Positive Contributions by Veterans in the Construction Sector Essay

Statement of the Problem The integration of veterans into different business sectors is not a novel idea. Numerous sectors and organizations have been dedicated to facilitating employment of veterans. In the construction sector, different institutions such as Veterans Build America and Hire Our Heroes have made significant strides towards this endeavor.

Nonetheless, regardless of the presence of such institutions and assimilation programs for coupling veterans with jobs in the construction sector, measuring their effectiveness continues to be a significant challenge, largely owing to the lack of extensive research in the area. Furthermore, a lot of these programs have faced major difficulties such as lack of funding, which undercut their efficacy. Consequently, it is not guaranteed whether they have a positive contribution to the development of the labor force in the construction sector.  Research Questions 1.

What capabilities and talents can veterans bring to the construction sector? 2. What is the effect of employing veterans in the construction sector? 3. What are the problems do firms in the sector experience in employing veterans, and what are the consequences? 4. What attempts have been made by the government administration, education establishments and construction companies to facilitate employment of veterans? Interview Questions for Participant 1: Construction Company Official 1. Does your organization actively endeavor to employ veterans? 2. Does the organization have a program exclusively intended for employing veterans? 3.

What is the major input made by veterans to the organization? 4. Are there perceptible dissimilarities between non-veterans and veterans in regard to workplace attitudes, for instance, leadership, teamwork and work ethic? 5. Have you faced any difficulties in employing or obtaining veterans? 6. Are there any ways of facilitating ease in employing veterans? Interview Questions for Participant 2: Construction Educational and Training Establishment Official 1. How did your establishment begin offering education as well as training to veterans? 2. What are the aims of the training program? 3.

Do you consider veterans as an appropriate match for jobs in the construction sector? Why? 4. What are the means in which you assist veterans attain jobs in the construction sector? 5. What are the difficulties experienced in offering such training and education?  6. How can these difficulties be addressed and the affiliation with veterans be improved? Interview Questions for Participant 3, 4 and 5: Veterans Employed in the Construction Sector 1. Why did you opt to pursue employment opportunities in the construction sector? 2.

How were you employed? Did you have some sort of connections with the employer or was it through training programs? 3. Have you been given any educational or training opportunities after being employed? Would you like such opportunities? 4. Have you considered being hired in other sectors? 5. Would you suggest the construction sector as a source of employment to other veterans? Qualitative Analysis The first step of data analysis included transcribing the recorded responses (Auerbach and Silverstein, 2003).

These are more often than not transcribed into forms that are written for more improved study. In accordance to Grbich (2012), transcribing seems to be a direct technical endeavor, but in actual fact comprises of judgments regarding what extent and magnitude of detail to select, data interpretation and data representation. Following transcription, a thorough content analysis was undertaken to identity meaningful themes in the transcribed data (Kothari, 2004; Walliman, 2011). The identified themes were then reported using rich, qualitative descriptions. The recorded interview responses were transcribed and read several times to identity themes.

The themes are reported and discussed in the succeeding sections of this chapter. Data Analysis 1. Beneficial Talents and Capabilities of Veterans in the Construction Sector Participant 1 stated that the company did in fact actively pursue to employ veterans and has managed to employ more than 20 veterans in the past two years or so. Furthermore, the respondent pointed out that the company endeavors to employ more of them in the forthcoming periods.

As an official in the organization, the respondent was perfectly positioned to explain why veterans are exceptionally appropriate for construction jobs. One of capabilities the respondent made reference to was work ethic: You know, all veterans aren't created equal. Some have the right skill set, and I'd say the mindset. It's really a matter of character and not of anything else.

That's kind of my whole modus operandi so to speak is, do the right thing, do it all the time, do it in budget, do it on time, and people pay you. The respondent also points out that some of the determining factors that distinguish veterans and non-veterans comprise of determination, hard work, exemplary self-restraint and ambition.

The respondent elucidated that these veterans are trained to get the task done in the right manner irrespective of the circumstances: In the military it's like, okay, we're going to do this until we get it done, and we're going to get it done right.

Your subordinates may hate it, but they know they're going to have to stay there and get it done and get it done right.     I had some experience with hiring a veteran in my previous career that I immediately saw the benefit: the disciple, the organization, the drive and motivation.

I recognized that skill set and those attributes being very affective and translatable to a project manager, to a construction supervisor, a foreman, which is a lot of what the vets that I've worked with, they have experience with.  In accordance to participant 1, a strong ethics is one of the elements that distinguish veterans in the market. Fundamentally, work ethic alludes to a work attitude and point of view signified by hard work, commitment, dependability, positivity and meticulousness.

The significance of work ethic within the work environment cannot be stressed enough. A pointed out by Respondent 1, obtaining work candidates and employees with a strong work ethic is becoming progressively more challenging. This is not a worry for the organization but also for numerous other employers in the market. The entry of millennials in the labor force is becoming a mounting challenge for numerous employers owing to the lack of work ethic amidst a substantial share of young employees. An additional capability pointed out is teamwork and leadership skills.

When questioned why veterans are treasured in the construction sector, the respondents delineated the veterans as being exceptional team players: I have seen first-hand their level of team work and collaboration and also fine displays of leadership. Their ability to gel into the teams assigned to and also step up and lead during difficult periods makes then invaluable. Veterans bring to the place of work not only a strong work ethic, but also exceptional teamwork skills. Teamwork in the military environment plays a fundamental role.

Regardless of whether is in the combat zone or in the course of humanitarian support, troops are trained to work as a team. Notably, in the military, teamwork is significant for getting things done and accomplishing a mission. The teamwork skills personified by veterans are what every practical employer longs for.  In accordance to research undertaken by Schindler (2016), veterans have a commendable work ethic. They are beneficial to companies owing to the reason that they bring a distinctive set of skills and capabilities that can be uncommon amidst non-combatants.

Taking into consideration that the labor force is progressively more comprising of millennials, attaining a strong work ethic can be a major challenge owing to the reason that they have minimal or a complete lack of organization and diligence. It is imperative to note that a majority of the veterans possess the work ethic that is craved for by companies and employers. As a result, numerous companies perceive veterans as being significant for augmenting dedication and loyalty to the company (Chester, 2012). 2.

Educational and Training Establishment Initiatives Establishments that offer higher learning and training play a fundamental role in the assimilation of veterans into non-combatant employment. Respondent 2 that was interviewed in this analysis is an official from an establishment that partakes in the preparation of veterans for private citizen employment and careers. To begin with, he points out the following: Our main strategy or approach encompasses vouching for applications to vocation. Subsequent to getting applications from veterans, we provide support and backing and also assist them with career positioning.

This aids in building a network for veterans for work development, mentoring, networking and other aspects.  A fundamental component of the program is that the establishment begins preparing the veterans while they continue to provide service to the military. These individuals are beseeched to join the programs while almost retiring in order to obtain the necessitated skills and capabilities prior to leaving. The role played by the establishment takes into account aiding the veterans in selecting the most ideal program that suits their necessities.

The significance of this is that the veterans that have gone through these programs and completed them, gain the capabilities to work in various business sectors. Owing to their different reputations and their vast experiences, employers are more inclined to employ veterans that have worked through the establishment. Furthermore, the establishment connects them with employment prospects in the different business sectors.  As an organization, we offer training and development. This encompasses showing them what to do and how to think.

Basically, we want to make certain that the individuals are able to think it through on their own and develop solutions. They should be able to undertake decisions on their own. Usually, at the outset, the individuals are trained on what to do and not what to think and are therefore underdeveloped. Therefore, they go through training and development. So how I do development is I go out and a series of questions, get people to start thinking.

So that the next time they encounter a situation like that, they can think through it on their own. These responses are in line with literature demonstrated by various scholars. The inclusion of educational and training establishments in workforce development is not a novel aspect. For numerous years, these establishments have been building and unveiling several graduates for the employment sector.

Ranging from vocational colleges, universities, community colleges and training schools, these establishments equip their students with the proficiencies and the knowledge necessitated to undertake tasks within the workplace setting (Horden, 2013). Basically, these establishments play a fundamental role in the development of human capital. Devoid of them, numerous employers in different business sectors would face challenges in obtaining candidates that are proficient and qualified. They would face massive challenges in pinpointing persons with the credentials necessitated to undertake their jobs.

In accordance to Eddleman (2015), there are numerous programs that distinctively lay emphasis on training and education in the construction sector. Through affiliations and strategic alliances local workforce development panels, industry establishments, and other pertinent stakeholders, a number of educational and training establishments offer veterans training on construction, in so doing augmenting their employability in the construction sector. Based on research undertaken by Azhar et al. (2014), educational and training establishments can be of significant assistance in the construction sector in regard to dealing with challenges in workforce.

There is a major need for leaders in the sector to up the ante in regard to cooperating with these educational and training institutions to train and prepare veterans for construction jobs. Bearing in mind that there is the anticipation of a growth in the sector, there will be an increase in demand for these professionals. Companies can be able to address this increase in demand by working in tandem with educational establishments to capitalize on the talent found.

The obtainability of veterans with work ethic, capability and determination to learn new proficiencies quickly offers a constructive workplace setting to react to the needs of the sector while augmenting the professional talents of veterans and providing additional job prospects in industries with high demand and high wages (Harrell and Berglass, 2012). 3. Challenges of Employing Veterans and Consequences on Labor Force Development An additional objective is ascertaining the difficulties that construction companies experience in employing veterans. One of the challenges takes into account making adjustments to the civilian workplace setting.

Based on the responses rendered, it is perceptible that the transition from the army to the normal labor force is an issue for not only the veterans themselves but also the employers. When questioned about the major difficulty experienced in his transition from the military to working in the construction sector, participant three gave the following remarks: From an individual perspective, I would say it is the lack of being in command or in control.

While I was serving, I had my team and I was in charge of the members. Therefore, I am in charge to the culmination of achieving the mission. In the event that I need the team members to undertake a task, I am going to tell them to undertake it and they will do so. It is not a matter of autocracy really, it is more of the existence of structure.

Now, in the construction sector, there is the team, the construction team, the project team and also all other members. There are also other parties such as town officials, subcontractors and support staff. The downside in this regard is getting these individuals to undertake these tasks as their ambition is money. You have to persuade them severally to do tasks and this is what I find it really hard. Participant 5 points out a similar perspective and states that:  Personally, it was a challenging issue to cope with civilians.

I had a really dissimilar frame of mind. Some of the friends that I grew up with, I still talk to today, but others, when I got out, we didn't see eye to eye on things. Either politically or socially, and so it took a little while. I was in a very high speed unit and deployed a lot, so we were .. Yeah .. we were going from that to civilian life, it was a .. it took a while.  These perspectives are linked to scholarly literature reviews.

For the most part, these standpoints emanate from significant cultural dissimilarities between veterans and non-combatants. Taking this into consideration, numerous veterans may take a lot of time before they are able to make adjustments to the private citizen employment sector. This time as well as resources necessitated for modifications has an impact on recruitment choices (Harrell and Berglass, 2012). The inference of this is that companies are bound to be hesitant to employ newly retired veterans owing to these concerns of extensive and lengthy adjustment periods.

Without a doubt, it is common for companies to have a preference for veterans with business experience contrasted with newly retired veterans, particularly for high-level positions for instance management positions. This decreases the time necessary to familiarize veteran employees.  Lack of enthusiasm to employ veterans may pose problems for endeavors aimed at dealing with workforce scarcity in the construction industry. Nevertheless, this is problem that companies in the construction sector can effectively deal with. One of these key approaches is mentorship programs.

Through mentorship programs, veterans, particularly the ones that have just recently left the military service, can be assimilated into corporate culture more easily (Bateman, Snell and Konopaske, 2016). Mentorship fundamentally encompasses apportioning individuals within the organization, if at all possible those with the same background but with major business experience, to assist in newly employed veterans acclimatizing to the corporate environment or even start a business. This strategy has proven to be useful in orientating veterans into corporate culture (Harrell and Berglass, 2012).   4.

Challenges in Making Adjustments to the Labor Force Participant 4 was persuaded that mentorship plays a fundamental role for providing support and assistance to freshly separated veterans in making adjustments to the culture of civilians, irrespective of whether it is forming a business or being employed in a corporation.  So you have to have, I would recommend a veteran coming out seeking self-employment, if they've got a good mentor. Been there and done that.

I mentor three guys right now, or three businesses right now, that are veteran-owned, that I help start. I'm still very actively engaged in their business because they don't know what they don't know. You know, now I'm four years in. Some of those are two/two and a half years in.

Some of the pitfalls that I encountered I'm able to help them not encounter those same things, so they are more successful at two and a half years than I was at two and a half years, but it's because they got a good mentor. The mentoring programs I think are essential to a veteran getting out and starting his own business.  I wouldn't have failed for lack of trying, I would have failed for lack of knowledge.

The perspectives of Respondent 5 are especially imperative taking into consideration his experience as a veteran and as a manager within the construction sector. Mentorship plays a pivotal role for providing veterans with the backing they may necessitate to efficaciously get assimilated into the private citizen environment. In spite of the fact that majority of the veterans bring valuable skills, acclimatizing the skills to the noncombatant workplace is significant. This can be attained by means of mentorship initiatives within an organization.

These sorts of programs and initiatives are pivotal for building the skills of veterans and familiarizing their skills to the noncombatant workplace. Dissimilarities between veterans and non-veterans further show up in terms of the variances in work discipline and the commitment to achieve a task.

As it materialized, there is a tendency of veterans to more committed and strong-minded to achieve certain tasks and jobs in comparison to noncombatants as pointed out by respondent 3:   In the military it's like, okay, we're going to do this until we get it done, and we're going to get it done right. Your subordinates may hate it, but they know they're going to have to stay there and get it done and get it done right. Subcontractor's not quite that way.

You tell them, "Hey, we're going to do this and we're going to do it right and we're going to stay until we get it done." They're going to look at you like, "No, we're not. 5:00 we're heading home." And then you're like, well crap. What am I going to do. That's a hard transition. Yes.

And I think I'm a nice guy, but once you got to get something done, you got to get something done and you have to figure out a way you can do it. Sometimes that's a little hard transition to make.  These sorts of dissimilarities further make it challenging for veterans to make an adjustment to the normal work environment. Notably, a veteran that is employed within the construction sector has a greater likelihood of being extensively committed to finish a project in a perfect manner.

Nonetheless, working in tandem with other team members devoid of the same level of commitment can become a difficulty.  CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS Conclusion The aim of this study was to understand the effect of employing veterans can have on the construction industry. The research was informed by the scarcity of research in this area.

The study specifically sought to achieve the following four objectives: 1) the capabilities and talents can veterans bring to the construction sector 2) the effect of employing veterans in the construction sector 3) the problems do firms in the sector experience in employing veterans, and what are the consequences and 4) the attempts have been made by the government administration, education establishments and construction companies to facilitate employment of veterans? Based on in-depth interviews with five individuals in the construction industry and with experience with veterans, the study found that veterans can positively affect workforce development in the construction industry Implications for the Construction Sector The construction sector is undeniably the major recipient of this qualitative analysis.

The sector continues to face difficulty with regard to shortage in labor force, and this is anticipated to be a major issue in the forthcoming periods owing to the growth of the sector. To begin with, it is imperative for companies in the sector to actively participate in the employment of veterans. Bearing in mind that this is a mutual issue across the sector, companies should reassess their practices in recruitment with a perspective of increasing the number of veterans in their labor force.

In addition, construction companies ought to initiate internal or on-the-job training initiatives for improving the skills of the veterans they employ. One of the main difficulties noted is the orientation of fresh veterans into the labor force. Bearing this in mind, construction companies should have programs that are distinctively aimed at such positioning.

Furthermore, the establishment and advancement of mentorship programs would be largely beneficial.  Players in the construction sector can attain progressively more from stronger affiliations and alliances with the military by initiative wide-ranging construction-oriented training programs at their camps. These programs ought to distinctively target the individuals that are just about to retire from service.

Bearing in mind that these individuals would be already cognizant with employment prospects in the sector owing to continuing interaction with the construction sector, there is a greater likelihood of being more prepared to join training programs provided at the military camps. Offering training prospects at this phase would be effective owing to two fundamental reasons. To begin with, it is simpler to get a hold of these individuals prior to exiting the army.

In addition, as veterans are still federal staffs prior to leaving the military, their living and housing expenditures are housed by the government. In view of that, veterans would be much more capacity to lay emphasis on the training owing to the reason that they would not experience the pressure to obtain employment in a different place to complement their unemployment benefits.

Instituting stronger presence and offering construction-specific education and training in military camps can be for the most part treasured in addressing the difficulty in tracing and pinpointing competent veterans. As learnt in this qualitative analysis, construction companies experience challenges in pinpointing veterans. By having such significant and potent presence in such camps, it implies that it is largely simpler for construction companies to trace veterans. Construction companies would.