RSM Resources

When Glenwood Mason Supply Co. was looking for people who could help improve teamwork in their organization, it turned to an often overlooked source of talent: the U.S. military.

"We had a great bunch of individuals who worked in the same place but were not a team," says Constance Cincotta, president of the 80-employee manufacturing, retail and trucking company in Brooklyn, N.Y. "The former service members I hired became good mentors by zeroing in on the talents of our people and nurturing them. When it comes to finding integrity and leadership skills, I absolutely would look to this resource again."

Glenwood Mason Supply is one of a growing number of firms seeking the talents of highly trained former officers and enlisted personnel. The U.S. Defense Department estimates that more than 225,000 veterans go out of uniform each year, bringing leadership and technical skills that fit well with a wide range of civilian employers.

Cincotta says her company sought high-quality candidates among junior officers with three to five years of service. While Cincotta admits the three veterans she hired had no industry experience, she says that factor was outweighed by the strong sense of discipline, loyalty and leadership the group has brought to her business.

The military advantage
Clearly, a military background has several key advantages. For example, since officers and enlisted personnel get continuous training, most are quick learners who have an appreciation for lifelong education. Since more than a third of the armed forces are people of color, the military pipeline represents a solid source of talent from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. The military’s mandatory testing program ensures that those with an honorable discharge are drug-free at the time they leave service. And, the federal government will pay relocation costs for most former personnel up to one year after leaving the service.

Another military advantage is security clearances,which are beneficial to defense contractors and companies involved in homeland security. Every officer and many enlisted personnel have some level of clearance, meaning they have passed an intensive background check. Experts say that developing similar credentials for a civilian employee can take up to two years and cost up to $20,000.

Because a successful military operation relies on effective teamwork, former officers and enlisted personnel are well-acquainted with how to build and motivate groups. Additionally, former service members have strong respect for a chain of command — both in giving and taking orders.

If you decide to pursue military personnel as part of your recruiting mix, these tactical maneuvers can make the process more effective:

Talk to ex-military personnel in your company. Get their perspective on the experiences that helped them develop, how the military prepared them to succeed and how military attributes apply to civilian business settings.

Assess the candidate’s military performance. Ask prospective hires for military performance evaluations. While most will readily provide them, experts say reluctance to do so is a red flag. These reports outline key responsibilities, such as the number of people or types of equipment and budget under the individual’s command, and provide evaluations that rank the candidate within a former peer group. Look for increasing responsibility over time.

Call their references. Typically, a military supervisor will give honest answers when you ask about a candidate’s strengths and areas that need work. Don’t ask about military or reserve status, because the question could be seen as discriminatory if the hire is not made or if there’s a dispute over job status if the individual is later called to active duty.

Plan for a successful transition
Once you’ve made your selection and hired someone from the military, you can do several things to ensure a smooth transition.

• Engage right away. Most military people prefer an immediate challenge over easing into a job. Give them the tools that enable them to stretch.
• Have a clear vision of the transition period. Former military personnel are accustomed to structure and a strong sense of direction. With that in mind, motivate them by providing a clear outline of the company’s challenges, and opportunities, and preparation steps they can take to help ensure success on the job.
• Provide training. Training can be the initial challenge because your new employee has plenty to learn about your company, its customers and its industry. At Glenwood Mason Supply, for example, two of the positions Cincotta filled with former military personnel had direct responsibility for customer contact, which meant that the company went the extra mile to ensure the new hires understood the importance of problem-solving and conflict resolution.

By taking these steps, you can help your company maximize its ability to effectively recruit former military personnel.

Military recruiting resources:

• Operation Transition (http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/ot/ot_register.html), an automated program designed by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the U.S. military services (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard).
• Army Career and Alumni Program (www.acap.army.mil/employer/employer.cfm), a U.S. Army Web site.
• The Marine for Life program (https://www.m4l.usmc.mil/portal/server.pt/), a clearinghouse operated by the Marines.