Creating an Inclusive Workplace for Veterans: Practice and Research for Supporting the Employment Needs of Veterans Postmilitary

Submitted by the SIOP Military and Veterans Inclusion Committee

Chances are that if you work in civil service or Department of Defense (DoD) communities, you have met a multitude of veterans with stories of how they navigated their career and transition into civilian life. With many veterans experiencing successful employment, others struggle, leaving the question: “Why do some veterans experience trouble during their postmilitary employment life cycle?”

 As a reservist I experienced an unfortunate injury while training for an upcoming deployment that resulted in my professional life as a firefighter and medic to end. Since then, I’ve faced significant challenges trying to find job stability. In the past four years, I’ve held five different jobs across three fields, faced a PTSD and ADHD diagnosis, and navigated a lengthy job search. After over 50 applications, I’ve had only three interviews, two with the actual hiring manager. I even tried to serve as a volunteer reserve sheriff’s deputy but failed the polygraph after months of work and training. Despite these setbacks, driven by a sense of duty from my military years, I continue to redirect the impulse to just give up by finding meaningful ways to contribute. I’m now focused on leveraging my experiences to improve forensic interview practices, hoping to foster collaboration with HR to address issues impacting veterans and employees. With support from the VA and my family, I’m finding who I am outside the military.

~ Jason Hamill, Veteran USCG ME1\E6

The I-O psychology community is uniquely positioned to assist organizations with supporting veterans throughout their employment lifecycle. The military community is a minority demographic, making up only 6% of the United States population (United States Census Bureau, 2023). For adequate representation, the I-O psychology community needs to intentionally include the military and veteran perspectives in both practice and research activities. Existing research has provided valuable insight into what essential themes are impacting the employment life cycle of veterans:

• advocating for clearly defining expectations, quality training, and development opportunities sustained by an inclusive culture (Stone et al., 2024)
• effective leadership, organizational support, and wellness offered for veterans and their families (Gutierrez & Adler, 2022; Stone et al., 2024; Wong et al., 2022).

It is here that I-O professionals can expand upon or use the existing research to create equitable workplace practices and remove unnecessary limitations.

I-O psychology educators, researchers, and practitioners have an opportunity to make an immediate and lasting impact by seeking opportunities with organizational shareholders to collaborate over these essential themes, focusing on the impact of each employment practice. By assessing the unique needs of each employee group, we can ensure the needs of veterans are also addressed; advising organizations on what evidence-based strategies to use for the successful integration across employees.

For those who want to get more involved, consider:

• Conducting, publishing, and presenting research focused on veteran employment.
  • Building upon the veteran employment transition model (Stone et al., 2024).
• Educating employers on hiring and business practices that create barriers for veterans and dependents. 
• Communicate employer services for hiring veterans:
  • Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Employment Toolkit
  • DoD, Skillbridge Program

Submitted by Jason Hamill, I-O psychology student and military veteran, and Margaret Breakiron, I-O psychology senior practitioner and member of the SIOP Military and Veterans Inclusion Committee, as part of a regular series of articles SIOP runs each November in recognition of Veterans’ Day in the United States. Both Jason and Margaret are actively involved in communities that work alongside military personnel or support the transition of service members and veterans into civilian employment.

Editor’s Note: Every year, the SIOP Military and Veterans Inclusion Committee shares insights into relevant military-connected topics and the intersection of I-O psychology during the month of November in celebration and reflection of Veterans Day (November 11). This article is the second article of three. The first article is available on our website.

References

Congress Research Service (CRS). (2018, July 12). Military Transition Assistance Program (TAP): An overview. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1171880.pdf

Gutierrez, I. A., & Adler, A. B. (2022). Organizational context as a predictor of positive adjustment among soldiers following combat deployment. Occupational Health Science, 6(3), 451-473. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41542-022-00120-0

Stone, C. B., Neely, A. R., Phillips, W., & Terry, R. P. (2024). Veterans in the workplace: A model of factors affecting veteran transition. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: An International Journal, https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-01-2024-0007

United States Census Bureau. (2023, October 19). Veterans Day 2023: November 11. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2023/veterans-day.html

Wong, J. R., Crain, T. L., Brossoit, R. M., Hammer, L. B., Bodner, T. E., & Brady, J. M. (2022). Beyond just resilience: The important role of work-family resources for military service members. Occupational Health Science, 6(3), 425-450. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41542-022-00111-1