New Research from WiCyS and FourOne Insights explores how skills-based cyber practices can positively impact employees and their organisations.
Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS), the nonprofit organisation dedicated to the recruitment, retention and advancement of women in cybersecurity and FourOne Insights, a research and advisory firm, have released a new report.
The ‘ROI of Resilience: How Cybersecurity Talent Management Best Practices Improve the Bottom Line’ study explores the financial impact of skills-based talent strategies in cybersecurity. To gather information WiCyS and FourOne Insights leveraged data from an original survey, job posting data from labour market analytics provider Lightcast, and professional social profile data, also from Lightcast.
What was discovered is that skills-based, talent-friendly practices often generate the highest returns for an organisation and its workforce. Data from the report indicated that mentorship opportunities and skills-based development increased retention by up to 18pc, with skills-based promotions improving the representation of women in cyber leadership by upwards of 10pc and in some cases, as much as 20pc.
The report said: “These practices benefit the entire workforce and are especially valuable for women. Panels for promotion decisions, internal skills profiles and formal mentorship programmes all correlate with significantly higher representation of women in cybersecurity management roles.
“Organisations using these practices see 10pc to 20pc higher representation of women in cybersecurity leadership than firms that do not. Skills-based promotion criteria and linking incentives to demonstrated skill growth further strengthen both equity and financial performance.”
Addressing challenges
The research indicates that an awareness of skills-based and talent-conscious practices can be mutually beneficial for those operating within an organisation. In fact, they have the potential to deliver more than $125,000 in savings per employee, according to the report. But despite the merits of this system, the data also indicated that the adoption of these practices is uneven.
The report said: “Despite the mutual benefit to employers and employees, many high-impact practices are among the least utilised. None of the highest-value practices are leveraged by more than 55pc of firms.
“When companies do implement these practices, they often base them on unreliable, subjective data. This threatens worse talent outcomes for organisations, while limiting career development opportunities for individuals.”
But, third-party partnerships could potentially expand capacity and ease the adoption of talent and skills-focused practices. Almost 80pc of contributing respondents explained that they find access to supportive, career-based organisations such as WiCyS to be valuable, with many of the opinion that they create stronger professional networks than those created by an employer.
According to the report, the firms that offer this kind of access tend to fill roles 16pc faster, retain workers longer and avoid significant productivity losses, when compared to those who don’t. “These partnerships provide capabilities such as peer learning, industry context, and trusted communities that are difficult for employers to build internally.”
Future ready
WiCyS’ and FourOne Insight’s research suggests that the companies attracting the strongest talent and meeting business objectives have a common approach, in that they ground their strategies in skills data, leadership actions and clear employee development opportunities.
“High-ROI practices, such as transparent promotion processes, executive sponsorship, access to upskilling and mentorship and engagement with trusted third-party partners, can consistently reduce hiring friction and support retention,” said the report. “Over time, they open advancement pathways that have historically been narrow, especially for women.”
The framework to ensure effective practices should include the assessment of workforce pain points, the planning of targeted interventions, execution with stakeholder buy-in and continuously evaluating outcomes. This, the report states, will create a “durable, self-correcting system that strengthens workforce resilience and ensures that opportunities are genuinely accessible to all talent, not simply expanded in name only”.
As for further research, the report suggests that those collecting data should explore how these practices influence broader indicators of organisational performance, including profitability and long-term resilience.
“What remains clear is that in a tightening labour market, workforce resilience is a strategic imperative. Skills-based, talent-friendly practices, reinforced by strong third-party partnerships, offer a path to building that resilience at scale.”
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
