Software Is Never Done established that digital talent matters. Digital talent matters so much that PEOs need to recognize that they are fighting for the same software talent as Google, Apple, Amazon, and the small software start-up down the street. One of the overlooked successes of Kessel Run was the way in which the program behaved like a software recruiter. The way in which it engaged the community, both in and around Boston and virtually at sites like LinkedIn, showed a program engaging in what we could describe as asymmetric software recruiting.
Leadership at Kessel Run recognized the futility of recruiting staff using government websites and intentionally turned to social media to create demand. They advertised in niche locations, like Black Girls Who Code. They successfully portrayed Kessel Run as an exclusive club, something that people should seek to be a part of even if it meant abandoning an existing software start-up to take a government position with a reduced compensation package.
Their approach was a resounding success that is likely far beyond what the Defense Innovation Board even imagined. After their first six-week campaign, the program had amassed over 1,400 applications for its new roles, seven times more than their three previous traditional hiring campaigns.65
The DoD finds itself in a place where the military services are failing to meet their recruiting goals.66 People generally do not view civilian jobs in the government as exciting positions, and grassroots viral campaigns like Fix Our Computers further advance the notion that working for the government is slow, dull, and painful.67
Every PEO needs to actively seek out ways to counter these challenges, studying how Kessel Run and other successful programs attract digital talent. They need to generate ideas, use professional networks to share both what is working and what is not working, and explore other recruiting playbooks.68
Programmatic vision is powerful, but society recognizes and rewards execution more often than vision. Execution is not possible without the right set of digital talent. A PEO can differentiate their programs from competing commercial opportunities drawing candidates from the same digital talent pool by shrinking the distance between the engineer and the warfighter. How many software engineers have been within feet of a military aircraft, tank, or ship? How many software engineers can proudly raise their head and declare, “The code I wrote yesterday saved the life of an American service member today and ensured their safe return to their kids tomorrow”?
Devise plans and offer to rotate software engineers to remote military bases to ensure that they have access to the user community—the pilots, tankers, sailors, field medics, special forces, and other roles unique to the military service. Consciously embark on a program that helps engineers realize the importance of their work in DoD programs is unlike anything else they will find in competing private sector positions. Shrinking the distance between the engineer and the warfighter is a concrete mechanism for amplifying passions that already exists in the digital workforce.