Building a Cyber Security Program Pt. 5

The most important part of a cyber security program is the people. With my first part in the series covering culture; this article I wanted to touch on attracting, developing, and retaining talent. Culture is the foundation and that starts with standards, values and leadership. When it comes to hiring new team members, there are many ways to vet or interview candidates. Some go by a resume, some go by experience, others maybe they know someone who knows someone. My strategy is always vet by the person. Who they are, how they work with others, what they bring to the table, what goals they have, etc... The person! Personality traits are common in high performance and strong team cultures; different background with different ideas but similar personality traits: works hard, does the right thing, treats others well, high standards for themselves, etc... Next is development. Anyone can learn anything if you teach them, they learn it, or experience it. As a leader, ensure proper onboarding and training to show the new team member you care, they know they are part of the team, and they are able to provide feedback to continue improving the onboarding process and training. Spend time teaching them the skills, providing resources, training, mentorship to grow into the position needed for the team to grow the mission of the company. Retention has 2 sides - positive attrition and career growth. Positive attrition is growing an individual where they take on greater responsibility elsewhere to take on new levels of their career. Career growth needs to be an active part of leadership which means providing the tools and resources to develop more leaders who can take on more as they grow in their roles. INVEST in your teams. This is crucial and will set the tone of the culture that they will spread as their career continues. Those are a few key points of building a GREAT cyber security program starting with the most important part - the PEOPLE. Please share this if you got value, thought differently or enjoyed it. Stay tuned for more and thank you for reading! Have a great day!