Businesses Supporting Veterans

#HireAVeteran

The other day a Clifford Chance colleague who, like me, served in the British Army, said "I think there is a feeling amongst the veteran community that public support has waned a bit; there is some real despondency out there." It was a worrying observation.

Recent events in Afghanistan have been tough for veterans to process and support for Armed Forces charities has diminished considerably due to the pandemic. It is a challenging time for many service leavers. Nobody wants to see our armed forces community neglected after so much sacrifice in Afghanistan and Iraq – but the reality is, as most people will acknowledge, without ongoing proactive support and deliberate focus, the plight of the wounded (mental and physical) and the war-widowed is at best uncertain, even in our modern, advanced economy.

Over the last year in particular, there has been a drop-off in critical support for armed forces charities due to the pandemic and the lack of fundraising events.  I spoke with Nigel Boardman , Chair of the charity Help for Heroes who confirmed this:

"Like many other charities, the COVID 19 pandemic affected Help for Heroes’ fundraising and income, meaning that we lost around a third of our planned income last year. We rely on the generosity of the public and business for the vast majority of our income, so we were forced to develop cost reduction measures to protect our life-changing services.

I asked Nigel about the importance of employment opportunities for service leavers.

"We know that veterans are highly trained and highly skilled individuals and supporting veterans into employment is one important way organisations can help them re-gain their sense of purpose after leaving the armed forces"

So how can we help the business world employ more veterans? The answer must be to highlight the obvious benefits doing so brings to employers, and this is what I want to focus on.

In this respect, I have been inspired by an accomplished advocate for the veteran cause, Dan Wilkinson , who spent 18 years as an officer in the British Army and is now a specialist recruiter leading an excellent campaign on social media to #HireAVeteran. Dan is "championing veterans into the Energy Sector" and is passionate about broadcasting the many attributes which a service leaver brings with them to any business. He makes salient points and employers are listening.

I want to support his call to arms to #HireAVeteran as service leavers so frequently require help to transition to civilian life. This can be due to the difficulty they have conveying their skills and early leadership experience to civilian employers combined with their lack of strong professional networks.

The ex-military community is disproportionately represented in unemployment figures. A high proportion of service leavers also work in low-paid routine jobs or choose to re-train as a result of the difficulties of translating their military training and experience into "civvy speak", therefore not capitalising properly on what they bring with them from their military careers.   

Being both a commercial real estate solicitor and veteran, I have made some personal observations on how I see veterans being supported to fulfil their potential in the legal and real estate sectors respectively.

Veterans in the Law

The UK legal world has been slower to realise what has always been the case – that veterans step into the legal industry regularly and effectively. When I applied for training contracts, I realised the synergies between the law and the military – e.g. both require hard work and the ability to work effectively when sleep deprived! Some law firms, however, had determined other benefits of military experience. One firm I interviewed with – a law firm that specialised in dispute resolution – suggested that I should be a litigator given my experience with conflict… it was certainly an interesting parallel.

There has been a recent shift in the legal world's positioning around service leavers. This has been partially due to clients requiring their law firms demonstrate a commitment to military veterans within their Diversity and Inclusion offerings – for example, Barclays’ Global Supplier Diversity policy – all credit to Barclays for this and for their other work on initiatives such as the VETS programme. Also, Government (from the newish Office of Veterans' Affairs ("OVA ")) and MoD messaging has improved and the Armed Forces Covenant "proudly supporting those who serve" is a great example of this. When I left the military, few lawyers knew what the Armed Forces Covenant was (a public pledge to recognise the armed forces’ sacrifices and assist with professional disadvantages they may face) but now law firms are signing up fast. As a result, the legal industry is more focused on the importance of veterans and there is some really positive work being done and it can't be applauded enough.

My employer, Clifford Chance , takes their responsibility to the Armed Forces seriously and this inclusion was one of the factors that led me to work for Clifford Chance. The firm has a thriving Armed Forces Network and, along with Herbert Smith Freehills, Clifford Chance co-founded a pan-legal industry network comprising 48 law firms, the Military in Law Network MiLNet , to support military veterans, reservists and spouses in the legal industry and to advocate for their skills and experience to employers. It is getting traction in the sector .  

There is so much law firms can do to harness and utilise the potential of veterans.  Law firms value integrity, calmness under pressure and a high degree of professionalism – these attributes are all hardwired into a veteran's DNA. Veterans are also well suited to operational roles as the "soft skills" they can offer are well-honed and tested through adversity and the commitment and work ethic of a veteran is generally highly regarded.

I genuinely value my firm's contribution to veterans, and it is undeniably "good for the soul" to be a part of it. Building on MilNet and other initiatives (such as its partnership with the Invictus Games Foundation in 2019), I am proud that Clifford Chance has been awarded the Gold Award in this year’s Defence Employer Recognition Scheme , recognising outstanding support towards the Armed Forces community.

MiLNet is hosting a launch event in the City on Wednesday 20 October 2021 focused on how to drive support for veterans, reservists and spouses in the Law. It promises to be a great evening and it is just the sort of initiative we need.

Veterans in Real Estate

Outside the legal sector, the commercial real estate industry (my specialist area), is filled to the rafters with 'vets'. Just as they are suited to roles in law firms, they slot neatly into the world of the "built environment" where driving deals and large-scale portfolio management requires developed project management skills and administrative prowess. 

I recently interviewed Infogrid , an exciting Proptech firm at the cutting edge of optimising facilities and building management. I was not in the least bit surprised to discover the founder, Will Cowell de Gruchy is ex-Army and so are 5%+ of his staff. They are delivering smart building tech at scale and it’s a wonder to watch. Will sees the obvious benefits of hiring service leavers and puts it nicely:

"When you hire a veteran, you know for sure that you'll get pragmatism, a bias for action and problem-solving mentality. Come to a wall? A veteran will report back on how to go round, over or through it. As a fast growth start-up that's exactly what you need. Equally important, the military drives a culture of 'mission command' - contrary to popular misconception, it's not about being told specifically what to do - in the Army you are told 'this is the bigger mission, this is your part of it, go deliver'. That's exactly how we operate at Infogrid and how the best companies operate. Empowering the team to act autonomously and not micro-managing them. That's second nature to veterans. I will keep hiring them through the life of the company."

Over at CBRE , who are also Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award winners this year, Nick Wright (ex-Army) uses his leading expertise in Proptech to work with clients to identify opportunities for bespoke innovation – Nick says the value of a veteran is clear for all to see:

"Ex-forces people bring a new set of skills which support a more diverse range of approaches and opinions to facing new, changing and complex situations. In today’s agile and fast-paced working environment, seeing new opportunities, adapting to and leading change and carefully managing employee wellbeing are skills that will help organisations to remain ahead. These are the skills and traits of those with an armed forces background, developed through hours of training on teamwork, planning, communication and resilience. The armed forces are trained to lead and to make decisions under extreme pressure where success or failure can have life or death consequences. Armed forces personnel have excellent concepts of command and leadership, are trained to be self-analytical and to uphold the standards of their organisation throughout their role – making these individuals high performers in business."

Chris Hartley runs Forces In Real Estate ("FiRE") an impressive collective of individuals from across the real estate industry who are also service leavers. It has a huge membership and, in normal times, endless events for its members. Chris sees the benefits of employing veterans "as gaining reliable, trustworthy and dynamic individuals who are eager to blossom in a new industry as they start the next phase of their employment. The inherent team ethos and ‘can do’ attitude which sees the military thrive on operations overseas carries across effortlessly with veterans and more and more we are seeing them develop leading roles within the property sector. I wholeheartedly encourage all employers who have not dipped their toe in the veteran workforce pool to give it a serious consideration to bolster their existing workforce with effective and keen individuals; I have been doing so for the last thirteen years and would do it all again in a heartbeat.”

Other sectors

It's not just the property industry and the law where veterans are being supported either.

KPMG runs a great six-month internship scheme for service leavers with the vast majority going on to secure permanent employment. Barney Campbell , a veteran now in KPMG's private equity coverage team and the author of 'Rain' (published 2015), a novel about a young officer serving in Afghanistan , says: "KPMG's  Military Recruitment Scheme has been running for several years now and it continues to bear fruit. The firm recognises that recruiting from the ex-military talent pool is a great way of improving our diversity of thought and experience and getting proven team players involved across all our service lines. The firm makes sure that each person on the scheme is integrated as well as possible into their new team. What is great about it is that we know the ways in which many military leavers undersell themselves and their experiences, or struggle to translate them into ‘civilian speak’, and make sure we redress that and place them into roles commensurate with their personality and professional skills. It’s a great group of people and an excellent network to be a part of."

As do Schroders , whose well-developed internship scheme open to service leavers continues to work equally well for the business and veterans. Schroders have committed to support veterans into work because as Stuart Ellis , explains:

"Year on year the Schroders Armed Forces Scheme has proven that hiring service leavers provides the Group with talent that is motivated, adaptable and able to bring a diverse perspective to the workplace. The aim of Schroders scheme is to provide service leavers with a transition to civilian life that is as smooth as possible, honing their transferable skills to facilitate a successful start to their second career. Individuals are selected to join one of a number of business areas based on their unique skillset and experience, to ensure that both parties make the most of the opportunity. The high conversion rate from armed forces intern to permanent employee is testament not only to Schroders commitment to the armed forces, but also the quality of talent that is generated from this pool."

And Virgin Money, who are also Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award winners and have a great "Vets at Virgin" network.  I spoke with Lisa Keevash who spent 14 years in the Army (including operational tours in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan) and is now a Strategy Manager at Virgin Money.

I asked her whether there are additional challenges faced by women leaving the armed forces.

"Although female veterans face many of the same challenges as their male counterparts, employers seem to struggle more trying to understand the role females would have played during their military service. Civilians often fail to recognise women as veterans and transition programmes and veteran schemes are favourably geared towards male dominated professions. The military operates with a direct communication style. but society expects women to present differently and you have to completely change your communication style to conform to those expectations of how a women should present herself in the workplace. In addition, women are a minority in the military and have a smaller veteran’s network to tap into."

 So what can we do?

Employers can assist veterans by bearing in mind that where they may be short on commercial experience, they are likely to be strong in other valuable attributes. Employers should also not forget the military community when looking at their Diversity and Inclusion policies - as Lisa, points out above, service leavers, and particularly women veterans, can be stereotyped or subject to preconceptions which hinder them unfairly – particularly at the CV stage of recruitment. 

In the UK we could also look to the US, where having a service leaver support function is increasingly expected by big business. Tim Cornell , a Clifford Chance US Partner and veteran, told me:

"US employers are particularly accepting of the benefits veterans bring to the table: proven leadership, integrity, and strong organizational skills. The US is abound with programs that support and hire veterans. Indeed, veteran status is recognized by many US companies as a diverse category.

Veterans in particular find opportunities at technology, energy, consulting, and medical device companies (e.g., Intel reports that seven percent of its workforce are veterans) as well as at defense contractors and military suppliers, or in other aspects of the government. The US Department of Labor has a variety of programs and initiatives that encourage the hiring of veterans (many of which are listed here: Hire a Veteran - It's The Smart Choice ).

In the US, veterans also have opportunities in the law. Many veterans serve legal roles in the military (for example in the Judge Advocate General Corps) and then transition to private practice or work for different arms of the government. Others attend law school post-service. Law firms are particularly attracted to veterans for their strong work ethic and unique perspectives. Firms like Clifford Chance embrace veteran status and offer programs to help law students who served succeed in the job marketplace. We also support veterans though a myriad of pro bono programs aimed at getting veterans the benefits they deserve."

As a nation, we simply don't treat our veterans and reservists and their spouses like they do in the US - it’s an overused phase but there really is more to do. Whilst there is undoubtedly positive action from many businesses, there is definitely more that can be done to truly tap into the skills and experience which service leaders offer.

So, I am going to be helping our Armed Forces Network, MiLNet and any clients I can, to focus their support and develop what we can offer service leavers as a business community. I am going to continue to advise veterans on approaching the law and applying for training contracts. I am also due to take part in an upcoming OVA workshop looking at some of the potential commitments which the Government intends to bring forward as part of the next Strategic Action Plan (SAP) for the period 2022-2024. A number of these commitments will relate to maximising employability for veterans. I am looking forward to getting involved and helping to spread the simple message that employers who hire veterans are seldom disappointed.

Finally, it is perhaps important to emphasise that in advocating for veterans, we are not talking about preferential treatment. I am not suggesting veterans should get patted on the back and offered free drinks at the bar just for serving (although that would be fine!) but I do think assisting them to jump the brook between the military and civilian worlds is something that all employers should consider because, as the above comments make clear, it pays off. In short, #HireAVeteran.