World Economic Forum data suggest that no industry has a wider talent and skill gap than cybersecurity. Cybersecurity Ventures analyzed data for eight years and concluded that unfilled cybersecurity jobs will grow by 350% from one million in 2013 to 3.5 million in 2021. What’s even worst is that less than one in four applying for those unfilled cybersecurity jobs are actually qualified.
Couple that with the growing frequency and complexity of cybersecurity attacks and those working in cybersecurity industries have their work cut out. This is the reason why most cybersecurity professionals working in the industry either quit their jobs or are subject to employee burnout. Some might even switch careers or take early retirement. How can organizations turn things around by bridging the cybersecurity skill gap in such a situation? That is exactly what you will learn after reading this article.
In this article, you will learn about seven changes you need to make to overcome the cybersecurity talent shortfall problem.
7 Changes You Need To Make To Get Over Talent Shortfall
Here are seven things you need to do to overcome the talent shortfall in the cybersecurity industry.
1. Organization Culture
If you are serious about resolving the talent shortfall problem, you need to create an organizational culture that revolves around appreciation. Give your IT team a pat on the back every now and then so they feel you value them and their contribution. Moreover, this will prevent them from switching jobs and moving to a different organization, which would reduce your employee turnover rate. Give your employees the resources and autonomy they need to perform tasks independently. Have faith in their capabilities and give them enough time to showcase their talent. Once you give them an organisational culture where they are appreciated, they will always give it their best shot.
2. Hire For Behavior
“Hire for attitude, train for skill.”— Herb Kelleher
One of the common mistakes most businesses make is that they hire for skills and focus on technical acumen and experience instead of looking at the behaviour and attitude of the candidate. As a result, they end up hiring employees who are great at providing DDoS protection but lack the right attitude to excel in your organization. Soon, both you and the candidate realized that the employee you just hired might not be the right fit for your organization. This leads to his termination or he might start to look for other opportunities and leave your organization. All the resources and efforts you put in to hire an employee goes down the drain.
3. Accelerate Your Hiring Process
Most enterprises have a lengthy, complex and arduous hiring process. If your organization is also one of them, you need to simplify the hiring process by eliminating unnecessary steps. Focus on ways that could help you accelerate your hiring process so you don’t spend months hiring a single employee. With widening IT talent shortfall, you need an easily repeatable, nimble and efficient hiring process otherwise, your organization will get stuck in a rut.
A slow hiring process will not only irritate and put off prospective candidates but can also frustrate the employer as you might lose out on the perfect candidate due to the slow and tedious hiring process. On the flip side, a faster and simpler hiring process can help you find employees you are looking for in less time. The faster and simpler your hiring process, the more candidates you can screen and hire. This is extremely important especially in an industry where the talent gap is widening with each passing day and skills shortfall is acute.
4. Make Your Onboarding Process Seamless
Removing friction from the employee onboarding process is the last thing on the business priority list. This is the reason why new hires have a hard time adjusting to the new environment. If you can make your employee onboarding process seamless and less taxing for new hires, it will make the transition far easier for them. They can adjust easily to the culture and become an integral part of your organization. This can drastically reduce your employee turnover rate and help you retain your existing IT workers. Set the right expectations by drawing an agreement and tell new hires what tasks they will perform and why.
5. Covert Your Business To A Brand
You need to be crystal clear about your brand identity as well as the values your organization stands for. Highlight the core values and tell your brand story to attract top talent to your organization. It is the power of the brand that can pull them towards your brand over other options. That is why it is important for organizations to focus on boosting their branding efforts. Take a page out of your branding book and implement it in your hiring process and you can see positive results.
6. Start a Referral Program
Would you love to work with your best friend in the same organization? Most people will answer this question with a resounding yes. Sadly the same people will reply negatively when asked to refer their friends especially when they are asked to do it without any incentive. Your organization can capitalize on this opportunity by starting a referral program. Tie your referral program with an incentive for your employees who refer their friends or family members in your network. You will start to get more recommendations from your employees, which will give you a larger talent pool to choose from.
7. Involve Your Best Employees
Just like brands, you can turn your most satisfied, engaged and happy employees into brand advocates. You can ask your best employees to share their experiences and shed light on the best aspect of the organization. This will help you attract the attention of new talent and encourage them to apply to your organization. You can also use their positive feedback on social media for added exposure. By portraying a positive brand image of your organization, you can see the influx of new talent applying for your organization. With a larger talent pool at your disposal, it is much easier to find the right candidates. And always select the top class of candidates for your brand.
Conclusion
The ever-widening talent shortfall in the cybersecurity industry is putting more pressure on cybersecurity teams that are already understaffed and overworked. With businesses slashing their cybersecurity budgets due to this pandemic, hiring certified security professionals is out of the question, as they charge top dollars for their services. So, how can businesses bridge the skill shortfall in the cybersecurity industry?
You will first have to establish an organizational culture that appreciates talented individuals. Hire candidates that have a positive attitude as you can always teach skills but you can never change the attitude and behavior. Make your employee onboarding experience less taxing on new employees so they can easily adjust to the new environment. Turn your best-performing employees into brand advocates and ask them to share the positive experiences they had while working with your organization. This will create a positive image and help you attract new talent. Lastly, introduce a referral program that rewards employees who refer prospective candidates for new job openings.
How are you planning to overcome the cybersecurity talent shortfall? Share it with us in the comments section below.