Those
of us in technology, that survived the last two recessions, can see the pending
spike for niche IT Resources. In the last two recessions we experienced massive
layoffs to cut costs in this recession; most companies cutting deeper then I
have ever seen before. The second phase is employment depression, and low
employee moral. This leads to most people staying in their current job, or situation,
because of fear and security. Once the dust settles companies reassess their
business goals, and leverage technology to increase their value proposition
thereby increasing their competitive advantage.
Corporations
have now shifted away from rapid growth strategies to focusing on sustainable
growth. As a result, the strategic initiatives start rolling in to cut costs,
improve profitability, and agility in order to win business. These initiatives
will be the catalyst, or should I say domino affect, that will impact your
ITSec Initiatives. If you lose a
critical-to–success ITSec Resource in a live project, are you prepared?
This
is where we are at right now. People are trying to predict growth in the
economy by days, months and years. We will still see more peaks & valleys.
In my experience, I have realized that this is something that I can not
control. I tend to focus on what I can control, and limit the number of
surprises to stay ahead of my competition.
Because
of the layoffs, salary cuts/freezes, sky rocketing benefit costs, and cuts in
401K the working population is depressed.
(I will not be addressing the unemployed; that will have to be for
another time.) In fact, there were two major surveys that came out in September
09. One survey was done by Adecco, and the other by a talent visionary, Lou
Adler. Both employment surveys share some eye opening information about our
employees and resources.
75% of the employment
population would consider a new opportunity if they were called. (“How to Get Ready
for a Surge in Replacement Hiring’” by Lou Adler Sep 4, 2009,
5:46 am ET)
Why are so many people unsatisfied with their current companies?
- 66% are
not satisfied with their current compensation
- 78% are
not satisfied with the company's overall retention efforts
- 76% are
not satisfied with career growth opportunities at the company
(Source: Adecco Group
North America On Wednesday September 2, 2009,
9:30 am EDT)
Now,
if you are a hiring manager and decision maker pause for a second. Think about
your own ITSec Staff. You already have to do more with less budget dollars, and
less resources. You start looking at your team: Who can I live with? Who can I
live with out? What happens if I lose Steve during the most critical part of a
highly visible, or dollar value initiatives? Who will that effect? What is the
risk versus reward? What is your plan?
The
Domino Effect:
How
is this going to play out when companies open their hiring facet a little bit?
What I am about to share with you is not revolutionary, and a lot of the
industry experts have been discussing this for months now. But, what I want to
be able to do is make it relate to your business. As an ITSec decision maker,
being prepared comes with the job. But, it is important to be prepared, and not
blindsided by a critical talent gap during a live project. The current surplus
of niche ITSec talent is going to dry up fast.
Once the faucet opens, the first group to move for opportunities will be
the “dissatisfied’. Those vacancies will create movement throughout the
companies. The second group or “Satisfied” employees will gain the confidence
to go for a job that will help them achieve their personal and professional
goals. And so on …
Do
a Proactive Assessment:
The
successful ITSec Departments I worked with in the past did a proactive
assessment to asses their risk in order to put a plan in place. What did their
plans look like? First they took stock in what they can control, have influence
over, and what they could not control.
First,
they focused on what they had control over:
- Understand
intimately their Company’s business objectives.
- Evaluated
their existing staff’s technical skills, technologies, and capabilities.
- Identified
talent, or technology strengths, and weaknesses.
- Prioritized
their risk areas: critical-to-success skills, or technology for the most
crucial or high dollar projects.
Result: Those groups
developed a talent contingency plan in order to minimize their risk, and reduce
the time to acquire that coveted talent during live projects.
Secondly,
and probably the most crucial step to their success, was that they understood
how they procured their ITSec talent by determining what they have influence
over, and what they have no control over. This assessment provided
critical information on the strengths and weakness of their existing staffing
programs. This allowed the managers to set expectation to all parties on how
long it will take to fill their critical need, cost implications, and go or no
go dates. This information is essential for planning, and setting expectations
to leverage for change if you are not getting your needs met. Without setting
expectations with your staffing partners, vendors, and integrator partners, you
are at the mercy of what comes in for you to interview. This can waste precious time we all do not
have.
Most
staffing programs are geared to volume hiring. They are based off spend to
reduce costs, leveraging purchasing power, and tracking who is walking in and
out of their company. Sometimes they are
not set up for niche needs. If your program is not set up to support your need
effectively work with Recruitment & Procurement to develop a fair solution
to your unique skills and technology. Do not forget you do have a lot of influencing because you are keeping the
corporation safe. I am seeing most staffing programs adding niche programs to
partner, and help achieve all parties’ goals. This is great because the programs
of the past were extremely ridged.
Now
that you have a proactive talent strategy, know your strengths and weakness,
and understand what your current staffing program can and can not do. You are
set, right? No, as the leader you need to network with potential talent brokers
who fit your niche, and other ITSec decision makers to see what their plans
are. For your staff, now is the time to make sure they are happy and then
encourage them to network with top ITSec talent so you can draft the right
talent to your company when the time is right.
Here is some information on hot
skills right now that I thought would be beneficial for you. This recently came
from an article from the Gov
Info Security (September
16, 2009 - Upasana Gupta, Contributing Editor)
The Most Demanded Skills
The security skills and aptitudes that attract the most interest from
employers, according to Foote, are the more "hands-on" and technical
ones, such as:
- Forensic Analysis
- Incident Handling &
Analysis
- Security Architecture
- Ethical Hacking
- Network Security
- Security Management
The Most Demanded
Competencies
Hand-in-hand with the most demanded skills comes the top competencies needed on
the job. These include:
- Forensics
- Identity and Access
Management
- Intrusion Detection and
Prevention
- Penetration Testing
- Threat/ vulnerability
Assessment Management
- Litigation Support
(e-discovery)
- Disk and File Level
Encryption Solutions
- Data Leak Prevention
- Application Security
- Governance, Compliance &
Audit
In conclusion,
those ITSec departments who understand the dynamics or trends of employment
during a recession will have a greater competitive advantage to capture and
retain their coveted ITSec talent. Having a proactive plan, and understanding
the current advantages or limitations with their company’s staffing program
will allow those hiring mangers the ability to control and influence the talent
procurement process. This understanding will allow effective recruiting, and
the ability to draft more talent then those companies who are like deer caught
in the headlights when the ITSec talent pools start to shrink.
Thank you very
much for your time, and for reading this article. I hope this information is
useful for you, and that your proactive plan is a success. If you need any
help, have questions, or would like to discuss this further please feel free to
reach out to me. Joela@wisechoiceit.com.
Sincerely
Joel Abraham
Vice
President
WiseChoice
IT
Office
414-773-0679
www.wisechoiceit.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/talentmining
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