Future of the IC Workforce Season 4

INSF Releases Key Findings From Three-Part "The Future of the IC Workforce: Technology and Talent Transformation Series

October 30, 2024 (Arlington, VA)— The Intelligence and National Security Foundation (INSF) has published a new paperoutlining key insights from its three-part webinar series, The Future of the IC Workforce: Technology and Talent Transformation, held in September 2024. Underwritten by ClearanceJobs and GDIT, the series convened leaders from government, industry, and academia to discuss actionable strategies to strengthen the Intelligence Community (IC) workforce.

"These findings underscore the importance of building a resilient and inclusive workforce ready for the challenges ahead,” said INSF President Suzanne Wilson Heckenberg. “These findings are a call to action for IC leaders across all sectors to work collaboratively in developing talent strategies that meet the evolving needs of the community.”

Key Findings:

Closing the Cyber Skills Gap: Emphasized the importance of skills-based hiring and contract reform to help fill over 500,000 U.S. cybersecurity vacancies, creating pathways for a diverse workforce drawn from nontraditional backgrounds.
Early STEM Engagement: Stressed the value of building STEM pipelines through partnerships with high schools and universities to introduce students early to careers in national security.
Cross-Sector Flexibility: Supported policies that enable talent to move between public and private sectors, fostering career flexibility and driving innovation.
Upskilling and Retraining: Underscored the importance of ongoing technical and soft skills training, including communication, critical thinking, and teamwork.

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Series Recap!

Episode One

On Thursday, September 5, the INSA Foundation, in partnership with ClearanceJobs and GDIT, launched the 2024 “Future of the IC Workforce: Technology and Talent Transformation webinar series.

(L-R) (Jo-Ellen Adkins, NGA; Aaron Bedrowsky, GDIT; Lauren Bean Buitta, Girl Security; Lindy Kyzer, ClearanceJobs)

This first installment featured Jo-Ellen Adkins, Acting Director, Human Development Directorate, NGA; Aaron Bedrowsky, Senior VP, Intelligence & Homeland Security, GDIT; Lauren Bean Buitta, Founder and CEO, Girl Security; and series moderator Lindy Kyzer, Director of Content and PR, ClearanceJobs.

Speakers began the discussion highlighting milestone changes in the workforce over the past 20 years. Ms. Adkins noted the increased diversity of thought, backgrounds and perspectives in the IC workplace since the 9/11 Commission Report. Following up, Mr. Bedrowsky discussed how the post-covid environment has allowed for increased opportunities for industry to collaborate with academia to attract a diverse pool of candidates outside of the DMV. Ms. Buitta shared that Girl Security is working in communities and education institutions that the IC has often overlooked. For example, they are launching their first high school-based workforce training program (starting with structured analytics) in the Southside of Chicago this fall. "We are not just raising awareness of pathways but training them with an enduring skillset they can employ across different career paths." Ms. Buitta noted, "I have this dream where we create a civic model where people can serve across sectors. Because it really does showcase the actual way national security occurs, across the public and private sectors."

Panelists agreed that women are significantly underrepresented in the workforce. To properly mitigate this challenge, the workforce must engage women and girls early in their careers. Ms. Buitta stated that “every generation is a new opportunity to engage.” She also noted the importance of a sense of belonging to the women and underrepresented communities in the IC workforce. Closing the gender gap is a complex problem however, proactively encouraging women and girls to join the workforce is a sustainable solution for IC employers to advance gender representation. The ODNI’s 2023 Annual Demographic Report revealed a 7% gap between women in the workforce and women at the senior level. Providing high school counselors with a framework to guide students into national security careers can strengthen the IC’s ability to attract and retain new talent. Mr. Bedrowsky spoke on establishing partnerships where agencies and industry visit high schools so students can “align their academic pursuits to their interests,” which is invaluable to sourcing mission-driven students.

Serving the national security mission does not require a security clearance and Ms. Adkins shared how NGA is actively recruiting diverse talent in their unclassified hub in St. Louis. She detailed the convenience of work-life balance and NGA’s mission to build the unclassified GEOINT ecosystem. Mr. Bedrowsky expressed that like NGA, GDIT has partnered with Gateway Global to inform their curriculum and target individuals who are aligned to serving the national security mission. The goal is to get them into the clearance pipeline and eventually serve in the public or private IC.

Looking forward, speakers agreed that the IC is making steady progress in diversifying the workforce. Mr. Bedrowsky emphasized the benefits of upskilling to retain employees and improve their skillset. Incorporating practices for mid-career employees to smoothly transition in and out of government will motivate employees to remain at their organizations.

Episode Two

On Monday, September 17, the INSA Foundation in partnership with ClearanceJobs and GDIT, hosted the second installment of the "Future of the IC Workforce: Technology and Talent Transformation" series.

(L-R) (The Hon. John Sherman, The Bush School of Government and Public Service; Kimberly King, DIA, Lindy Kyzer, ClearanceJobs)

The episode featured Kimberly King, Career Service Manager for Analysis, DIA, The Hon. John Sherman, Dean, The Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, and moderator Lindy Kyzer, Director of Content and PR, ClearanceJobs.

The program opened with speakers discussing the unique values that national security careers offer. Ms. King stated that there is merit in safeguarding the nation by being a part of something bigger than yourself. Joining the workforce there is an opportunity for “combination of mission and chance to drive your own career,” said Ms. King. Dean Sherman reflected on his career pivots and being at the forefront of technological advancement over the years. He noted that “being a trailblazer” in a discipline is distinctive from other career paths.

The conversation shifted to the private sector’s competitive strategy to retain and attract new talent. Ms. King highlighted DIA is building their talent pipeline through IC Centers for Academic Excellence. This initiative leverages DIA’s connection with students across the country to onboard internships. The pay gap between the private sector and government presents a complex challenge for recruiting stem talent. Ms. King revealed the agency’s new pay model is a proactive recruiting strategy that is attracting stem students to the DIA. Mr. Sherman responded, that students at the Bush School of Government and Public Service Texas A&M are attracted to the national security mission. To transform mission-focused students to employees; the Bush School of Government and Public Service hosts professors of the practice that extend “tangible real-world example” of careers in the workforce.

Upskilling and training are focus areas of the DIA to ensure that employees are digitally- literature on emerging technologies. Kim noted that across-agency there are formal and informal training for employees. Continuing learning opportunities at DIA consist of technical training at universities, senior service schools, and speaker visits. Mr. Sherman urged that academia prepare the future workforce by enforcing effective and concise communication amongst students. “Getting them in a mindset that they’re writing decision-makers,” said Mr. Sherman. The ability to write clearly and brief a policy is a critical skill the workforce values.

The speakers agreed that to reach the future workforce there is a need for a flexible workspace. Improving retention and attraction strategies relies on the workforce to effectively track talent. Insufficient communication with applicants is resulting in the workforce losing skilled candidates during the process.

Episode Three - Bonus!

On Monday, September 30, the INSA Foundation in partnership with ClearanceJobs and GDIT, hosted the third and final installment of the "Future of the IC Workforce: Technology and Talent Transformation" series.

Speakers:

Loren Schulman, Associate Director, Performance and Personnel Management, OMB
Stephanie O'Neill, Performance Manager, OMB,
Lindy Kyzer, Director of Content & PR, ClearanceJobs (moderator)

The program opened with Ms. Schulman explaining OMB’s and OPM’s joint efforts to improve the federal hiring process. “From the beginning, we made strengthening and empowering the federal workforce the priority goal of the president’s management agenda,” said Ms. Schulman. Last month, OMB and OPM published a Federal Hiring Experience Guide for federal employers to recruit and attract the most qualified candidates. The effectiveness of the guide heavily relies on hiring managers and HR specialists to embrace the guide and transfer the lessons to their hiring practices. “We want to make this an experience for them that they can replicate and do periodically, but they don't necessarily have to be the expert on,” said Ms. O’Neill. Implementing this memorandum demands the cooperation of management. She emphasized that for the process to work, OMB and OPM need HR specialist’s “depth of knowledge.”

The conversation shifted to OMB’s role in the National Cybersecurity Implementation Plan and the skills-based hiring process in the cyber workforce. Ms. Schulman said that OMB, OPM, and ONCD are co-chairs on the skills-based hiring initiative, OMB’s role is “to ensure that skills-based hiring is a robust feature at agency hiring initiatives.” To strategically recruit talent, the federal hiring system needs to reevaluate associating degrees to skills and ability. Ms. Schulman noted that “looking at an assessment of their hard skills or soft skills, which are terrible terms, their specific skills so that we know better where it is they fit into the federal ecosystem.” Working collaboratively to produce innovative models for federal employers to emulate will improve the progression of the skills-based hiring system.

The speakers agreed that to keep federal and skill-based hiring relevant in the next six months, everyone in the federal ecosystem ought to be accountable for the talent coming into the workforce. As we undergo an administrative change the federal hiring process relevance may plateau. To upkeep the visibility, the federal ecosystem “should be advocating for these innovations,” said Mr. Schulman. Ms. O’Neil added that she foresees the skills-based hiring making strides to improve the federal hiring process “I have a lot of confidence that we're going to continue to talk about this in next year when we have this conversation and we'll be talking about the success of what we accomplished.”

Underwritten by:

INSF Underwriters

A message from our Underwriters:

GDIT is a global technology and professional services company that delivers consulting, technology and mission services to every major agency across the U.S. government, defense and intelligence community.

Our 30,000 experts and consultants extract the power of technology to create immediate value and deliver solutions at the edge of innovation. We operate across 30 countries worldwide, offering leading capabilities in digital modernization, AI/ML, cloud, cyber and application development.

ClearanceJobs is the largest security-cleared career network specializing in defense and intelligence jobs for professionals with security clearances. ClearanceJobs is committed to connecting security-cleared professionals and employers in a secure and private environment to fill the jobs that safeguard our nation. ClearanceJobs is a DHI Group, Inc. brand.

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