The military is a rare resource for employers worried about lacking leadership and management talent. It offers a large, highly-trained talent pool rich in leadership experience. SkillBridge is a Department of Defense workforce transition provider that assists outgoing military personnel. Each year, more than 200 000 Service members leave the military. Although this number is significantly lower than the millions of college graduates in the U.S., it still shows that the military veteran’s talent pool has proven leadership skills.
Veterans’ work ethic, leadership skills, and experience translate in unique ways into everyday jobs and workplaces. Many veterans who have left the Armed Forces to enter the workforce have developed impressive leadership skills, some unexpected and some expected, which give them an advantage in managerial roles. These include:
1. Devotion to Learning and Training
The Armed Services provides a rigorous, continuous training program that can be used in critical situations. Their training helps people to be more effective on the battlefield and in humanitarian or rescue operations. Respect for the training process is also fostered, which is only sometimes evident in civilian work.
Leaders who believe continuous, challenging training is essential are good at creating a workforce that can adapt and grow. They are also adept at building solid internal talent pools that have the potential to grow. This is a huge asset at a time when many businesses prefer to hire for the skills they require rather than trying to build them with existing employees.
2. Purpose-Driven Leadership
The U.S. Military is a large-picture organization that does millions of jobs daily to protect American citizens, allies, and national interests. Veterans are problem-solvers and have a solid understanding of motivating others and creating strategies that achieve broad goals.
Employers and job seekers today are more interested in joining organizations with solid and meaningful missions. Organizations looking to make their employees feel part of the bigger picture can benefit from the purpose-driven visions and dedication of veterans of the military.
3. High Tolerance for Big Stress
Sometimes, military personnel risks their lives. The work environment can be stressful, whether on aircraft carriers or submarines. Different decisions have different weights. Active service personnel learns to manage and thrive in various responsibilities, starting early in their careers. A CEO or manager would love to have the ability to accept serious responsibilities as a leader.
4. Understanding Customers and Employees
Every business leader must be focused on the customer experience. Customers must be satisfied, but not just satisfied. They should be thrilled. Why? Because customers have never had more options.
How can military experience, without consumers and a top-down hierarchy, lead to developing leadership skills that help businesses optimize customer experience?
Military Decision-Making Process is a disciplined process that helps military leaders evaluate and analyze a changing operational environment. This process has many benefits for business leaders since it allows them to use logic, diligence, and sound judgment to solve strategic problems.
Military leaders have great insight into their customers because of this commitment to being on the ground and understanding the terrain.
5. Flexibility
Although flexibility and willingness to the pivot are not words commonly used to describe the military or its leaders, they should be. The military is constantly in motion, with its work and challenges changing. Take into account the logistics complexity and immense scale of significant military operations. These include international troop deployments, joint military exercises, and large-scale disaster response.
To succeed, you must be flexible and have excellent project management skills. Military leaders are the key players who must demonstrate that flexibility while still producing high-quality results. In today’s technological advances and global markets, adaptability and the ability to deliver are critical assets for business.
Best Practices for Retaining and Recruiting Veterans
Companies that can successfully recruit and retain military veterans as leaders have many military-adapted employment methods, including:
- Excellent support and transition training. The military is a close-knit, loyal group that is very different from the workplace in many ways. Transitioning to the army can be helped to adjust quickly by providing insight into the workplace culture and behavior. This will help them become highly-motivated team members. An excellent resource for veterans transitioning to civilian life is an employee resource group (ERG) or a team of employees with military experience.
- A clear, inspiring mission. A strong and clear mission is essential for any great employer. This applies to both military veterans and current candidates. Make sure your purpose is clear and communicates why you believe your mission is worthwhile.
- Marketing and outreach that is strong. Everybody wants to be valued, even military talent. DoD and other programs make it easy for businesses to reach military veterans. This results in solid military engagement. It is crucial to tailor outreach and market it according to the experience and skills of veterans. This will increase interest and resonate with them.
It is difficult to find qualified professionals who can understand the demands of leadership. Many transferable skills veterans have acquired during their service apply to many leadership positions in civilian industries. Encourage your recruiters to include military veterans in the executive recruitment process. This will allow you to welcome new talent to your talent pipeline.
