Talk about quality and security officers in the same breath and it’s clear that we are reaching crisis point. Potentially, the current shortage of good quality security guards will have crippling consequences for
the industry at large, inevitably impacting on the level of service offered to customers. Two factors that are inextricably linked.
How has the industry managed to find itself in such a state in a comparatively short space of time? Surely this is something that could have been foreseen? Will recent UK and European Government-initiated legislation and certain industry initiatives improve the situation?
A problem of perception
The unemployment rate in the UK is now at its lowest level for 25 years (the official Government figure is currently set at 950,000). This is not to say that the unemployment benefit queue has traditionally been a happy hunting ground for new recruits, rather that there is a dearth of quality people out there.
A situation that’s by no means unique to the security industry. Marketing, IT, sales – recruiters in just about any area you care to mention are struggling to find the right calibre of people. If they do find them, they find it difficult to hold on to them.
The simple truth is that, when there is little or no choice available, the ‘job’ of a security officer becomes an attractive one. Conversely, when the job seeker is faced with plenty of choice the security industry invariably loses out as the best – or better – people go elsewhere. There are a number of factors that one can surmise in explanation for this, but perhaps the biggest of them all is industry perception. Manned guarding is seen as a ‘job’. A stop gap. Something to do until there’s a better option. It’s rarely – if ever – seen as a career move.
A by-product of this is that the turnover or ‘churn’ rate of security officers is now reaching unacceptable proportions. A figure above and beyond 60% is being quoted in some quarters. A rate that’s clearly not sustainable. Even among the ‘quality’ contractors, 30-40% would be considered too high.
The cost of training and supporting a security officer so that he/she can go to site – only to lose that person within the first three or four months of employment – doesn’t stack up.
Compare these UK figures with the churn rate in Scandinavian nations, which currently stands at 12%. This figure is particularly interesting considering the average number of hours that are devoted to training security officers working in these countries – 217 hours, in fact, 80 of them spent in the ‘classroom’.
Before examining the cost factor, it’s worth touching on other areas that are (depending on which side of the fence you presently sit) either helping the issue or exacerbating it. The most important being the Working Time Directive.
The Working Time Directive has, as the saying goes, "been done to death". Although a touch simplistic, there’s one salient truism that emerges, though. If the hours a security guard is allowed to work are reduced, then more guards will be needed to do the same job. That will entail greater costs for the contractor and, thus, additional on-costs for the end user. QED.
It’s also worth considering exactly what is now being asked of the manned guarding contractors (and their officers) in comparison with, say, five years ago.
The role of the security officer has changed immeasurably, and is continuing to evolve. Greater demands are now being placed on private security companies, demands and tasks that were once the traditional domain of the police service, at the very same time that the pool of quality officers is dwindling.
A particularly pertinent fact at present, since many of the larger corporations – most importantly those with US parent organisations – are significantly increasing their security presence in view of what happened in New York and Washington last September.
End users: the progressive approach
Those are the problems. What are the solutions? Will end users pay more? How can the guarding companies increase revenues and investment while remaining profitable?
Certain customers do adopt a progressive approach. They are perhaps the ones who have already acknowledged and accepted the terms of – and benefits arising from – the Working Time Directive. The argument is that they see quality security officers, well motivated and rewarded. This is then reflected in the service provided. Those clients are prepared to pay [more] for that service. However, many clients are still driven by cost and, as long as there are security companies out there who make undercutting the opposition their business, so the industry will continue to struggle.
I have never heard anyone utter this sentiment in the public realm as yet, but there is something morally reprehensible and distasteful about a service that is sold purely on cost. The penalties for getting that service wrong can be little short of disastrous.
Returning to the issue of quality, it’s time the security sector woke up to itself. If we choose we can indeed become bogged down in examining the minutiae of the Private Security Industry Act and working time legislation, not to mention the various ‘good will’ Charters being invoked on a voluntary and involuntary basis. The reality is that if we want to be seen to attract quality people, we have to act like a quality industry. That quality should be apparent throughout an organisation.
Making security a profession
The key to attracting and maintaining quality people is motivation – motivation that stems from the salary package on offer, the terms and conditions of the job and the inherent belief that guards have entered a world with genuine career prospects. In other words, a profession.
So what does all of this mean? Let’s not kid ourselves here. No-one leaving university is suddenly going to be thinking about a career in security management – but why shouldn’t that be our ultimate goal?
We need to focus on both ends of the recruitment market. If we encourage quality managers – either externally or from within – and offer them the relevant training and support they need as professionals, there can only be a positive impact on those lower down the chain who aspire to career progression.
The pool of labour out there is only so big. The fundamental laws of diminishing returns mean that, one day, this pool will dry up altogether unless radical steps are taken now.
An inescapable truth is that, during the course of the next few years, many manned guarding companies will disappear – either because they have been swallowed up by larger concerns or worse.
Through the auspices of the British Security Industry Association, the industry has at last identified the problem and is working towards a solution. This may mean some prominent people taking very brave decisions.
If they don’t, the future may be very bleak indeed – for the contractors and their clients.
