HR Magazine - Employers must unlock the value of military skills

Leaving the armed forces can be a daunting transition. It can be a lonely and isolating. How can employers help?

Many former service people come out of the forces and ask themselves: 'What’s next?' On the surface, it can seem like few jobs compare to the armed forces. In reality, ex-service personnel are equipped with a plethora of transferable skills, such as teamwork, communication and problem-solving, that set them up to play an important role in the workforce.

Life beyond the armed forces

According to the Royal British Legion armed forces support charity, an estimated 120,000 working-age veterans are unemployed in the UK. Leaving the services doesn’t mean starting again, it means starting with experience and transferrable skills that hold huge value in the workplace.

Read more: HR lessons from the military

It’s important for both ex-service personnel and businesses to recognise both the hard and soft skills that the military equips people with, and how they can impact certain roles. Understanding that value, recognising aptitude and mapping out clear training pathways can support the transition from the armed forces to the workforce.

The tech sector, in particular, stands out as a great option for ex-forces. Not only do the skills match well, but working in the tech sector can be hugely rewarding, being at the forefront of innovation across high-impact areas of the business world and wider society.

Showcasing soft skills

When looking at how military skills translate to the wider workforce, several soft skills stand out as being particularly valuable.

Problem-solving, for example, is a coveted skill in today’s workforce, and military personnel excel in this area, possessing the ability to approach challenges with a solution-oriented mindset.

Their training equips them to navigate complex scenarios, even in high-pressure environments, building a tenacity to overcome obstacles.

Ex-forces people's capacity to assess situations, think critically, and devise effective strategies is also valuable in a role like project management. Their problem-solving skills and ability to deliver under pressure contribute to efficient decision-making, boosting productivity.

Communication is fundamental in any role. From basic grammar and punctuation to dealing with highly technical teams or briefing the management board, these are daily challenges that military personnel are used to.

Clear and precise communication is a non-negotiable requirement in the military, and that translates to civilian careers. Military veterans bring with them the expertise to craft compelling and coherent messages, and simplify complex concepts for diverse audiences, whether they’re presenting to executives, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams, or engaging with customers.

Adaptability is another particularly valuable skill; military personnel are trained to thrive in dynamic, often unpredictable environments. Their capacity to swiftly adjust to changing circumstances, think on their feet, and remain composed under pressure equips them for a variety of roles and situations. That may be within a software engineering project or more broadly, when communicating with team members and stakeholders.

The technical skills for tech careers

Ex-forces people may have operated advanced equipment such as communication systems, radar, and unmanned aerial vehicles, or received training in information technology, cybersecurity, and software for data analysis and mission planning.

These skills, honed in the military, provide a strong foundation for a transition into civilian careers in fields such as IT, telecommunications, cybersecurity and various technology-driven industries.

The onus is on ex-forces people to realise their skills and how they translate to other opportunities, and on businesses to recognise the value that military personnel can deliver.

By Stewart Sharman, global head of ex-forces at FDM Group