How to mobilize a great pool of talent

Coming out of the military, veterans – and their employers - might wonder how their skills will translate to civilian work. But when you take another look, veterans are primed to contribute meaningfully in a range of industries.

They bring leadership, adaptability, and trustworthiness with them from their military careers, along with technical and specialized skills.

Veterans are credited with strong work ethics and often turn out to be long-term, high-performing employees. They are an integral part of a diverse workforce.

As military program manager for Premise Health and a Marine Corps reservist, I work within our talent acquisition department to make sure we are intentionally and purposefully focusing on recruiting and retaining veterans and their families.

Premise is proud to be recognized as an employer of choice for veterans and military families and has received awards from Military Friendly and VETS Indexes for our programs supporting veterans, the National Guard and Reserve members, and military spouses.

Not every organization takes this approach, but I've seen firsthand how it benefits both the company and the people we bring on board.

If your organization is looking to build a strong military recruitment and retention strategy, I suggest starting with these three things.

1. Take inventory: Know who you have. When you're starting any good development program, you need to understand where you're starting.

2. Take stock of current veteran and military spouse employees. At my employer, Premise Health, 1 in 14 team members is a veteran or military spouse.

3. Look for trends. Some could include changes in veterans' average length of service and the distribution of military spouses' roles within the company. Identifying retention and turnover trends from this group will help solve any problems before you recruit new talent. Understanding what's working well can help you scale it.

Speak to your audience.

Once you've established where you're starting, think about who you want to recruit.

Work with your organization's recruiters to help them speak directly to veterans and military families.

Teach them to read between the lines of a resume to identify the unique skill sets and experiences that align with your organization's needs.

When asked about their accomplishments, veterans will always put it in context of their team, likely not taking sole credit, so work to draw out their accomplishments.

The military is full of acronyms, but corporate America may have even more.

Remember as you're speaking to someone transitioning out of service that you may need to use more familiar terms.

Having someone in place who speaks the language can help not only identify the best candidates but also help them feel at home in your organization.

Support your people.

Once you've identified veterans and their families within your organization and ensured recruiting practices will support hiring, it's helpful to provide support through veteran and military spouse programs.

When looking at veterans who leave their first non-military job within the first year, many from the community say it comes down to things like lack of career growth, not feeling challenged or developed, being in a job that doesn't fit their skillset, or missing that sense of purpose and camaraderie found in the military.

To address this, pair new veteran hires with a mentor and communicate a clear, skills-based leveling framework that defines promotion criteria and career pathways.

Sit down with your people and ask what members of the military community need on an individual basis, and then aggregate and catalogue internal and external resources.

Some of my favorites are from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the KEY Community and the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Families Center at Middle Tennessee State University.

Organizations like Act Now Education can provide external mentorship programs if your new employees want support outside of the workplace.

Internal benefits might include the creation of programs dedicated to providing mentorship, professional development, and leadership opportunities across the organization.

Veterans and their spouses are accustomed to a work environment with a systematic, organized training program and will see more success when supported throughout their civilian career.

Elevate veterans as a hiring priority.

Today's veterans are fortunate to live in a world that values their service and sacrifice.

Veterans and military spouses bring valuable skills, leadership experience, and a strong work ethic to mission-driven organizations that they can put their trust in.

Companies that recognize and foster this type of support directly benefit, while also making service members' transitions back to civilian life more rewarding.

Matt Watkins is a gunnery sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserve and a military program manager for Premise Health, a health care provider that contracts directly with employers.