Every company has certain categories of positions that are in constant need of filling. Whether those positions are computer programmers, help desk technicians, quality assurance inspectors or warehouse and distribution specialists, it becomes frustrating when your company and your company’s competition are both fishing in the same ponds for the same people. How long does it take you to fill these positions? And, do you have to pay more to get these people in order to beat your competition, or are you constantly losing out because you can’t match the salaries offered by your competition? Did you have to bring on workers with H-1B visas to meet the demand? Is there a better way to build a pipeline of qualified applicants to fill the constant demand? Is there a different “pond” you could be fishing in for underutilized talent? There is – read on!

As mentioned in my last blog, more than 80% of the jobs we have in the military have a civilian equivalent. Generally, the main differences between the qualifications of civilian applicants and military applicants doing the same work are that the military applicants:

• Might not possess a particular certification or required license. This occurs because the military doesn’t require them to have the civilian certification/license in order to do the job in the military.
• Might not have working knowledge of specific commercial applications used by civilian companies. This is because, given some of the unique requirements we have in the military, many of our military applications have been custom built for us. So, if you ask the veteran with 12 years of human resources experience whether he/she has used Taleo (a talent management system), he/she will say “no”. But he/she will be very familiar with the military’s custom built version of a talent management system, and will have a deep understanding of the full talent management lifecycle.

These surmountable differences leave us with a huge military talent pool every year who have most of the knowledge, skills and aptitudes needed to do a great job for a civilian company. More than 200,000 veterans leave the service each year (due to retirement or end of contract) and most struggle for months to find a job commensurate with their abilities and level of management/supervisory experience. This is a talent pool that is grossly underutilized and that would be a bounty for any savvy employer who was willing to try this idea to recruit veterans.

Consider creating an on-the-job training (OJT) program and market it to veterans. OJT programs can be designed for any kind of job, from human resource specialists to business analysts to security guards to any manner of technical positions. The benefit to the employer is that they can build a pipeline of heavily skilled, easily trainable quality candidates who will be groomed in exactly the way needed for the jobs in highest demand in their organization. The benefit to the veteran is an opportunity to either build on the training he/she has already received in the military or to pursue a new career in the civilian workplace.

So, maybe right now you are thinking that an OJT program could be a good way to tap into that pool of transitioning service members and help build your pipeline, but you are holding off because you know your company’s training budget has been severely reduced. The good news here is that there is a way for employers to recoup much of the costs to produce the training by structuring the training such that it qualifies as an approved education or training program eligible for the G.I. Bill. This means that the veteran can use his/her G.I. Bill benefits to pay to participate in the OJT program, thereby allowing the employer to recoup some of the cost to produce the training (i.e., instructional designer’s fee, facilities rental, material production, etc.)

Here are a few basic things to know about creating an OJT program that qualifies for G.I. Bill reimbursement:

• The new Post 9/11 G.I. Bill does not cover OJT programs. Earlier versions of the G.I. Bill (i.e., Montgomery G.I. Bill and Reserve Educational Assistance Program or REAP) do cover OJT programs. View a comparison chart of the types of training covered by different versions of the bills.

• Veterans who are eligible for both the Post 9/11 and one other version of the G.I. Bill have to make an irrevocable decision if they want to take advantage of the very generous Post 9/11 G.I. Bill. So, the earlier you market these OJT programs to the military community, the greater likeliness you will find those veterans who have not yet made the irrevocable decision to switch to the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill.

• The G.I. Bill benefits are paid directly to the veteran, who in turn pays you. They are generally paid one month in arrears. So, for example, if they begin training on September 1st, they will receive their benefit check for the month of September in October. Keep that lag time in mind as you determine your tuition and payment plan.

• In order for your training program to be declared G.I. Bill –eligible it must first be approved by your State Approving Agency. State Approving Agencies approve the programs within their borders and determine which programs are appropriate for veterans to enroll in to utilize their VA educational benefits.

• The program must include an employment objective (i.e., “Help Desk Technician” or “Computer Software Engineer” or “Storage and Distribution Manager”)

• Hint: go to O*Net Online and type in your position name. It will display a number of related occupational titles with associated Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Systems codes.

• Select the occupational title(s) that most closely resembles the position for which you are designing the OJT program and review the lists of tasks performed and tools used by that occupation.

• Incorporate those tasks and tools into your training design, plus any other specific requirements.

• In order to be classified as an OJT program, the training must be for a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 24 months in length. 6 months equals 1,000 hours of training if the OJT program is full time.

• The OJT program must have an associated incremental pay scale. This means that while the costs of the program can be offset by the G.I. Bill, the employer is still required to pay a wage to the trainee. The starting wage can be minimum wage (or higher). The ending wage should be equivalent to the hourly wage you would pay if you were hiring someone who was already fully qualified. There should be at least one incremental pay increase between start and finish for a six month program and more if your program is longer than 6 months. Pay increases can be tied to training milestone achievements (i.e., pass this exam or assessment) or to program duration milestones (i.e., every 4 weeks).

• The OJT program must include a detailed training plan. So, for a 6 month training program, what will you cover during the 1,000 hours of training?

Once you submit your training plan for review, the SAA approval can be granted in as little as 2-8 weeks if you’ve met all the criteria and have structured the program correctly. If you would like assistance in designing an OJT program, please contact me. There are minor record-keeping requirements that must be kept on file and also reported so that the veteran will be paid. Your SAA will provide you with those details.

Once you get approval for your G.I. Bill –eligible OJT program, you need to market your program to veterans. But where should you promote your program to get the attention of the military member? There are at least a half dozen avenues you can use to get the word out to the veteran community, from military transition centers to social networking sites. If you are interested in learning more, I encourage you to register for my web seminar entitled “Military Applicant Sourcing Options” (now available on demand).

This year Congress passed a resolution (http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/nvaw.asp) designating the week of November 9-15 as “National Veteran Awareness Week” to emphasize the need to develop educational programs regarding the contributions of veterans to the country. So, how can companies use that time to have an awareness program of their own?

In the next paragraphs I’ll give you some ideas for things you can do and resources you can use, and then I’ll tie it all back in to how this can impact your veteran recruiting efforts.

1. Visit The Department of Veterans Affairs website (http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/index.asp). From there you can download the official 2008 Veterans Day poster for printing or inclusion in presentations. Have a bunch of posters printed and displayed prominently in your work place.
2. If your company has a Veteran Affinity Group (sometime called a Diversity Group or Networking Group, etc.) – and I hope you do have one – ask the group leader if any members would like to contribute some basic background information about their time in service and a related photo from “back in the day”. Take those stories and photos and make posters which can be displayed along side the Veterans Day posters. Most employees have no idea they work alongside a veteran, and if they do, they don’t really understand what that person does/did in the military. They may be surprised to discover that the mild-mannered accountant in the next cubicle flew rescue missions in a helicopter, or brought medical help and supplies to an earthquake-ravaged country. Or, that the young lady who works in employee benefits administration used to repair large satellite systems or drove a 5-ton truck filled with repair parts across the desert.
3. Volunteer members of your Veterans Affinity Group to local schools for the “Take a Veteran To School” program. The History Channel (http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=mini_home&mini_id=54799) has great ideas for how to work with the schools to administer this program, and has teacher resources as well (if the school is not familiar with the program). The Department of Veterans Affairs website has teacher guides and student guides, too.
4. The History Channel is also championing “Thank a Vet at Work” (http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=60604&display_order=2&mini_id=54799) this year. From the site you can order 100 colorful stickers that say “thank you” to your veterans. Distribute them in your workplace or hand them out at community events (like the schools program, mentioned above).
5. Acknowledge their service directly, preferably by letter signed by a senior leader of the company if you know who your veteran-employees are by name and mailing address. In addition, sending out an email (also signed by a senior leader of the company) to the entire workforce acknowledging veterans and their contributions to the company is a great way to raise awareness.
6. One client of mine has a different diversity group host a networking event each month at their company. For Veterans Day this year their Veteran Affinity Group is hosting a modified “Dining In” event, which is a very traditional event with special meaning to military members. They are hosting this event to expose their colleagues to the culture and traditions of the military, and to show how the military uses events like Dining Ins to build camaraderie.

Now, how do these actions tie to improving your veteran recruiting efforts?

• Photos of the community events your veteran-employees support can be used in your veteran-specific recruiting materials and on your veteran-landing page on your career website (you do have those, don’t you?)
• Your veteran-employees who take part in these events and who have been recognized during the appreciation week can relate how supportive your company is of veterans when he/she is assisting with military career fair recruiting events (you are bringing them along to these events, yes?)

Has your company done something special to recognize its veteran-employees? Feel free to comment below – I’d love to hear about it.

Posted by Lisa Rosser, Author of and Speaker/Workshop Leader on The Value Of a Veteran(TM): The Guide for Human Resource Professionals to Regarding, Recruiting, and Retaining Military Veterans

]]> http://www.HireMilitary.com/2008/10/veterans-day-is-wednesday-november-11th-how-is-your-company-planning-to-remember-your-veteran-employees/feed/ 2 http://www.HireMilitary.com/2008/09/let-a-flat-daddy-show-you-care/ http://www.HireMilitary.com/2008/09/let-a-flat-daddy-show-you-care/#comments Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:48:05 +0000 Lisa Rosser http://www.hiremilitary.com/?p=61 Another fantastic suggestion that originates from Elaine Dumler’s book “I’m Already Home…Again -  Keeping Your Family Close While On Assignment or Deployment“, is a Flat Daddy(TM).  Since many deployments last anywhere from 6 months to 15 months, children of service members lose a sense of connection to the deployed parent.  A Flat Daddy is a life-size photo (from the waist up) of the service member mounted on foam board and laminated for sturdiness.  And, yes, of course, there are Flat Mommy’s too.

Military families really embrace these life-size dolls, taking them to events the service member is otherwise missing (like birthday parties, school recitals, trips to the zoo).  Many will take a photo of the family with the Flat Daddy and send it to the deployed service member to let him/her know that he/she is missed.  It’s also particularly effective for small children to use to remember what the deployed parent looks like.  There are stories of families having Flat Daddy sit at his normal seat at the dinner table and the kids take turns telling him about their activities at home.  Flat Daddy can also be present when the deployed parent calls and speaks to the children or when recordings are played of the deployed parent reading a bed time story.

Consider providing a mobilized employee’s family with a Flat Daddy.  Here are two ways you can do it:

1. Subsidize the full cost of producing the Flat Daddy by arranging to give a gift of a Flat Daddy through the company that has been producing this product since 2006.  The recipient receives an email message with a voucher code to redeem for the cost of the Flat Daddy. Complete instructions are found here.
2. Subsidize part of the cost by taking the service member’s photo and using your local resources to blow the photo up to life size (complete instructions are found here).  Provide the poster to the family and they can arrange to have it mounted and laminated.

Posted by Lisa Rosser, Author of and Speaker/Workshop Leader on The Value Of a Veteran(TM): The Guide for Human Resource Professionals to Regarding, Recruiting, and Retaining Military Veterans

Does your company currently acknowledge employees when they reach certain milestones, such as having a baby or attaining a certain number of years with the organization?  Perhaps you provide the new parent with a gift of a company logo-ed diaper bag or bib and a parenting book?  You can do something similar for the mobilized employee and his/her family.

A great resource I am happy to pass along is Elaine Dumler’s book “I’m Already Home…Again -  Keeping Your Family Close While On Assignment or Deployment“.  The book has 214 suggestions of ways for families and service members to stay connected before, during, and after a service member’s deployment.  There is even a section with suggestions for employers, schools and community groups who want to be supportive of the veterans in their communities.

Consider purchasing a quantity of these books to have on hand.  It’s a tremendous gesture of care to provide a copy of the book to the spouse or family member (or, directly to the service member to pass along) plus a letter of support from the company wishing the veteran a safe journey and hoping for a speedy return and the name and phone number of a point of contact in the company who can answer questions should any issues or needs arise during the employee’s mobilization.

Posted by Lisa Rosser, Author of and Speaker/Workshop Leader on The Value Of a Veteran(TM): The Guide for Human Resource Professionals to Regarding, Recruiting, and Retaining Military Veterans