By Kevin McPoyle, CIC, president and co-founder, KMRDPartners, Inc.

Paul Rieckhoff, founder and executive editor of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America(IAVA), recently reported that 17 percent of returning veteransare out of work. This is more than twice the national unmploymentaverage of 8 percent. What's worse, the national average isnearly twice what it was before the 2008 financial crisis.

As of Sept. 11, 2011, more than 2 million men and women haveserved in Iraq and Afghanistan. These people return to Americaas members of a uniquely cohesive, dedicated and skilledteam. Just as prospective employers eagerly look forward torecruiting graduates of elite educational institutions this time ofyear, in my opinion employers should consider returning veteranswith even greater anticipation.

As a veteran myself, I can personally vouch for the contributionthese men and women can make to the workplace—to our industry andany industry. The skills developed and the ethos practiced in themilitary are universally deployable to workplaces across America,to help build individual businesses and fuel our economicrecovery.

This is what you get when you hire a veteran:

1. Teamwork: Although the letter “I” appearsthree times in “military service,” all branches of the militarytrain their members to be part of a team. Young men and women mayenter the service as “self actualizing” Millennials, but beforelong they are fully committed to the well-being of the men andwomen standing beside them. This highly evolved commitment toteamwork is crucial to the success of companies in all areas of theeconomy, including the insurance industry. All team members must beall in, or the competition will root them all out. If you wantcommitment to outcomes, hire a veteran.

2. Dedication: Men and women serving our nationin the military are dedicated to serving something greater thanthemselves and to each other and to the mission. Thelaser-like focus of accomplishing all three of these commitments iswhat makes veterans great to work with.

In the insurance agency business, we depend upon the efforts ofemployees who dedicate themselves to the goals and objectives ofthe clients they serve. While the decisions our employees make arenot life and death, they do affect the very survival of theirclients' businesses. One missed coverage or failedcommunication may be all that stands between what we call “normal”and “one minute from normal.” If you want someone to worktirelessly and to believe in your goals, hire aveteran.

3. Training: Long gone are the days when anyonecan sell anything with only a smile and good people skills. Today,every employee must embody and espouse the passion of anexpert. The development of expertise is complex and requiressteadfast concentration.

In today's military services, there are no easy answers. Allaspects of service from local customs to weaponry to peoplemanagement require extensive training. A returning veteranbrings this training and learning discipline to theworkplace. If you want a “coachable” employee, hire aveteran.

4. Discipline: Sales staff, in particular,require a disciplined approach to their work to be successful. Forevery new business “win” they will suffer dozens of “losses.” Veterans as a group have been molded to accept an occasionalsetback and continue the mission to completion. Adaptable,committed to success and needing little top-down instruction,veterans make great professionals in any field. If youwant a self-starter, hire a veteran.

5. Results: There is no “could have, wouldhave, should have” in the military. If you want actionableresults, hire a veteran.

To source returned veterans, contact your local USO and serviceorganizations. Following are a few additional recommendations:

Powered by NRD.gov, the VeteransJob Bank provides veterans with a central source foridentifying veteran-committed employment opportunities and assistscompanies in identifying qualified veterans.

The Veterans Job Bank returns job opportunities based on searchcriteria entered by the job applicant. Powered by a Google search,jobs are drawn from various job boards that have posted orspecifically tagged jobs for veterans.

To learn how your firm can add your job listings to the VeteransJobs Bank, visit the “Instructionsfor Employer Participation” page.

The National ResourceDirectory (NRD) has also created the Veterans Job Bank widget.This utility allows veterans to conduct a job search withoutleaving your website. You can get the Veterans Job Bank widget foryour website by visiting the “Job SearchWidget” page.

Read related: “Flipping the Switch.”

Read related: “Can the Industry Unite on Recruitment?”