Losing the Cyber Talent War? Try These Moves to Get Back on Top

Alongside growing cyber threats, organizations face an ongoing skilled worker shortage and wage inflation amid the “Great Resignation.” And in the race to hire, train, and retain top-tier tech talent, the competition is fierce.

The good news is that cybersecurity has expanded beyond just a technical field. It now covers operational resilience, fraud, risk management, governance, and other critical areas. New and diverse career paths are emerging. This creates new moves organizations can make to plug their cyber talent gaps. That’s where HR comes in.

Here are three actions your Talent team can take that will improve your cybersecurity team’s posture:

1. Cyber skills are very specific; consider asking for help

Recruiting top-tier cybersecurity talent is a highly specialized task. To find and attract the best candidates, you must have a clear understanding of the space and role requirements. Many HR teams often make the mistake of hiring purely off a job description and checking off some tech stack terminology. The results? They find it very challenging to match the right candidates to the actual role at hand, creating critical gaps in the cybersecurity team.

Your organization should adopt a tailored approach to cybersecurity recruitment. Be sure to debrief the hiring manager fully on the subtleties of the workload. You might also consider hiring specialists to handle this task. IT hiring can require specific knowledge of the terminology and structure of the departmental organization that the in-house HR team may not have.

2. Prioritize employee growth and satisfaction

Market standards and expectations have shifted drastically. Although remuneration is still important and a key consideration, organizations must consider many other factors like health and safety, location and timing flexibility, and career growth opportunities.

Many tech talents have stated an outright preference for either a hybrid or remote setup, and more are leaning toward wanting fully remote jobs. These are important considerations that the organization and HR must consider when dealing with cybersecurity talent too.

Upskilling and reskilling are some of the value-adds a company can offer to retain talent. This has an additional benefit when it comes to filling crucial cybersecurity vacancies. If your company can’t recruit enough cyber talent with the right tech skills, it may be worth thinking about training internal employees and equipping them with the necessary skills. It’s a win-win situation: your employees get wider and more varied career paths before them, and you fill tech talent needs. Internal hires also come with prior knowledge of the company’s operations and culture, making them prime candidates for future leadership roles.

3. Increase flexibility by considering interim leadership or contract hires

Digital transformation has become a crucial part of business strategy with the current age of technological advancement, and your cyber defenses must evolve to match. Whether you’re looking to implement a critical transformation program that requires additional support, recruit an executive position to handle digital affairs, or accelerate new IT projects, your organization will likely find itself regularly needing more trusted, skilled cyber talent.

Navigating the new demands of today’s workforce

The modern-day workforce has changed dramatically, and organizations need a proactive approach to address the new demands when filling key roles.

The effectiveness of your cybersecurity defenses depends on the quality of the team taking care of it. Talent recruitment and retention are not the same as what they were even before the pandemic. Priorities and expectations have shifted, for both your organization and the people you want to hire.