Weekend Warriors are Our Work Week Heroes

As a veteran and former Navy reservist, I have enormous respect for the men and women who augment our active military by serving our country in the Reserves and National Guard. The Reserve and National Guard components of our armed forces form a key bulwark in our national defense strategy, and yet the folks who serve in these forces often go unrecognized. The commitment to this service involves uncertain deployments, weekends away from family, and difficult trade-offs between professional commitments. Given the importance of their service and the nature of their sacrifice, it’s important that employers have programs that help support the Guard and Reserve service members within their organizations. That’s why I was so proud to be a part of Governor Rickett’s administration last week as he stood with the DOD’s Office of Employer Support for Guard and Reserve (ESGR) and announced Nebraska’s continued commitment to supporting these service members.

Within the workforce of the State of Nebraska we regard support for veterans and reservists as a key part of our talent strategy. As a public sector organization, we value people who have a service ethos and derive energy and job satisfaction from serving their communities. Additionally, military service often provides those that are serving with leadership and trade experience that is difficult to attain in the private sector. These service-minded leaders with character are exactly the type of people we want representing and serving the people of Nebraska and we would be remiss to not take steps to support them. Among the things the State of Nebraska does for its Guard and Reserve members is to provide paid military leave during annual training, job protection during mobilization, as well as family military leave if an employee has a spouse that is mobilized. What are you doing within your organization to support employees who serve in the Guard or Reserves? Join the conversation and share your ideas on twitter at #GovHR.