We don’t do enough for our veterans. We don’t provide them with enough support and opportunities to find jobs when they return from service. And we don’t do enough to train our recruiters and hiring managers about the skills, competencies and value they can bring to our organizations.
Many of our veterans have more experience managing people and more responsibility for million dollar assets by the time they are 21 than most individuals will ever have in a corporate environment. But we don’t talk about this enough and we don’t hire veterans as often as we should.
If I told you that 64% of organizations that Brandon Hall Group surveyed in our 2015 Strategic Talent Acquisition Study said less than 5% of their new hires are veterans, would you be surprised? Would you think we are doing enough?
Recruitment of veterans is a big topic for HireVue and something that has been a theme at its Digital Disruption Conference in Park City, Utah. HireVue is providing companies with the tools, recognition and resources they need to make hiring vets a priority. Fortunately, they are not alone. Equifax Workforce Solutions, Randstad SourceRight (under the leadership of Chad Sowash), Jibe, and iCIMS are a few others.
If you are an organization struggling to improve your military recruitment strategy, here are a few companies you might want to check out:
- Hilton Corporation: Hilton provides any veteran applying for a job two free nights at their hotel. This improves both employer and customer branding efforts.
- Team Rubicon: Team Rubicon empowers veterans to utilize the skills they developed in the military to support crisis and disaster efforts here in the United States. It develops team building, support and a sense of fulfillment for returning service men and women.
- Apollo Education Group: 20% of Apollo’s hires are veterans and the company also provides extensive resources and support for these individuals entering the workforce.
–Madeline Laurano, VP and Principal Analyst,
Talent Acquisition, Brandon Hall Group
@madtarquin
