2. Veteran’s Outreach
This PowerPoint serves as an initial proposal for Walmart to offer a
class for Veterans, not to help Veterans improve their interview
skills or edit their resume, but to help Veterans translate the work
skills they learned in the military into civilian work place skills. This
class would take a completely different approach compared to what
other organizations offer Veterans. In turn, Walmart could expand
it’s network and sphere of influence.
3. Veteran’s Outreach
STATISTICS –
1. According to Ted Wadsworth (2012), Helmets to
Hardhats Marketing Coordinator, “Each year, over
250,000 Veterans leave the U.S. military to enter
the civilian job market.”
2. According to the Department of Veterans
Affairs, as of September 2012, there were nearly
900,000 Veterans in Ohio. Of those 900,000
Veterans, there were 649,000 wartime
Veterans, 198,000 Gulf War Veterans and 317,000
Vietnam Veterans.
3. According to Tom Philpott (2012), a reporter with
JDNews.com, the Army will cut 60,000 Soldiers
from their ranks by 2017. The Marine Corps will
cut 5,000 Marines from their ranks each year over
the next four years.
4. Veteran’s Outreach
BACKGROUND –
According to Ohio.com, Ohio is sixth in the United States for having
the largest Veteran population (2012). Communicating with nearly
900,000 Veterans about the benefits their entitled to on the local,
state and federal level poses a challenge to both the military and
individual states receiving separating military members. The
military transition assistance program is not uniform throughout
the Armed Services. While the Marine Corps gives all separating
Marines two weeks of classes and workshops on a variety of topics
ranging from building a resume to interview techniques, the Air
Force only recently transitioned from a voluntary transition
assistance class to making the class mandatory for separating
Airmen.
5. Veteran’s Outreach
A lot of information can get lost throughout the transition process from
military member to Veteran, because there is a lack of uniformity. For
instance, I never learned about the county’s Veteran Service Commission
in my transition class. When I got back to Ohio, there were no classes I
knew about to help me with interviewing. The biggest challenge in getting
Veterans employed and job ready is effectively communicating with
Veterans about their benefits and helping them translate their military
skills into concise business verbiage civilian executives can relate to.
Veterans need to translate the work skills they learned in the military to
relevant work skills they can use in the civilian work environment like
conflict management.
6. Conflict Management
1. For many military members, conflict management might mean
effectively using an M-16 rifle or disarming an improvised
explosive devise for instance. Or, it might mean practicing
martial arts under the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program
(MCMAP). Arguably, many military members don’t know how to
effectively manage conflict in the workplace. These skills need
brought to a new level.
7. Veteran’s Outreach
THE PROGRAM –
TARGET AUDIENCE – the primary target audience would be
unemployed Veterans and the second target audience would be
underemployed Veterans. Additionally, those who work with Veterans
would benefit from this class by giving them a new perspective on
what employers expect from employees.
TIMEFRAME – This would be a week long class. Many unemployed
Veterans struggle finding transportation to and from appointments.
So, the shorter this class/workshop is the better.
CONTENT – This workshop will cover the following lessons: conflict
management in the workplace, the five principles of successful
management and delegation, developing solutions that address the
source of the problem, developing employees through feedback and
solutions, reinforcing behavior through positive recognition, managing
up, networking, local Veteran resources and change management.
WHERE – This class would ideally be held at the store of learning at
Walmart. Additionally, this class could be used as a scouting tool for
HR to recruit highly qualified Veterans.
8. Veteran’s Outreach
How We’ll Get the Word Out to Veterans –
1. We’ll build a relationship with key local Veteran organizations
and state agencies (i.e. Job and Family Services). The
Cuyahoga County Veteran Service Commission has a terrific
and effective Veteran and employer outreach specialist, Bryan
A. McGown (also a retired Marine) who serves a variety of
Veterans on a daily basis who are either under or unemployed
and looking for new opportunities. Ideally, this person could
refer Veterans to this class.
2. We’ll communicate with the military services and gauge who is
getting out of the military and returning to Ohio. There are key
positions throughout the military we could coordinate with. For
instance, there is a Marine for Life coordinator in the local
Cleveland area who networks with Marines of all eras; even the
Marines who are currently exiting the Marine Corps.
9. Resources
1. Wadsworth, T. (2012). Military veteran offers
recruiters a reliable talent pipeline. Retrieved
February 10, 2013 from
http://info.helmetstohardhats.org/content/career/
military-veteran-offer-recruiters-a-reliable-talent-
pipeline.
2. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2012). National
Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics.
Retrieved February 10, 2013 from
http://www.va.gov/vetdata/Veteran_Population.as
p.
3. Philpott, T. (2012). Army, Marines to shield quality
in 80,000-force drawdown. Retrieved February 10,
2013 from
http://www.jdnews.com/news/military/army-
marines-to-shield-quality-in-80-000-force-
drawdown-1.28195.
10. Resources
4. Ohio.com. States with largest veteran population.
Retrieved February 10, 2013 from
http://www.ohio.com/news/local/states-with-
largest-veterans-populations-1.320764.
