This afternoon’s thought leadership webinar by Prof Martin Gill of research consultancy Perpetuity, the 24th of a series, was about the security officer’s role and responsibilities. While the officer’s role may be becoming ever more complex – which may be a good thing, if it makes the job more interesting and justifies a higher wage – it does beg the question of what the client wants from that officer.
The speakers were Sandi Davies, USA-based Executive Director at the webinar’s sponsor IFPO, the International Foundation for Protection Officers; Joop Verdonk – Managing Director at European Security Academy (Netherlands), and two heads of ACS Pacesetters guarding companies: David Ward, CEO of Ward Security; and Joachim Ritter, Chairman of Interr.
“They are hiring us for a reason,” Joachim said. “They come to use for advice; it’s our responsibility to say what we think is the right thing to do, and be brave about it.” As that implied, and as he mentioned earlier in the webinar, he (like some other guard firms) has found himself walking away from bids where the offered pay rate is only minimum wage, because ‘it’s just not worth it’.
As he also implied, what the contractor says to the potential or actual customer may not be what they want to hear. It comes to budgets, very often, he admitted, whether private clients or public listed companies. “They have to justify what they are spending their money on and that is why we have gone wit the printer approach,” that is, shorthand for an officer also carrying out tasks around the office, such as re-filling the office printer. “We get this all the time, people who want more of this or less of that, it always comes back to the same discussion, what is it going to cost and then we say what you can do with tech and guarding. I would say our clients listen.”
One other point Joachim made was about quality, more than quantity of guards. If a client feels that they need x number of guards, it may be that Interr feels that the client could have fewer guards, but better paid ones, which Interr will push for. Asked by Prof Martin Gill to sum up at the end of the hour, Joachim said: “We have to continue to evolve …. in the 25 years I have been in the industry, I can’t recall one critical incident where the guard was not a hero; where tech could have solved it. We always have to remember that.”
Martin Gill had asked David Ward about the City Security Council (CSC), the members group of SIA ACS-accredited contract guarding companies working in the City of London that seek to liaise with the emergency services. David Ward mentioned that its guard firms have during the Covid-19 lockdown carried out joint patrols with City of London Police. The CSC is looking to arrange crime scene preservation training for officers, with police.
Summing up for Martin Gill, David Ward said: “I want to see continued professional development for security officers from the beginning of their career; it’s got to be at all levels and it’s got to be certified.” Earlier, Sandi Davies had agreed with a question from the (highly international) audience that it can be difficult to know where to go for certified training; ‘it’s like alphabet soup’. She urged people looking to take training courses to do their homework and ask for testimonials.
To follow Martin Gill’s past and future webinars, under the banner of the OSPAs (Outstanding Security Performance Awards), visit https://theospas.com/thought-leadership-webinars/.
