What Cybersecurity Certifications Can Mean for Your Business

Cybersecurity certifications are an effective way for IT professionals to demonstrate their motivation, dedication, and technical knowledge of a specific topic, platform, or vendor. However, preparation for attaining certification costs time and money. There are fees for training and exam costs, as well as the time it takes to complete courses and take the certification exams. Additionally, some certifications require a specific number of hours, or even years of work experience in a certain domain or job role, before an individual can even take the certification exam.

In the IT industry, professional certifications are essentially synonymous with career development. People earn these certification credentials to augment their careers. Certifications may not even have anything to do with their current roles. However, the companies that employ certified cybersecurity professionals can benefit from hiring employees with certifications or from providing existing employees with the time and money to pursue relevant certifications during their tenure.

How Do Cybersecurity Certifications Benefit Employers?

Various certification bodies, which are mostly well known and regarded highly worldwide, provide the certifications that you can earn . As a result, certifications benefit both employees and employers. Here are some of the ways your organization might benefit from having certified cybersecurity employees:

Increases Employee Retention

It isn’t cheap to hire and onboard new employees. It costs organizations time and money to bring a new team member on, train them, and get them up to speed. As a result, organizations should be doing their best to retain their top-performing cybersecurity employees. Providing them with opportunities like certification training to help advance their careers shows that you value what they bring to the team. It shows that you and the organization are dedicated to helping employees achieve their career goals, which builds confidence and loyalty in your employees. Happy and loyal employees are far less likely to leave one organization to go to another. As a result of increased employee retention, your company will spend less on recruiting and onboarding.

Appeals to Top Talent

The current state of the cybersecurity job market puts employees at an advantage. There are more job openings than there are qualified professionals to fill them. For organizations, that may mean a challenge when it comes to attracting and hiring top talent. Whether large or small, numerous businesses are dealing with a shortage of IT professionals.

Many talented cybersecurity professionals want a challenging, rewarding job that allows for continued learning and advancement. Being encouraged to pursue certifications while working for an employer who also values their employees' career advancement is a big plus in this hypercompetitive industry.

Improves Productivity and Employee Engagement

One of the biggest contributors to employee dissatisfaction is the lack of career development. Employees want to have opportunities to advance along their career paths. One of the most effective ways to do that in the cybersecurity industry is through attaining certifications. By offering employees the opportunity to train for and earn cybersecurity certifications, you will improve their satisfaction, engagement, and ultimately, their productivity. And that will positively affect your organization's revenue.

Reduces Errors

When there is a lack of employee training, it shows. An organization may run the risk of seeing employees make more preventable errors, and they may also lack the knowledge to be able to identify internal weaknesses. You can mitigate these problems with training. Cybersecurity training and certifications will help you identify and close skill gaps–while helpingemployees more quickly and confidently make the right decisions with fewer mistakes.

Helping your employees pursue industry-specific certifications will give you more peace of mind and allow you to better meet your customers' needs.

Provides Good ROI

For most organizations, the name of the game is providing customers with the products and services they need–developing customer loyalty, and thus creating return customers and a healthy bottom line. How you go about that must provide a good return on investment to make your efforts worth it. Training and certifications for your cybersecurity employees can do that.

Customers today have the ability to thoroughly research the organizations they choose to work with. They look for and choose companies they trust – and that trust inspires loyalty. One way to build trust with your customers is to encourage your employees to continue learning. Professional certifications show your customers that your company invests in its employees' skills and knowledge. Your customers will earn your trust and confidence in your employees’ abilities to deliver on promises. And that will increase your company's bottom line.

Cybersecurity Certifications Are Vital to Your Organization

Cybersecurity certifications provide your IT team and entire organization with an opportunity to gain an advantage in today's competitive market. When you hire a certified staff or help your current employees become certified, you are building a reputation of expertise, credibility, and trustworthiness with your clients.

Because there is such a demand for cybersecurity professionals, many organizations are deciding to retain their best employees, support them through attaining certifications, and create future industry leaders within their own workforces.

Scale and manage cybersecurity certification prep across your entire organization with Cybrary. Whether you’re trying to bridge the cybersecurity skills gap, bolster your team’s credibility, or comply with regulations, ensuring employees earn and maintain industry certifications is critical. Trade expensive, time-intensive boot camps and in-person training for an online platform that fits any budget and schedule. Cybrary offers a step-by-step certification prep experience with on-demand tools and resources to help your team focus, prepare for, and earn CEUs to maintain industry certifications all in one place. Check it out here.