Many of us are now asking ourselves what the licensed security officer of the future will look like. Will he or she wear a special insignia or uniform denoting their status as a trained and licensed member of an elite guarding squad? If so, what extra skills and expertise will they be expected to have? If the price of licensed manned guarding begins to rise, what added value can our clients expect to receive in return for their investment?
Once the Private Security Industry Bill becomes law, we will find ourselves having to raise the profile and perception of the industry – and then we must deliver security services which live up to those expectations.
At the same time, of course, the introduction of licensing will make entry into the security industry even harder. Once licensed, our officers will no doubt expect their pay rates and working conditions to improve accordingly. Guarding companies may soon find themselves competing to hold on to good officers, in turn offering them opportunities for career development and promotion in line with their increased expectations.
Valued security guards
It seems clear, then, that attitudes to staff in the industry must change. In the past, many large security companies treated their staff with contempt – guards were deemed to be little more than an irritant.
At Securiplan, we’ve realised that the service we deliver is only as good as the personnel delivering that service. If our employees are content and motivated, our clients are more likely to be satisfied with the job they do.
In April’s SMT, Grahame Warner called for an increased professionalism of security officers (‘Performance matters’, Guarding Watch, p53) with the introduction of salaries, improvements in training and professional development, better performance reviews and reward schemes. I wholeheartedly agree – but would go one step further.
We believe that our officers should be valued as individuals who have a life outside of work and need to take holidays, so we allow them 20 days holiday on full pay each year. We are also looking to reduce the working week in line with the Working Time Directive – towards the goal of 48 hours – by creating a team of relief security officers. Members of the team will be trained to cover vacant positions on a number of sites. More effective scheduling is also very important in this regard.
Ultimately, ‘career’ officers deserve a structured career path, with a fast-track programme for the most able among them so that they can eventually become supervisors or site managers. At Securiplan, we are committed to setting pay rates as high as possible, with all charge increases passed directly onto officers rather than being retained by the company. Indeed, our Extranet enables clients to check up on what each guard is receiving compared with what they are paying him or her by the hour.
We have also introduced procedures to guarantee accurate pay calculations, giving every one of our officers the opportunity to check their roster of duties worked each week online, ensuring that the pay they receive is correct. To date, we’ve managed to reduce our pay queries to less than 1%.
Lessons from abroad
The importance of training is paramount. Discussions in the recent House of Commons debate on the Private Security Industry Bill focused on what sort of training will be compulsory, and what will be recommended in the guidelines to be laid down by the Security Industry Authority.
Bruce George introduced several examples from other countries which should certainly give us food for thought. In Belgium, for instance, security officers receive 120 hours of training, with additional specialist training on the protection of people (75 hours) and working with guard dogs (16 hours). There’s also a further 65 hours for those involved with Cash-in-Transit duties.
In Spain, 200 hours of training is set and supervised by the police, with an examination to be passed, while on-going training of 75 hours is required each year.
Elsewhere, accreditation in Sweden will be earned after 217 hours of training, and after 350 hours in Hungary.
Wherever Europe leads we are surely bound to follow. If our officers received that much initial and in-service training there could be no doubt that we would have professional and confident private security guards, well-equipped to handle difficult situations and to guarantee the safety of our clients’ premises and buildings. They would also understand that their employers are genuinely committed to their on-going training and career development, and that they were being treated with the respect which is all-too-often lacking.
Any company willing to sit around and wait for the new Security Industry Authority to set such guidelines or requirements will surely find itself left behind in what is becoming a fast-changing business environment. What’s needed is a recognition from within the industry that these changes are not only inevitable but desirable – as part of our commitment to both officers and clients alike.
Cost will undoubtedly be a central issue. To this end, the process of persuading our clients of the benefits of improved pay, training and working conditions for officers must start now.
The manned guarding climate is about to change, and we must make sure we’re all ready to meet the challenges before us – on behalf of our workforce and the clients it serves.
Phillip Ullmann is group managing director of Securiplan.
