As of this writing there are 21.4 million veterans in America, and today on Veterans Day, over 720,000 of them are without a job.
The good news is the overall veteran unemployment rate dropped from 7 to 6.5 percent this year, with male veterans inching down from 6.9 to 6.5, and female veterans seeing the most dramatic improvement, moving from 8.3 percent to 6.9 percent.
The downtick in veteran unemployment is encouraging, but they still lag behind the national unemployment rate of 5.8 percent, and that leaves us feeling like more can be done to get the folks who give all for their country some better job security when they return home.
Why you should hire a vet
First, let’s brush ourselves up on the benefits of hiring a vet:
- Excellent teamwork skills — Military personnel spend most of their time working closely with others. They bring an intrinsic understanding of how loyalty adds to productivity and builds trust with coworkers.
- Reliable work ethic — Work ethic may be difficult to gauge during an interview, but you can take it to the bank with veterans. They know the importance of adhering to a schedule and consistently performing well.
- Uncommon self-discipline — Vets have been trained to work toward efficiency, ask for guidance when needed, and exercise self-discipline in professional settings. They are also no stranger to working under stressful conditions.
- Global communication skills — Keenly aware of workplace diversity, vets understand that good communications also need to be flexible. Many military personnel speak more than one language, and have traveled extensively, making them more aware of the nuances of different cultures.
Join the fight
If you read the previous list and started thinking you should look into hiring more vets, great! The Veterans Administration can help, but what if you are already aware of the benefits, and already have a bunch of them working for you? Even better!
You can show them how much you appreciate their unique skills in the workplace by recognizing them today on Veteran’s Day:
- Hold a pinning ceremony — Gather your vets together and hold a pinning ceremony, giving out pins that represent their service (i.e. U.S. flag lapel, POW/MIA pins, military branch pins) and talking a little bit about their contributions to the workplace in relation to their military experience. The pins are not very expensive, and it’s a fun way to honor your vets while communicating positive core values to the rest of the workforce.
- Give a “Salute Package” — WeHonorVeterans.org has some great certificate templates for Veterans Day recognition themed to the branches of military service. Leaving a “Salute Package” on their desks for Veteran’s Day with a small gift, a handwritten note, and a formal certificate is a classy way to give thanks if a formal presentation isn’t feasible.
- Increase veteran awareness — Some of your employees may not even be aware that they are working next to a vet, so make sure you do some sort of company-wide communication on Veteran’s Day that recognizes them. The more aware your employees are of the veterans working for you, the more apt they are to give extemporaneous thanks in the office.
Recognizing their contributions
By recognizing the contributions of veterans in and outside the workplace, you do a lot toward dispelling the very real stigmas associated with military service, while simultaneously making your office more inviting toward them. The military puts great importance on formal recognition, so recognizing the veterans who work for you shouldn’t be much of a stretch.
Veterans Day is today — November 11 — and we send our best wishes to those stationed overseas and serving at home.
This was originally published on the Michael C. Fina blog.