Appian World attendees were treated to an impressive case study for veteran job placement. The US Veterans Administration provided an overview of the VA for Vets program. The VA for Vets program is a model for federal veteran employment. The aim is to recruit, reintegrate, and retain veterans in federal jobs, with services such as resume building, job coaching, and training. The program is supported by the Veterans Employment Service Office, who leverage a high touch and high tech solution to connect with veterans. The program has resulted in a higher percentage of veteran job placement and retainment.
Jason Adolf from Serco NA, who worked with the VA to create and implement this program, talked about the technology involved. They created a case management system solution for 3R services - Reintegration, Recruiting, and Retention.
The solution relies on a number of partner connections, all orchestrated through Appian. The case management system includes an issue and request resolution platform, which allows for easy tracking of deployment and issues. The Appian DataStore is the primary clearinghouse for data from partner applications such as monster.com and the PDRI skills assessment.
Serco has also created an innovative mobile business card application through Tempo. The application allows them to capture Veterans' contact information wherever they meet them, whether that be at a career fair or just on the street. the information is funneled through Appian BPM Software into the case management system and a SharePoint database. The program also uses Tempo to present information to their coaches and Vet Reps. They're able to search for activity by user simply by using the Tempo search function. The end result is that it's faster and easier to get veterans into jobs.
Serco's solution, including development, test, and production, is completely hosted in a VA sponsored Terremark cloud. When the program began, they were able to stand up a development environment on Appian Cloud within days to jumpstart the program.
Adolf then discussed the VA's large career fair. Serco developed a BPM based system to track vets' journey through the career fair in ten days. They used Tempo for the registration interface - 35 temp employees were able to use the registration system with little to no training. After the initial attendee registration, Appian generated a job routing form that the candidates could take to the next stage of the career fair.
In the VA for Vets area of the career fair, the career coaches used the case management system to log their coaching sessions. The client dashboard for the case management system integrates database calls, web service calls, and quick tasks to allow for a more CRM like experience. The request dashboard is visible by both program employees and veteran customers. Case notes are documented here and accessible to other coaches so that anyone can pick up the case from a previous location.
Appian is very proud to be playing a role in helping veterans gain employment!
