IVMF Partners with GE to Launch Employer Toolkit to Recognize, Recruit Veteran Talent in Business and Industry

Newswise — The Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University (IVMF) and GE have announced a partnership to empower the nation's employers to adopt a collaborative and strategic approach to veteran employment. GE is both lead corporate sponsor of the IVMF's Veteran Employment Leading Practices: Tools for Engaging Talent toolkit and an IVMF flagship partner, supporting the institute's work to improve the employment situation of veterans and their families. Available at toolkit.vets.syr.edu, the resource builds on work begun by the IVMF with support from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Robin Hood in collaboration with McKinsey & Company and information from more than 40 private sector businesses. Veteran Employment Leading Practices-curated contributions by many stakeholders, useable by everyone-will contain resources for executive leaders, human resources professionals, veteran employees and peer co-workers designed to promote the business case for recruiting, hiring, retaining and advancing veterans in careers in the private sector. It will be organized into four main categories:• Leadership (executive engagement) • Preparedness (workforce development and preparation)• HR Processes, Practices & Tools (human resources practices)• Co-Worker & Peer Resources (employee engagement) McKinsey & Company and Robin Hood have been critical partners in the design and preparation of tools for these categories, particularly in the Leadership component with a focus on executive engagement. McKinsey helps the world's leading private, public and social sector organizations meet their most pressing management challenges and is pleased to contribute its capabilities to help employers capture the distinctive opportunity veterans bring to the civilian workforce. "Robin Hood is proud to have played a part in bringing the IVMF and GE together for this important work which will help more veterans find meaningful work," says David Saltzman, executive director of Robin Hood. "Through Robin Hood's Veterans Initiative, we have created a partnership with New York City's Workforce1 program which placed over 800 veterans and their spouses in jobs last year. Thanks in part to programs like the IVMF's new toolkit, we hope to be able to increase that figure by 50 percent this year, resulting in greater economic stability and prosperity for veterans and their families." The partnership behind the toolkit is part of a broader coalition effort, Get Skills to Work, announced by GE which aims to help close the U.S. "skills gap"-specifically in advanced manufacturing-by providing employers with tools they need to recruit, hire, onboard and mentor veterans, an underutilized talent resource. Many veterans express a continuing need to "be of service" to a cause greater than themselves, and American competitiveness in manufacturing is critical to economic security, and to the careers and financial security of the nation's veterans and their families. "The IVMF will contribute our sector-leading employment practices work to the Get Skills to Work coalition and bridge our partnerships with the JPMC-lead 100,000 Jobs Mission Coalition, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Hiring Our Heroes initiative, and other business, industry, and government partnerships focused on the demand-side of veteran employment," says Mike Haynie, IVMF executive director and founder. "We are excited by this partnership which exemplifies Syracuse University's broad commitment to veterans, building on work established during the post-World War II GI Bulge, to educate and prepare America's veterans, military members and families for careers." The IVMF has collected and shared leading practices from over 40 private sector leaders through its Guide to Leading Policies, Practices & Resources: Supporting the Employment of Veterans and Military Families, and has authored and distributed The Business Case for Hiring a Veteran: Beyond the Cliches, a report highlighting 10 research-informed propositions on the value of veterans in competitive business environments. Veteran Employment Leading Practices: Tools for Engaging Talent will serve as a portal to these practices, and importantly, as a central collection point for business, industry, NGO, veterans service organizations and government partners to share resources. "We encourage stakeholders in veteran employment to share their tools with their peers, and to work with the IVMF collaboratively to contribute information, share challenges and collectively solve them, and participate in dialogue that the IVMF and our partners convene," says James Schmeling, IVMF managing director and co-founder. "We want to work with every company, business association and HR group interested in learning about or sharing information on employing veterans, including information technology, operations, advanced manufacturing and other fields."