Social Responsibility

3 ways you can support Veterans in the workplace

Creating an environment that welcomes and supports veterans should be a priority for every company. Veterans bring unique skills and experience that can inspire new ideas and fuel innovation. I feel lucky to wake up every morning and have the opportunity to make peoples’ lives better. That includes helping to build better product experiences for

Written by Matt Lisowski
Published Nov 10, 2021 - [Updated Mar 13, 2024]
3 min read

Creating an environment that welcomes and supports veterans should be a priority for every company. Veterans bring unique skills and experience that can inspire new ideas and fuel innovation.

I feel lucky to wake up every morning and have the opportunity to make peoples’ lives better. That includes helping to build better product experiences for our more than 100 million customers and extends to my role as an executive sponsor to the Intuit Military and Veterans Initiative. While I’m thrilled that supporting veterans and military families continues to be a priority at Intuit, it’s just a start. Each and every one of us can do more to support veterans.

Here are three ways you can better support veterans in the workplace.

1. Provide mentorship for a veteran

Mentorships can strengthen relationships between team members and while building a sense of belonging within an organization. You don’t have to be a veteran to mentor a veteran. As a mentor, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from someone who has had different life experiences, help provide guidance and can even develop your own leadership skills while positively impacting the career of a veteran.

Interested in being a mentor? Find out if your organization has a veteran employee resource group or connect with your human resources department. If a formal resource doesn’t exist, ask your colleagues or leaders if they know of any veterans that may be interested in mentorship.

2. Advocate for veterans and the strengths they bring to the workplace

Find ways to highlight diverse voices on your team, including those of veterans. Whether it’s their growth mindset or the ability to get things done and operate in a high pressure environment, veterans bring valuable skills to any organization. To be successful in the military you must be able to learn, adapt, and overcome while delivering for your team when lives are on the line. This mindset translates into the business world and gives leaders a team player that will learn anything needed to do the job while having a high say-do on delivery and a great attitude along the way.

3. Interview a veteran for your next open role

According to the US Department of Labor, more than 200,000 veterans move to civilian life each year. From technical expertise, to program management, leadership skills and more, many veterans have years of experience that are applicable. Encourage your teams to find and interview at least one veteran candidate for every open role. If you’re not sure where to find qualified candidates, explore partnering with a reputable organization that may be able to help.

There are also innovative ways to find top veteran talent. In partnership with our talent acquisition team and TEKsystems, a global provider of technology, business and talent solutions, we’re thrilled to launch our first cohort to increase the representation of transitioning veterans within our company. By finding ways to tap into top military talent, not only will transitioning military members have the chance to get immersed into a great organization, but they’ll be able to add to your company’s culture by providing another perspective to tackle your biggest customer problems.

Supporting veterans year round

At Intuit, the global technology platform that makes TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma, and Mailchimp, we’re passionate about helping consumers and small businesses overcome their most important financial challenges.

From creating an environment where veterans feel supported to doing more outside the workplace, like shopping with veteran-owned businesses, each of us can play a part to be a better ally to veterans.

Interested in learning more about how Intuit supports veterans? Check out the video below to hear directly from some of our own veterans and military spouses featured in this Military Makeover Special Edition, Operation Career.

We’ll never stop working to find new and innovative ways to ensure everyone has the opportunity to prosper – and we’re always looking for diverse talent to join our team. Be sure to visit our careers website to explore career opportunities and apply for one of our open positions.

After graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a BS in Computer Science, Matt transitioned to the United States Navy as a Naval Aviator flying the SH-60B Seahawk.

Matt attended the Naval Postgraduate School earning an MS in Software Engineering and served as a Navy Information Professional for 5 years before leaving the Navy.

Post military, Matt worked as a Principal Systems Engineer on the Army Future Combat Systems program for 6 years. He then moved Intuit as a Product Development leader, spending 10 years growing to the current Vice President role and Executive Sponsor of the Intuit Military Network and Intuit's Military and Veteran's Initiative.