Most employers are amenable to veteran recruitment, yet many struggle to establish the frameworks that make it easy to establish a pipeline and hire veterans. These challenges are further amplified when it comes to recruiting former servicewomen. This demographic faces even more challenges than their male counterparts when reentering the civilian workforce. However, that does not invalidate the talent and skillsets that they possess, all of which add value to any organization. This blog explores the challenges of hiring female veterans and how employers can overcome those challenges in the spirit of mutual success.
Why Hire Female Veterans?
While a vast segment of the military service pool is male, the participation and sacrifice of female veterans must not be overlooked. Most employers are familiar with hiring military spouses; however, when it comes to former servicewomen, employers struggle to realize that they offer the same talent, resilience, and goal-oriented outlooks as their male counterparts. The United States military has an extremely diverse workforce, all of whom undergo extensive training to hone hard skills, discipline, self-sufficiency, and leadership. This includes servicewomen, who occupy roles ranging from direct combat experience, to handling of military equipment, to research. They frequently occupy leadership roles and manage teams during their tenure in the military. They are also very familiar with the challenges inherent to a return to civilian life and are no less determined to blaze trails at home.
Despite their contributions and talent, the female veteran talent pool still struggles to transition from a military career into a civilian one, even when compared to male vets. By overlooking this talent pool, employers are losing valuable opportunities to acquire future leaders and success drivers. These five key approaches could help minimize this risk and enable organizations to realize long-term success when hiring female vets:
Create a Workplace That Appreciates Military Servicemembers
A culture of appreciation and a positive attitude for all service members is essential to both sustainably hiring and retaining veterans. In particular, this attitude should also include female servicemembers, who typically don’t get the same recognition as male vets. This recognition should be visible at all times, from initial recruitment to the interview and onboarding and beyond. Hiring campaigns can also be configured to appeal to former servicewomen using the appropriate visuals, graphics, and language. Businesses should also leverage opportunities to include female vets in upper management roles as circumstances allow.
Equip HR and Recruiters with The Right Knowledge
Businesses should evaluate their veteran recruitment model and ensure that their recruiters and hiring partners have the necessary knowledge and resources to address veteran candidates, including female vets, vets with disabilities, and so forth. Firms can also benefit from hiring female vets under incentivized programs offered by the Department of Veteran Affairs, the Department of Labor, and the Veteran Employment Center. Including veterans in the recruitment process can also enable businesses to bridge the translation gap between military skills and their application in civilian roles.
Offer Professional Development and Career Counseling Options
To achieve long-term success, businesses must demonstrate their commitment to hiring former servicewomen in tangible ways. Offering professional development programs, for example, can help such employees acquire new skills in addition to the already-valuable soft skills in veterans. Career counseling drives can help these employees set career goals and choose the right paths to achieve them. In both cases, these programs can serve to appeal to future female vets as well as being powerful retention factors.
Make Career Paths and Advancement as Transparent as Possible
Meaningful employment is one of the best avenues for businesses to attract, hire, and retain veteran talent. A significant part of meaningful employment is a clear career path and transparency when it comes to advancement opportunities. Female vets require meaningful employment as much as their male counterparts since they have similar skill sets and goals. Incorporating these aspects into the workplace can help employers address a critical need, manifesting successful outcomes in both hiring and retention.
Allow Flexibility to Female Vets for Family-Based Needs
Most female members of the military transition into civilian roles based on family needs. Many have to balance their military role and family role simultaneously, even during active service. Once they transition into civilian roles, they naturally expect to devote more time to their family responsibilities, including care for their dependents. Offering flexible working options like remote working, telecommuting, and flexible schedules is an acknowledgement of the challenges facing the modern working professional and a demonstrated commitment to his or her needs.