Tag Archives: recruiting strategies

HIRE WOUNDED WARRIORS!

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I want to say something up front, just in case you don’t read the whole post today.

HIRE WOUNDED WARRIORS!

If this topic seems not applicable, and especially if the topic of this post turns you off, then please read it anyway.

We write a lot about hiring veterans on this blog, largely because that is one of the main aspects of our company business – helping companies find, hire and retain high quality military talent. We, as a company of veterans, are very passionate about helping veterans attain meaningful careers instead of just getting a j-o-b. Hiring wounded warriors is something close to our heart and something we encourage our customers to make part of their recruiting strategy.

We were recently talking with a manufacturing company owner who hires veterans and wounded warriors. During the conversation he revealed that a number of companies he has had dealings with said that they did not want to hire wounded warriors because they did not want to look at them. When I heard this I almost fell out of my chair.

m11I am a mid 40s hard working American. I served my country in the US Army and then went to college, started a family, and went on to live the American dream. When I was a kid I thought naively that that everyone had an equal shot at achieving their dreams. My parents were hard working Americans who taught me that things such as race, religion, sex, and disabilities were not things that another person should be judged by. Nor should they be things that should hold them back from achieving their dreams. The reality that we live in a 21st century America where some people would have such prejudice against our nation’s heroes who are wounded warriors is nothing short of appalling.

As a nation we have struggled with equal rights for people with regards to race, religion, sex, and disabilities. It is arguable that we still struggle mightily on these issues. The vast majority of Americans firmly believe that these issues should be addressed and people should be treated with fairness, dignity and respect. I want to believe that the companies that would refuse a wounded warrior a job because it was out of their “comfort zone” to do so are few and far between. I want to believe that but when stories like this come across my desk I have to wonder.

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Army veteran and wounded warrior JP Lane playing music on the Maui Warrior Appreciation Vacation.

It is not easy to deal with any issue outside your comfort zone and company decision makers have this to contend with just like the rest of us. However, part of moving our nation forward has been the desire of the vast majority of us to treat all people with equality, with fairness, with dignity and with respect. I would like to take this time to ask those decision makers within companies and organizations to really take a good hard look at their hiring practices and address this issue. A man or woman who has given their service to their nation and subsequently been wounded should NEVER be denied employment just because it is outside someone’s comfort zone.

support our troops hire themThere are a lot of moving parts when it comes to hiring and developing hiring and recruiting strategies for companies and organizations. Many companies find it difficult to navigate the landscape and find, attract and hire high quality military talent. Many more companies find it difficult to retain veteran talent. The wounded warrior component can seem a daunting task for a company to take on in their recruiting process as well as in their operational environment. Forward March Inc. has experience in helping companies and organizations navigate these waters and attain the high quality military talent they need to have a vibrant, energetic, and DIVERSE work environment. We have the ability to help your organization find the right talent with the right experience at the right time. If you are serious about hiring veterans, and if you are serious about hiring wounded warriors give us a call today. Even if you never use our services we encourage you to develop a veteran recruiting program that includes hiring wounded warriors.

The fine men and women of Forward March Inc. salute all employers who hire veterans, especially the ones who hire wounded warriors!

~ Article by Tobin Pilotte, Directer of Marketing and Technology. 

RED FRIDAY-01

Its Friday again, so break out those red shirts! R.E.D. Friday is here so remember everyone deployed!

Learn more about RED Fridays:

http://redshirtfridays.org/  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Support_our_troops

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Our-Troops-Wear-Red-Fridays/188809874489323

How to Hire the Best of the Best!

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FMI TENANTS LOGO SMALL

Do you want a vibrant and more productive workforce?

Do you want higher caliber employees with skills, training, and leadership experience?

Are you looking for “the best of the best”?

Look no further than today’s military veterans.

Did you know that todays transitioning military men and women are of the highest caliber in US history with regards to their training, their leadership development, and their varied skill sets? Its true, and Forward March Inc (FMI) has been helping organizations find, attract, hire, and retain the perfect veterans for their employment needs. Today’s veterans bring a wealth of experience, talent, and energy to your company.

FMI can help train your organization how to find, attract, and retain high quality military talent or we can manage your military talent pipeline for you. We offer complete training that can get your organization staffing military talent very quickly. Our services are completely scalable to your organization’s needs.

If your company already has a veteran population that you would like to increase FMI stands ready to help you meet your hiring needs. We can also help your organization build a closer more vibrant veteran community. We have helped organizations realize real benefits to building vibrant veteran communities within their organizations.

Check out our website to learn more about what we can do for your organization today!

Don’t forget to check out our Camouflage to Corporate Conference, November 17th, in San Antonio. This is an outstanding opportunity for your company to get started with hiring high quality military talent! Space is limited so register today! Click here to learn more…

Also, check out our Military Hiring 101 Event. This event will give you an introduction to how to get started with hiring high quality military talent.

~ Article by Tobin Pilotte, Directer of Marketing and Technology for Forward March Inc. 

Attracting Military and Veteran Talent

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m11

Part 1 of a special 3 part series:

So you’re looking for the perfect candidate to fill critical positions within your organization. You’re looking for someone who is hardworking, well-educated and an expert planner. You’re looking for someone who has a “mission first” attitude and has a proven ability to face adversity with positive outcomes. You have in mind a candidate that understands and practices diversity in the workplace and who has a respect for policies, procedures, and regulations. You ask yourself, does this perfect candidate even exist? The answer is a resounding YES! The perfect candidate is the American military veteran.

So now that you have identified who the perfect candidate is, the next question is how to find them? Drawing military and veteran talent starts with developing a military hiring strategy. Here are five practices to help your organization attract veterans.

  1. Develop a solid military recruiting strategy. Developing a strategy begins with the company’s vision. This should be a top down driven initiative with specific, measurable, and achievable goals that the entire organization understands. Once a plan is made, recruiters and hiring managers must then be trained and resourced to execute the plan. Furthermore, performance reviews should be tied to veteran hiring performance to ensure continued success.
  1. Leverage existing veteran employees. What better way to attract veterans than engaging current employees who have served. They have not only talked the talk, they have walked the walk. They understand the military transition process and can assist in military skills interpretation and veteran interviewing. The bottom line is this: a brother and sisterhood exists within the veteran population. Veterans who believe in their organization want to share it with others.
  1. Market your organization as the veteran employer of choice.  Building your organization’s brand as a veteran friendly company is key to military hiring success. Part of this branding is leveraging current veteran employees and telling their success stories within the company. Create military specific brochures and other military marketing collateral when attending military hiring functions and use veteran employees as recruiters at such events. Create a veteran hiring site on your company webpage. Send veteran applicants a separate email thanking them for their service when they apply. Make veterans feel welcomed before they even step foot in your company.
  1. Get engaged with the military community. In order to find the veteran employee population, your organization must be engaged in the veteran community. Establish partnerships with non-profit veteran organizations such as the American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars. Get to know people at local military transition centers and make routine visits to reach out to those leaving military service. Establish relationships with local National Guard and Reserve units. Encourage employees to get involved with volunteer programs supporting veterans.
  2. Don’t forget about military spouses. When developing a veteran recruiting and hiring strategy, do not forget about the military spouse. Although they do not wear the uniform, they possess many skills employers are looking for. Just like the service member, the military spouse is flexible, adaptive to change, conscious of cultural and regional differences, and focused on getting the job done.
We have been helping companies hire veterans for over 35 years!

We have been helping companies hire veterans for over 35 years!

Attracting military talent can be an overwhelming task, especially for those organizations that do not understand military culture. Forward March’s team has over 110 years of combined military experience with over 35 years dedicated specifically to hiring veterans. FMI can train your staff to attract, hire, and retain top military talent. We have a comprehensive Military Talent Hiring Guide and outstanding training that can get your department staffing positions very quickly. We can also help you to develop a pipeline and hiring strategy for success and train your human resource department on all the best ways to recruit military talent. If your company is committed to hiring military veterans, let FMI show you how.

~ Article written by Jason Caswell, Forward March Inc – Director of Training and Talent Pipeline Services

Military Hiring 101 Event Re-cap

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Forward March Inc Military Hiring 101 Event was a HUGE success!

Forward March Inc Military Hiring 101 Event was a HUGE success!

Forward March Inc held our first Military Hiring 101 event Wednesday, August 27, 2014. This was a highly successful training and networking event giving companies a chance to develop a strategy for hiring veterans and to begin to actually take significant steps to developing a military talent pipeline for their organizations.

The one-day event was hosted at our Forward March Inc. offices here in San Antonio, and attended by companies and their HR representatives from the San Antonio and Austin area. Jason Caswell, retired U.S. Army and the Director of Talent Resources and Training Development for FMI, conducted the training along with FMI’s president Paul Volpe, also retired U.S. Army. Forward March Inc. is in a unique position as we have over 35 years of experience in helping veterans and companies in the veteran and transitioning military hiring process. Companies in attendance were able to walk away with a battle-plan for hiring veterans, as well as a wealth of information, tools, and tips. Companies also had the opportunity to network with Mauricio Jalomo, the Army Career Employment Specialist from the Private Public Partnership Office of the U.S. Army Reserve and learn about how to hire Army Reserve personnel for their companies.

Forward March Inc is a company of veterans committed to our fellow veterans. We are thrilled to be able to work with local companies, business leaders, city and state government representatives, and educational institutions in order to bring successful hiring strategies for hiring veterans as well as for transitioning military personnel. If you did not have the opportunity to attend this event there is good news, the Military Hiring 101 event will be held quarterly at the Forward March Inc. offices. Stay tuned to this news page or our website www.forwardmarchinc.com to find out the dates for the next event. Also check out our Camouflage to Corporate conference being held this November in San Antonio, Texas. Details can be found HERE along with registration. Contact us today and we will make sure that you get on a mailing list for these events.

Why Hire A Veteran?

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Hiring veterans has a wealth of benefits for your company or organization.

Hiring veterans has a wealth of benefits for your company or organization.

  • Integrity
  • Leadership
  • Teamwork
  • High level of trust
  • Communication skills and practices
  • Adept at skill transfer across tasks
  • Have and leverage advanced tech training
  • Comfortable in a variety of environments
  • Resilient
  • Professionalism under pressure
  • Self-sacrifice
  • Strong sense of honor and respect
  • Team building skills
  • Cross cultural experiences
  • Experience working in diverse work settings
  • Used to Diversity and inclusion
  • Respect for rules and procedures
  • Strong organizational commitment
  • Health and safety standard conscious
  • Triumph over adversity
  • Respect for and understanding of other cultures

Our nation is currently transitioning the most educated and well-trained group of men and women in history into the civilian job market. These military service members bring a seemingly endless list of qualifications that successful companies today are looking for.

Think about this, the average military veteran having just minimal military service and training already has skills in:

  • Communication
  • Leadership
  • Management
  • Working in a variety of environments and conditions
  • Working in a diverse workplace
  • Working and problem solving under pressure
  • Taking on roles of responsibility and accountability
  • Familiarization and compliance with health and safety guidelines

Those who have served our nation bring a wealth of experience to any organization and benefit companies all over the world with their hard work, integrity, and loyalty.

Hiring veterans brings a wealth of benefits to a company or organization as cited above, however, there are also financial incentives for companies to look at hiring veterans. On November 21st, 2011 President Obama signed the Veterans Opportunity to Work to Hire Heroes (VOW) Act of 2011 into law. Two tax credits exist with this law. The Returning Heroes Tax Credit and the Wounded Warrior Tax Credit. These can provide up to $9,600 in tax credits. The VOW Act also provides additional assistance to unemployed veterans helping them secure employment through The Veterans Retraining Assistance Program. You can read more about these benefits to companies HERE.

Companies across the nation claim to support our nations veterans, many claim to even have veteran hiring programs, but upon closer inspection many companies actually hire few veterans and/or place them in much lower level career positions than they could be placed in. This can occur for a variety of reasons. Arguably the reason that is most prevalent is that employers have a difficult time learning the art of finding, attracting, hiring, and retaining the right veteran for the job. While the benefits to hiring veterans are seemingly endless the process of finding and hiring veterans can be a daunting task, especially to those who are unfamiliar with the military.

Forward March Inc can help your company to become successful at hiring transitioning military men and women and veterans alike. Forward March is in a unique position due to the fact that we have over 35 years of working with transitioning military and companies to place the right veteran in the right position at the right time. Our Military Talent Pipeline solutions are perfect for any size business or organization and completely scalable and customizable to your needs. We can train your organization, or we can manage your Military Talent Pipeline, or both.

Forward March Inc also realizes that part of veteran retention and bringing in more high quality veteran employees depends on a vibrant veteran culture within your company. We have worked with companies to help them to develop and foster highly successful veteran cultures within their organizations and we can do the same for yours.

Contact us today!

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Do You Want to Hire the Best-of-the-Best?

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FMI TENANTS LOGO SMALL

Do you want a vibrant and more productive workforce?

Do you want higher caliber employees with skills, training, and leadership experience?

Are you looking for “the best of the best”?

Look no further than today’s military veterans.

Did you know that todays transitioning military men and women are of the highest caliber in US history with regards to their training, their leadership development, and their varied skill sets? Its true, and Forward March Inc (FMI) has been helping organizations find, attract, hire, and retain the perfect veterans for their employment needs. Today’s veterans bring a wealth of experience, talent, and energy to your company.

FMI can help train your organization how to find, attract, and retain high quality military talent or we can manage your military talent pipeline for you. We offer complete training that can get your organization staffing military talent very quickly. Our services are completely scalable to your organization’s needs.

If your company already has a veteran population that you would like to increase FMI stands ready to help you meet your hiring needs. We can also help your organization build a closer more vibrant veteran community. We have helped organizations realize real benefits to building vibrant veteran communities within their organizations.

Check out our website to learn more about what we can do for your organization today!

Don’t forget to check out our Camouflage to Corporate Conference, November 17th, in San Antonio. This is an outstanding opportunity for your company to get started with hiring high quality military talent! Space is limited so register today! Click here to learn more…

Also, check out our Military Hiring 101 Event. This event will give you an introduction to how to get started with hiring high quality military talent.

~ Article by Tobin Pilotte, Directer of Marketing and Technology for Forward March Inc. 

Camouflage to Corporate Conference – San Antonio, Texas – November 17

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C2C

Do you want a more productive, motivated and focused staff?  

Forward March Inc. would like to invite you to the Camouflage to Corporate conference, which will give you the information and tools you need to succeed in hiring the very best military candidates.  Our highly successful solution is based on the proven military leadership model and a systematic approach to organizational growth.

– Develop a military hiring strategy that wins

– Learn a tactical and practical approach to attract, hire, and retain the best

– Get results with military leadership in your workforce

– Learn from and network with military hiring experts and organizations, with over 40 years of military hiring experience

– Learn the latest techniques, tactics and procedures for building a winning team

– Learn to improve Workspace to Workplace – reception and integration

Head over to the FMI website to register for this event today, space is limited! Click here to learn more.