An inside look at HP’s ambitious program for hiring and retaining veterans.
In our efforts to encourage corporations and dealers to hire veterans, we embarked on a mission to interview a few of the leading organizations in the world of print. What better company to start with than HP.
We were given the opportunity to interview HP Chief Diversity Officer Lesley Slaton Brown. Her husband is a veteran, and she comes from a military family. Our purpose for doing this is to show our industry how a successful company is hiring veterans and helping them transition into civilian life.
We asked Slaton Brown when the program started, however, she was unable to provide a date because the hiring of veterans was not initially conceived as a standalone program. Instead, a commitment was made to hire veterans and family members within the structure of their diversity efforts.
“Diversity includes veteran hiring, and we have always had the infrastructure to do this,” she said. “One of our founders was a veteran.”
We dug a little deeper and asked about the concept of approaching hiring ex-military.
“There was always a need to understand when interviewing veterans to know where they would fit,” said Slaton Brown.
A veteran’s résumé in terms of their responsibilities and duties while on active duty may not fit a civilian occupation. HP works with an organization known as Joining Forces that works hand in hand with the public and private sectors to ensure that veterans and their families have the tools they need to succeed throughout their lives. The intent is to ensure that transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses can connect with career opportunities.
In 2016 HP set a target to hire 150 veterans and that was exceeded by 43%. How was that accomplished?
“It was a combination of discovering what the need was and where can they fit,” stated Slaton Brown.” “When hiring, the concern must be retention.”
On that score we asked Slaton Brown about HP’s retention experience.
“It is very high,” she responded. “Another organization we work with is Breakline, which provides virtual education and coaching to help veterans land roles at top tech companies. One of the veterans hired through this group is now leading HP in corporate real estate.”
One area that concerns me is for those vets who are ground pounders. In the Marine Corps, we called ourselves grunts. That means to do your job you are required to carry a 50-lb. backpack plus a weapon; ammo, and when you are engaged it is either raining, freezing or dealing with scorching heat. You are also informed there is no hot chow. What we were taught to do has no application in the civilian world. So, I asked Slaton Brown what areas veterans have excelled in.
“The entire sales area, particularly in the public sector,” she responded. “They do a great job in every branch of the military. They are leaders in healthcare and human resources.”
Another thing HP does that is noteworthy: its welcoming unit that answers any questions veterans have. The results speak for themselves.
HP created a video entitled “Ask Me About.” It is just one more effort to attract veterans and boost their interest in joining HP. Here is the link: Reinvent Mindset video .
HP has pulled out all the stops to make their veterans’ hiring and retention efforts the absolute best. It also educates citizens on what not to ask a former member of the armed forces.
As I explained to Slaton Brown, we want to provide information for smaller organizations to hire veterans and if they could recommend a personnel company that specialized in veterans seeking employment. We added if it were nationwide, that would be ideal. She suggested we look up Hire Heroes USA. They provide free job search assistance to U.S. military members, veterans, and military spouses. They also help companies connect with employment opportunities. According to its website, each year the military discharges 270,000 service members. Only 20 percent of those discharged will have a job lined up.
Our concern is not only providing information on hiring veterans but retaining them as well. We probed further and asked what advice Slaton Brown would give to companies seeking to hire veterans.
“You need to hire with the intention to retain,” she said. “Don’t focus on hiring but how well they will fit.”
Another concern is for veterans who have mental health issues. HP’s answer is a mental wellness program that provides speakers that discuss day-to-day activities, which helps them adapt and make the transition into civilian life less difficult.
Our interview was a very fruitful experience, and we thank Slaton Brown for taking the time to share with us how HP goes about hiring and retaining veterans. At first, we did not understand why you would place a program such as hiring veterans under the direction of a diversity officer. We now fully understand why.
We also have a greater awareness of why HP is so bullish on veterans. We took a little time and did some research on its founders. It appears that both have military DNA.
Bill Hewlett served in the Army during World War II as a signal corps officer. He then led the electronics section of the development division, a new part of the War Department Special Staff.
David Packard did not serve in the military. He did serve as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1969 to 1971 during the Nixon administration. Packard received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988.
We urge you to go online and look up Joining Forces, Hiring Heroes USA, and Breakline. This will give you some added insight into hiring veterans and possibly answer some of your questions. We will continue to reach out to corporations who have been successful in this quest to hire veterans. Adjusting to a civilian lifestyle poses problems for many of our returning warriors. We can help in that transition by making businesses aware of the challenges and the opportunities.
In our next interview, we will introduce you to US Bank’s efforts with veterans that go far beyond providing them with jobs. We also discovered that Ricoh has an ambitious hiring veterans’ effort. We will continue to look for other organizations that have well-established programs for veterans. We will close out this series with a piece about Memorial Day in our May issue. We believe it is appropriate that we pause to honor our fallen heroes. They went to war and did not have to worry about finding a job because they never came home.
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