Post-9/11 Veterans’ Soft Skill Adaptability: Conversations in Veterans Studies: A Cross-Sectional Study of Self-Directed Motivation to Acquire Critical Skills in Deployed Settings

Abstract

The transformational change brought about by the Coronavirus Pandemic has not only tested the boundaries of science, medicine, and the welfare of humanity at the onset of 2020, but it has also created an irreversible modus operandi for leveraging highly skilled human capital to drive innovation. In hindsight of organizations acquiring the talent of this veteran cohort before the economic downturn experienced in 2020, employers failed to effectively leverage the adaptability of post-9/11 veterans’ soft skills to capitalize on their experience derived from heightened operational demands in deployed settings. Such failures often result in missed opportunities for both the employer and employee to exploit innovation in organizational constructs. As economic instability caused by Coronavirus Pandemic continues to serve as the principal catalyst for the US workforce transforming to a “new normal” during the tumultuous years 2020–2021, organizational leaders should look to research with the idea of prospecting the critical soft skill potentialities of post-9/11 veterans.