Despite the fact that the U.S. is home to over 15 million military veterans that make up more than 6% of the total workforce, little research is available about their quantitative impact on the economy.
"I noticed after publishing a couple papers and a book chapter that no one has done a review in this area," explained the University of Cincinnati's Daniel Peat, PhD, who specializes in military-affected individuals in business management. "That's usually a sign that there's a bit of an immaturity in the field itself."
That's why he and his team published a new research review, "Veterans and military-connected individuals in the civilian workforce: an integrative review and research agenda," in the Organization and Management Journal.
A veteran himself, Peat is also an educator-professor for UC's Carl H. Lindner College of Business Department of Management. In the review, Peat's team says that employers frequently underutilize the skills and experiences of military-connected individuals due to poor translation from military to civilian life. Employee performance is likely to improve if organizations offer support tailored to this unique life circumstance.
Peat and his team created a synthesis of established research, finding key trends, themes and areas of focus in the workplace that need more study. By reading through the work of 189 authors spanning over 60 years of research, the team found that not only is empirical research lacking, but that there is not enough work focusing on the specific barriers that military-affiliated workers face.
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