Terry O’Neil of guarding audit body The Security Watchdog asks how we commission and evaluate our security providers, and argues why independent, on-site audits are an essential part of the due diligence process.
An independent service ought to be in the frame whenever a contract for Manned Guarding services is put out to tender. But why?
Introduction
1. You are a client of the Contract Manned Guarding Industry and you have the responsibility for a National Contract. Your business has operations in Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol and London. In January you awarded the contract to a major supplier and we pose the question to you of how did they win it?
2. Did they win it on price? Had you previously had a bad experience with one of the other major suppliers? Were they more impressive than the competition at the Tender Presentation? Did you feel more comfortable with their operations team ? These questions are irrelevant now because there is only one that matters and that is quite simply did you make the right decision?
3. You don’t know the answer do you? The trouble is that nobody else does either. All the major Companies will parade a series of accepted Industry kitemarks in order to impress you such as Membership of the BSIA,NSI Gold Award Member, Investor in People and so on and yet you must ask yourself how many times have Companies carrying such Certification failed to deliver? How often have they been dismissed for poor performance when such a background of qualification would make it seem impossible for them to do so?
4. The Manned Guarding Industry has a nasty habit of promising everything to its clients and yet doesn’t have the ability to deliver on those promises. How can it when in general it still relies on low paid staff working far too many hours to operate its contracts? Little wonder therefore that staff turnover statistics are embarrassingly high and contracts change hands far too frequently.
5. So where does the industry shoot itself in the foot? The industry bodies which I mentioned earlier – and incidentally there are many other reputable ones as well – have ignored the critical task of regularly visiting the assignments by both day and night to ensure that the standards which they have inspected satisfactorily at the contractor’s head office have drilled down to and are in evidence on the assignment.
6. Try and remember some of the assurances you were given at tender stage and which naturally, if correct, will be reflected in on-site performance. Have you heard any of these statements? "We are the best company in the area"; "We have the lowest staff turnover rate in the industry"; " We concentrate on training our staff more than any of our competitors". The trouble with such statements is that they can never be proved or disproved and the sales executive who makes such statements knows that to be the case.
7. So how can you win? The only way is to make certain that you have carried out independent Operational Due Diligence on the selected Contractor and so reduce significantly the chances of getting it embarrassingly wrong.
What is Operational Due Diligence
8. You need to know that in selecting your preferred supplier you really were selecting the best Company to meet your requirements. What did they have that the other national providers didn’t have? Did you carry out any operational checks before you appointed them? In essence we challenge you to confirm that in the areas in which you operate, namely Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol and London and critically at the wage rates you are prepared to agree that they were better than any of the other candidates on your list. I suspect you probably don’t know the answer to that question.
9. Our core service at the Watchdog is carrying out independent audits to assess the standard of on-site performance. It doesn’t need to be us carrying out these checks but it does need to be someone who is independent and can report to you honestly on which Company is best suited to your needs.
10. Your role as a client is critical in setting down your base requirements. These will include the following:
a. The wage rate you are prepared to pay for each rank active on the assignment.
b. The cost of on-site training that you want to see take place and whether or not this includes a requirement for specialised training.
c. Benefits which you want the staff to have and which necessarily will be built into the cost of the service.
d. Any additional equipment needed to carry out the operational duties and how much cost you are prepared to pick up in such an event.
e. Any other in-house benefits which will make the job more attractive to licensed Security Officers seeking work in your area.
11. Once you have agreed the criteria –and in a national contract it is likely that wage rates will vary from area to area– you need to find out which Contractor has the best track record in each area at the terms and conditions which you have stipulated. You don’t have the time to do this but an independent does and you really should seek their involvement.
12. So what will the independent tell you? In essence they will advise you on your selected supplier’s performance in the area as against any of the competitors who you have included in the Tender process, In other words they are taking out the huge risk element that currently so often applies when you appoint a specific contractor.
13. So what are the standard checks which the independent should make? They need to visit an assignment in the immediate area of your operation which is on as similar terms as the one you are prepared to offer. The visit must include the following:
(1)A frank discussion with the client about the on-site performance of the current Contractor.
(2)A detailed discussion with at least three officers, chosen at random, to ascertain how they have been looked after administratively by the Contractor. Such issues as Pay, Uniform, Training, Holiday entitlement and overall Benefits need to be discussed with the Officers.
(3)An examination of all the on-site operational books such as the Assignment Instructions, the DOB. recent Incident Reports and a check on the key Register.
4) A verification that all officers working on the assignment are in possession of a SIA License or alternatively have passed the four-day Basic Training Course and are in the process of being licensed. This will almost certainly need to be carried out at head office but in a national contract all your operational centres can be covered at the same time.
5) Finally we recommend that this process commences with a Silver Fox Penetration Audit or something similar which will highlight just how secure are the premises which have been nominated for audit by the tenderer for your contract.
How can contractor help
14. We must surely have reached the stage where Contractors are able to supply you, the client, with more up-to-date information than a string of Industry kitemarks. If a Contractor arrived at the tender presentation or included it in their presentation, a list of independent on-site audits in your local area that had been carried out in the last three months of the type described in paragraph 13 above, then surely they would have the " inside track" at a tender process in which you were involved?
15. We must be careful that the welcome arrival of both Licensing and the ACS do not persuade you the client that all Security Companies are now the same and that you should go for the one offering the cheapest price. Please rest assured that as a general rule it can be said that the cheaper the price the more unreliable the service is going to be!
Conclusion
16. So were you right to choose your preferred supplier over some of their illustrious rivals when you made that choice in January this year? Only you will know the answer to that and I hope for your sake that you got it right. If you didn’t and before you leap out of the frying pan and into the fire I recommend that you bring into play independent Operational Due Diligence in selecting your Contractor. It should save you many sleepless nights!
Silver Fox
The Security Watchdog recently launched the Silver Fox initiative to test and evaluate the capabilities of a security team on-site in the UK and Ireland. For more information ring: Terry O’Neil at The Security Watchdog on 01428 728713.
