 3.2.7 Engage with employers and human resource professionals on skills-based strategies. Together with human resources (HR) organizations, the NCWCG will facilitate conversations between departments and agencies to determine how government resources—such as the NICE Framework, the Department of Labor’s O*NET,93 and employment data—can be improved to identify cyber workforce needs and support skills-based best practices. One such best practice is aligning position descriptions, recruitment postings, and staff development programs with the cyber skills required. Use of the NICE Framework can support such alignment. The NICE program office will continue to engage with human resources organizations to encourage skills-based hiring practices. Employers are encouraged to empower hiring managers to advocate for cyber skills recruiting. S TRATEGIC O BJECTIVE 3.3: L EVERAGE THE D IVERSITY OF A MERICA TO S TRENGTHEN THE C YBER W ORKFORCE The success and competitive strength of the cyber workforce depends on ensuring all workers, including those from underserved and underrepresented populations, have foundational cyber skills. A diverse and inclusive cyber workforce will broaden the range of ideas brought to bear on complex cyber challenges while enabling employers to retain staff. Recruiting and retaining members of underserved and underrepresented communities will grow the supply of talent to meet growing workforce demands. All stakeholders in cyber workforce development ecosystems are encouraged to play constructive roles in enabling veterans and their spouses to participate in the cyber workforce. Veterans represent a large, diverse, and technologically skilled community of people who have served the country and are committed to mission success. As the military has already provided them with the opportunity to gain skills and experience, veterans may have a decreased need for employer-sponsored training and a higher rate of success during the first year of employment. Many veterans separate from service with active security clearances, which make them good candidates for sensitive cyber jobs. Lines of Effort 3.3.1 Explore incentives in federal cyber grants and contracts addressing underrepresented and underserved communities. Federal departments and agencies will explore including provisions addressing underrepresented or underserved communities, where legally permissible and appropriate, in cyber grant and contract opportunities in order to leverage talent from the broadest possible pool of workers. This effort will draw on the Good Jobs Principles as well as the Department of Commerce’s best practices for highly effective workforce investments.94 NATIONAL CYBER WORKFORCE AND EDUCATION STRATEGY 30