Engage The Workplace With A Military Mindset

The WSJ piece about the benefit of hiring drill sergeants to double down on productivity and reduce whining makes some good points about how the private sector can profit from hiring military veterans. But the piece misses some important points about how veteran-driven values and skills can address employee engagement, a key private sector concern.

Fast Company recently called this challenge the "Great Gloom" – a miasma of diminished employee engagement resulting from the disconnect between a worker and an organization's purpose, a problem many employers struggle to solve. Unlike the private sector, which does not come with a ready-made mission, there is an intrinsic connection between the military mission and veterans. Service members have a deep understanding of the goal to carry out a well-defined mission (protect our country and support the Constitution) and are trained to proficiently deliver leadership, versatility, and character to support this mission.