Study of Skills & Qualities of Indian Military Veterans Valued Most by Employers and Colleagues

Abstract

1) A skilled, dedicated and responsible employable persons is a resource employer are always looking for to have in their organisation. Employers across the world are facing a growing skills gap that impacts the productivity and long-term economic prosperity of the organisation. Majority of graduates and qualified professionals churned out from the universities and training institutes lack employability skills. Situations become difficult for the employers due to growing attrition rate and employers find it tough to cope up with situation when trained and skilled Human Capital leaves the organisation and there is not enough pool of resources to choose from. The workforce simply does not have enough employable workers and skilled candidates to fill an ever-increasing number of high skilled jobs. Indian Armed forces constitute one of the most trained personnel with very high level of motivation, trainable and possessing qualities most suitable to any organization today. Every year Indian Armed forces contribute over 60000 disciplined, hard & soft skilled, motivated and well-trained persons in form of ExServicemen (ESM, Indian Military veteran or veteran) who retire from active service in the age group 40 - 54 years and still have enough productive and employable life ahead. Drawing from the pool of transitioning military for these types of jobs could be an excellent way to develop a pipeline of talent to fill the skills gap. Articles and papers cite the reasons why employers should hire veteran and what kind of skills veterans have. 2) Employers are often on the look-out for employees who are dedicated, committed, trustworthy and loyal to them while hiring new employees. Indian veterans are cross-trained in multiple skills and have experience in varied tasks and responsibilities and employable in all categories from senior & strategic leadership roles to junior level leader and ground level workforce levels. Employers, entrepreneurs, peers and colleagues of veteran were approached to give their views on the most sought-after skills and qualities they see in veterans as employees. The paper brings out the skills and employable qualities which Indian employers’ value most in the veterans.