Vets in Energy Workforce

PUF's Steve Mitnick: How did the Vets in Energy organization get started?

Ann Randazzo: CEWD has always focused on veterans as a key demographic for our energy jobs because they're a terrific fit, both in terms of experience and mindset. Our heightened focus on veterans began about five years ago with a charge from one of our members.

Tom Farrell, head of Dominion Resources, and Chair of the Edison Electric Institute at the time, challenged us to think about what we could do to move the needle on veteran hiring. A few months later, we introduced Troops to Energy Jobs, which began with a national template for companies to use in planning and implementing comprehensive hiring and retention strategies for veterans.

Fast forward to today, and we have an equally comprehensive resource guide for veterans themselves. It includes a veterans' roadmap, a job translation tool that helps them see how their experience matches up to our jobs, a job posting site that lists our members' jobs in real time, and even a virtual career coach who's available to answer questions and offer guidance. The career coach is a veteran himself.

We made excellent progress in terms of helping our members and the country's veterans find each other, but we began to think about support for veterans after they're hired. That's where Veterans in Energy (VIE) comes into play.

One of the best practices included in the Troops to Energy Jobs national template is the creation of a Veterans Employee Resource Group. A veteran-focused ERG is a great way for veterans to transition into a civilian job and connect with people who speak their language.

One way to think about Veterans in Energy is as a national ERG. Not only does it recognize and celebrate veterans who are employed in our industry, it puts direct focus on the natural fit, at a national level, between veterans and energy jobs.

Last October several organizations, including the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Edison Electric Institute, the American Gas Association, the National Rural Electric Association, and the American Public Power Association partnered with CEWD and the Department of Energy. We organized the first convening of veterans in energy to invite them to get involved and help define what we could do together at a national level. That is the way VIE started.

PUF's Steve Mitnick: I didn't realize that it's not as easy as it seems. Not only to get them in, but in particular to get them to stay. It's a lot more complicated than I thought.

Ann Randazzo: It is. A veteran's transition into the civilian world can be a little bumpy, particularly if the military was that person's first job out of school. Military life may be the only life they've really known.

Helping them translate and understand what they did in the military to what they can do in the energy industry, including matching their skills to our qualifications and learning the industry lexicon and protocols, is very important to successful employment and retention.

Our first focus is to help them understand whether their skills and interests actually do match up well to our needs. Then there is the question of "job" versus "career." Most of these men and women have families, and it's in their best interest to join a company and start a career rather than simply finding a job with no career path. The more we can do to make them aware of our jobs and help them understand that they are qualified for them, the more everyone benefits. Both the veterans and the industry.

PUF's Steve Mitnick: What's the specific purpose of the October conference?

Ann Randazzo: Last October's conference was an introduction to the concept, to gauge what if any interest we saw in our veteran employees. And we saw a great deal of interest and enthusiasm. From there, we began working with a group of veterans who literally volunteered to create VIE as an entity of its own, to make it self-sustaining and to plan this next conference.

The group is led by Hal Pittman, director of external communications with Arizona Public Service. Hal is a retired admiral and clearly has a vested interest in seeing VIE be successful. They've made a lot of progress in the social media space, including a website, Facebook and Twitter, so there will be much to report and celebrate on October 5 and 6 in Washington.

They've lined up some amazing speakers and some very informative plenary and breakout sessions. Veterans will be sharing a number of best practices in transition and being successful in the industry. The fact that energy companies are supporting the attendance of their veteran employees is significant, and we expect to see a substantial growth in the number of employee veterans who attend this year.

PUF's Steve Mitnick: If I'm a commissioner, or I'm working in a utility but in a different area in our big industry, why should I care whether Vets in Energy is successful?

Ann Randazzo:I guess my response is, "How could you not care?" Our country will always have a need for a strong and highly skilled military. After they have served, our veterans return home and face the need to transition into civilian life.

And our industry will always be driven in part by sacrifice and service, qualities that are essential to keeping the energy flowing and to protecting our country. Veterans exemplify the very values our industry needs.

Why wouldn't we do everything we can to support their transition and success in our industry? Why wouldn't we want a national organization that can continually help our industry understand their needs and address their obstacles? That is why you should care about whether VIE is successful.

PUF's Steve Mitnick: How will we know three to five years out if this initiative is successful?

Ann Randazzo: I think the veterans themselves will tell us. Last year you saw the excitement and power in the room during the forum. Just the fact that veterans came and felt as if they learned something is great, but they also met and shared experiences with others. That's what will help VIE grow in the future.

If the national organization generates interest in the creation of state-level Veterans in Energy chapters, that will tell us the concept is meeting a need out there. Growth in involvement, volunteerism, programmatic planning: those are all indicators that can be easily tracked and measured.

More difficult to measure, but also possibly more telling, will be any influence on veteran retention in energy jobs. Job longevity, staying with one company or even one industry throughout your career, is no longer the norm. We know that veterans frequently leave positions within the first five years. That's not good for the company and that's not good for them. If VIE influences retention and the drivers of retention, including career satisfaction, we will definitely label that a success.

Veterans who are already employed in the industry can get involved by going to the Veterans in Energy website and registering.

PUF's Steve Mitnick: Do you have a lot of companies that are really active?

Ann Randazzo: Yes, we do. The initial development of the Troops to Energy Jobs National Template was sponsored by six of our members. Today we have more than fifty companies publicly committed to the principles of Troops to Energy jobs that are recognized as military-friendly employers on our website and theirs.

Veterans in Energy is an important continuation of that effort, a natural maturity of the influence Troops to Energy Jobs has had in our companies and on our returning veterans. VIE indicates that veterans are not only employed in our industry, but are leaders in our industry who want to support each other and learn from each other. That's extremely gratifying to all of the people who have supported Troops to Energy Jobs over the years.

PUF's Steve Mitnick: It must be pretty rewarding, your work in this field.

Ann Randazzo:It absolutely is. Through CEWD, we are able to play a role in helping our veterans find rewarding careers where they can learn, grow, buy a home, care for their families and know that they are continuing to provide a service to their country. Getting the word out to our veterans that "we're here and we want you" is sometimes a challenge. But that's far outweighed by the rewards when we hear amazing stories of career success and see veteran recruitment climbing. VIE is the piece we've been missing in terms of engagement, retention and getting the word out. Satisfied veterans are the best recruiting tool we have. I think VIE is going to grow into a powerful voice for our industry across the country.

Related article: Turning Over the Keys to Tomorrow’s Energy Workforce, part I: It’s as much a skill gap issue as it is about the aging workforce.