Examining Employer Knowledge of Military Training and Service Member Skill Sets

Abstract: All service branches of the United States military currently run highly functioning programs to ensure service members are prepared for the transition to civilian career. However, service members are likely to face challenges during the onboarding process because of employer knowledge deficiencies regarding military occupational specialties, training, and task compatibility. Due to the lack of knowledge of military veterans’ service, HRD professionals are ill-prepared to provide necessary onboarding to former servicemembers that allows them to utilize their military training in the new role while also aiding their transition from a military to non-military work cultures. The training that each service member undergoes during their time of service potentially correlates to civilian careers they may seek to obtain. This abstract proposes a research study examining HRD professionals’ knowledge of military service, including the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) veterans acquire, as well as the training provided by the military that readily translates to a civilian career. By identifying HRD professionals and organization leaders’ knowledge gaps regarding military training and veteran skill sets, training can be developed to improve HRD professionals’ ability to successfully identify, onboard, and train military veterans in non-military settings.
Significance
Recent scholarship on veteran transitions has revealed three main themes as primary factors contributing to reception in the workforce (Dexter, 2020). These issues include: (a) civilian employers’ military knowledge deficit, (b) veteran anxiety due to unclear hiring processes, and (c) civilian employer misunderstanding of veteran compensation, benefits, and family involvement expectations (Dexter, 2020). The issues closely tie-in to the disconnect that exists between military veterans and the organizations who seek them for hire. Another problem centers on the idea of a potentially disengaged workforce. With military service members leaving their first job at rates of up to 50 percent, service members are likely accepting positions in organizations that may not be the right fit based on misconception of job expectations. According to LePage (2020), approximately 200,000 veterans transition into the civilian employment work force each year suggesting approximately 100,000 leaving their first job annually. The high turnover rate leads to millions of dollars in expenses tied to employee onboarding, training and development, and lost productivity without return on investment in human capital which creates an unsustainable business model.
Proposed Study
To examine knowledge of the military and veterans, we will conduct a qualitative study using interviews and focus groups with HR professionals and organization leaders. We will use convenience sampling to identify and select study participants who work for organizations with active military veteran hiring initiatives, as these programs suggest the organization has made recruitment of former servicemembers a priority. Interview questions will be guided by three categories of questions: (1) knowledge of military training, (2) knowledge of military jobs, and (3) perceived ability to translate military training and jobs into non-military positions. Data collection will include gathering of demographic information and organization background which will be contrasted with participant responses as part of identifying discrepancies and consistencies across the data. Data will be analyzed through a form of open-coding guided by participant responses leading to generation of overarching themes.
Discussion and Implications
The proposed study seeks to understand veteran turnover from the perspective of the employers. Understanding veteran employee retention improves the organization, and most importantly, knowing more about the military community. Despite research that suggests advancement in the hiring process of veterans, research focused on different perspectives of the process remains important (Davis & Minnis, 2017). From the veteran’s perspective, the military offers comprehensive programs to prepare service members for the workforce. Senior members of the Department of Defense recognized the need for resources to translate and communicate the skills of the more than 200 career fields employing service members in defense of the nation. However, a limiting factor for the successful transition of veterans in the workforce remains employer recognition of military skills, which scholars suggest companies still struggle with for various reasons (Smith et al., 2015). In addition to the statistics mentioned earlier, for every veteran that is hired and valued at their company another struggles to find employment, as the biggest challenge for veterans is transitioning to civilian employment (Gross, 2017). Thus, if military officials have taken ownership of preparing service members for the civilian workforce, an evaluation of the employer’s perspective of veterans in the hiring process will function as a feedback mechanism, while also aiding understanding of HR knowledge of veteran skills.