Sustainability

How to Leverage Veterans’ Skills for Your New Business

June 22, 2021 By Administrator

How to Leverage Veterans’ Skills for Your New Business

Guest Post by Kelli Brewer

Every new business owner knows how tricky it can be to find the right candidate for a role. Start-ups require immense role juggling, with every employee wearing multiple hats simultaneously. It is also critical to have a self-starter hire, who can work competently and without constant supervision. This is where veterans come in. Not only do they have a wide range of skills perfect for a fledgling business, but they also have the drive to make your business goals a reality.

Benefits to Hiring Veterans

There are innumerable benefits to hiring vets for your new business. From problem-solving and decision-making to honesty and attention to detail, veteran hires are sure to have a varied skill set to apply to your workplace. The following are some standout skills most vet hires come with:

Veterans work well independently: As a new business owner, it is natural for your business to pull you in numerous directions, making it difficult to delegate. Hiring those who take initiative can be critical to being able to carry out work efficiently. According to Lifeline for Vets, veterans are 45% likely to find business success, indicating that they are self-starters and independently minded.
Veterans are goal-oriented: One of the biggest takeaways from military service is completing missions accurately and correctly. Collaboration, cooperation, and hard work are emphasized to make target goals a reality.
Veterans are technically skilled: For example, did you know that veterans receive government-provided accreditation and degree opportunities? In addition, veterans are trained in technological knowledge, with practice in numerous industry-standard software and procedures. These skills will be a great addition to your talent pool.

How Can I Hire a Veteran For My Business?

Go about looking for the perfect vet hire just like you would any other employee: by searching job sites. Decide on the skills and experience you’re looking for, and reach out to candidates that will be the best fit for the role. When it comes to hiring vets, consider the skills they have and how they may be suited to your workplace — for example, a vet with experience in recruiting is ideally suited for an HR position. Remember to include ‘veterans encouraged to apply’ on your job title so that it is visible to veterans and helps your listing gain traction.

You can also look up veteran-specific resources, such as veterans’ job sites. Job banks and government recruitment websites are also great places to post your listing. Check out the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and the Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS). These pair veterans with corporate leaders and run incentives and schemes that encourage businesses to hire veterans. For example, did you know you can get tax credits for hiring ex-military personnel? Just another reason to hire a vet today!

Once you’ve hired the right candidate for your post, you’ll need to go ahead with onboarding and settling them into your workplace. This process is typically the same for any hire: You settle them in, delineate their tasks, and help them navigate their entry into the workforce.

You’ll also need to integrate your new hires into your payroll. Look for a service to allow direct deposit with payroll and automatic payroll scheduling to pay your employees on time and, by extension, happy. Accurate reporting and tax filing are also necessary to keep your business above board and organized. After your payroll goes out each month, it’s just a matter of adjusting tasks if need be and evaluating your new hires’ performance.

Indeed, the best way to honor veterans is to hire one. You’ll be able to give back to the courageous men and women who served our country selflessly for years. And remember: Hiring a veteran has innumerable benefits for the small business owner. Utilize the standout skillsets veteran hires bring to the table today, and watch your business transform to new heights.

If you need comprehensive office support, or simply to find more hacks for professional and personal growth, subscribe to Judy Vorfeld’s blog and newsletter!

The ingenuity of the Filipino spirit

January 7, 2014 By Administrator

By Anton Mari H. Lim
Published permission Rappler

This is part of why I volunteer for the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation . . . Judy Vorfeld

As efforts in areas hard hit by Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) now slowly take a turn from delivering immediate relief to putting in place mid-term recovery and long-term rehabilitation plans, help is much more needed from all of us.

It was only a month after Yolanda devastated the islands of Central Visayas that the gravity of destruction and the rehabilitation tasks became clear. And with attention fading, the worst that could happen is for everyone to forget that our countrymen in that part of the Philippines are still pretty much in crisis and need our continued support.

Hope sails

My heart was gripped with sadness when I saw two fishermen in Bislig, Barangay Tanauan, Tacloban City, paddling off the shore with so much effort on a boxy banca (boat). Upon closer look, it appeared to be a refrigerator. Apparently, the loss of others became their treasures, at least for a moment. One fisherman said, “ When you lost everything, the worst might just be the best.” Cryptic as it sounded, looking at the refrigerator banca, he made a valid point.

The ravaged fishing village was left with 90% of its fishermen with damaged or lost boats. One of the fishermen recalled that the storm surge came so fast and strong, they did not have time to move their boats to a safer place, “I did not think about our boat anymore. I just wanted to save my family and move to a higher ground.”

Another tragic story is that of Ferdinand “Nick” and Doris Quita’s family. The Quitas have four kids. They lost all of them to typhoon Yolanda. Doris emotionally recalled the conversation she had with one of her daughters the night before the super typhoon made landfall. According to her, while the family was gathered in the living room, her second child Megan cheerfully approached her with a drawing she herself made. It was a sketch of a happy family of six. Then out of nowhere, Megan asked her mother:

“Ma, what if all of us your children die? What will you do?”

Doris, caught by surprise said, “What are you talking about? Please don’t say that. If I lose all of you, I’d rather die. There’s no point of living without you. I might as well just commit suicide”

Megan interrupted her mom saying, “Don’t do that mom. You are not going to be in heaven with us if you commit suicide. We will not be complete. Don’t worry mom, I’ll take care of my siblings and we will come back.”

“Those were the last words of Megan,” Nick said. “My heart breaks every time I wake up, realizing that all of my children are gone. But my wife and I need to be strong for each other,” Nick added while struggling to hold back his tears.

With so many people still missing, the couple said they are still blessed to have recovered all 4 bodies of their children.

For the fishermen with similar stories, what makes it even harder for them now is to survive when the boats they rely on to put food on their tables and to earn a living are also gone.

It must really take a courageous heart to wake up everyday to a vast view of destruction that reminds you of what’s taken away from you. But to many of the survivors of Yolanda, life has to go on.

That is exactly the situation in most of the communities including in Tinagoan, Basey, Samar, where we met Jimmy Palagar. Help is still very scarce in many areas and these people are fighting hard to survive every single day. Jimmy, for example, recovered two refrigerators, tied it together and turned it into fishing boat. I tried to understand the strength they’ve shown after a tragedy of such magnitude. Perhaps it is not because Filipinos are naturally resilient, but maybe because to be strong is the only option left, for them and their loved ones to survive.

Adopt-A-Fisherman Project

The people were a little unenthusiastic when I told them that we came to help and replace their lost or damage boats. They lamented that most of those who came and promised them help did not actually come back. I understand their hesitation but we let them know that the world cared about them.

After Typhoon Pablo smashed Davao Oriental in December of 2012, Yellow Boat Of Hope (YBH) Foundation through a Davao-based NGO (KINSABA) launched a project called Adopt-A-Fisherman. Its aim is to help fishermen by providing them with boats so they can go back to fishing and provide for their family. We have since turned over 168 boats in the province.

In the aftermath of Yolanda, an estimated 120,000 fishermen lost their boats. The number did not come as a surprise considering that most of the affected communities are in the coastal areas where fishing is the main source of livelihood.

Through the generosity of donors, YBH continues to provide boats to severely affected families. So far, more than 200 yellow boats of hope are now under various stages of construction and project partners around the world already committed another 200 boats. The cost of a self-paddled boat ranges from P8,000 to P15,000 ($200-$350) depending on the community. A motorized boat costs between P20,000 to P30,000 ($470-$800).

While hundreds of boat will soon be ready for turnover, thousands of fishermen still need boats. Let’s rally together to restore their dignity as fishermen, one boat at a time.

Like all the yellow boats that bear the name Bagong Pag-asa, all the fishermen need is a spark of hope that the fishing boat represents. For them, a boat is hope and hope is a boat that will sail them through this phase of their lives.

To learn more about the Adopt-A-Fisherman Project and how you can help and support this endeavor, please visit the project’s website.

It is a no-brainer that efforts must focus on helping these families bounce back to eventually rebuild their communities. Perhaps, if we become one not only as Filipinos but also as citizens of this world, and stand together for those who are weak yet able enough to pick themselves up after a fall, moving forward may not be as hard after all.

Debriefing

In my second trip to Tacloban City, I felt anxious.

The first time I came to Tacloban to assess the situation a few days after the destruction, I went home with indications of downward spiral depression.

According to a family member, I became very reactive and impatient with things and, in a few instances, I raised my voice at home and at work. I admit that after that trip, I become so anxious about so many things and with what I witnessed.

The difference from watching it on television and to actually be there and see the amount of destruction first hand is unthinkable. I can’t imagine what it was for those who actually came face to face with the wrath of Yolanda. I remember seeing people walking aimlessly with nothing but a backpack or a plastic bag on their hands during my first trip.They were like “walking dead,” it is so heart-rending to witness.

I was so overwhelmed that I often stare blankly at random moments. As a veteran calamity responder, I have not seen anything of this gravity. I looked around and found nothing left to build upon on, no pieces to pick up. What troubled me the most was the fact that what we have is so big of a problem I didn’t know where to start and how to get help for these people fast. It is like a knock out blow after the Zamboanga crisis and the earthquake that struck Bohol and Cebu, which we have not fully recovered from yet.

After finally admitting to my self that I needed help, I underwent a debriefing. On the side, I went to work with foundations I am involved with – Tzu Chi and Yellow Boat Of Hope. The debriefing sessions did not really make me feel any better because my mind was somewhere else. I was hearing them but actually not listening. It was all a blur and a buzz. I was even offered a prescription for anti-depressant but I refused.

Surprising of all, after a few days of visiting communities and talking to people who displayed tremendous amount of faith, the heaviness I felt for several days was lifted.

I realized that these people have all the reasons in the world to be depressed, yet they are fighting back hard with determination everyday even if there is not much left to fight for. Most of them are homeless but they are definitely not hopeless.

In the end, what I really needed was to see the glimpse of hope that sparkles in the eyes and smiles of the kids, the courage of a mourning mom who lost her children, the ingenuity of a father who paddles a refrigerator banca and the resilience of the people whose spirits are not shattered. Truly hope radiates in their midst which shows that the Filipino spirit is stronger than typhoon Yolanda.

As I watched the fishermen paddle off the shore in refrigerators-turned-boats, I thought that these people have not given up hope. We should never give up on helping them.

Find original Rappler article at http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/ispeak/46612-the-ingenuity-of-the-filipino-spirit

I Need To Tell You…

November 17, 2013 By Administrator

By Joan Cybil Yao

November 13, 2013 at 2:17am

I need to tell you: The typhoon was worse than any of us could ever have imagined. The Philippines receives 20+ typhoons every year; floods, landslides and partly-blown off roofs are par for the course. Believe me when I say we have never before seen the likes of Yolanda / Haiyan.

I need to tell you: Everyday, I read the news and reports from the field, thinking we’ve reached the bottom of suffering and despair, only to find new depths. Just when I think my heart can’t break any further from the stories of loss and tragedy, something new turns up to break it all over again.

I need to tell you about the bodies decomposing on tree branches, under piles of rubble from collapsed houses, in churches, on the sides of roads, wrapped in blankets or straw mats. I need to tell you that the news cameras cannot show their faces – features frozen in fear as they died.

I need to tell you about the storm surge – the 6-meter wall of water that rose out of the sea, rushed several kilometers inland and crashed over every building and house by the coastline. You need to understand that our nation is made up of 7,107 islands; nearly everything is by the coastline.

I need to tell you how the storm surge swept in and out four times during the typhoon. Imagine the tremendous force of the sea, surging forward, crushing walls and foundations – and then that same force, sucking everything back in with it. I need to tell you how children were pulled from their mothers’ arms; how people clung desperately to rooftops or tree branches as friends and neighbors sped by, drowning or screaming for help; how today, bodies are still washing up on shore.

I need to tell you about the woman who had to bury 9 of her family members after the typhoon; about the man who lost 30 of his family members to the storm; about the husband and wife who lost their three daughters, and have only located the bodies of 2.

I need to tell you about the man who told his wife to stay in their house because it would be safer there. He found her body after the waters had subsided, embracing their dead son with one arm, and clutching the rafters of their one-story home with the other. The water had risen too high.

I need to tell you how the smell of death permeates the shattered cities and towns all along the Visayas islands. How relief workers cannot reach people quickly enough due to destroyed roads, airports, bridges. How even to this day, we do not know the full extent of the damage – communications are still down, particularly in the more remote islands and areas of the Visayas.

I need you to understand how helpless we feel – how our boxes of mineral water, biscuits, candlesticks and matches seem like such a weak salve against the brutal violence that nature has unleashed upon our brothers and sisters.

I need to tell you I am driven to distraction, wishing there were more I could do.

***

At the same time, I need to tell you about the amazing NGOs, universities, corporations and individuals that launched into action immediately after the typhoon.

I need to tell you about the telcos that worked around-the-clock to restore connectivity to at least the main hubs in the Visayas.

I need to tell you about the large international NGOs that opened their websites for donations and began mobilizing relief services, the day after Haiyan struck.

I need to tell you about the universities and schools that have launched various initiatives to raise funds and supplies for the victims; I need to tell you how, from 6am-12mn, there are students and volunteers tirelessly packing bag after bag of relief goods to be sent to the survivors.

I need to tell you about the restaurants that have offered to donate their profits for this week to relief efforts; the shipping and transport companies that have offered to pick up and deliver relief goods for free; the various corporations and rich individuals that have made sizeable donations, even without public announcements.

I need to tell you about the millions of OFWs whose hearts are bleeding for their countrymen right now; who are almost constantly monitoring the news and social networking sites for the latest developments; who are organizing fundraisers and benefit concerts for the victims and survivors back home.

I need to tell you about the generosity of the whole world – millions of dollars in aid, military or medical support from the governments of the United States, UK, Japan, Australia, Canada, the European Union, and even our neighbors, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. A pair of young girls in the US set up a lemonade stand to “help typhoon families” – these acts of kindness give us so much comfort and hope during this tragic time. We are immeasurably grateful to be in your thoughts, prayers and hearts.

I need to tell you about the Philippines’ negotiation team to this year’s UN Climate Talks in Warsaw, which is pleading with the global community to wake up to the effects of climate change and take preventative action, while there is still time. I echo the words of lead negotiator Yeb Sano, “If not us, then who? If not now, then when? If not here, then where?”

I need to tell you about our government officials – yes, I know, some of them are corrupt, and yes, perhaps they have not handled this crisis as well as we would have hoped – but I need to tell you, there are good people in government. There are people who have slept very little since the typhoon hit; they have been coordinating aid efforts; they have been trying to fix roads, assess the damage, restore order, and channel goods/services to where they are needed most. They may not be doing a perfect job, but now cannot be the time to criticize them. They are our government officials, just like the people in the Visayas are our countrymen and women – we must help one another right now; the fingers we use to point blame are better used to pack relief goods or click on the “Donate” box.

***

Finally, I need to tell you about Filipinos: We are a happy, easygoing people, who can find reasons to smile, sing and be grateful – even in the humblest of conditions, even in the direst of circumstances. We care a lot about family; that is why 10 million Filipinos spend years living far away from their loved ones, remitting money that will hopefully pay for better lives and futures back home.

Most Filipinos don’t have much by means of material wealth, but we make up for it by sharing what we do have with one another. It will astound you, sometimes, how those with the least are the most willing to give the little that they do have. I recall visiting a Gawad Kalinga village once, where our hosts, a poor family living in a 16 sq.m. house, actually spent the little money they had to buy food to prepare lunch for us. This, when their family of four would normally subsist on just a pack of instant noodles and rice each day. When you hear the word Bayanihan (rooted in the word “Bayani”, which is Filipino for “hero”) this is what it means: Being a hero for one another.

I can think of no better time for this than now.

Published with the permission of Joan Cybil Yao, who says, ” I wrote it mainly to process / express what I was feeling and thinking in light of this terrible tragedy.”

A Challenge to Defy Logic

April 9, 2013 By Administrator

Allowing fathers living by the shorelines to dream once more

Guest post by my friend Millie Kilayko

In all forms of media….traditional and non-traditional, we are barraged with articles from all sorts of experts who say that the economic triumphs of the Philippines in recent months will not filter down to the poor for sometime.

It will only happen after investments are made into the manufacturing sector and jobs are created.

For someone who lives in the province and sees the vast expanse of countryside, someone who also sees how vast the field of competition for these manufacturing investments is, I could only shrug my shoulders and say to myself, “How long will it take, really? How many years before I see lives of the poor around me changed?”

The logical answer is, “Patience, girl, it will indeed take a long, long time.”

But having met people who earn only P50 ($1.2) daily as fishermen’s helpers, having met mothers who sweep the ground in the hope of finding a few morsels, having met children who eat a mere few spoonfuls of rice paired with salt for viand, can I be patient?

Having met a man who said that he no longer knows how to dream of a future, because he can hardly survive the present, can I be patient?

To me, a man who has ceased to dream, a man who has ceased to even just imagine that life can someday change for the better, is a man who has ceased to be human. To me, to allow a person to continue to live this way, is one of the greatest sins we can commit against another human being.

Can we defy logic just this once so we need not be patient anymore?

The Miracle Begins

A few months ago, a few men in a shoreline barangay in Negros Occidental were gifted with motorized boats. In the past, these men earned an average of P50 ($1.2) a day (if at all) as fishermen’s helpers. These were the people whose families were:

• Eating rice and salt
• Drinking water from discarded tins
• Sleeping under leaking roofs in homes no bigger than a small apartment’s bathroom

Sadly, these were the men who have ceased to dream.

The Miracle Continues

As new fishermen, they began to earn an average of P150 ($3.60) daily. To a graduating student in Metro Manila, P150 daily is no dream to aspire for. But to these new fishermen, this was triple their original income.

Their wives also had an assurance of real meals for their children who could now eat from their father’s catch. This meant being able to save a little for dreams, small they may be.

This meant being able to dream again!

The Miracle Can Continue

And how much is the cost of this dream? Less than P30,000! P28,660 ($697) to be exact.

• P20,000 will go towards the boat for the fishermen
• P8,660 will go towards a nutrition program for the family’s five children (usual size of their families) for six months, until the father’s income catches up and provides them better food.

That is a fraction of one’s earnings from investments in the stock market. That is only P78.52 daily for a year, and that can be converted to easy little daily sacrifices from those who earn substantially well.

Will you allow us to help people dream once more?

Contact us through The Peter Project: (shared from Facebook post of Millie Kilayko, board president of Negrense Volunteers for Change Foundation)

Negrense Volunteers for Change Foundation, Inc. is a non-stock, non-profit organization registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Republic of the Philippines.

It was established by dedicated citizens who believe in creating positive change for the country by harnessing the power of individuals to help effect change in themselves and in their communities.

NVC Foundation also believes in the strength of partnership with government and continually seeks avenues for such alliances.