{"id":8103,"date":"2024-09-13T20:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8103"},"modified":"2024-09-13T20:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-13T20:30:00","slug":"employee-experience-officer-shares-story-discusses-retention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8103","title":{"rendered":"Employee experience officer shares story, discusses retention"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published:<\/strong> 2024-09-13T20:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n

Finding great employees is important, but at VA, we also know that retention is just as important as recruitment.<\/p>\n

After serving as a combat medic for almost a decade, Edmund R. \u201cBobby\u201d Patterson initially intended to become a physician assistant, with an eye toward specializing in psychology or psychiatry. That interest was originally fostered during his years in service, watching his fellow service members struggle with the stress of combat deployments.<\/p>\n

Patterson\u2019s path to VA would ultimately take a different turn. Through mentorship and continued training, he now works as an employee experience officer in the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System<\/a>, and has been helping to promote our \u201cStay in VA\u201d initiative.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kept pushing myself, for the Veterans we serve,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause that became my personal motto, my driving force: I didn\u2019t ever want to let anyone fall through the cracks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stay in VA<\/a> is a practice aimed at promoting a trusting environment for employees to express their ideas and experiences to leadership. Likewise, supervisors and managers can learn more about employees and how to better engage their skills or talents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the epitome of Stay in VA,\u201d Patterson said. \u201cThis is about taking the time, being a servant leader, about being people-focused and people-centric. That\u2019s what VA has to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Work at VA<\/h3>\n

Visit VA Careers<\/a> now to read Patterson\u2019s story and how taking advantage of opportunities within VA has led to extraordinary experiences.<\/p>\n

\n

Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VA\u2019s retention initiatives mean there are paths to the job that\u2019s right for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":151,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-veteran-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nEmployee experience officer shares story, discusses retention - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"VA\u2019s retention initiatives mean there are paths to the job that\u2019s right for you.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8103\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Employee experience officer shares story, discusses retention - 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