Mission Critical

The Center for Talent Innovation's new study, Mission Critical: Unlocking the Value of Veterans in the Workforce, reveals how companies can ensure their veteran talent thrives in the corporate world. Veterans represent a highly desirable talent pool when they transition to civilian careers. They retain the passion for service and camaraderie that drew them into the military, and they bring leadership and technical skills honed in a pressure cooker. In recent years, corporate employers have demonstrated they understand the potential of this valuable cohort by greatly increasing their recruitment efforts. Yet once veterans get through the doors of corporations, they languish. In a matter of months many ambitious, skilled veterans lose their drive, failing to fulfill their leadership potential-more than half say they don't aspire to hold a more senior position. Many of the remainder feel stalled in their careers.
Why? First, leaders don't understand their potential. Second, veterans feel distant from their teams and cover their veteran identity in an effort to get closer. Third, they hunger for meaning and purpose at work, something they found in the military but lack in civilian jobs. Mission Critical explores these factors in-depth, especially as they affect women and veterans of color, and offers solutions to companies intent on keeping their veteran talent from tuning out and stalling out.

Michael Abrams is president and founder of Four Block, and serves as commanding officer of Battery M, 3rd Battalion, in the US Marine Reserves. Abrams served on active duty in the US Marine Corps for nearly eight years, then earned an MBA in finance, entrepreneurship, and innovation from New York University's Stern School of Business. He is a coauthor of Networking for Veterans, an adjunct professor at Fordham University, and an advisor to CTI.
Julia Taylor Kennedy is vice president and senior fellow at the Center for Talent Innovation. A graduate of Yale University and Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, she has reported for NPR and has moderated discussions on major platforms like the United Nations. She also hosts a Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs podcast called Impact: Where Business and Ethics Meet.