Bold STEPS into the future

Nature dictates that every organisation will experience several stages of change, growth and transition. One of the most difficult changes, perhaps, is the transition from an entrepreneurially-managed organisation – where the founder and their personality are central to everything that happens – to a customer-focused operation where teamwork and partnerships with industry become the vision of the future.

Combine such a situation with significant changes to the educational framework, added to the introduction of a regulatory body, and it becomes clear that SITO itself is in the middle of a transitional stage that can only be described as "interesting times" (to quote from the famous Chinese proverb).

On April 1 2002, SITO – just like all other sector-specific training bodies – was de-recognised as a National Training Organisation (NTO). In most sectors, there has been little movement with regard to the launch of Sector Skills Councils, the much-heralded replacements for the NTOs. The security industry has been no exception.

Had it not been for the timely intervention of the Security Industry Authority (SIA) and the launch of its Sector Skills Strategy Group (a Stakeholder Group made up of employers in the major sub-sectors, end users of security services, training organisations, institutes and employer organisations tasked with developing a five-year Sector Skills Strategy), our industry may well have found itself less able to face its future with confidence.

An opportunity for improvement
With that particular project now in place, it's my belief that our industry is being offered a golden opportunity – under the auspices of the SIA – to improve standards and develop a professionally qualified workforce for the future. In turn, this will increase public confidence in our industry and enable us to attract those people seeking a real career.

SITO is very privileged to be involved in the current round of discussions, but many of my industry peers are asking the question: "What exactly will be SITO's wider role in the years ahead?" Well, as is the case with many organisations that enjoy an extremely visible public profile, SITO had its weaknesses and had therefore been subjected to criticism. Indeed, open and frank discussions with industry stakeholders in recent times have made it clear those areas which we need to address.

Amid the weaknesses identified, there are also some real strengths upon which we can build. SITO's greatest strength – and the true measure of its success – is the fact that more than 235,000 individuals employed in the security sector now hold a SITO qualification or training certificate.

In addition, the organisation has been at the forefront of (and continues to be involved in) developing an occupational standards framework for the industry.

Such positives provide the SITO Team with a good starting point for the future. An island of stability amid the shifting sands of change. However, we cannot afford to be complacent and must embrace and welcome that change. Crucially, we must also reassess our relationship with the industry in an honest and open fashion.

Laying the foundations for the right relationship is not an easy task. As with any major act of transformation, it will take much courage from the SITO Team coupled with a willingness to reconsider – and, if necessary, change – the most cherished beliefs which we hold about our purpose. We will have to rethink certain aspects of our behaviour, upon which we have relied for many years, in order to meet the changing needs of our customer base.

The STEPS initiative has been established to provide the security industry with relevant, high quality and effective training solutions

Importantly, we'll also have to ensure that we are prepared to address the many challenges confronting the security training sector and the industry at large. At the present time, these include the ever-increasing threat of a terrorist attack on UK soil, the introduction of Community Wardens and Police Community Support Officers, the de-criminalisation of moving traffic offences, the Police Reform Act, the Government's crime reduction strategies and, of course, the terms and conditions laid down by the Private Security Industry Act 2001.

One thing that's already clear for the future is that SITO cannot 'go it alone'. Why would we want to? Our industry is populated with a plethora of educational experts who harbour in-depth knowledge across the diverse range of specialist instructional fields required to offer the complete training solution. As a result, we've taken into consideration the many views expressed to us – in particular those aired at the recent SITO National Training Conference (see 'Sector specific', pp22-25).

STEPS: a training partnership
In the spirit of true industry partnership, we have launched the Security Training and Education Partnership Strategy (STEPS). The STEPS initiative has been established to provide the security industry – both here in the UK and internationally – with relevant, high quality and effective training solutions. The initiative will be co-ordinated by SITO, and offers a range of flexible partnership approaches designed to provide access to unparalleled expertise and specialist knowledge.

The ultimate goal of STEPS is to meet the training needs of ALL customers, whomever they may be, using either our own resources or those of the STEPS partners. Building upon the recent successes of our own training team in the design of bespoke and customised training solutions, this initiative should help speed up the process and provide a true 'one-stop shop' for the industry.

The first STEPS partners have already begun working with us. In-Tuition is a specialist organisation offering a range of investigative training programmes, while Broadland Training offers training and advice to CCTV operators.

We are now in active talks with several potential partners to provide training in the areas of human resourcing, management and employment law issues, conflict management and resolution, counter-terrorism, counter-surveillance, advanced driving and loss prevention (to name but a few specialisms).

Each STEPS partner will join the initiative by invitation, and will be skilled in a particular expertise that adds value to the programme.

Again, in the spirit of co-operation it's intended that partners will not offer the same training programmes. This will prevent any 'fishing in the same pond'-style scenario from arising, at the same time helping to create a level playing field whereby none of the partners are afforded preferential treatment.