Written by Lee Kirby, Co-Founder & Chairman of Salute Mission Critical
The military training program is extensive. Veterans gain many valuable skills that are overlooked in colleges and tech schools, but are key to success on the job. Two I have great appreciation for, and we have fully integrated into our project delivery practices, are understanding the importance of rules of engagement and effective communications while deployed. These traits become second nature and are absolutely critical in hostile environments. What many hiring managers do not realize is these skills translate into a highly effective civilian worker that can be sent anywhere to do anything, with the assurance that key milestones will be communicated, and help requested if needed.
Before our teams deploy to a project, they are given a project kickoff briefing (military term is mission briefing, short version 5Ws) that covers the project scope, communication protocols, policies, and procedures for that site. That deliberate milestone ensures client and employee satisfaction because expectations are clearly set. A key part of the project briefing, just like in the military, is that the details of that project are integrated into our command centers (our distributed facilities that are staffed 24×7) so our teams can deploy with the assurance support is available as needed. Our command centers function just like in the military, in addition to supporting projects, they monitor many sites, and dispatch the right resources when needed.
The fabric of the Salute service model has been built on the proven methods that the military uses to deploy and support those deployed. It is also one more example of how quickly a veteran can integrate by correlating the skills and experience they gained in a different situation but executing in a similar manner. Effective communications and coordination is the key to any service model. Veterans transitioning to civilian roles have been trained to operate in this model and in the most extreme conditions. Salute clients benefit from this training and our model, all hiring managers should think about the skills that veterans bring to the table that are often overlooked.