According to Forbes, 59% of cybersecurity leaders report being understaffed, with tightened budgets impacting salary scale and resource allocation.
Tools at your disposal for cybersecurity team retention
As a staffing company, we’re not immune to the turnover problem. When we place a cyber security professional, it’s in our best interests (and our clients’) that they stay in their new role.
However, the reality is that 30% of new hires leave within 90 days. Given that it costs an average of $1,400 to onboard a new employee—and given the increasing demand for cyber security talent—turnover is an issue organizations like yours simply cannot afford.
"Turnover is disruptive to my team, and in my domain, more common than I'd like. Given the time to hire challenges in cyber security, the exercise can be very costly." - S.i. Systems Financial Services client
4 ways to help prevent talent turnover
Company culture and employee rewards (think certification sponsorships or flexible working hours) can go a long way toward improving engagement and reward employees. But to really curb turnover, it takes meaningful structural changes that have an impact you can measure.
Here are actionable examples from four of our clients that represent a proactive effort to increase retention:
1. Work Out Retention Bonuses with your Staffing Partners
In a tight labor market, sign-on and project completion bonuses become more prevalent. To motivate independent consultants to complete their contracts, consider a different bonus structure.
Work with your staffing agencies to create hold back retention programs for a consultant’s hourly rate until the project ends, say $10/hour on a $150/hour pay rate. The budgetary impact remains the same, but the consultant receives a large lump sum payment at close out, which many appreciate.
2. Utilize Contract-to-Hire Programs
Don’t forget about a contract-to-hire option. Many staffing agencies will have programs that allow you to engage with a contractor and have an option to convert them to an employee if there is a long-term match.
Typically, incorporated consultants do not have a desire to convert from a limited company. But make sure your recruiting strategy is flexible enough to identify—and act upon--those who do. This includes discussing:
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Whether they’re purely interested in contracting or if they have ambitions to become a permanent part in your organization
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Whether you want them to become a permanent employee
And remember: Many staffing agencies offer conversion to permanent staff at a fraction of the finder’s fee (depending on timing, it may even be waived). If you’re confident in your company value prop and are willing to enter a “dating period” with a consultant, you can land amazing full-time employees with no additional cost outlay.
3. Manage Market Costs, Not Agency Costs
Consider a formal rate card management program. Wages are a key ingredient for contractor retention, and a market rate card ensures that supply and demand influence your contingent workforce cost structure appropriately.
Here’s how that works: a managed markup approach treats a consultant’s pay rate as a given, and controls the amount of markup a third party can specify to cover operating expenses, profit, and government burden. By only focusing on markup, it reduces flexibility for all parties, incentivizes higher rates, and raises client costs.
A data-driven market rate card (with quarterly or biannual adjustments) lets you:
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Benchmark available talent against the appropriate skill level
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Target the complete talent pool for the wages appropriated for the position
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Motivate suppliers to source best-fit candidates and self-regulate markups to do so
Intrigued? S.i. Systems offers free salary bands and rate card analysis to benchmark your hiring more accurately.
4. Implement a Selective Outsourcing Strategy
If cybersecurity talent chooses consulting work over full-time employment, use that to your advantage as another retention strategy.
Consultants love flexibility, challenge, and higher pay. So what not reserve the most engaging work for employees and consultants with the highest quality skills and best cultural fit for your organization? And then outsource “eyes on glass” tasks such as Level 1 SOC analysis to third-party suppliers who can easily scale resources up and down to meet demand.
Stay in the know
Retaining top cyber security talent is more important than ever. For additional insights, download our Guide to Staffing Your Cyber Security Practice. In it, we discuss additional strategies to help you attract and retain cyber security talent.
And if you have more questions about the talent market for cyber security, reach out to us anytime. We’re here to help you uncover the best strategies for your specific situation.