Military Hiring Strategy Outlined in The American Oil & Gas Reporter

Orion Account Executives Dave Lehmkuhl and Mike Harvey were published last month in the March 2011 issue of The American Oil & Gas Reporter. Their article, “Hiring Military Veterans Calls For Plan”, explores why and how corporations should develop a strategic approach to hiring veterans. Lehmkuhl and Harvey break their suggested plan down into three steps: Develop a strategic plan; Focus and prepare internal resources; and Establish an aggressive, systematic, and thorough hiring process.

Develop a Strategic Plan: Companies with the most successful veteran hiring initiatives also have the most well-thought-out strategy. Lehmkuhl and Harvey suggest that the same amount of planning that goes into identifying growth opportunities each year should also go into creating a hiring strategy for veterans. They point out, too, that the oil & gas industry has done this for quite a while now and in doing so has continually been able to identify strategic areas and positions for which veterans would be a great fit with room for growth. These hiring plans also usually include a goal of hiring a certain percentage of veterans for specific positions, as well as Leadership Development Programs and on-the-job training.

Focus and Prepare Internal Resources: One of the best ways to hire new veteran talent is to leverage the existing veteran talent within the company. While the veterans that already work at a company may not have been hired through a military hiring program, they are often the best asset a company has in developing one. It is also important to guarantee the buy-in of the actual hiring managers who will be managing the new hire. Lehmkuhl and Harvey cite a recent survey that showed that hiring managers attended the initial interviews of 27 out of 30 companies that sought to hire veterans. Once hired, these veterans also need advancement opportunities.

Establish an Aggressive, Systematic, and Thorough Hiring Process: The hiring process must be aggressive in that the company should be actively recruiting for the best talent. It should be systematic in that there should be a defined series of steps with a specific timeline. And finally, it should be thorough in that the screening and interview process should be detailed enough so as to pick the right candidate.

In conclusion, Lehmkuhl and Harvey suggest that to succeed with a military hiring strategy, the interview team should consist of a Human Resources Manager, the hiring manager(s), and an employee with military experience who can best identify a top-tier candidate. Doing this, in addition to the three steps outlined above could mean growth for the company that finds value in veterans. Click here to read the article.

Harvard Business Review Explores Adaptive Leadership as Found in the Military

In their November 2010 issue, Harvard Business Review ran a series of four articles on “Leadership Lessons from the Military.” Recently, we summarized “Which of These People is Your Future CEO”, which examined how branch of service affects leadership style. This week, Hire a Hero will focus on “Four Lessons in Adaptive Leadership” by Michael Useem.

In this article, Useem, a Professor of Management and the Director of the Center for Leadership and Change Manager at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in Philadelphia, explains why and how he incorporated four military leadership precepts into Wharton’s MBA and executive MBA programs. Useem points out that the military has been developing leaders much longer than the corporate world and that civilian leadership could take a page from the military’s playbook. The four precepts he discusses are ‘Meet the Troops’, ‘Make Decisions’, ‘Focus on Mission’, and ‘Convey Strategic Intent.’

Meet the Troops: In challenging times, it is important to create a personal connection with the people that will be carrying out your intent. To illustrate this point, Useem recalls when the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff visited Wharton’s MBA classrooms. Immediately upon entering, the four-star General walked up to the first row of students and began shaking hands and introducing himself. This same General adopted a policy of personal interaction earlier in his career when he was responsible for 92,000 troops. He found that a handshake or look in the eyes made an impression on his men and women that ensured retention of the mission with which he was charging them.

Make Decisions: Good decisions must be made in timely manner. To convey this point to his class, Useem took his MBA students to the U.S. Marine Corps’s Officer Candidate School in Quantico, VA., where they participated in Leadership Reaction and Combat courses. In one exercise, the students were instructed to perform a seemingly impossible feat in ten minutes. And while one team accomplished the task, they quickly learned that in that time it took them to decide how to accomplish the task, the enemy would most likely have taken up the position they were trying to occupy. The lesson was that decisions must be made fast and effectively. A Marine dictum further explains the need for effective decision-making: “When you’re 70% ready and have 70% consensus, act.” Ultimately, deliberation should be balanced with action.

Focus on Mission: It is important to establish a mission while eschewing personal gain. When several members of an executive team from a large financial firm participated in a Leadership Reaction course, similar to the one at Quantico, they were given physical trials with little guidance. During these trials, happening upon a splotch of red paint signified an explosive device. After watching their ranks dwindle, an after-action review revealed how this lesson applied to the financial world. A senior manager explained that often managers are not concerned when they see a colleague commit a career mistake (not unlike stepping on a red splotch of paint). Sometimes, a colleague’s mistake could mean a career boon for someone else. Ultimately, though, what is good for the individual is not always good for the company, just like in the military.

Convey Strategic Intent: It is important to define a clear objective while empowering subordinates to achieve it. For this lesson, Useem took his class to the Gettysburg battlefield. Here, at the end point of the Union line, his class learned how Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was instructed by a Union commander to hold the line or else they would be overrun. He was not told how to do so, only that he must accomplish this task. As the battle raged on and ammunition ran low, Chamberlain made the inventive decision to attach bayonets to their rifles and charge the Confederates, which drove them off. Had Chamberlain been micromanaged and told exactly what to do, he may have never turned to this little used tactic and the outcome of Gettysburg may have been much different. Useem points out that while a common goal should be established, good leaders rely on their subordinates’ ingenuity to achieve the goal.

While the military and corporate America have very different challenges and goals, Useem’s article illustrates just how important leadership lessons as taught by the military can be for civilian leaders. These four leadership principals in particular, taught in an innovative way to MBA candidates at Wharton, are invaluable in shaping corporate America’s future leaders. Click here to read the article.

Most Unusual Business Trip Experiences

Everyone has had odd experiences when traveling for business. But CareerBuilder has collected some of the weirdest in their latest survey:

“Woman next to me asked me for a drink from my water bottle."

“Our plane was stormed by the Columbian military who thought there was a drug lord on board.”

“A client mooned the plane.”

“A drunken passenger next to me insisted my headphones were a bomb.”

“A naked guy tried getting in my cab in Indonesia.”

“U.S. marshals arrested a passenger when the plane landed.”

“A guy next to me had a carry-on bag filled with candy, which he kept offering me over and over and over again.”

“A woman gave birth on the flight.”

“After waking up, I accidentally walked into the hotel’s hallway instead of the restroom in my underwear. Got locked out and could be viewed by the elevator which was all glass windows.”

“Manager punched a co-worker on the plane.”

“Fell asleep in the airplane restroom.”

Click here for original article.

Veteran Spotlight: Lisa Steptoe

Orion is continuing its 20th anniversary celebration this week by featuring another one of our very first placements, Lisa Steptoe. Steptoe, a United States Military Academy graduate, class of 1987, served five years in the Army as a Quartermaster, both in Fort Knox, KY, and West Point, NY. Having spent the last 20 years in the civilian workforce, Steptoe shared her transition and civilian career experience with Hire a Hero.

After separating from the Army in 1991, the first interview Orion set up for Steptoe was with Pfizer, and, in fact, Steptoe still has her Interview Schedule Card from that day. That interview was all it took, and Steptoe chose to start her career with Pfizer, in part because she liked everyone she interviewed with, and in part because it felt like a place where she could make a career.

Steptoe enjoyed a 17 year career with Pfizer, where she worked in Territory Sales and Hospital Sales; and served as Regional Account Manager. After spending one year with Schering Plough as an Institutional Channel Account Manager, and one year with Cumberland Pharmaceuticals as a Hospital Account Manager, Steptoe and her husband have built a healthcare and technical services company, Steptoe Group, LLC, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVOB) Business, where Steptoe serves as Business Development Manager & CFO.

Steptoe credits both her time at the U.S. Military Academy and her time in the military with preparing her to be a leader. “The concept of duty, honor, dedication, and commitment were internalized at the Academy and during my service, helping me be a success in all of our endeavors and to deal with the adversity and change that also comes from time to time,” explains Steptoe. That ability to deal with change helps her guide her company.

When asked about hiring veterans, Steptoe says that hiring managers shouldn’t just consider it, they should do it. “There is no better place to get highly qualified leaders that have the drive and dedication to succeed in your organization,” explains Steptoe.

Orion is proud to count Lisa Steptoe among our very first alumni. Her continued success in the Medical Sales industry is a testament to the value veterans bring to their civilian endeavors.

Create a Healthier Workplace

A recent CareerBuilder survey has found that 72 percent of workers still go into work when they are sick. 55 percent of those point to guilt as the reason they insist on working even when under the weather. But what employees fail to realize is that when they show up to work, they are risking spreading their germs to other employees. More than half the workers surveyed said they have gotten sick from a co-worker. This is why it is important for those employees who are truly sick to stay at home.

As a manager, there are tips you can follow to help ensure a healthy and productive workplace.

• Insist that sick employees go or stay home. If they must come in let them work in a space where they are separated from others, such as a conference room.
• If you think you have employees that are reluctant to take a sick day, talk to them. Offer them alternatives such as telecommuting, calling in, or delegating their responsibilities while they are out.
• Provide healthy resources. Make sure items such as hand sanitizers, hand soap, tissues and other supplies are available.
• Develop company telecommuting policies or adjust existing ones. Determine standards for letting employees to telecommute to reduce the potential spread of germs.

The key is to keep the workplace healthy and positive. Preventing the spread of germs by making employees that are sick feel comfortable staying home is an important step to achieve this.

Click here for original article.