As a veteran owned and operated company, Nautical understands the importance of veterans in the workplace. Their strong work ethic and leadership help companies improve and grow. The nearly 200,000 service members leaving the military each year must reacclimate back into civilian life and find employment. In this blog post, we will cover the unique strengths that veterans bring to the workplace and why it’s essential for businesses to support their veteran staff.
The Value of Veteran Employees
Veterans bring a wide array of skills that are highly desirable in the workplace. Their training and experience often encompass leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, adaptability, and the ability to perform under pressure. These traits are transferable and can be instrumental in various roles across different industries. The military’s emphasis on discipline, commitment, and attention to detail also translates well into the civilian work environment, making veterans an asset to any organization.
Hiring veterans brings several benefits to any organization. These benefits include:
- Diverse Perspectives: Veterans bring a diverse set of experiences and perspectives that can contribute to innovative problem-solving and decision-making.
- Leadership and Teamwork: Their experience in leading teams and working collaboratively in challenging environments can positively influence team dynamics.
- Adaptability and Resilience: Veterans are known for their adaptability to change and their resilience in the face of adversity, traits highly valued in dynamic workplaces.
Ways To Support Veteran Employees
For businesses looking for ways to support their veteran staff, here are four things you can do as a company to be more inclusive.
- Provide Training & Advancement Opportunities: Veterans often bring many different skills to the workplace. Employers should offer training for their staff to ensure they can continue to grow at the company and develop their skill sets.
- Share Available Resources: What resources are available for employees seeking support? It’s important to make sure these resources are easy to access and use without negative judgment. Having this support readily available can help increase staff satisfaction greatly.
- Celebrate Military Holidays: Recognizing and celebrating military holidays shows appreciation for their sacrifices during their service. Some of these holidays include Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day, and Independence Day.
- Encourage Team Building: Individuals that have served in the military have an appreciation for camaraderie. Because of this, providing opportunities for team-building events can help veterans feel more comfortable in the company culture.
Q&A With Nautical’s Veterans
For this Veteran’s Day, I sat down with two of our own military veterans to get their stories and opinions on veterans in the workplace: Christopher Valadez, a Navy veteran serving for four years and Drew Benson, a Marine veteran serving just under four years.
What Were Your Primary Roles and Responsibilities In The Military?
My primary MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) was a data network specialist. Simply put as a computer guru. But the majority of my time in the Marine Corp I spent as a range coach and a primary marksmanship instructor.
– Drew Benson
My primary functions were to guide aircraft in the hangar bay on an aircraft carrier. But I actually branched out into the damage control unit and was working on life saving equipment.
– Christopher Valadez
Do You Have Any Memorable Experiences or Achievements that You Would Like to Share?
There were a lot of good memories. I got to see some beautiful places like Greece and France. Some of the most notable things I did involved a lot of the damage control side of things– revamping some systems, etc.
– Christopher Valadez
Are There Specific Skills Or Values From Your Service That Have Transferred Into Your Everyday Work?
The easiest transference of value that I took from the marine corp was just simple discipline. You’d be surprised how many people have issues showing up to work on time and just doing the things they are supposed to be doing. And that was something before entering the military service that I had a real lack of and something that I pulled from within there.
– Drew Benson
I would say the organizational skills were some of the biggest things that transferred into everyday life. And the understanding of chain of command and respect really stuck with me throughout my service.
– Christopher Valadez
What Advice Would You Give To Veterans Transitioning To Civilian Life and Employment?
It’s a weird transitional period for sure. You’re going from being very restricted to having all the freedoms back. So my advice would be to enjoy the freedoms that you do receive afterwards and don’t forget where you came from.
– Christopher Valadez
How Has Your Experience As a Veteran Shaped Your Approach To Teamwork And Leadership In The Workplace?
In the Marine Corp you are forced to interact with so many people and in doing so, you realize that everyone has their own abilities and within that you just don’t want to make any sort of expectations on what anybody can or can’t do. Just let them do it.
– Drew Benson
What Are Some Misconceptions Or Stereotypes About Veterans That You'd Like To Address Or Correct?
I think the standard stereotype would be the old grizzled veteran that’s a little cranky and talks about their service all the time. But more often than not, everyone’s pretty cool, pretty funny and you meet some pretty interesting characters.
– Christopher Valadez
