The Science of Recruiting, Hiring, and Training Veterans for the Civilian Workforce

Lorin MuellerDan J. Putka

Kristin N. Saboe

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Applying I-O Science to Support the Transitioning of Veterans to Civilian Work

Dan J. Putka

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

• Putting the value of I-O in context

• Transitioning veterans to civilian work

• Takeaways

Overview

• The goal of any organization is to achieve its mission – its purpose

• Missions are achieved through people

• People aim to find work that is satisfying and meets their needs

People are Critical

Effective human capital management (HCM) policies, procedures, and systems are required

These processes allow organizations to retain a high performing, satisfied workforce

Successful Organizations

For nearly a century, I-O psychologists have been conducting research on how best to recruit, hire,

train, manage, and retain a workforce

I-O provides the science behind these processes

I-O Scientific Expertise

I-O psychologists also help design, implement, and improve these processes in practice

I-O psychologists can be found in in most large private-sector organizations, and large civilian and

military agencies

I-O Expertise in Practice

Labor Sources Civilian “On-Boarding”SchoolsCivilian Jobs Veterans

Transitioning of Veterans

1. Difficulty in understanding how military skills and experience translate to civilian jobs

• Issue for veterans and organizations • Hundreds of military specialties, 1000+ of civilian occupations• Lack of direct analogues for several high density military specialties (e.g., 11B - Infantry)

Challenge

1. Difficulty in understanding how military skills and experience translate to civilian jobs

How can I-O help?• Expertise on how jobs differ and their requirements• Well-established methods for linking skills – tasks – jobs• Ability to offer a common “job” language grounded in science

How can I-O help?

2. Measuring characteristics of veterans and jobs, and evaluating their “fit” requires specialized expertise

• What is best to measure? • How best to measure it?• How best to evaluate fit?

Challenge

2. Measuring characteristics of veterans and jobs, and evaluating their “fit” requires specialized expertise

How can I-O help?• I-Os have been studying “person-job fit" for decades• Well-established frameworks and standards for describing

and validly measuring people and jobs• Expertise with measuring all major influencers of fit, such as

aptitudes – knowledge/skills – work values – interests

How can I-O help?

3. Veterans can face difficulty transitioning because their skills and experience may not be immediately transferable to civilian jobs

• Misfit and gaps happen• How best to deal with those gaps and “re-tool”?

Challenge

3. Veterans can face difficulty transitioning because their skills and experience may not be immediately transferable to civilian jobs

How can I-O help?• Deep understanding of “malleability” of individual differences• Expertise in best closure of gaps (e.g., hiring vs. training issue)• Expertise on design and evaluation of training interventions• Expertise on classification of personnel across jobs

How can I-O help?

I-O psychology offers foundational, scientific and practical expertise in areas critical to the transitioning of veterans:

• Helping organizations recruit, hire, train, manage, and retain a high performing, satisfied workforce

• Helping veterans identify satisfying work that meets their needs

• Translating military skills and experience to civilian work

• Validly and reliably measuring veterans, jobs, and their match

• Helping veterans “re-tool” for civilian work

Takeaways

I-O Science in Practice:Programs and Policies to Support Veterans’

Transitioning to Civilian Work

Kristin N. Saboe

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

• Veteran’s Transition Initiative: Pilot Program

• Program Assessment & After Action Review

• I-O as a multi-purpose tool

Overview

• Pilot Program began in 2011

• Mission: SIOP volunteers provide vocational coaching to transitioning veterans

• Coaching and training focused on - Cultural transition

- Career exploration- Translating military experience into civilian verbiage

SIOP’s Veterans Transition Initiative

• Veterans are skeptical of assistance - Crowded marketplace

- Military cultural disconnect • Culturally, transitioning to the civilian workforce is akin to

working in a foreign country – translators needed • Military timeline for separation does not parallel hiring in

a civilian job market

After Action Review

• Services for Veterans- Modeled after pilot coaching program- Focused on translating skills & interests

• Consult universities and corporations on veteran transition issues and hiring

• Serve as SME’s on panels and committees

• Engage in public relations efforts -

SIOP’s Veterans Transition Initiative 2.0

1. Veterans need assistance with translating unique experiences into civilian applications and timely assistance that coincides with their motivation.

How can I-O help?• Expertise in conducting job analyses and identifying KSAOs• Serving as inter-organizational translators• Appreciation for the benefits of individual differences

Organizational & Policy Insights

2. The cultural transition is akin to starting a new job on foreign soil

How can I-O help?• Consultants on cultural change and employee transition• Authors of employee onboarding programs• Experts in cultural and organizational culture and fit

Organizational & Policy Insights

3. The military assigns jobs; the civilian job market requires job seeking and proactivity

How can I-O help?• “Insider knowledge” of hiring practices and procedures• Experts in employee motivation• Authors of the largest occupational database, O*NET, amongst

other job aptitude assessments and benchmarking tools

Organizational & Policy Insights

• How do we know policy and programs are effective?- I-Os are experts in measurement and psychometrics

• I-Os serve as an internal audit mechanism that seeks to promote employee’s health, well-being, and productivity

Organizational & Policy Insights

Lorin Mueller - LMueller@aon.fsbpt.org

Dan J. Putka - dputka@humrro.org

Kristin N. Saboe - kristin.saboe@gmail.com

http://www.siop.org/

Questions?