By John J. McCaffrey Jr. CEBS, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, GBA
UNITE HERE Sr. Human Resources Director

NYC SHRM Workforce Readiness Chair

November 11 is Veterans Day, a day to appreciate and honor the contributions of our veterans. 

Some background:

• For 246 years, they have fought to defend the sacred freedoms that we hold most dear.
• For fifty-one years, the country’s military has been an all-volunteer force. 
• The Afghanistan war was the longest war in U.S. history.
• The theme of this year’s Veterans Day is “A Legacy of Loyalty and Service.”

The value of hiring veterans and their partners is well documented. 

SHRM and NYCSHRM have launched several veterans’ initiatives to honor veterans and their partners.

Back in 2015, under the leadership of Linda Caffin and Janet Hoffman, followed by the presidencies of Janet Reisel, Stuart Friedman, Kenneth Meyer, and our current leader, Alex Salas, NYC SHRM initiated several efforts. 

In addition to the usual webinars, we created strategic partnerships, which allow our members to directly assist transitioning veterans and offer high quality candidates to recruiting organizations.

Working with NYC SHRM Workforce Readiness SIG co-chair Beth Schefflan,  met Tom Murphy, who had read in 2010 a “call to action to assist troubled soldiers” in a Memorial Day Op-Ed published by the NY Daily News. Upon reading this editorial, Tom was inspired in 2011 to create the Edge4Vets program.

The Edge4Vets is a cutting-edge program enrolling transitioning veterans to prepare for the civilian workforce.  Veterans register for a free on-line course in preparation to enroll in the PLAN4SUCCESS workshop. At the workshop, veterans are teamed with volunteer HR professionals for in-person support.  HR professionals provide guidance and feedback to the veterans, and translate their military strengths, including values and skills, into recruitment plans.  Program graduates have the opportunity to meet with partner companies to explore opportunities.

Edge4Vets holds these workshops twice a year. 

On November 14, 2018, the Volunteer Leaders’ Summit SHRM launched the Veterans at Work certificate program and trained newly appointed inclusion captains – HR professionals from around the country — to launch programming and activities to educate their peers on the value of hiring veterans, and introduce them to the Veterans at Work program.  The SHRM foundation, partnering with Comcast NBC Universal, created this free educational program to build more inclusive workplaces and focus on how best to hire and retain veterans and their spouses. 

I was honored to be a member of this inaugural group.

The Veterans at Work Certificate program is free, and HR professionals can earn 10 professional development credits toward a SHRM recertification.

Hundreds of HR professionals have completed this program.

In the spring of 2019, we learned about the VETS Indexes’ Employing Veterans Conference and employer awards.

VETS Indexes is an independent provider of custom indexes within the Environmental, Social and Governance arena. VETS Indexes provides a social impact via those public companies that support the hiring and professional development of military veterans.

Working with Nicholas Antaki, Chief Marketing Officer & Managing Director, NYC SHRM and SHRM worked together to create a workshop headed by Andrew Morton, Director of Special Engagement at SHRM.

In 2021, the SHRM foundation, with support from the USAA and USSA Foundations, rebranded the program and launched an ambassador workshop to train and mobilize HR leaders to address the significant impact of barriers, such as the COVID19 pandemic, that must be overcome by the military community and their families in order to seek employment.

Beth moved to a different NYC SHRM SIG, and Brent Gallenberger became the Workforce Readiness co-chair. From there we pursued our strategic partnerships. 

We designed an ambitious program to provide opportunities for members to benefit disadvantaged groups. Members volunteer one hour to do mock interviews with various disadvantaged groups, including transitioning veterans, the social-justice-impacted, people returning to the workforce, and graduating high school students not enrolling in college.  We called this “Pay It Forward.”  COVID and the post-pandemic scuttled our plan.

In 2023, we expanded our partnership with Edge4Vets. Under Tom Murphy’s leadership we created a full cycle recruitment model. Collaborating with the NYC Department of Veterans, veterans returning to NYC are referred by the U.S. Defense Dept. to the NYC Department of Veterans TAPS unit, and enrolled in the Edge4Vets PLAN4SUCCESS program. Upon completing the training, the veterans undergo a mock interview by a NYC SHRM member. The purpose is to educate the veterans on how to prepare and practice their interview skills in a safe space.  Also, Sansaptak De became the Workforce Readiness co-chair.

Earlier this year, NYCSHRM became the education sponsor of VETS Indexes’ twice a year conferences, and for the first time, SHRM and HRCI are offering re-certification credits.

The SHRM Foundation with support from USAA has also launched the Military Community Ambassador program.

Numerous SHRM and NYCSHRM volunteers have turned all of these initiatives into overwhelming successes.

So, this Veterans Day, if you want to do more than shop for discounts, please join us.

Things to do:
Join the NYCSHRM Workforce Readiness SIG
https://www.nycshrm.org/mpage/p/?l=special-interest-groups
Volunteer one hour for a mock interview
https://www.nycshrm.org/mpage/p/?l=special-interest-groups
Complete the SHRM Foundation Veterans at Work Certificate Program
https://store.shrm.org/SHRM-Foundation-Veterans-at-Work-Certificate-Program
Be a mentor at an Edge4Veterans Workshop
https://edge4vets.org/index.html

Attend the Employing U.S. Vets Conference – April 10 hybrid –
https://employingusvets.com/
Become A Military Community Ambassador
https://www.shrm.org/foundation/military-community-ambassadors
Nominate Your Employer for the Veterans Program
https://vetsindexes.com/employer-awards/