[caption id="attachment_5301" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="http://www.danamanciagli.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/4-employee-retention-tips-for-returning-military-veterans.jpg"><img src="http://www.danamanciagli.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/4-employee-retention-tips-for-returning-military-veterans-300x200.jpg" alt="4 employee retention tips for returning military veterans" width="300" height="200" class="size-medium wp-image-5301" /></a> 4 employee retention tips for returning military veterans[/caption]<p>Matching the right candidate to a job is a perennial and expensive challenge. That’s why excellence in hiring and retention is critical. And it’s especially true for military veterans.</p>

<p>Because a veteran’s military skills are often easily translatable to a civilian job, you should have no trouble finding skilled veteran candidates. The biggest challenge to veterans in transition is often the cultural shift from a hierarchical system to a collaborative and widely disbursed leadership.</p>

<p>And, if your company seeks federal contracts, there are hiring mandates that require veterans not only be a part of your workforce, but a minimum percentage of your staff. It’s not just smart to hire veterans, but to work at keeping them.</p>

<p>To better understand how to retain veterans in the workforce, I interviewed Nick Swaggert, director of <a href="http://www.genesis10.com/veterans-program-2/" target="_blank">Genesis10’s Veteran Program</a>. Here are some of his observations:</p>

<p><strong>1. Retention makes sense for returning veterans and for hiring companies</strong></p>

<p>Veterans have a reputation for loyalty, but that only goes so far in a job where he or she feels underutilized.</p>

<p>Your company spends thousands of dollars to recruit a single employee. An investment in employee retention applies across your company to all employees, and it is a relatively small cost that results not just in retention but also in loyalty.</p>

<p>Hiring and successfully retaining veterans encourages a culture that’s friendlier to other job-seeking veterans and can potentially reduce future recruiting costs.</p>

<p><strong>2. Develop insights into the military mindset</strong></p>

<p>You can help veterans shift from the military mindset and adapt to corporate culture more quickly and easily when you can appreciate their professional origins. For example:</p>
<ul>
<li>On-time is too late: It may seem paradoxical to those who grew up in a corporate culture, but any military recruit will tell you how quickly they learn to show up 15 minutes early for everything. For anyone who has held a military career, being on time to a meeting is the same as running late.</li>
<li>Don’t collaborate, just follow orders: Success in the military depends on following orders. You are given a very specific job to do and collaborating with others to accomplish that job is not an option.</li>
<li>If it doesn’t have meaning, it’s not worth doing: The mission is what gives any professional serving in the military a sense of purpose and meaning. Finding that same sense of mission in a civilian job is key to keeping veterans engaged and loyal in their new careers.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>3. Focus on retention strategies</strong></p>

<p>To keep veterans in your employee workforce, concentrate on these three tactics:
<ul>
<li>Support a veteran culture at work: Veterans need to know companies understand them. Developing a culture where veterans are understood is key.</li>
<li>Mentorship program: A formalized mentorship program marketed to current and prospective veteran employees will contribute significantly to your company’s goals for decreasing turnover.</li>
<li>Growth opportunities: Be sure veterans have opportunities to grow professionally from day one.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>4. You can’t ignore mandated recruiting and retention</strong></p>

<p>Government contractors are required by law for hiring and retaining veterans year over year.</p>

<p>Mandates like the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Assistance Act (VEVRAA) require organizations with government contracts to determine if they have a need to hire more veterans and then create an action plan to accomplish it. Failure to do so could result in financial consequences.</p>

<p>It’s surprising how few companies really understand how this applies to them. If you’re not sure about whether your company is affected by these hiring mandates, <a href="http://careeradvocate.genesis10.com/2015/01/21/understanding-new-government-mandate-hiring-veterans/" target="_blank">find out more here</a>.</p>

<p>According to The Fast Track to Civilian Employment, a report published in 2013 by the White House: "Each year the military separates between 240,000 and 360,000 service members, and as we draw down from the war in Afghanistan, the military is expected to separate a million service members over the next several years."</p>

<p>You can do your part by hiring licensed, certified, and highly trained returning vets and helping them make a smooth transition to civilian life.</p>