Be recognised, be professional

Over the years, many senior security professionals – with the interests of the wider security community at heart – have considered it essential that a full career path should be available within the industry. A career path that enables those who feel so inclined, who consider themselves to have the ability and who join the industry at (or near) the 'bottom rung' of the ladder to progress in their chosen specialism to more senior appointments. In a nutshell, then, we're talking about a full career structure for security managers.

Such a structure had not been a requirement in the past, since the majority of directly-recruited senior appointments were made from those who had gained their pure security-related knowledge and experience from either previous (and similar) employment, or from spells of service in appropriate ranks of the armed forces and/or the police service.

It would be true to say that, at the time, such experience did indeed meet the requirements of the wider security industry. Whether that assumption is true now is open to debate. However, it must also be said that some appointments were unfortunately made on the basis of a given applicant's experience in the University of Life!

As the task of security provision has expanded in both diversity and range over the years to meet the requirements of increased legislation (plus the wider demands of executives in both commerce and industry), so the function of security management has come to demand a more detailed depth and breadth of knowledge of the subject.

Security managers must be able to manage situations directly relevant to the business activity at hand. While disciplined military services and police experience will be an asset, that in itself will no longer meet normal business security requirements.

In fact, it would also be true to say that operational security management is no longer confined to the 'feeling of the collars' of either errant employees or members of the public (as was the case years ago). Now, it tends to concentrate on the creation of corporate security policies inclusive of the implementation of them, and the management of a comprehensive service – which must include the peripheral but important aspects surrounding the management of Health and Safety and fire prevention.

The task of security management is no longer the preserve of the amateur or the part-trained individual lacking any education in the modern concepts of corporate loss prevention in all of its many facets.

Developing a career structure
Once known as the Institute of Industrial Security, the International Institute of Security (IISec) was founded in 1968 by a group of forward-thinking members of the International Professional Security Association (IPSA).

Since then, the organisation has been offering a defined path to learning about – and sitting recognised examinations in – the discipline of security management. It's very much a professional qualification process.

While in the early days the concept of professional qualifications in security was viewed by many with some degree of suspicion, the passage of time has made it readily apparent that this is no longer the case. In a corporate environment, a professional qualification offers some degree of assurance to the host company that the possessor of such a qualification has the required degree of knowledge to take on and meet the security management challenges at hand.

Also with the passage of time, examination criteria laid down by the IISec have been adjusted to include the necessary changes required by legislation and the recognised needs of commerce and industry. The modular range of courses was – and continues to be – expanded. Examinations were accredited by respected academic bodies and the structure of the Institute itself changed to that of a Company limited by guarantee. A more recent change has been the application for (and the granting of) Charitable status.

That said, the primary objectives of the IISec remain unchanged – to maintain, further improve and produce examination criteria in security-related subjects. Subjects that are directly relevant to the requirements of specialist middle and senior management levels. At the same time, the Institute must present a learning process to assist students in attaining their desired degree of professionalism in the discipline.

The learning process
Developed and owned by the Institute, the distance learning programmes available to security practitioners are operated by a franchise and attract a wide range of students. Each programme lasts for 35 weeks and is taught at two levels.

Operational security management is no longer confined to the ‘feeling of the collars’ of either errant employees or members of the public. Now, it tends to concentrate on the creation of corporate security policies inclusive of their implementation

In practice, tutors provide students with guidance and assistance throughout the selected programme (which is modular in format, and inclusive of a selection of test papers which are marked and then returned to the student by his or her personal tutor).

The examinations offered are the Certificate and Diploma in Security Management. The Graduate level of the examination – the Certificate in Security Management – is jointly accredited by The City & Guilds of London Institute and the IISec. The examination (which, on completion, allows the individual concerned to apply for Graduateship of the IISec) consists of six modules, and is most appropriate for those occupying middle-level security management positions.

The six modules look at the security of corporate assets, the protection of persons, equipment, information and goods, emergency situations, fire prevention and control and the issues attendant with Health and Safety, English Law and management as a discipline.

The higher 'Member'-level examination – the Diploma in Security Management – is jointly accredited by the IISec and the NCFE National Awarding Body, and is suitable for those already occupying senior security management positions. There are five modules to be studied, encompassing an understanding of security, threats to security, risk management, the legal system and security management (which includes teaching on working within budgetary constraints and the different corporate cultures that exist in today's commercial environment).

Once passed, the Diploma allows the student to apply for Membership of the IISec.

For the purposes of the Certificate, there are now a number of voluntary modules covering specialist fields of security. These include 'practical retail security' and 'hotel security'. These are currently available to those who have already achieved success in the core material that forms the crux of the course. At the Diploma level, there are no voluntary modules, and neither are there any exemptions.

The examinations procedure
Formal written examinations at both Certificate and Diploma levels are held twice each year (usually during May and November) and at a number of centres around the UK – taking in Birmingham, Glasgow/Edinburgh, London, Newcastle, Wakefield and Northern Ireland. Each module consists of one examination paper of one hours' duration.

Candidates may elect to sit the whole or any part of either level of an examination in any one sitting, subject to prior registration. Once a given module has been passed, it's credited to the individual and held on file until the remaining modules of the same level of examination – or ones which must be re-sat – have been passed.

Recommended reading for study towards the Graduate level examinations is the 'Security Instruction and Guidance Manual' (published by, and available from, the IPSA) and 'Butterworth's Police Law'. Reading references for the Member level examination cover a range of publications appropriate to the contents of the assessment objectives.

What of the future?
The future of the industry as a whole is very much bound up in the implementation of the terms and conditions of the Private Security Industry Act 2001, and the criteria established to meet the licensing process by the appointed Security Industry Authority.