The Call to Make Companies More Veteran Friendly
first let me introduce myself
i’m papan wilson i’ve served in the
united states air force
and i’m also an operation desert storm
veteran
today i’m going to be discussing the
value of hiring veterans
this topic is very important to me as
well as to our veterans
now we often hear the statement thank
you
thank you for your service thank you for
serving
i would like for you to pay close
attention to these two words
they will come into play later in my
talk and how we truly want you to see
the meaning
and action behind them so what
do we need to know a bit about my time
in the air force
and my transition to the civilian sector
i was a medical technician in the air
force and stationed at some incredible
assignments
when i separated from the air force i
was able to obtain a job easily
given that i went straight into the
medical field my transition was smooth
i will always remember my first
interview
i was sitting in front of the doctor who
i was going to be working with for the
next few years
she looked at my resume then she looked
at me
looked down at my resume again and then
leaned forward and said
you are a medical technician in the
united states air force
you’re hired immediately she knew the
value
that i was going to bring to her
practice
unfortunately i cannot say the same for
majority of our veterans
were you aware that tennessee is ranked
number four
as far as having the highest population
of veterans
the department of veterans estimate over
12 million veterans separated
by 2045. we make up roughly about two to
three percent of that number
one thing that i can say as a country we
are very patriotic
but as employers we are not vet friendly
i’m hoping this talk will help us move
towards becoming more vet friendly
all veterans are aware that when we have
to get out when we get out of the
service we
have to get adjusted to some of the
things that we normally
weren’t used to paying medical dental
vision insurance however we are looking
for specific criteria
on areas in your company that will make
us even
stay or even apply at your company
will you utilize our skill sets
will the pay be equal if not more to
what we were earning while serving
also we’ll have opportunities to grow
and be promoted
these questions are very crucial to us
did you know a recent study conducted by
vet advisors in syracuse university
for military and veteran families
revealed 43 percent of veterans
leave their first civilian job within
their first year
and eighty percent leave before the end
of their second year
now chattanooga how can we change that
narrative
as companies pursue talent to match
their values of discipline
teamwork resilience and commitment
they do look to veterans however
veterans are often overlooked for
civilian job opportunities
because many of their skills don’t
easily translate into the corporate
world
first you need to understand their
transition
which is very different from what a
college graduate would go through
most employers tend to hire college
graduates because of their investment
higher learning and some may even have
done internships
did you know that veterans that separate
tend to have college degrees some of
them do
all officers who separate have their
bachelor’s are even their masters
furthermore we have a special skill set
that will allow us to hit the ground
running within our new jobs
and for those veterans who did not
obtain their college degree while
serving
they tend to do so after they separate
now i have two friends who served and
separated at the same time
both of them have similar transition
stories but two very outcomes
tech sergeant jim malone served in the
army for 20 years
and was hired within a month
during his first few months jim was
finding himself quite bored
and felt like an outsider it was hard to
connect
and to understand why civilians
performed differently
at his one year mark his director wanted
to know why was jim given his two weeks
notice
he explained how things were very
difficult when he first started
and he stated that he didn’t feel like
he was serving a true purpose at that
company
captain marie williams served 20 years
in the air force
and was hired within a month after she
separated
during her first few months she too
struggled
however her company had a veteran
onboarding program
that aligned her with a sponsor who was
prior air force
then after three months appointed a
mentor who was also a veteran
during the sponsor phase she was able to
discuss her struggles
which her sponsor was able to help her
understand the differences between the
military and the civilian sector
she helped her translate those military
skills to help her communicate better
with her team in leadership
under her mentor for the next 12 months
that mentor helped showcase her skills
throughout the organization
as of today she is thriving and helping
new veterans within the company
and their transition
now it’s important for each employer to
understand military transition
as well as how to identify a great
candidate when you’re hiring a veteran
by understanding the differences you can
help
narrow the culture divide and retain a
value employee
in order to narrow this divide employers
need to identify the different
transitions
and the different transition structures
structure communication
camaraderie and stress management
for the military for structure our
missions and
expectations are clearly divine to find
for communication we are trained to
comparalize our feelings
and we do not question leadership we
speak when we are spoken to
for camaraderie there’s already a
built-in network
with strong connections starting as soon
as basic training or bootcamp
i’m still friends with some someone who
when i went through basic training with
as well as friends from my first
military assignment
for stress management we are expected to
push through
and complete the mission we do not bring
in outside factors
which can cause major delays in that
mission for in the military
failure is not an option so for civilian
sector
for structure process and goals
are defined with room for flexibility
for communication candid conversations
encouraged
from camaraderie
orchestration organization organization
structures varies
you might be working a job with very
little to no other
interactions with others for stress
management
it is actually encouraged to help in
fact in civilian sectors if you’re not
asking for help on high level projects
that leadership team will be questioning
like is everything okay
also volunteer opportunities in the
civilian sector
it’s actually encouraged but in the
military
volunteer assignments are never good so
we do not volunteer
actually we are volunteered to do the
assignment
and i can see many veterans right now
laughing and not in their heads
yep at the company i work for
i was able to create a strong onboarding
program
which captain williams went through that
program aligns every new hired veteran
a sponsor for three months who serve the
same branch
as well as the right same rank or we try
to get it close enough to the same rank
or equivalent to
then they’re after the phase they are
actually aligned with a mentor
who’s either a veteran or civilian for
12 months
the sponsor helps the new veteran with
the transition part
and the mentor focused on their career
growth
unlike jim his prior company did not
have an onboarding program
he did inform me that if they did he
most likely would still be there
to this day also it’s important for us
veterans to understand your company’s
mission
it’s in our dna to continue to serve and
provide support
if we don’t know what your mission is we
question what truly is our purpose there
and how can we contribute to that let’s
also talk about
the biases that veterans face i know i
did getting out
the most typical things i heard were
you’re too strict
you’re too structure i don’t know if you
can think outside the box
you may not be able to relate or show
empathy
and the number one bias that veterans
who served in a combat role here
all the time oh
you might have ptsd i’m here to tell you
that majority of those biases are not
true now they may be some in some cases
but 9 out of 10 they’re not
we aren’t strict just discipline
we just want to support our teams and
our company in the highest level
we may seem structured but it’s because
we know there’s a deadline and we want
the team to meet or even exceed the
expectation
and we’re constantly thinking outside
the box because we are given assignments
admission
and we’re told complete this from a to z
without any instructions
so we have to think outside the box to
get the mission completed
in the military we already know the end
goal will be accomplished
so we look for any outliers that may
derail our progress
and lastly were you aware that veterans
who served in combat related roles
only 20 suffer from ptsd
in addition most veterans with ptsd work
in high positions
and are able to complete work
assignments exceeding their leaders
expectations
pts triggers are very different from
work related issues and triggers
those who know me know i am truly
passionate
to make sure that no veteran is homeless
and can’t provide a roof over their
family’s heads
that no veteran should ever struggle
with hunger or to feed their families
and no veteran should ever struggle to
find a job
so as employers here in chattanooga as
well as the nation
this is how you say thank you our
veterans deserve to live the american
dream
it’s that very dream that we serve to
protect
unselfishly and for some it came out of
sacrifice
so i leave you with this quote by rumi
which i feel summarizes my talk with you
a candle never loses any of its light
while lighting up another candle and
with that
i say thank you