A Memorial Day Salute to Service Members and Companies That Hire Veterans

Memorial Day weekend is the time we put aside to honor all who have died while serving in the armed forces, along with family and friends who have sacrificed their loved ones for the greater good. HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®) would also like to take a moment to thank all the companies and HR teams that honor and understand the value that veterans bring to the workplace.

Several stories are trending this week on the value of hiring military veterans:

• Task and Purpose has a feature on five corporate leaders who firmly believe in the power of hiring veterans.
• Inc. magazine writes that veterans "know how to get the job done."
• Military Times provides advice to veterans about civilian careers.
• Forbes features the 10 best employers for veterans.
• Several companies announce plans to hire veterans: Wal-Mart, Hilton, Blackstone, Louisville & Indiana Railroad and Wells Fargo — just to name a few.

Paychex offers seven best practices for hiring veterans and provides some good advice: engage all employees in the veteran hiring program: "Employers who work for companies with veteran-hiring initiatives will be proud of their employer, feel honored to work alongside someone who served their country, and will learn to appreciate the experience, talents, skills and values veterans bring to the job. As your employees learn about military values and work culture, their feelings about their jobs (and employer) positively increases."

At HRCI, we are also proud of the work we do help transition soldiers into civilian roles, including HRCI certification for military HR personnel. Through the Army’s Training with Industry (TWI) Program, HRCI is in its third year of selecting an Army Human Resource (HR) Warrant Officer and, most recently, a first sergeant or master sergeant in the Adjunct General (AG) Corps., to join the organization as a Training with Industry Student.

MSG David J. Caleb, aPHR, has both earned an HRCI credential and been a valuable member of the HRCI team.

"HRCI is helping service members integrate into the civilian sector as HR professionals," Caleb says. "The organization helped translate my knowledge and skills attained through service, provided me with a solid base to earn the aPHR™, helped boost my level of confidence and continued growth as a Senior NCO, and gave me a transferrable skillset for the civilian HR community."

How does your company work to hire and employ military veterans? We’d love to hear your stories and comments?