The security industry loves to talk about professionalism and raising standards, with the S12 leading on this, yet many security companies still operate without the most basic discipline required for long term success, a strategic roadmap, argues Zak Khachik, the Lead Consultant at RFK Consult.
Not words on the website, not an ambition from the owner to reach a certain turnover or providing a number of hours, but a structured, thought out, data driven plan that guides decisions, culture, delivery, retention and growth. This growth isn’t just £ but also from an employee perspective.
After years working across venues, events, and security operations, I’ve seen the same pattern play out. Security companies, drowning in operational noise while starving their organisations of strategic clarity. Operations managers are firefighters, keeping plates spinning. Supervisors and frontline teams are doing their best to deliver but the situations they are placed in or the resources provided are not what they need to succeed, often for what someone has promised / sold they will be able to do.
Meanwhile, firms wonder why margins shrink, recruitment collapses, and clients treat them as interchangeable suppliers rather than trusted partners.
The truth is uncomfortable: too many security firms are busy but not targeted, often as they have no real target. Active, but not strategic. Growing, but not evolving.
Strategic road mapping is the discipline that breaks this cycle, yet it remains almost largely absent from the sector outside the top 20 firms.
As a purchaser of security services, you would likely see the consequences of this gap in the delivery of services, some good people trying but set up to fail. As a security company this results via inconsistent service quality, high turnover, damaged brand presence, compliance panic (audit time of the year!), or stalled growth. But the root cause is almost always the same: no shared direction, no prioritisation, no roadmap.
A proper roadmap forces a company and its senior team to stare reality in the face. It exposes the difference between what leaders think is happening and what the teams and clients knows is happening. It turns frustrations into structured insight. It forces decisions about what matters now, what matters next, and what doesn’t matter at all.
Most security firms already have the knowledge they need, they just haven’t put it together, discussed, decided on the direction, then lived and shared the actions required to get where they want to be.
Frontline staff know operations issues better than any consultant. Managers know where and when quality dips. Directors know where the business is vulnerable and this is what keeps them awake at night or constantly checking in. But without a process to bring these perspectives together, the organisation stays stuck in reactive mode.
A strategic roadmap that is created internally by the team who will deliver it, changes that. It creates focus, accountability and momentum. It gives leaders across the business the ability to say, “this is what we’re doing, this is why, and this is how we’ll measure our progress.”
It also sends a powerful message to clients: we are not just a security provider; we are a strategic partner with a plan, and that plan involves your needs.
The firms that embrace road mapping, will attract better people, win better contracts, and build stronger cultures. Carlisle, led by Paul Evans and FGH Security, led by Peter Harrison are clear examples of this. The firms that don’t will continue to chase their tails and eventually be overtaken by those who treat strategy as a discipline, not just senior team members quoting “strategy”.
The security sector needs more firms willing to think, plan, and lead with intention. Strategy isn’t an option, its needed and the companies that have one, will be the ones still succeeding in five years.
About the writer
Zak Khachik, pictured, is the Lead Consultant at RFK Consult and an experienced security and risk management professional specialising in high-footfall environments. He holds an MSc in Security and Risk Management from the University of Leicester and has led security operations across major venues (The NEC Group, Anfield, ACC Liverpool Group, Hill Dickinson Stadium) and large scale events (Commonwealth Games, UEFA Champions League, party political conferences). Zak founded RFK Consult to combine operational expertise with coaching and leadership development, helping teams improve standards, decision-making, and security culture long after the engagement ends. Visit https://www.rfkconsult.com/.
