America’s Talent Pipeline – Cheyene Marling Discusses Business Continuity Professionals
Firestorm EVP of People Solutions and Program Analytics, Cheyene Marling, was recently interviewed by Business Resilience Decoded. During the interview, Cheyene discussed the evolving Business Continuity Management (BCM) industry, current talent pools, and challenges faced by organization’s looking to hire. Below is an excerpt from the interview. Listen to the full interview below, or via this link.
Q: What types of data do you see across the industry with the information that you and your team are gathering?
CM: Many companies are intrigued and interested in business continuity peer reports and understanding how other companies are approaching their business continuity planning with budgeting, dedicated headcount and reporting structures. Firestorm gathers data on how events impact organizations, but also IT resiliency, BCM program maturity, service providers and critical providers. Organizations and job seekers alike are drawn to compensation studies. Candidates and hiring managers want to know compensations and factors that impact compensation.
Related: Learn more about compensations Globally, in the U.S., or in Canada.
Q: Sixty-three percent of CEOs are increasingly worried about finding talent with the right skills. Sixty-one percent haven’t taken the first step. From your perspective, what is the first step in tackling the talent and skills gap for an organization?
CM: It comes down to being aware of the candidate pool; and there is a disconnect between hiring managers and candidates. Hiring managers must remember to not only look at hard skills, but also look at leadership and soft skills.
Many companies are forced to combine the responsibilities of three positions into one hire due to constraints (whether budgetary or lack of approval to hire multiple). Organizations inevitably merge together business continuity, cyber resiliency and risk management. Obtaining that specific skill set within multiple disciplines can be a challenge.
Q: What are gender changes you’ve observed in the industry? 
CM: When I first joined the industry, it was male-dominated and highly focused on IT Resiliency. Today, professionals enter the industry through multiple routes including risk management, operations, consulting and other areas of focus. With the different career paths leading into the industry, we are seeing additional female professionals. For the first time, we conducted a gender analysis during our 16th Annual Firestorm Compensation Study. Based upon the results, the industry is comprised of 57 percent male and 43 percent female.
Q: From a business continuity management recruiting perspective, what are challenges other countries are facing?
CM: The industry struggles with understanding terminology: business continuity, emergency management, crisis management and resiliency. In many cases, the terminology is misunderstood by executives and HR. Globally, the terminology greatly varies. In Japan, for example, they use the term “Corporate and Social Responsibility.” In Latin America, executives are focused on executive protection. Audit Compliance is a point of focus in Asia.
About Business Resilience Decoded:
Business Resilience Decoded is a multimedia partnership between Disaster Recovery Journal and Asfalis Advisors to educate, inform, and inspire business continuity professionals globally. Resilient organizations thrive because of the knowledge, preparation, and foresight of listeners like you. Listen to additional interviews here.
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