Career paths for officers

The security officer's role has been privy to enormous levels of change since The Shield Guarding Company was formed in 1987. The 21st Century security officer is expected to wear a variety of hats, and their role can now include duties that would have traditionally fallen to others working in areas such as facilities management, Health and Safety, administration and customer service.

City & Guilds recently published a Future Earnings report identifying a number of ‘golden vocations' in which it predicts highly qualified workers will be able to command salaries well above the national average. Security officers were one such group identified and, according to the City & Guilds' research, although the national average salary for skilled professionals in 2020 will be £52,576, security officers are estimated to achieve an average salary level of £70,572.

This dramatic increase in basic income will only be achieved if the role is matched by an increase in value to the client. Clients will expect to contract highly-qualified, multi-skilled security officers and, as a result, will task the appointed security provider with generating a high level of additional benefits.

Managing a new workforce

Much of the recent debate in Security Management Today has concentrated on the changes likely to take place in a post-regulation environment, but relatively little consideration has been afforded to how this new, highly-paid and highly-skilled workforce is going to be managed. Without doubt, a different type of security manager will be required to channel the expectations and aspirations of the new breed of security officer.

At The Shield Guarding Company, we have always placed a great deal of emphasis on the development of our management team, which needs to be flexible enough to respond quickly to change but also strong enough to support our staff in the field (while also facilitating fast and effective communications) (figure 1).

That being the case, we continually review our management structure and, if appropriate, new positions are created to support our growth as an organisation.

Recruitment, retention, development

The recruitment, retention and development of high calibre security officers continues to be one of our key organisational objectives. We currently employ over 120 university graduates, enjoy a better-than-average level of staff turnover (at around 20%) and a high TUPE transfer success rate of over 90%.

In providing clear opportunities for development and progression, we have managed to change the way security is viewed by our staff in terms of this industry being able to offer a structured career path. This has enabled us to attract the best candidates and motivate those already employed by us to achieve their full potential. They do so by gaining additional skills and experience, which we facilitate via bespoke Training Needs Analysis and Personal Development Plans.

We have a dedicated recruitment team in place which works hard to ensure that we find the exceptional candidates who not only match our security officer ‘profile' but also fit with our corporate culture. The target is always those individuals who are motivated to progress within our organisation.

The Shield Guarding Company also enjoys excellent relationships with local JobCentre Plus offices, and has extensive dealings with The Shaw Trust (with whom we work closely as part of our commitment to furthering local employment opportunities).

The Management Development Programme is open to everyone in our organisation. All candidates undergo a rigorous selection process which includes psychometric testing, presentations and interviews

Climbing the career ladder

Opportunities for career progression and the skills required are clearly defined at The Shield Guarding Company such that those members of staff who wish to advance understand exactly what is required of them.

We are firmly committed to promotion from within, with the majority of our contracts managers having started their security careers here as officers. This hands-on experience, we believe, gives our managers the ability to relate directly to our officers, and thus manage them in a disciplined yet supportive manner.

To maintain this unique competence, we have also established a Management Development Programme with the specific aim of finding ‘managers of the future' to meet the needs of our continuing business growth. This programme has been running for nearly three years now, and is continually evolving to satisfy our own requirements as well as those of what is now a diverse and expanding client base.

The Management Development Programme is open to everyone in our organisation. Thanks to this initiative, 12 people will be identified for specific career mentoring every year. All candidates undergo a rigorous selection process including psychometric testing, presentations and interviews. Training, qualifications and skills audits are carried out in relation to successful candidates. Training focuses on furthering key skills such as leadership, time-management, effective client relationships and goal-setting.

Following exhaustive research, we have teamed up with SBR Consulting to deliver this specialist training. We also liaise on a regular basis with local colleges to provide our employees with access to the best resources available so that all training options are open to them. This bespoke approach has proven to be highly effective, with our newly-appointed regional operations director Tom King having passed through the very same programme.

Career paths are vital

The onus is now very much on security companies in the private sector to carry on raising standards, and thereby provide a much broader training base to meet the ever-changing needs of the workplace.

Many organisations now understand just how important defined and demonstrated career progression really is in terms of both their own success, and that of the industry as a whole. Not before time, it must be said.

• Peter Kroeger is managing director of The Shield Guarding Company (www.shieldguarding.co.uk)