MARCH 21, 2024 – Supporting veterans and military members is greatly enhanced by offering wellness benefits and implementing flexible regulations. Workplace cultures that value employees, adaptability, and diversity are doing a great job of accommodating a small but influential group of people: veterans and their families.
From the perspective of employers, it is not about creating new programs; rather, it is about creating a welcoming work environment where people of all ages, walks of life, and experiences may thrive and make valuable contributions.
Organizations may greatly profit from veterans’ knowledge and experience if they take advantage of the unique skills and experiences that veterans bring to the table.
Establish a Veteran Resource Group or Mentoring Program
If your organization has a mentorship program or a veterans resource group, you may be able to help veteran staff transition to civilian life. According to the findings of the Annual Warrior Survey, veterans who work for organizations that provide a resource group or a veteran mentorship program report higher levels of professional satisfaction than those who work for companies that do not.
Celebrate Veterans’ Holiday
It is only right that we show our respect to those who have served our country and given their lives for it. Many businesses observe veterans’ holidays, including Veterans Day, by holding events, offering appreciation awards, or just saying thank you for the service they’ve provided.
Be Respectful
Creating a welcoming and appreciative environment may go a long way toward boosting efficiency and output. Consideration of cultural sensitivities, concealed injuries, and limitations is essential. Several factors may be preventing veterans from opening about their experiences in the service, including culture shock and other transitional challenges.
Create a Veteran-Friendly Work Environment
Building an environment that values and supports veterans should be a top priority for every company. Laws that are more accommodating to military service, resources that enable veterans to connect and provide support, and mentorship programs that connect veterans with employees with more experience are all factors that might contribute to the development of this culture. Veterans should be encouraged to share their experiences and perspectives via open dialogue, and they should be provided with channels to do so.
Offer Veterans Professional Development
When searching for a new employer, most employees want to work for a company that will invest money in their career growth and development. It is critical to recognize veterans’ strengths and make the most of their talents.
Many veterans use their previously mentioned abilities, along with other unique skill sets, as they move into civilian work. Veterans have a disadvantage compared to their civilian counterparts since it may be difficult to transfer military abilities to civilian life.
One way to address this issue is to ensure that all of your employees have access to sufficient and ongoing training opportunities. An effective way to make sure that everyone on a team is on the same page and not give seasoned workers preferential treatment is to implement a thorough training program.
Provide Remote Work Options for Military Spouses
Many companies’ tactics for attracting and retaining employees increasingly involve offering remote work options, such as working from home to military spouses.
When you give military women the ability to work remotely, your candidate pool grows tenfold. This creates a community that is more likely to be creative, resilient, resourceful, and loyal and have a higher average level of formal education.
Reducing employee turnover and increasing employee happiness, productivity, and retention may be as simple as providing wives with a stable job that allows them to move on with their next orders.
Prioritize Communication
Supporting veterans at your workplace may be as simple as fostering open communication. One way to achieve this is to make yourself available during regular office hours or to have an open-door policy so that people may come in with any issues they may be experiencing.
Do your best to explain anything that could be confusing for veterans, as the straightforward style of communication in the military can make them unfamiliar with some subtleties in civilian discourse and business jargon?
You may also learn a lot about previous workplaces by having frank discussions with coworkers who have been there for a while. What were their preferences? In their experience, which initiatives have gained traction, and which have fizzled out? In their opinion, how can your company be better?
Lead by Example
Always be the kind of leader you want your employees to admire and emulate. Veterans have become used to decisive, people-focused, mission-driven leadership. Furthermore, military commanders often get extensive coaching, which leads to veterans having high expectations of their leaders.
Actively Combat Stigmas in the Workplace
Ensure that your employees understand that you, as a company, place a high value on their health and well-being and that this is expressed not just verbally but also through your actions. Create a strong support network in the workplace and build a positive and encouraging culture inside the firm. As leaders, it is your job to educate ourselves about the obstacles that veterans face and to do everything we can to alleviate those issues. Some individuals may resist asking for help or expressing their needs because they are afraid of being fired, damaging their relationships, or experiencing other unpleasant consequences.
Implement Diverse Hiring Practices
Creating strategies for recruiting different candidates is the first step in implementing diverse hiring practices. Employers may reach a wider pool of qualified applicants by advertising open openings on veteran-focused employment boards.
Managers and recruiters in the recruiting process may learn more about veterans’ backgrounds and how to highlight relevant military experience on applications. As part of the screening and interview process, recruiters may help veterans find ways to apply their past experiences to current employment requirements. Unfortunately, veterans don’t often see their transferrable skills in action.
Pay For Mental Health Benefits
It should be emphasized that hiring a veteran does not always mean you are taking on someone with mental health issues or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Even for a typical civilian worker, starting a new job is a major life change, and your employees may need some extra support at this time. This might have an impact on any one of your employees.
Businesses may foster individuals who are healthy in every way when they provide wellness programs to their employees. These programs might include mental health perks like counseling or access to mindfulness meditation apps.