Most Employers Needlessly Forfeit Productivity

Despite all the recent chatter about hiring military community members, the real-time plug-and-play capabilities their underlying skills enable, and the financial rewards and goodwill that come with doing so, insufficient numbers of employers are taking advantage of this talent pool today. How so?

• 90% of small businesses, which comprise more than 99% of the companies in the country and are responsible for almost two-thirds (63%) of new jobs, do not intentionally hire veterans[i],[ii]
• Of 700 employers that Korn Ferry surveyed:
  • 80% do not have veteran-specific hiring programs
  • 71% do not offer talent acquisition professionals training on hiring veterans
  • 52% do not provide onboarding or transition support to veteran hires[iii]

I challenge all employers to answer these three questions:

1. Do you value our national security, provided by our country’s all-volunteer force that defends our freedom, protects our liberty, and enables capitalism to thrive?
2. Do you desire to improve the competitiveness and productivity of your organization?
3. Did you realize there is a direct correlation between the two if you hire veterans and military spouses matriculating from today’s military services?

It’s true! As I document in my book Hiring Veterans, doing so proves that military service provides a gateway to successful civilian careers and encourages future participants in the nation’s all-volunteer military to serve. It is thus a matter of national security. NOT hiring veterans likewise has national security implications: The Department of Defense (DoD) must pay Unemployment Insurance for Ex-Servicemembers (UCX) to states whose veterans are not employed, and these funds subtract from DoD’s operating budget and thereby sacrifice funds that could otherwise fund our common defense.

As for productivity and competitiveness, veterans are perhaps one of the most valuable components of diversity and inclusion efforts. They emanate from an already diverse talent pool (31% of active-duty service members come from racial and ethnic minority groups), bring many transferable skills, and are readily available. More than 200,000 of them matriculating from the military annually represent an ongoing just-in-time talent play. And their impact is palpable. Cumulative Gallup Workplace Studies uncovered a 22% increase in productivity at organizations that create inclusive environments that include veterans.[iv]

And that’s not all. The Center for a New American Security found that more than 90 percent of HR managers said veterans are promoted faster than their non-veteran peers and 68 percent said that veterans performed better or much better than their non-veteran peers. More than 75 percent also said veterans are easier or significantly easier to manage than their non-veteran peers. In sum, and as I’ve documented in my books, veterans have the skills that U.S. employers say are needed for success in the workplace.[v]

Few talent pools are more malleable and valuable than those emanating from today’s military. You owe it to yourself and your organization to meet these folks halfway with a dedicated hiring program. You represent the economic engine by which veterans can assimilate into society as productive members and propel themselves, their families, and your organization forward. Applying these ideas will improve your process of assimilating more of these heroes and increase the virtuous cycle of improving your organization’s productivity and beating your competition. And in doing so, you’ll do your part to contribute to the nation’s security. It’s a win-win-win value proposition.

Do yourself, your organization, your stakeholders/shareholders, and the country a favor: Initiate a formal program to hire the members of today’s military community! You won’t be disappointed.

About the Author

Matt Louis is one of the nation’s leading experts in career transition for veterans and public service professionals. He coaches individuals on their transition efforts and advises employers on hiring programs designed to assimilate these valuable talent pools successfully. He is the author of the award-winning[1] and best-selling[2] HarperCollins book Mission Transition, a practical guide for veterans in career transition, their families, and their employers. His second book, Hiring Veterans, an award-winning[3] practical guide for organizational leaders on how to build programs to assimilate veteran and military spouse talent successfully, is published by CareerPress and was a #1 New Release on Amazon in the Job Hunting category. Both are available anywhere books are sold.

[1] 2022 International Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal for Non-Fiction Military; 2021 eLit Book Awards: Gold Medal for Business / Career / Sales, Gold Medal for Current Events (Foreign Affairs / Military), Gold Medal for Best Author Website; 2021 Nonfiction Authors Association Silver Book Award; 2022 Global Book Awards (War & Military); 2021 Axiom Business Book Bronze Medal (Career); 2021 Living Now Book Awards Bronze Medal (Motivation / Improvement); 2023 Book Excellence Award (Career); 2023 Book Fest Book Awards: Website / Overall Design, 2nd place; Nonfiction Business – Careers, 3rd place; 2023 Outstanding Creator Awards: Best Non-fiction Book, 2nd place; Best Military Book, 1st place; Best Self-Help & How-to Book, 1st place; Best Educational & Reference Book, 1st place; 2023 International Firebird Book Award (Career & Military Nonfiction); Pinnacle Book Achievement Award (Career) Fall 2022; 2022 Incipere Book Awards (Self-Improvement, 2nd place); 2022 Chanticleer International Book Awards (Military & Front Line, 1st Place); 2023 BooksShelf Nonfiction Writing Contest Finalist (Top 5%); 5-Star reviews: The Book Commentary, Readers’ Favorite

[2] #1 for Job Markets & Advice – Amazon, November 2022.

[3] 2023 Global Book Awards Finalist – War & Military; 2023 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award – Business Reference; 5-Star review: Readers’ Favorite

[i] “The State of Small Business Now,” US Chamber of Commerce,” April 10, 2023, accessed June 29, 2023, https://www.uschamber.com/small-business/state-of-small-business-now.

[ii] “Small Business Index: The Voice of Small Business Owners,” Metlife & US Chamber of Commerce, Q3 2019, accessed August 26, 2022, https://www.uschamber.com/sbindex/uploads/SBI_2021_Q1.pdf.

[iii] Roy Maurer, “8 in 10 Employers Lack Recruitment Programs for Veterans,” Medium.com, May 25, 2015, accessed August 26, 2022, https://medium.com/@HRCaroline/8-in-10-employers-lack-recruitment-programs-for-veterans-3426e6ba72ae.

[iv] Mark Kaplan and Mason Donovan, The Inclusion Dividend: Why Investing in Diversity & Inclusion Pays Off (Brookline, MA: Bibliomotion, Inc., 2013), 37.

[v] Matthew J. Louis, Mission Transition: Navigating the Opportunities and Obstacles to Your Post-Military Career (Nashville, TN: HarperCollins Leadership, 2019). Matthew J. Louis, Hiring Veterans: How to Leverage Military Talent for Organizational Growth (Newburyport, MA: Career Press, 2023).