Portuguese Military Cyber Human Resources Management

Abstract

The Portuguese public sector institutions, including the Armed Forces, are facing increasing cost reductions due to budget cuts resulting from economic crises and the pandemic scenario. Although Lean thinking aims to reduce waste and improve customer satisfaction through continuous improvement, its implementation often faces challenges. The Portuguese Air Force was a pioneer in applying Lean methodology, achieving positive results in crucial areas, and extending this methodology to other Armed Forces institutions could contribute to better use of national resources. This paper explores the implementation of Lean philosophy in the Portuguese Armed Forces, specifically in the recruitment, integration, and retention of talent in Cyber Security. Centralizing and simplifying processes and resources, as well as resolving challenges inherent to the area, maybe the right approach to respond to the implications on National Security and Defense, providing necessary resources for the capture, training, and maintenance of essential Cyber teams and processes. The mentality based on work processes needs to change to speed up the use of resources and the behaviour of executing elements.