Latest / The Diversity Career Podcast with Fexingo: Inclusion, Equity, and Underrepresented Professionals / How a Utility Company Turned Veteran Hiring Into a Career Engine
Transcript
- Lucas: You see these job postings all the time — 'veterans encouraged to apply.' But what happens after they actually get hired? That's the part that usually falls apart. Luna: Right, it's one thing to have a nice line in the job description. It's another to actually build a system that works for someone coming out of the military. Lucas: Exactly. And today I want to look at one company that did build that system. Southern Power & Light — a regional utility in the southeastern US. They started something called the 'Veteran to Lineman' program back in 2022. Luna: Lineman — that's the people who work on power lines, right? Climbing poles, fixing outages in storms. It's a physically demanding job. Lucas: Yeah, and it's also a job that's in huge demand. Utilities are dealing with an aging workforce, a lot of experienced linemen retiring. So Southern Power & Light looked at the military as a talent pool that's already trained in some of the core competencies — discipline, working in harsh conditions, following safety protocols. Luna: But the military doesn't teach you how to splice cables or climb a sixty-foot pole. Lucas: No, it doesn't. So the program is structured as a paid apprenticeship. You come in at a journeyman level, you're earning a wage from day one — around fifty thousand dollars a year starting — and over eighteen months you go through a combination of classroom instruction and on-the-job training. At the end, you test for your journeyman lineman certification. Luna: And what happens after that? Do they stay? Lucas: That's the impressive part. The two-year retention rate for veterans who complete the program is ninety-two percent. Compare that to their overall lineman retention rate, which is around seventy percent. So something about the way they're onboarding and supporting these hires is working. Luna: What's the something? I'm guessing it's more than just a good paycheck. Lucas: It is. They built in a mentorship component — every veteran in the program is paired with a current employee who's also a veteran. That person isn't just a technical coach; they help navigate the culture shift. Military culture and utility culture actually have a lot of overlap — chain of command, emphasis on safety — but there are subtle differences. The mentor helps bridge that gap. Luna: So it's about translation, not just training. Lucas: Exactly. And they also created a clear career ladder. After the apprenticeship, you're a journeyman lineman. From there you can move up to senior lineman, then crew leader, then supervisor, then into management. They mapped out the path so veterans can see where they're going. Luna: I know a lot of companies say they have a career path, but it's often vague. 'You can grow here!' — how? Lucas: Right. Southern Power & Light publishes the criteria. For example, to go from journeyman to senior lineman, you need at least two years of experience in the role, you need to complete certain safety certifications, and you need to have mentored at least one apprentice. It's transparent. Luna: That's smart. It also ties back to the military value of leadership — you can't advance unless you've trained someone else. Lucas: Exactly. They're leveraging the skills that veterans already have, not just asking them to start from zero. Luna: How many veterans have gone through the program so far? Lucas: Over four hundred as of the end of last year. And they've expanded it beyond lineman roles — they now have similar tracks for substation technicians, meter readers, even some back-office IT roles. The model is scalable. Luna: I'm curious about the broader industry. Utilities are famously local and regulated. Can this work for a company in a completely different sector? Lucas: I think it can, but it requires that the company actually commit to the apprenticeship model. You can't just post a job and hope for the best. Southern Power & Light invested in dedicated training facilities, they hired veteran coaches, they worked with local community colleges to align their curriculum. That's not cheap, but the return is a pipeline of highly skilled, loyal employees. Luna: And the loyalty part — ninety-two percent retention — that's huge when you consider the cost of replacing a skilled lineman. Recruitment, training, lost productivity — it adds up. Lucas: It does. And there's another angle here. Veterans as a group are underrepresented in a lot of civilian industries, especially in professional and management roles. Programs like this don't just fill a labor gap; they address an equity gap. Luna: You know, we've talked a lot on this show about how companies can turn different kinds of diversity into career advantages. I think this episode is a really good example of that done right. Lucas: If this kind of conversation is useful to you — and I hope it is — the way we keep the show ad-free and focused is through listener support. You can help at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small gesture that makes a big difference for us. And it keeps episodes like this coming. Lucas: So, back to the program — one thing I found really interesting is how they handle the cultural adjustment specifically around hierarchy. In the military, rank is clear, but in a utility company, the crew leader might not be the most senior person in terms of age or experience. Veterans sometimes struggle with that ambiguity. Luna: I can see that. In the military, if someone outranks you, you follow orders. In a civilian job, the person giving direction might be younger or have less time on the job. That can be a mental shift. Lucas: Right. So their mentorship program explicitly addresses that. Mentors talk about how to navigate situations where your supervisor is junior to you, or where there's no clear chain of command. It's about building what they call 'civilian situational awareness.' Luna: That's a great phrase. And it's the kind of soft skill that doesn't come up in a job interview. Lucas: Exactly. And it's probably one reason the retention is so high — they're not pretending the transition is seamless. They acknowledge the differences and give people tools to handle them. Luna: Are there any other companies you know of that have similar programs, or is Southern Power & Light kind of a standout? Lucas: They're a standout in terms of scale and results. There are other utilities with veteran hiring initiatives — Duke Energy, Pacific Gas & Electric — but I don't know of any that have published retention data like this. Southern Power & Light is unusually transparent about their metrics. Luna: That transparency itself is a best practice. If you're going to claim a program works, show the numbers. Lucas: Agreed. And they also track promotion rates. Veterans in their program are promoted at a rate twenty percent higher than non-veteran peers within the first three years. That suggests the skills translate faster than expected. Luna: That's a powerful data point for any HR leader listening. It's not just a feel-good initiative; it's a performance play. Lucas: It is. And I think the lesson goes beyond veterans. Any time a company is willing to rethink how they assess and onboard people from non-traditional backgrounds, they can unlock talent that competitors overlook. Luna: It's about looking at what someone can do, not just what they've already done in a civilian context. Lucas: Exactly. Southern Power & Light looked at military experience and said, 'This is valuable — we just need to build a bridge.' And they did. Luna: Do you think other industries like manufacturing or logistics could replicate this model? Lucas: Absolutely. Manufacturing has similar skill gaps — electricians, welders, maintenance technicians. Logistics needs people who can manage supply chains under pressure, which is basically a military core competency. The model is portable as long as the company is willing to invest in the apprenticeship infrastructure. Luna: So the takeaway isn't just 'hire veterans' — it's 'create a system that helps veterans succeed.' Lucas: That's the whole episode right there. And it's a system any company can build, if they're willing to do the work.