Military Veterans in Federal Agencies: Organizational Inclusion, Human Resource Practices, and Trust in Leadership as Predictors of Organizational Commitment

• Author: Prince A. Attoh,Tao Gong,Tyrone Chase,Girvin Liggans,Priscilla W. Clark,Mia B. Russell
• Published date: 01 September 2019
• Date: 01 September 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0091026018819025
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0091026018819025

Public Personnel Management

2019, Vol. 48(3) 413 –437

© The Author(s) 2019

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DOI: 10.1177/0091026018819025

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Article

Military Veterans in Federal

Agencies: Organizational

Inclusion, Human Resource

Practices, and Trust in

Leadership as Predictors of

Organizational Commitment

Girvin Liggans1, Prince A. Attoh1, Tao Gong1,

Tyrone Chase1, Mia B. Russell1, and Priscilla W. Clark1

Abstract

Military veterans comprise a significant demographic that is adding to the diversity of

the U.S. federal workforce. Using data from the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint

Survey, this study examined the relationship between organizational inclusion,

human resource practices, trust in leadership, and organizational commitment

among military veterans and nonveterans in federal agencies. Structural equation

modeling showed the positive impact of organizational inclusion and human

resource practices on organizational commitment was partially mediated by trust

in leadership. Human resource practices had a greater impact than organizational

inclusion on organizational commitment. Human resource practices, however,

had less of an impact on organizational commitment and trust in leadership among

military veterans as compared with nonveterans. Organizational inclusion had more

of an impact on trust in leadership among the military veterans than the nonveterans

in the study. There was no difference based on veteran status regarding the impact

of trust in leadership on organizational commitment.

Keywords

diversity, federal agencies, human resource practices, inclusion, organizational

commitment, military veterans

1University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, USA

Corresponding Author:

Girvin Liggans, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Spaulding Hall, 1 Backbone Road, Princess Anne,

MD 21853, USA.

Email: gliggans@gmail.com

819025PPMXXX10.1177/0091026018819025Public Personnel ManagementLiggans et al.

research-article2019

414 Public Personnel Management 48(3)

Military veterans comprise a significant demographic that is adding to the diversity

of U.S. federal agencies. Spread across more than 80 executive agencies, military

veterans currently make up almost 27% of the workforce (U.S. Office of Personnel

Management [U.S. OPM], 2016). In 2012, military veterans comprised almost

56,000, nearly 30%, of the 195,000 new employees hired by the executive branch of

the federal government (U.S. OPM, 2012). While this was the highest number of

military veterans hired by the executive branch in more than 20 years, the trend

continued and military veterans represented 31% of the new employees hired in

2013 (U.S. OPM, 2014).

According to the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (OCJCS;

2014), fomenting reintegration signals to the public that America values its military

veterans as a civil asset so future generations remain willing to take the same volun-

tary oath of service sustaining the country’s long tradition of a viable, all-volunteer

military. Hiring military veterans represents a large component of the overall diver-

sity efforts within public organizations (Choi & Rainey, 2010; Kleykamp, 2009; Ruh,

Spicer, & Vaughan, 2009). All federal agencies in the United States have been directed

to actively recruit and retain military veterans (Executive Order [EO] 13518, 2009).

As such, various initiatives and human resource practices have been established that

give special recruitment and hiring preference to military veterans pursuing federal

employment after military separation (Collins et al., 2014; Lewis, 2013; Mani, 1999).

With more than 200,000 military service members expected to leave the Armed

Forces annually over the next 5 years (OCJCS, 2014), the number of military veter-

ans entering the federal workforce is expected to increase.

Human resource practices vary by organization, but four practices are consistently

identified in the literature; selection, performance appraisal, compensation, and train-

ing and development (Guest, Conway, & Dewe, 2004; McClean & Collins, 2011;

Whitener, 2001). Research suggests using these human resource practices indicates an

organization’s interest in investing in and rewarding employees for their contributions

and leads to desirable outcomes of commitment, productivity, and reduced turnover

(Nishii, Lepak, & Schneider, 2008). Gould-Williams (2007) found that “human

resource practices and the climate in which they are introduced signal the extent to

which organizations value and care for employees” (p. 1628). Kim and Ko (2014)

found employee perception of human resource practices was positively related to

organizational commitment in a public-sector organization.

Federal agencies have adopted a philosophy of valuing workforce diversity which

has led to the active pursuit of policies and initiatives that promote and manage diver-

sity and inclusion within the federal workforce (Soni, 2000; U.S. OPM, 2011).

Described as an extension of workplace diversity, inclusion moves beyond recruit-

ment and retention of a demographic category and places value on individual differ-

ences and creating environments where everyone feels valued and respected and can

invest themselves in the organization (Sabharwal, 2014). Therefore, any increases in

the number and proportion of military veteran employees within federal agencies

should be considered in the context of the desire to maximize the contribution of

diverse individuals within a work environment. The issuance of EO 13583 solidifies