Maximize your company's support for military talent to attract the best veteran, servicemember, and military spouse candidates.
We’ve previously written about the advantages of hiring veterans for employers today. Here we’ll go into 9 ways to better support your veteran, servicemember, and military spouse employees so they can thrive as members of your business.
There are numerous programs and resources to join or establish that benefit both military employees and their value to employers. Discover 9 effective ways an employer can SUPPORT and provide additional benefits:
Employee Resource Group
Create or partner with an Employee Resource Group specifically for the veterans of your organization. For example, the Veterans Resource Group helps veterans "obtain the resources, independent medical opinions, and examinations that are needed to maximize success in their disability claims with the VA."
A veteran resource group (VRG) presents a chance to create again the connections that many veterans cite as the highlight of their military service. As an essential feature of many prosperous veteran hiring programs, a VRG helps provide veterans with the resources and opportunities vital to succeed at their jobs.
Mentorship Programs
Develop mentorship programs within the organization or register as an affiliate of one to provide these services, like American Corporate Partners.
According to their LinkedIn, “American Corporate Partners (ACP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting U.S. Veterans in their transition from the armed services to the civilian workforce. With the help of business professionals nationwide, ACP offers free mentorships for long-term career development to the veteran community.”
If you're interested in creating a mentorship program for your company, use the Veterans Employment Toolkit from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs to understand its benefits and development.
A Veterans in the Workplace analysis attained insight into practices that enhance Veteran retention in the workplace. A crucial component of workplace retention endorsed by study respondents was employer support and the development of Veteran mentoring programs.
Veteran mentoring programs build peer support among Veterans in the civilian workplace.
Career Development Programs
Businesses can offer training & development programs that provide career advancement within the organization, to fulfill your employees' skillsets and potential to add value.
As for any employee, veterans benefit greatly from opportunities to learn new skills and knowledge for career advancement. Such programs generally cause employees to seek promotion "in-house" rather than looking to leave when feeling they are in a stagnant job situation.
Affinity Groups & Employee Assistance
Provide access to Affinity Groups and Employee Assistance programs that offer resources and veteran discounts. Employee Assistance programs can include benefits such as life insurance, mortgages, wealth management, phone services (Verizon/ AT&T), gym memberships, mental health assistance, etc.
Essentially, an affinity group is a group of employees with similar backgrounds, interests, or demographic aspects such as gender or ethnicity. Affinity groups can take many forms, such as women's leadership groups, religious groups, conservative groups, or caregiver groups. These are networking and friendship opportunities for like-minded individuals in your company, to build connections beyond strictly work relations.
Educational VA Benefits
Provide educational opportunities like certifications, college, or a tuition assistance program for Veterans and Military Spouses. Many employers may be able to use VA benefits for veteran education funding.
Spouses of a veteran may be eligible for:
Reserve Pay Policy
Establish a known policy for Reservist Pay incentives for active service members (Full Salary, Full Difference, Part Difference).
Members of the Selected Reserve commit one weekend each month, extended training periods, and serve the war effort by increasing the active-duty U.S. Military. In return, reserve members receive regular drill pay and other benefits.
Military Spouse Policy
Create a Military Spouse Policy that may cover things such as working remotely, flexible hours, or relocating to another office.
Military spouses are well educated and highly qualified for a range of careers, but frequent moves make it difficult for them to stay on a consistent career path. Some states provide substantial unemployment benefits for military spouses who are forced to relocate, offer employers tax credits for hiring military spouses, encourage the employment of military spouses in state government, and more.
Learn more about State Policy Options to Assist Military Spouses.
Military Family Support
Connect your veteran or active duty employees with Military Family Support Programs. There are numerous issues and ways these support programs can help those in the military. Use this directory of organizations that offer services for military family support. We'll list some organizations from the directory below:
Frequent moves, deployments, and transitions can make it hard for military families to establish strong, trusted networks. We bridge the gap between military family communities and the general public.
FOCUS (Families Overcoming Under Stress)
FOCUS provides resiliency training to military children and families. It teaches practical skills to meet the challenges of deployment and reintegration, to communicate and solve problems effectively, and to successfully set goals together and create a shared family story.
Military Families United is a not-for-profit charitable organization whose mission is to Honor the Fallen, Support Those Who Fight and Serve Their Families. We are a national coalition of Gold Star and Blue Star families, veterans, and patriotic Americans who share a deep appreciation for our men and women in uniform and support them in their mission to keep America safe.
Find further Military Family Support for
Caregivers
Children & teens
ETS (transition to civilian)
Families of the fallen (Gold Star families)
Female veterans
Home front families
Parents of military
PTSD
Reintegration
TBI
Wounded warriors
Volunteer Hours
Provide Volunteer Hours on an annual basis to support your military members in giving time back to nonprofits within their community on behalf of their employer. This is a great way to provide your employees the opportunity to help their community and be positive representatives of your company!
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