The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) recently published an article titled, “Hiring Veterans in Manufacturing: What to Know, What to Do and Why It’ll Pay Off in the Long Run”. The essay promotes the hiring of military veterans by manufacturing companies as an answer to difficulties in finding skilled employees. It cites a number of reasons why vets would be great hires including their skills, work ethic, and cost-effectiveness.
AEM points specifically to “Six Traits That Make Veterans a Great Hire”:
Entrepreneurial – Veterans are entrepreneurial in nature. That doesn’t necessarily mean they want to start their own business. It means that veterans take ownership of their assignments and responsibilities, and strive to do a standout job for whomever they are working for at a given time.
Assume high levels of trust – Veterans are highly trustworthy. These are people who have security clearances, after all.
Adept at skill transfer – A veteran often trained in one area but was moved to another. They had to quickly embrace change, train, learn, and adapt. At the same time, they learned how to leverage their existing training, skills, and knowledge in new roles.
Comfortable in discontinuous environments – A military member could be sitting in an office one day, and the next day they could be deployed to a disaster area or war zone. Military veterans are highly flexible to changing business needs.
Advanced technical training – The military is always on the leading edge of technology. Thus, military members have often seen things nobody else has. Thus, military veterans have been conditioned to be very technology-minded, always thinking about how innovation could advance their mission.
Strong organizational commitment – Nobody is more loyal than a member of the military. Veterans have come to embrace the same values that are revered by manufacturing companies:
Loyalty
Duty
Respect
Selflessness
Integrity
Honor
Courage
Commitment
Excellence
I have always been sold on the idea of hiring veterans. For me, it’s a simple equation. Veterans who possess the necessary skills and need jobs can be hired by companies that need them. Factor in financial incentives for companies that hire vets, such as tax credits and government-paid training, and the pluses continue to multiply. Of course, AEM’s article is aimed at manufacturers looking to hire. But this is also something for contractors and construction companies to consider for the same reasons.
If I were to put aside my appreciation and gratitude for their service, I would still be left with an undeniably willing and able work-force ready, once again, to be of service. It makes total sense that hiring veterans should be made standard practice.
Visit http://www.aem.org/workforce for more best practices, research, programs, and resources supporting workforce development for the industries AEM serves.
