personnel have always known that these assumptions were false, but research by The Heritage Foundation has found that the conventional wisdom is not only wrong, it’s 180 degrees wrong. Heritage research shows that those who choose to enlist disproportionately come from advantaged backgrounds, characterized by higher income neighborhoods and greater educational attainment levels than their peers.  Click on the thumbnails below for more detail.

Research also found that enlisted men and women significantly outperformed their peer groups who took the Armed Services Qualification Test (AFQT). While this cannot be more broadly generalized as a comparison between enlisted men and women and the general public, it does show that the military is only taking the top candidates when it comes to aptitude and potential.

The Heritage authors conclude by noting:

“The facts do not support the belief that many American soldiers volunteer because society offers them few other opportunities. The average enlisted person or officer could have had lucrative career opportunities in the private sector.”

It’s also worth noting that these veterans have already demonstrated two of the key personal attributes that characterize great employees: a willingness to commit to something bigger than themselves and a demonstrated ability to work with others to achieve collective objectives, both short and long-term. Gone are the days of the mindless soldier – today’s service member’s must consume and act on information decisively and quickly; coordinate across units, across cultures, and across military branches; and operate with a high degree of autonomy within mission parameters and in support of mission objectives.

Given the above analysis, it’s clear that companies have a vested self-interest in tapping into this veteran talent. Leaving aside arguments of patriotism, or moral obligation to support those who put their lives on the line for us, hiring veterans just makes good business sense. Here’s the best part: this high potential, high-performing pool of underutilized talent is about to get a bit bigger. On Friday, October 21st, 2011, President Obama announced that all US troops would return home from Iraq by year’s end. That’s 40,000 men and women who will be returning home. Many will continue on in their military careers, but 45% are Reservists (Reserve and National Guard) which means that around 18,000 or so will be returning to civilian life.

Veteran Recruiting Strategies

Now is the time to start thinking through your strategy. Here are three ways you can tap into veteran talent more effectively:

1. Leverage existing military resources. A great place to start is with the resources that the government has already created to help veterans transition to civilian life. One site that helps with this is Military.com’s Transition Center. There is a ton of information on this site regarding the challenges and issues faced by veterans returning to civilian life. Understanding their needs will help you more effectively recruit them.
2. Connect with a local military recruiter.  Connect with a local military recruiter regarding open requisitions so that you can better understand the military roles that might correspond to your civilian opening. Understanding the civilian equivalencies to military job descriptions is a key first step in better evaluating this talent. From there, you can leverage the matching and screening technologies in your recruiting tool. You might also want to remind veteran applicants that they can do a similar matching through the Military Skills Translator site.
3. Take advantage of the Joining Forces initiative. Lastly, if you are a Taleo customer you should take advantage of our participation in the Joining Forces initiative, a program started by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to support U.S. military veterans and their families. Taleo is supporting this effort though customer education, our Talent Exchange solution, and our own direct hiring efforts. For more on our participation, you can read our recent press release. We are incredibly proud to be part of this effort and hope you join us in supporting our veterans.

Summary

Today’s veterans are smart and experienced. They come from strong, financially sound families. They have demonstrated an ability to work in teams in some of the most challenging conditions imaginable. They’ve shown commitment toward shared objectives and shared sacrifice. They’ve lived and breathed teamwork. And they are out there for the taking, with more on the way.

Smart companies will figure out how to staff from this talent pool. The strategies above will help you get started. But it’s only a start. Many of you are already hiring veterans. What are you doing on this front? What other strategies can we use to more effectively recruit from this talent pool? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section.