For years I’ve called this weekend’s annual holiday: Veteran’s Day. And I’ve been wrong. Given that I was in the Army for twenty-one years, shame on me! Webster’s states that the grammatical rationale for no apostrophe is that Veterans Day does not belong to veterans, rather it is a day for honoring all veterans. So, who does the day belong to? All of us – those who have served, families, friends, and those who serve veterans, which includes HR professionals across our nation!
Research tells us what I already know – there are inherent challenges in the hiring and retention of veterans and for organizations as they navigate the path from “veteran friendly” to “veteran ready.” Yet, research also tells us that veterans are outstanding employees who are helping their organizations succeed.
That’s why the SHRM Foundation launched a new initiative in early 2017 to make a measurable impact on the hiring and retention of military veterans. Through this initiative, the SHRM Foundation will deliver scholarships and solutions to help empower HR professionals to build inclusive organizations where military veterans can thrive and organizations can succeed. This year, the Foundation awarded more than 20 scholarships to veterans and those dedicated to veteran hiring; hosted a day-long summit to advance the discussion of veteran hiring and retention with corporate, non-profit, and government thought leaders; and began creating projects and programs to be rolled out in 2018.
Cecilia (Cici) Clark is an Army veteran, and one of the Foundation’s 2017 scholarship winners. Her commitment to helping fellow veterans find jobs comes from a very special place – which she shared during the SHRM Foundation’s annual luncheon this past June. Learn more about Cici’s incredibly impactful story: http://bit.ly/HRandVets.
Like Cici, many HR professions have served in uniform. To support your work, LinkedHR and SHRM have kicked off a new group specifically for veterans and active duty folks who are in or interested in becoming HR professionals. Join the group and our discussions at: http://bit.ly/HR-Vets-1
On Veterans Day this Saturday, SHRM members will be side-by-side with service-members in ten cities across the country, leading discussions in workshops hosted by Starbucks, Workshop Mercantile and PsychArmor. You can watch as the SHRM Facebook page will live-stream from Philadelphia at 2pm ET. Also, follow and join the conversation on Twitter via the #HRandVets hashtag.
As a veteran and a proud SHRM staff member, I am honored to share Veterans Day with each of you. Our work together– as veterans and HR professionals – can make a difference for veterans and organizations for years to come.
Andrew Morton is the Director of Veterans and Certification Affairs at SHRM.
In his role as the Director of Veterans and Certification Affairs at SHRM, Andrew Morton provides strategic leadership and direction for several of SHRM’s veteran, military-family, and disability hiring, retention and engagement programs. Andrew works with stakeholders across the military-service organizations to develop pathways for active-duty, veteran and military-family members to achieve relevant workforce credentials including SHRM’s Certification. Andrew also works with SHRM’s membership, and other partners to deliver resources that empower HR professionals, people managers, and business leaders in their inclusion-hiring, workforce-readiness, and employee-engagement efforts. This work includes SHRM’s initiative in support of second-chance employment through SHRM’s Getting Talent Back to Work initiative. He’s an award-winning speaker, delivering workshops and keynote sessions on the business case for and the business of integrating these highly-skilled talent pools into our workforce. In 2018, he was the contributing author to fellow-veteran Justin Constantine’s SHRM published book “From We Will to At Will- A Handbook for Veteran Hiring, Transitioning and Thriving in Today’s Workplace.”
Andrew also serves as spokesman for SHRM Certification in support of SHRM’s Chief Knowledge Officer, Dr. Alex Alonso. Prior to his current role within SHRM, Andrew spent five years serving as SHRM’s Director of Social Engagement, leading SHRM’s social media program and team.
Before joining SHRM in 2014, Andrew worked with a leading PR firm managing Fortune 500 brand and advocacy campaigns. Andrew is a retired Army Infantry-Officer who served in multiple leadership and command positions as well as overseas and combat tours including deployments to Iraq, Bosnia, Macedonia and Egypt. During his 21-year Army career Andrew also served in multiple senior public affairs positions including Chief of Media Outreach for Multi-National Force-Iraq, Chief of Marketing and Advertising for the Army Reserve, and the Director of Digital and Social Media for the Army Reserve.
Andrew is passionate about efforts to foster awareness and resources in support of mental health and our workplace- across all employees. Most importantly, Andrew serves as “Working-Dad” to his three wonderfully exhaustive kids at their home headquarters in Alexandria, VA.
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