Supporting employees who serve in the National Guard or Reserve is increasingly becoming a test of how employers approach flexibility, benefits and workforce resilience. Wayfinder BK, an Arizona-based small business, has been named one of 40 finalists for the 2026 Secretary of War Employer Support Freedom Award, putting its approach to military-serving employees in a national spotlight.
Wayfinder BK, LLC, known as Wayfinder, has been selected as a finalist for the 2026 Secretary of War Employer Support Freedom Award, the U.S. government’s highest recognition for employers supporting National Guard and Reserve service members.
The recognition places Wayfinder among 40 finalists selected from more than 1,200 employer nominations spanning all 50 states and U.S. territories. The finalists include private companies, government organizations and other employers across a range of industries.
The award is administered by Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of War organization focused on building supportive workplace environments for Reserve Component service members. The Freedom Award was established in 1996 and recognizes employers whose support goes beyond the baseline requirements of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA.
For HR leaders, the significance goes beyond the award itself. The recognition reflects a broader workforce-management question: how should companies design policies for employees whose professional responsibilities periodically intersect with military service?
From legal compliance to workforce strategy
USERRA establishes employment and reemployment protections for people serving in the uniformed services. ESGR’s Freedom Award, however, is designed to recognize organizations that go further than those statutory requirements.
Federal officials cite practices such as enhanced pay, flexible scheduling and deployment support among examples of employer programs that demonstrate exceptional support.
That distinction is increasingly relevant to modern HR departments.
Military service can create workforce disruptions that do not fit neatly into conventional leave or absence policies. Employees may need to prepare for deployment, spend extended periods away from work, return to civilian roles or manage family responsibilities while serving.
An employer that treats those events only as compliance requirements may meet its legal obligations without necessarily creating a supportive employee experience.
The more strategic approach is to build policies, manager training, benefits and communication processes that make military service compatible with a long-term career.
Wayfinder’s approach
Wayfinder CEO Nic Spallas said the company’s Reserve employees bring leadership, discipline and a sense of duty to their civilian work. COO Adam Jones said supporting service members and their families is part of the company’s values.
The company’s involvement also extends beyond its workplace. According to Wayfinder, both Jones and Spallas have served as Honorary Commanders and civilian liaisons for the 943rd Security Forces Squadron.
Those activities illustrate an important element of employee-support strategy: workplace culture is often shaped by what leaders do outside formal HR programs.
For HR technology teams, however, culture still needs operational support.
A company can have a strong policy on military leave, for example, but managers need systems that make it easy to understand leave eligibility, maintain appropriate employee records, coordinate schedules and communicate with employees before and after deployment.
That makes military-support policies part of the broader HR technology infrastructure surrounding absence management, workforce scheduling, employee communications and benefits administration.
Why small employers matter
Wayfinder is among the small-business finalists in this year’s competition. The 2026 finalist list also includes larger employers and public-sector organizations, demonstrating that military-friendly workplace practices are not confined to companies with large HR departments.
That matters because smaller employers often have fewer resources for specialized HR operations.
A large enterprise might have dedicated employee-relations teams, leave-management specialists and sophisticated HR information systems. A smaller business may depend more heavily on managers and simple processes to support employees during military obligations.
Technology can narrow some of that gap. Modern HR platforms can automate leave workflows, maintain policy documentation, support employee self-service and provide managers with information about workforce availability.
But automation cannot determine whether a company genuinely supports an employee who leaves for military service. That remains a leadership and culture decision.
The retention and engagement connection
Military-support policies can also intersect with broader talent strategy.
Employees increasingly evaluate employers based on whether workplace policies accommodate significant aspects of their lives. Military service is a particularly visible example because the employee may be balancing two forms of professional identity simultaneously.
For employers, creating a predictable path from civilian employment to military service and back again can help preserve institutional knowledge and reduce the disruption associated with losing experienced workers.
That is especially relevant for employers competing for skilled employees in tight labor markets.
The 2025 Freedom Award recipients included organizations such as Cox Enterprises, GE Aerospace, GM Financial, Honeywell and Kimberly-Clark, alongside smaller businesses and public-sector employers. ESGR said many recipients provided enhanced pay and benefits, flexible scheduling, generous leave policies, deployment support and assistance for military families.
The range of organizations suggests that military-support programs are becoming part of a broader employer-value proposition rather than a niche HR initiative.
A new category reflects changing workforce priorities
The 2026 awards also introduce a Defense Industrial Base category, recognizing organizations that contribute to national security while supporting military-serving employees.
That addition is significant because the relationship between employers and the military extends beyond traditional defense contractors.
Companies across technology, manufacturing, logistics, healthcare and professional services employ members of the Guard and Reserve. Their ability to support those employees can have implications for both individual careers and national readiness.
The Department of War’s personnel and readiness office currently describes talent management, health and well-being, and strategic readiness among its priorities, underscoring the connection between personnel policy and organizational readiness.
What HR teams can take from the recognition
Wayfinder’s finalist status offers a useful lesson for HR organizations: supporting military employees is not simply a matter of writing a compliant leave policy.
The strongest programs combine policy, manager behavior, benefits, communication and operational systems.
HR technology can provide the infrastructure. Workforce-management systems can handle leave and scheduling; HRIS platforms can maintain employee records; employee-experience tools can support communication; and analytics can help organizations understand workforce impacts.
But the technology works best when the underlying policy is designed around the employee rather than the administrative event.
Wayfinder will now advance alongside the other finalists, with up to 15 organizations ultimately expected to receive the 2026 Freedom Award.
For employers watching the process, the larger takeaway is straightforward: supporting military service is increasingly being evaluated not only through the lens of compliance, but also through workforce culture, leadership and resilience.
Market Landscape
The HR technology market is increasingly focused on employee experience, flexible workforce management and benefits administration. Military leave is one example of a broader challenge facing HR teams: designing systems that can accommodate employees whose personal responsibilities do not fit conventional work patterns.
Large HR platforms from Microsoft, Salesforce and other enterprise technology providers increasingly support workflow automation, employee communications and workforce data integration. Dedicated HRIS and workforce-management platforms add capabilities for absence tracking, scheduling and benefits.
For employers with Guard and Reserve employees, the opportunity is to connect those capabilities into a coherent employee-support process.
The competitive advantage is unlikely to come from a standalone “military employee” feature. It will come from whether an organization’s HR operating model makes it easy for employees and managers to navigate periods of service without damaging career continuity.
Top Insights
- Wayfinder is among 40 finalists for the 2026 Freedom Award, highlighting employer practices that support Guard and Reserve employees beyond basic USERRA compliance.
- Military-support policies increasingly intersect with HR technology, including leave management, workforce scheduling, benefits administration, employee communications and manager workflows.
- Small employers can compete on workforce support, demonstrating that meaningful military-friendly policies do not necessarily require large HR departments or complex technology stacks.
- The new Defense Industrial Base category broadens the award’s scope, reflecting the connection between employer support, national security and workforce readiness.
- Employee support can become a retention strategy, helping organizations preserve experienced workers when military obligations temporarily interrupt conventional employment patterns.
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