Defined benefit retirement plans are still available in some state and
local governments, but these incentives are going away.
Influencers
Dan Lohrmann
Chief Strategist & Chief Security Officer at Security Mentor, Inc. -
Author, Blogger, Featured Speaker.
Security Mentor, Inc. The Johns Hopkins University
Getting and keeping top cybersecurity staff in government isn't
always easy, but there are strategies available to build your
workforce.
History teaches us that great leaders build great teams. Surveys
confirm and reconfirm that attracting and retaining talent is key to
achieving organizational objectives and building a culture that makes
a positive difference.
But attracting or retaining professionals with any credible
cybersecurity experience into government positions has never been
harder than it is right now. Constraints such as compensation
packages make it hard to compete in our new ―talent war.‖
Further complicating this problem are government employees eligible
for retirement. A public-sector ―brain drain‖ is still predicted when
staff with more than 30 years’ experience decide to retire.
Sadly things will likely get worse. One study by Frost & Sullivan
forecasts a cybersecurity industry worker shortage of 1.8 million
workers by 2022. Meanwhile, in mid-August 2017, four more top
cybersecurity officials announced that they are leaving federal
government.
In response to this competition for talent, a variety of government
staff retention programs are commonplace. Offering telework, more
vacation and flexible hours, and emphasizing very competitive health
insurance plans are a few ways to keep staff from jumping ship.
And while pay scales for technology and cybersecurity professionals
are being raised in some public-sector organizations, it’s hard to see
how governments can compete with private-sector pay — especially
if stock options and bonuses are included.
So what can be done? Here are three strategies to consider:
1. Grow your own team. Just like in professional baseball, you can
build a ―farm team‖ of young cyberprofessionals, students, interns
and recent college graduates with technology knowledge and
passion, but less experience. There are ways to attract young talent
into government roles, since research has shown that public service
and making a difference in society are a higher priority than pay for
millennials.
There is a strong case to be made for starting one’s career in
government IT, since public-sector positions often offer a wider
breadth of opportunities and challenges than initial private-sector
roles.
TIP: Make a concerted effort to recruit and engage young people
starting in high school and early college. Get involved with
cybercompetitions to find the right students.
2. Retrain staff from other parts of government. Offer cross-training
and technology transfer programs from the business side of
government. Since cybersecurity roles often pay more, agency staff
from other parts of the tech organization and/or business areas are
often keen to make the jump to security roles. These pros know how
government runs, so they bring added value to the security team.
TIP: Consider programs like Hiring Our Heroes to bring military
veterans into the workforce. These veterans often bring hands-on
experience from the front lines of cyberbattles around the world.
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