Creating Hospitable Work Environments for Military Veterans with Todd Connor
Todd Connor is the CEO of Bunker Labs. Bunker Labs is a national network of veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs dedicated to helping the military-connected community start their own businesses. Todd and his team are committed to seeing that every entrepreneur in the military-connected community has the network, tools, and resources they need to start their own business.
A Navy veteran himself, Todd knows that transitioning out of the military into the workforce can be challenging for service members. Service members have talents and capacity but not many have social capital. One of the many reasons why more veterans are not becoming entrepreneurs is that they don’t know all of the options available to them although veterans today are just as ambitious and innovative in entrepreneurship.
Here are Todd’s tips for companies to create hospitable workplaces for the military community:
GATHER DATA
You need to know who works at your company that is part of the military community. This includes active service members, veterans, military spouses, and families. Make sure that you have a system in place that can keep track of this community in your organization.
ESTABLISH A RESOURCE GROUP
Allow the military community in your organization to form a resource group and allow them to have a budget for this group. This can help strengthen their network and provide support to them in and out of the workplace.
GET CONNECTED WITH EXTERNAL SOURCES
Research and partner with organizations that can help your company in the journey to be an inclusive company for your veteran community. Many organizations have programs that you can feed on to implement into the military community around you.
Todd believes that it is crucial for everyone to have a network and a community of people to support each other, advocate for one another, and be the co-author of each others’ dreams.
Take a. look at our recent Instagram story Embracing & Leveraging the Talents, Skills, and Passion of Former Military Service Members in the Workplace.
Click here to learn more about Bunker Labs and feel free to donate to help veterans become entrepreneurs here.