CYBERSECURITY REVIEW 9 JUNE - 2023Organizations are thus impelled to identify and put into practice creative approaches to surpass this challenge, and the key might simply be to take it as an opportunity.RETAIN YOUR TALENTBefore focusing on hunting for new professionals, be sure you drive your energy into retention strategies for your team members. With such a strong demand and lack of offer, the market is super aggressive, with companies offering attractive compensation packages and benefits.It might be a good idea to benchmark salaries, comparing with similar sized companies operating in your region, and performing the necessary adjustments to reflect that market demand. Use that input to define an adapted compensation model for Cyber Security professionals, offering the possibility of choice between a technical or a management path, without penalizing the first, making it clear and transparent in terms of career progression opportunities.Investing in training and participation in events/conferences for your team is another great way to motivate and retain talent, while continuously developing their potential and skills. New ideas, experiences, references and knowledge are acquired and will then be put at the company service, positively influencing and contributing to the Cyber Roadmap.Involve your team in the design and definition of your Roadmap for the next 3 to 5 years, promoting transparency, sense of ownership and meaning, enabling team members to have visibility on how they will be able to contribute, as well as on the challenges/opportunities ahead. AUTOMATE/ORCHESTRATE TEDIOUS AND REPETITIVE TASKSHighly skilled professionals must be relieved from low value recurring tasks that can be automated/orchestrated, maximizing their focus on specialized activities that will benefit from their knowledge and experience, keeping work interesting and challenging. This can be achieved in different forms, by using technology solutions to improve and boost operational efficiency, like Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR), structuring and creating workflows for approval and validation with pre-accepted policies, like Network Security Policy Management (NSPM).LIGHTEN YOUR REQUIREMENTS AND RESKILLIt's often part of Cybersecurity job opportunities the need to have several years of experience in the area, as well as University degree on Cyber, significantly limiting the matching candidates. You might want to consider lightening those requirements and rather focus on willingness to learn, capability and interest to adapt, and critical thinking. Some of the most talented professionals I've met in the Cyber domain do not have a bachelor, master or doctorate in Cyber or even IT, thus they would not match the hiring criteria, which would be a great loss for organizations.Look inside your organization and identify people interested in the Cyber area, without the need to have previous knowledge, and give them the chance to reskill and enter this domain. You might be surprised with the outcome. If you are looking for an Industrial Cyber Security Expert, why not reskilling an operational technology professional, who has knowledge on what you are trying to protect? If you are looking for a Web Application Security Tester, why not reskilling a software developer? If you are looking for a Cybersecurity Architect, why not reskilling an IT Architect?Take advantage of recruitment changes observed in result of the pandemic crisis, including the global adoption of remote and flexible work and greater openness to relocation, by removing location as a deciding factor. You'll get a much wider pool of candidates by not limiting it to the company's location, possibly exploring employment markets on foreign countries and attracting talented people with enriching mindset and cultural background.CONTRIBUTE TO THE CYBER COMMUNITYBe open to collaboration with academia and consider onboarding internships and trainees within your Team. There are amazing young talents that bring such a refreshing approach, unlimited energy and commitment which can positively impact the team spirit and productivity, and all they need is an opportunity and some guidance to thrive. Even if they leave afterwards, you'll be contributing to enlarge the Cybersecurity community and help solve the industry skill shortage. Approach time spent as an investment rather than a loss of your time.BE PREPARED AND EMBRACE LEAVERS NATURALLYThe day will come when our team members decide to move on, taking new challenges and accepting to explore new opportunities elsewhere. We must embrace this as something natural and focus on the positive aspects, considering that a new opportunity might be arising for a new or existing team member to relocate to that position and take new responsibilities, continuing its growth path. As people managers, our goal is to take the best out of each of our people and support them in their journey, thus their success and evolution can only be seen as a source of pride and a sense of accomplishment. Investing in training and participation in events/conferences for your team is another great way to motivate and retain talent, while continuously developing their potential and skills
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