Casey S. Morey (casey.morey@umm.edu) is a Compliance Analyst for the University of Maryland Medical System and a Veteran of the United States Marine Corps.
linkedin.com/in/casey-morey-pmp-97790339
At this point, most professionals in the business world are aware of the military Veteran Employment Initiative[1] and other employment programs and their impact on hiring at a corporate level, but let’s explore the benefits of hiring veterans on a more personal level, in the Compliance field.
Mission
At the heart of everything that they do while in the military, veterans have a mission. It is a clear and concise statement of why they are doing what they are doing, and serves to unite their team toward a common end-state. They aren’t always told how to accomplish the mission, but the “why” is enough to get them working together in the right direction. Many of us appreciate that Compliance also has a mission: to ensure that our organizations are following all applicable laws and regulations. Veterans often seek a strong mission after leaving their time in the service. In fact, “many veterans feel under-utilized, alienated and uninspired in corporate workplaces.”[2] Having a mission that protects both patients and doctors alike, Compliance could be an easy transition of their drive for purpose and meaning. As Compliance professionals, we are often faced with new and unique challenges, but the “why” behind our job is enough to get us working together in the right direction.
Leadership
Military members are steeped in lessons about leadership at every level. They are first taught how to follow in a way that supports and promotes their leaders, and then taught how to lead in small units, encouraging innovation and engagement from every member of the team. This method of leadership will strengthen your organization’s existing structure not only by adding leaders at every level, but also by the concept of “leading up.” Veterans are taught that “the role of the junior in the leadership relationship is to lead up the chain, and the junior can do this by providing feedback to help the senior achieve the goal.”[3] Although some veterans are better at it than others, this concept is centered around providing recommendations and solutions up the chain of command to strengthen the team and improve the overall product. Because healthcare compliance is an ever-evolving field that requires new solutions regularly, this skill translates well from the military to the civilian sector. As the Harvard Business Review puts it, “We’ve found that the skills and competencies veterans develop in the military are ones often not as well developed in corporate leaders, such as decision-making agility and collaboration.”[4]
