Every country, barring a very miniscule
minority, maintains armed forces. These forces, irrespective of their size and
might comprise men and women who are trained to be fighters. They are a
focussed, disciplined lot who are perseverant in their approach and whose only
aim is to win for the unit and the country. This manpower is tuned to operate
under the most stressful environment and take decisions on the spot. In their
profession, wrong decisions don’t lead to loss of customers but loss of lives.
The burden of which, one may have to carry for the balance of life. Hence, their
decisions are quick, taken after analysing the situation properly and are not
hasty. These people have worked on the cutting edge of technology. Not just
operating these technologies but also understanding them, developing them and
maintaining them.
It is thus no surprise that management
concepts and tools were originally developed for the military. The wonder, that
is the internet was originally developed for the military. The largest of the
cargo aircraft commenced lives as military aircraft. There is no dearth of
technologies that were developed or are being developed for the military and
then seeped into the commercial world. The corollary to this is that, it were
the military people who operated and maintained these technologies when they
were not available to the commercial world. What I want to bring out is that
military people are smart, intelligent people who can handle different kinds of
problems, manage different types of people and understand and operate the
latest technologies.
Another important aspect of the military
service is the diversity of jobs a person handles during the period of service.
Especially the officer cadre have an extremely wide exposure in various field
and managerial roles. They may have experience in operating plants, maintaining
systems, design, operations etc. They cannot excel in such wide variety of
roles if they are not quick learners. That means in addition to the qualities I
brought out earlier, they are quick learners and can implement the learnt
skills quickly. They are not type cast and they do not grow in silos.
Most countries, including India retire
their military people young in order to maintain the young age profile to maintain
a fit and winning military. As a result, a veteran has many years of working
life left when he hangs his boots. Many countries participate actively in
resettling these veterans in the civil life, and that includes India. There are
resettlement course which the veteran officers undergo at the best of the
B-Schools and men undergo at various vocational training establishments. The
forces attempt to make them ready for the business world too.
I have come across a number of international
companies who have special programs for veteran second life. But these firms, I
assure you, do not hire veterans because of just the gratitude for the military
service they put in. It makes good business sense to have such smart, versatile,
focussed and disciplined people with a winning instinct in one’s firm.
Why? Because, in this fiercely competitive business
world you need such people amidst you to win. People who can push sales, who
will not take no for an answer. People who refuse to give up. Large scales and
wide geographical dispersal of operations requires delegation of duty. Here you
need people who learn on the move, who can analyse the situation and are
decisive. People who take quick decisions and don’t dither while taking
difficult decisions. People who can visualise issues holistically and identify
the strategic roadmap for growth. Innovative people who know how to make do
with the minimum resources.
Unfortunately, it seems, these aspects of a
veteran are not understood by the Indian corporations. For the Indian companies,
the idea of a veteran is somebody who protected the country while serving the
borders. They are looked upon as guards and not professionals and that is what
is offered to them. Administration and Security is the most frequently offered
profile. Let me be blunt. It is not the most lucrative profile for a fighter. It,
in fact is a major put off. The veteran is a person of action, an intelligent
human being who can do wonders. Please do not shackle him down with the
mundane.
Due to the steeply hierarchical structure
of the military, many a bright officers stagnate. They quit not for anything
but lack of growth. And the first option given to him in the civil world is
again mundane job lacking growth.
A few Indian companies do hire veterans in
all roles and they now do it enthusiastically because they get very high
quality manpower for cheap. The veteran is offered less money and he agrees to
work for less because of the pension he may be getting from the Govt of India. But
this is something that I will deliberate in another post. The more important reason
for repeat hiring of veterans is the excellent response they get from these
veterans and the advantage they gain due to the traits these people developed
in military.
I want to make the Indian corporations and
the HR recruiters aware of the quality manpower that veterans make. Their
Resumes may have terminologies you do not understand and may not have the
specific acronyms you are looking for. But let me assure you that they have
either already worked in similar profiles or are capable of learning and executing
in a short span of time. I know, it is difficult to hire someone in this
cutthroat business world if you are not comfortable with the profile. But the
point is, that the two sheets of paper do not do justice to what veterans are
capable of doing. Talk to them, don’t shove those resumes in waste paper bins
just because a few acronyms are missing. There is an Indian saying – “ A monkey
does not know, how does the ginger taste” which means, if you do not try
something, you will never know its qualities.
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