Stars and Stripes reported on a case study released earlier this month by researchers at Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families that found employees with military backgrounds are invaluable workers in a civilian business environment due to the skills they develop from active-duty training.
“Specifically, academic research from the fields of business, psychology, sociology, and decision-making strongly links characteristics that are generally representative of military veterans to enhanced performance and organizational advantage in the context of a competitive and dynamic business environment. In other words, the academic research supports a robust, specific, and compelling business case for hiring individuals with military background and experience,” the report states.
The research identifies 10 specific reasons why veterans can outperform workers without any military background, based on skills that businesses should be looking for in any potential employee:
1. Veterans are entrepreneurial.
2. Veterans assume high levels of trust.
3. Veterans are adept at skills transfer across contexts/tasks.
4. Veterans have (and leverage) advanced technical training.
5. Veterans are comfortable/adept in discontinuous environments.
6. Veterans exhibit high levels of resiliency.
7. Veterans exhibit advanced team-building skills.
8. Veterans exhibit strong organizational commitment.
9. Veterans have (and leverage) cross-cultural experiences.
10. Veterans have experience/skill in diverse work settings.