Our Commitment to Veterans
How we’re helping transition service members and veterans
Recruiting veterans
National Grid’s commitment to hiring veterans is more than just a smart business decision. It is also about pride and opportunity. A skilled energy workforce is critical to America’s national security and economic competitiveness. Our industry has a role to play that is bigger than just hiring – we can help pave the way for successfully transitioning veterans into civilian jobs. As companies like National Grid hire veterans, we are moving our dedicated servicemen and women from the front lines to the power lines. For more information, visit our US Careers website here.
For many, the training and experience gained while serving in the military directly correlates to positions we have in our industry. We feel a service member joining the civilian workforce can be a great fit because of the discipline and leadership abilities they gained while serving.
Partnering with the Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD) and other utilities across the country, National Grid helped create the Troops to Energy Jobs (T2E) initiative. We use the T2E web site (www.troopstoenergyjobs.com) as a resource for transitioning service members and veterans to help match skillsets to positions within the industry. Promoting this resource has helped National Grid increase the amount of veteran hires to more than 100 since August 2013, giving us 435 employees who have self identified themselves as veterans. These employees span the gamut of our workforce – from field operations, engineers and analysts to the executive boardroom.
Supporting veterans through employee groups
To help support veterans once they have joined National Grid, we have the Veterans Employee Resource Group (VERG) and the Veteran-to-Veteran buddy system. VERG’s mission is to foster an environment that provides opportunities for professional development and community building. VERG also creates a network of veterans and patriots that help the recruiting team by reviewing resumes and translating military language into words our hiring managers can better understand. And the buddy system benefits veterans’ transition into both a civilian job and the unknown of a new company.
Furthering community service
Bolstering a sense of community, our veterans along with VERG, participate in fundraisers and events across our jurisdictional communities. These events include career fairs, Habitat to Humanity house builds, veteran stand downs, welcome home events and Wounded Warrior project events. Taking part in these events keeps the focus of serving our communities alive for many veterans.
Focusing on supplier diversity
In addition to what we do internally, National Grid also assists our veterans through our Supplier Diversity program, where we support the needs of women-, minority-, veteran-owned and small businesses through our wide range of programs and resources. The National Minority Business Council recently recognized us with their 2014 Outstanding Corporate Diversity Award.
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