Peter McGowan is Manchester born and bred and, as we sat down to ‘talk training’ at Wilson James’ new London office in the heart of Fleet Street, the softly-spoken 43-year-old quickly made no secret of the fact that he supports the red half of the city.
With his beloved Manchester United only just knocked out of the UEFA Europa League, though, it’ll be more than interesting to see whether or not Fergie’s Red Devils can pick themselves up and triumph over ‘The Money Men’ at The Etihad Stadium come the conclusion of the 2011-2012 Barclays Premier League season.
McGowan is the learning and development manager at forward-thinking security solutions provider Wilson James, a post he took up in October 2009, but before we delved into the nitty gritty of this present role (and his views on UK security in general) it was time for the ‘back story’ that frames the man.
McGowan spent much of his youth in a “very exciting” 1970s Belfast as one of five children, his mother and father drumming into him “an extremely strong work ethic”.
In fact, McGowan has never been out of work since he left school – favourite subjects were history and mathematics – at 16 to become a messenger at The Post Office. That’s no mean achievement given the severity of the fiscal recessions in-between times.
The move would engender McGowan’s first encounter with training and development culture. “At The Post Office the learning culture was amazing,” he ventured. “They really invested in their people and reaped the rewards in that so many entry-level joiners stayed on to become managers in their own right.”
Eleven years with The Royal Mail saw McGowan himself becoming a manager (at Wythenshawe, back in the south of Manchester). There was a security element to the role, as McGowan regularly had to complete audits on those running sub-Post Offices.
“This is when I really started to feel the training bug,” he explained, “and I began to educate managers and impart some of the skills I’d learned to date.”
Moving into the IT space
What came next wasn’t what you might expect. McGowan decided it was career break time, and he went to work for one of the prominent UK-based travel operators.
Somehow, what was meant to be a swift sojourn turned into a 12-year sabbatical, with McGowan interweaving between the classic European resorts in summer and Alpine skiing enclaves come the winter months. Why such a long ‘time out’ then?
“I was able to travel far and wide, Brian, and learn languages while working in so many varied environments. It was a real eye-opener. Again, there was a strong focus on training.”
The early 2000s witnessed McGowan accepting his last fixed European posting, this time in Turkey. It was a pivotal juncture, too, since the company had recently immersed itself in the newly-developing, IT-rich communication mediums.
Wasting no time, McGowan jumped head first into this ‘Brave New World’ with a remit to look after the business’ all-new booking systems.
In an extension of that role, McGowan wanted to be part of the whole IT training set-up. There were 3,000 members of staff to educate right across Europe, you see. Nothing less than a significant challenge.
McGowan was duly made to ‘earn the right’ to play his part in proceedings. Two tough interviews later, though, and he became IT training advisor. For the most part, the main focus would be on soft skills, personal skills and life skills.
In terms of his own career development, McGowan would eventually take on some management development functions. However, with a young family – by now we’re talking 2007 – “jumping on aeroplanes every five minutes had lost its appeal”.
New role in the security sector
Not long after this point the learning and development manager’s role with Wilson James loomed large on the horizon. The company had been alerted to McGowan’s CV through a recruitment agency and felt that his background might just be exactly what they were looking for in terms of filling a brand new post.
“I was telephoned at around 7.00 pm one evening by the agency,” recalled McGowan. “Would I be interested in the role? I then met with Gemma [Quirke, the Human Resources director at Wilson James] and thought to myself: ‘Yes. I can do a job here’.”
Moving hook, line and sinker into the security world was nothing other than a leap of faith. McGowan was shown around a few Wilson James sites and informed his remit would be to help drive the multiple award-winning business forward still further by way of bespoke management and compliance training (among other subject areas, of course).
“We were looking at what had happened before in terms of training pre-2009,” suggested McGowan, “while at the same time always with one eye on improving security’s image in the wider world.”
It’s always nice to see altruism brought demonstrably to the fore, and Wilson James has a pleasant habit of doing just that.
McGowan then focused on what he referred to as the three key building blocks of education and development in the security space: the aforementioned management training, the concept of added value and effective leadership skills (in terms of how they can make a really positive impact and genuine difference on any given contract).
Management training is what McGowan believes to be the “main building block” for the future. There has to be a clear career path from officer level through to supervisory and area manager roles with bespoke training designed to underpin that progression. “An amazing security officer will make a poor team leader,” he urged, “unless they’re given the right instruction.”
In terms of added value, McGowan’s goal is always to realise a training and development regime in which Wilson James’ people, the company’s customers and the business landscape at large stands to benefit. “You have to hit your targets all the time. It’s really as simple as that,” he explained, before touching on how learning and development can impact positively for both customer and security solutions provider.
“In my view, it’s always best if training is bespoke to the customer. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach here.” That’s all when and good when times are financially agreeable, but what happens now when we’re still in the midst of a nasty recession? Surely training is one of the first things customers will look to slash at budget revision time?
“Last year, the number of training days at Wilson James actually increased, Brian. We always demand and set the highest standards whatever might be happening in the wider world.”
Introducing the Training and Development Passport
Only recently, Wilson James introduced its fantastic Training and Development Passport. This undoubtedly stands as another unique innovation within the UK security sector, and represents the fruits of an idea conceived and brought forward by security services operations director Ron Dickin.
“When we first talked about the Training and Development Passport, Ron made it clear he wanted us to become something of a torch bearer,” stated McGowan. “The idea’s a simple one, too. If a customer stops one of our officers on site and asks him or her whether or not they’re trained and qualified to be on duty there, they can show the Passport.”
For his part, McGowan was also immensely keen on providing Wilson James’ security staff with a record of all the training and development they undergo as they progress in their career. In conjunction with Zip Design – who had previously helped created a Passport on behalf of the UN – he helped design the new Training and Development Passport to do just that.
Now, each time a training course is completed, a given officer’s Passport is updated and stamped by the trainer. Records of professional memberships and career development are also noted.
Just like a Security Industry Authority licence card, the Training and Development Passport belongs to the individual and is portable. As a member of staff progresses to other roles, so the history of all their accumulated training and development goes with them.
“If someone leaves the business they can take their Passport with them,” outlined McGowan, “and show the contents to both their new employer and the customer for whom they’re seconded to work. At the end of the day it’s good subliminal publicity for what we’re achieving.”
Spot-checks by the customer
Passports are kept on-site. In this way, and as described above, Wilson James’ customers can carry out spot-checks if they so wish in order to confirm that all compliance training is up-to-date (for example in relation to the SIA licence, fire prevention and First Aid) and that all contracted training has indeed been completed. This is confirmed by way of date stamps and signatures. All job-related certificates and qualifications are recorded, so too promotions.
Wilson James’ company Mission Statement and core values are also included, as well as the emergency contact details of its National Communications Centre. Another unique feature is the Quick Response Code located just inside the front cover which takes staff straight from their smart phone to the website where they can browse current job vacancies and look to progress their career. It’s a brilliant and yet simple idea.
The Training and Development Passport was debuted at a management away day last October attended by Dickin and Stuart Lowden, the well-known and highly respected managing director of Wilson James’ security business.
The first Passports were issued just prior to Christmas and went live on site from January. What, one wonders, has been the overriding reaction to this move?
“We’re delighted that the Passport has been so well accepted by both customers and security staff alike,” McGowan informed me. In fact, one measure of the scheme’s success is that all 1,500 Passports produced in the first batch have already been apportioned.
“It proves we stand firmly by the commitment to invest in our people,” urged McGowan, “that we believe in staff development and that we offer a rewarding career path. For our customers, this is all about hard evidence to show our people are among the most highly-skilled in the sector.”
What about the prospect of forgeries? After all, normal Passports are prone to the counterfeiters.
“Special paper has been used,” countered McGowan, “and there’s a self-sealing area for all personal information and photographs. If a Passport should be lost or is stolen we do have a full training matrix detailed at every site which is backed-up on a digital system. The Passport itself also has a tamper-proof security seal.” All bases more than adequately covered, then.
Staff Welfare and Development Programme
Stuart Lowden and Ron Dickin are massive believers in the Wilson James Staff Welfare and Development Programme (which, incidentally, is backed by the Training and Development Passport as all conversations and issues pertaining to the former are logged in the latter).
Driven by Lowden and Mark Dobson – managing director of the aviation and special projects part of the business and also managing director of the Wilson James Group – its progression has been accelerated thanks to the purchase of Apple iPads used specifically for training.
“I write all of the learning and development presentations for use on the iPads,” explained McGowan. “We use the iPads mainly for management training,” he added, before mentioning that all equality and diversity education is now delivered online.
Given his penchant for using iPads in the working environment, it’s no surprise to learn that McGowan devours all forms of news media. As you might expect of a training specialist, his thirst for knowledge is continual. He’s a keen reader and likes to debate topical issues.
Like myself, McGowan loves Question Time on BBC One of a Thursday evening. The David Dimbleby-chaired debating hours still make for great television, but all we seem to learn from that particular programme these days is just how far both politicians and many members of the electorate are divorced from the real world.
