By Casey Lucius, Ph.D., Assistant City Manager, City of Marco Island, 50 Bald Eagle Drive Marco Island, FL 34145, clucius@cityofmarcoisland.com
I’m going to keep this article short and sweet. I admit I’m biased on this topic because I am a veteran and I see the value in hiring veterans in local government. I serve on the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Veterans Outreach Advisory Committee, and one of our goals is to bring awareness to local governments regarding the benefits of hiring veterans. So here goes.
Three Reasons to Hire a Veteran:
- People who served in the military have worked with diverse groups of people. They‘re comfortable among different age groups, cultures, races and genders. Cultural sensitivity can bring about greater productivity, trust and collaboration.
- Veterans are adaptable and learn quickly. People in the military move every two or three years. When they move, they start working for a new boss and they have new co-workers, job duties and expectations – and they adapt. The technical skills and the managerial skills they learn in the military can be quickly tailored to meet the needs of local governments.
- Veterans understand the value of documenting best practices and lessons learned. In the military, we write everything down. There’s a binder for everything! Military members maintain a written standard operating procedure (SOP), which ensures that when they move in two years, the next person can pick up where they left off. They also write down when things go wrong so the next person doesn’t make the same mistakes. This practice can benefit local governments, and veterans come to the organization knowing exactly how to do it.
Three Ways to Recruit a Veteran:
- Contact your County’s Veteran Outreach Office. These offices often host job fairs for veterans, so be sure you know when these are happening so your organization can participate. This site has a list of Veteran Service Officers in each Florida County: org/locations.
- If there is a college or university in your City or County, connect with the Veteran Student Center. Let the career counselors at the university know what positions are available and what skill sets or knowledge areas your organization needs.
- If you don’t have one already, utilize resources from the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs to develop a Veterans Preference hiring policy. This doesn’t mean you have to hire the veteran candidate, but you should at least offer him or her an interview. Give the veteran candidate a chance to show how their skills will contribute to your organization.
Three Things to Avoid When Recruiting or Hiring a Veteran:
- Don’t overlook a veteran candidate because they don’t have local government experience. Most veterans understand how government works, both the political side and the functional side. Furthermore, most veterans joined the military because they wanted to serve their country. Serving in local government is similar, except it’s closer to the people and we can see the results faster. This can be extremely rewarding for someone who genuinely likes government and wants to serve.
- Don’t box veterans into a public safety role. There is an automatic comradery between veterans and police/fire personnel, but keep in mind that a veteran’s experience could make them useful in finance, logistics, IT, maintenance, contracting and management. They will come to you with a range of experiences, so be mindful not to box them into one role.
- Don’t assume every veteran participated in a conflict or war. It’s been my observation that those who have engaged in warfare don’t want to talk about it. And those who did not deploy also don’t want to talk about it. Specifically, they don’t want to highlight their desk assignments while their friends and colleagues were deployed. Instead, ask about what skills they gained in the military rather than asking about specific experiences. Keep in mind that it can be uncomfortable talking about some military experiences.
Final Thoughts
The chart below is from a July 2021 PM Magazine article regarding recruiting and hiring veterans in local government by Justin M. Stritch, Associate Professor and Research Affiliate at the Center for Organization Research and Design at Arizona State University (ASU), Ulrich Jensen, Associate Professor in ASU’s School of Public Affairs, and David Swindell, Associate Professor and Director of ASU’s Center for Urban Innovation. After surveying 911 cities and 575 counties, they found that military veterans outperform their civilian counterparts in several areas, with work ethic, teamwork and reliability coming in the highest. According to their article, human resources directors also ranked the skills that military experience enhances, and the top responses were teamwork, problem-solving and planning/organization. These are all key ingredients for local government success, and even if a veteran comes to you without the specific technical skills, rest assured that they will learn quickly and adapt to your organization’s needs. Not only will a veteran make a unique contribution, they will likely enhance the day-to-day operations of your City or County.
