American companies have made great strides in recruiting veterans in recent years, according to a new study by the Rand Corp. Now the challenge is keeping those employees.

In a pre-Veterans Day report that focused on firms in the 100,000 Jobs Mission, researchers found enthusiasm for hiring veterans but insufficient support programs once they start work and not enough metrics to show just how they're performing.

The report comes about a month after a study from VetAdvisor and Syracuse University's Institute for Veterans and Military Families that showed almost two-thirds of veterans are likely to leave their first post-military job within two years.

Both studies point to the next evolution in the veterans employment effort, one that shifts focus from bringing vets into civilian companies to keeping them on the job.

"Companies need to start thinking about this," said Margaret Harrell, one of the Rand report authors. "As veterans hiring becomes a less sexy issue, companies are going to need to show the proof that veterans are worth targeting as workers, and worth continued support."

Officials from the 100,000 Jobs Mission announced Monday that they've topped 190,000 veterans since the effort began in 2011, and expect to surpass 200,000 hires by the end of this year.

Rand researchers said given that level of success, those firms need to shift attention to "adequate support for veteran employees in such areas as onboarding, career development, and retention."

The report emphasizes not singling out veterans as a protected minority, but rather finding ways to react to their specific needs and skills. In some cases, that's simply better explaining career development or management training programs. In others, it's veteran-to-veteran mentoring or retaining human resources personnel on military terms and experience.

Officials from the 100,000 Jobs Mission say they're already seeing that shift. Maureen Casey, director of JPMorgan Chase's military and veterans programs, said recent discussions among the mission's 178 companies have focused on veteran retention and job satisfaction, with an eye toward keeping the newly hired military talent happy and productive.

She emphasized that for companies in the 100,000 Jobs Mission, the veterans hiring effort is less about altruism than about attracting top talent. The mission has added about 50 companies since the start of 2014, a sign of still-high interest in veterans employment.

"If they can get this right, the military and veterans become a sustaining pipeline of talent for them," she said. "The level of engagement of these companies and enthusiasm is still high."

Still, the Rand report emphasizes that level of support may begin to wane as veterans hiring becomes less of a national focus. Unemployment among veterans has stayed below 6 percent for much of the last year, and dropped to a six-year low of 4.5 percent in October.

Researchers said companies need to develop metrics beyond the number of veterans hired to show "the merit and effectiveness of veteran recruitment efforts," including ways to evaluate the long-term impact those employees have on the company.

Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.

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