Setting standards, raising skills

By her own admission, Linda Sharpe is a “set-up person, not a steady-state sort of individual”. This strong-willed, articulate and highly-focused female practitioner believes in joining a given cause, setting up operations such that they engender the ‘buy-in’ of employees and, thereafter, making sure that the products and services delivered by that organisation are duly produced on time – and to clients’ satisfaction.

One suspects that all of Sharpe’s very best ‘trouble-shooting’ talents will come to the fore between now and 2007 as she prepares the ground for Skills for Security’s full-time chief executive to take the reins at the industry’s all-new training and development body come 1 January next year.

“Our main objectives are to improve skills, raise performance levels and provide training solutions accessible to all,” stresses Sharpe as I begin interviewing this loquacious professional in what has become her second home – the Security Industry Authority’s offices at 50 Broadway in the St James’s Park area of London. “We aim to achieve this by developing training and qualification systems directly relevant to sector needs. Another major role of ours will be to influence Government policy in relation to the educational needs of the security sector, identifying and then plugging skills gaps.”

It’s nothing if not a tall order, but on speaking to Sharpe – a graduate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, in addition to being a qualified occupational psychologist – you immediately sense that the job will be done efficiently, effectively and with the minimum of fuss.

In fact, one only needs the briefest of glances at her CV to determine that Sharpe has the perfect background for the role.

First taste of security

Sharpe joined the security sector from the world of adult education, where she had been heavily involved with training and management development schemes in the private sector. “I saw a job advertised by what was then Group 4,” she enthuses, “and decided that security would be my next challenge.” It was 1990, and Sharpe quickly discovered that the entire Training Department was staffed by ex-services personnel. “It wasn’t a problem,” she says, “just a bit challenging really.”

Four short years later she moved across to the International Human Resources Division, subsequently helping to nurture the business by concentrating on the development of staff in both the central and Eastern European regions. “The concept of customer service in this region was almost anathema at the time following years of Communist domination,” she sighs with an air of resignation. “Clients desperately sought locals as their front line security managers, so I helped them to achieve that aim.” A democratic approach was the order of the day. “It wasn’t easy, though, because lots of the multinational clients wanted locals who were also fluent in English.”

There was barely an area in which Sharpe didn’t impart her people management skills, working on Cash-in-Transit and security guarding projects to name but two. “I was also dealing with safety and fire protection-related projects in the Scandinavian nations, and electronic security in Austria. It was a very busy period, yes, but also a really enjoyable one.”

Sharpe was heavily involved in devising Group 4’s massively successful People Management training programme, a development package for security officers looking to make the next step up the corporate ladder. “We added lots of new tests and profiling exercises to see what skills made for a good security manager,” she recalls with an obvious fondness for the times.

Setting competency standards for some of the industry’s sectors was always going to be challenging – it was an exciting and often fraught time with a lot of frank exchanges. There was a constant need to consult and confer so that everything was acceptable for the Regulator and the industry

Linda’s 12-year stint with Group 4 (latterly Group 4 Falck) – first as training manager of the UK Training Company, then as head of the International Resource Centre and, finally, in her senior management development role for Group 4 International – came to an end in 2000. By then, the business had moved from having an international focus to one far more regional in nature. Sharpe’s ensuing redundancy was duly accepted, but with a tinge of sadness all the same.

In 2003, SIA chief executive John Saunders invited Sharpe to take on a contract consultancy role with the organisation, examining the necessary competencies that would be needed in line with licensing and regulation. “It was an absolutely fascinating time for me,” Sharpe interjects. “Here was a perfect opportunity to join a modern Regulator that wanted to raise standards. This was a remit so close to my heart.”

Making sure that competency levels and definitions were absolutely spot on focused the Sharpe mind perfectly. Stating that she was one of the few individuals at the SIA with any real industry background in the security sector, Sharpe is pretty adamant that her team “managed to make the consultation work very successfully indeed”. Adds Sharpe: “Setting competency standards for certain sectors of the industry was always going to be challenging. It was an exciting and often fraught time with a lot of frank exchanges. There was a constant need to consult and confer so that everything was acceptable for both the Regulator and the industry.”

Project management opportunity

In June 2005, Sharpe was offered the chance to project manage the establishment of a new skills body for the private security industry. The end result is Skills for Security, an organisation founded on the back of long and detailed discussions involving both large and smaller employers, the Home Office, the Sector Skills Development Agency, the BSIA, the Joint Security Industry Council, The Security Institute and ASIS (UK) (among others) and which opens for business on 1 January.

According to Lord Stevens – chairman of the Skills for Security Board – this is “the day when the private security industry takes its future into its own hands”.

The key sub-sectors that Skills for Security will cover in the first instance are: access control and alarm systems installation, security dog handling, door supervision, CCTV operation (in relation to public space surveillance), CCTV systems installation, close protection, Cash-and-Valuables-in-Transit, event security, IP security (electronic), key holding and alarm response, private investigation, risk management, secure parking/vehicle immobilisation, security consultancy, security management and security guarding. Quite a handful, it must be said, but very much in line with Sharpe’s own belief that Skills for Security will only work if it is demonstrably a “pan-industry initiative”.

Responding to accusations made

Those in the industry with suspicious minds have already begun to level accusations at Skills for Security before the organisation has even had a chance to draw its first meaningful breath. “Is this the Security Industry Training Organisation (SITO) reinvented?”, they query. “Is the Board truly independent? What about the fact that SITO’s offices are being used to house the new organisation?” These are just some of the questions being raised. Sharpe is happy to tackle each in turn without batting an eyelid.

On the matter of SITO, what we are taking from this organisation is a firm financial footing on which we can then build the new business. There’s little doubt that this industry would have really struggled if the new skills body had been forced to knock on doors for subscriptions

“Before I go any further, I must commend the altruism of the BSIA Council in making funding and assets available to us, and for divesting SITO such that it will form an integral part of Skills for Security. On the matter of SITO, what we are taking from this organisation is a firm financial footing as an asset base, and a very competent staff around whom we can then build the new business. There’s little doubt that this industry would have really struggled if the new skills body had been forced to knock on doors for subscriptions.”

According to Sharpe, all current employees of SITO will transfer across to Skills for Security under TUPE. “We’ll then overlay a new structure with several new roles to serve our ongoing requirements,” explains Sharpe. “Initially we plan to recruit a qualifications framework manager, a project and development manager, a support services manager and a PR and marketing assistant (these new roles are exclusively advertised in this month’s Recruitment section on pages 58-62). Further new positions will then be advertised later on this year in Security Management Today.”

Is it SITO reinvented?

Sharpe is adamant that Skills for Security is most certainly not SITO reinvented. “Skills for Security is a brand new entity. A totally independent body. An organisation that will set its own agenda in line with industry employer needs. It is going to have new products and services above and beyond what was produced by SITO, and in accordance with what would be offered by any similar Sector Skills Body. For example, we are working with the industry on a new Sector Qualification Strategy which will then be expressed in a new qualifications framework. This is completely new work which was not carried out at any stage by SITO.”

On the matter of funding, Sharpe stresses that Skills for Security will source “limited capital” from “a number of external sources” but, in the main, the organisation will need to derive its future income from commercial activities. “On the operational side, Stefan Hay – the former managing director at SITO – will transfer into the new company and continue to hold responsibility for strategic development (see Education and Training on page 41 of this month’s edition). We are working on a number of new products and services to be offered by Skills for Security that will better meet the needs of sector employees and their members of staff, both now and in the future.”

Interestingly, Sharpe goes on to stress that Skills for Security plans to reduce the amount of training provided directly to the client. Over the next 12 months, for example, the provision of Basic Job Training courses is to be cut back and gradually replaced by other products and services. Continues Sharpe: “An area for close scrutiny will be the development of new materials and resources to support security training. In this regard, multi-media variables are very definitely central to our thoughts.”

Sharpe and Stefan Hay are well aware that this change is not just superficial. That being the case, there is a realisation that it cannot happen overnight. The industry must understand (and come to terms with) this, she feels. “SITO has many existing contracts in place, all of which must be honoured,” explains Sharpe. “For that reason alone we cannot just say ‘Out with the Old and In with the New’. It’s simply not possible.”

Sharpe is mightily keen on constant Stakeholder engagement. “We plan to set up Sector Consultation Groups which will individually prioritise their requirements with regards to new qualifications and learning agendas. The chairs of each of those groups will, in turn, report in to a Stakeholder Management Committee.”

To this end, Sharpe would like to hear from security practitioners who might wish to take part in discussions with the Sector Consultation Groups and thus help in shaping a future skills strategy for the security sector.

We know we have a big job to do. That much is obvious. The immediate priority is to launch the new company from 1 January. Thereafter, the first real item on the agenda is to have the Sector Consultation Groups up-and-running by 1 March

In parallel, Consultation Forums will also be set up to engage the various awarding bodies, the universities and the training providers. This will ensure that they too play a part in what is a crucial (and pivotal) process.

Consultation is vital for all

Clearly, Sharpe has learned from her time at the SIA that continued consultation is the way forward. Already, she is matching thought with deed... A proposal document was drafted only recently, outlining Skills for Security’s Course Accreditation Scheme and how it will recognise and accredit courses for delivery.

Sharpe then convened a meeting of training companies at the SOE Academy’s headquarters in Moreton-in-Marsh on 30 November to discuss the draft proposals. Many of the major training providers were in attendance, among them ARC Training International, Linx International, Perpetuity Training, the Ramesses Group, Training For Success, Train 4 Security, NASDU, Surrey Security Training, the NTIPDU, Interconnective and Tavcom Training (to name but a few).

The draft document states that training providers wishing to gain accreditation for their courses will have to satisfy Skills for Security’s adjudicators that:

all course materials are accurate and complete in terms of technical content and quality of presentation, and that the national and/or industry occupational standards supporting the courses for which accreditation is sought are clearly identified;

• their trainers are fully-qualified to deliver the course(s) in terms of their teaching skills, technical expertise and sector competence;
• facilities such as training rooms, presentation equipment and training aids are appropriate for the course(s) being delivered;
• resources exist for the appropriate promotion and marketing of the course(s) for which accreditation is sought;
• suitable administration procedures are in place to support course provision;
• a Health and Safety policy operates in respect of training provision.

The benefits of accreditation

For those training providers who are successful and have their courses of learning accredited, the proposed benefits are many and varied. They will be as follows:

We plan to introduce a Register of Professional Trainers and a scheme to accredit training providers. This is all part of a determined move to professionalise training courses and their providers, all the while supporting them with innovative products and bidding to stimulate the marketplace

• the details of the course(s) and the provider will be published on the Skills for Security web site and inside its newsletter;
• promotional materials for all accredited courses will be displayed at Skills for Security’s Annual Conference;
• when the Customer Services Department at Security House receives enquiries about training its staff will refer callers to the accredited courses and their providers;
• all accredited courses will be promoted through the Skills for Business network.

“We plan to introduce a Register of Professional Trainers and a scheme to accredit training providers,” says Sharpe in an honest, forthright manner. “Both of those initiatives will take shape later in the year. This is all part of a determined move towards professionalising training courses and their providers, all the while supporting them with innovative products and bidding to stimulate the marketplace.” For its part the new training course accreditation scheme is designed to replace SITO’s hugely popular and successful STEPS initiative, which is to be wound up over a phased period of time.

At this point in our conversation, Sharpe then leans forward, looks right into my eyes and calmly states: “We know we have a big job to do. That much is obvious. The immediate priority is to launch the new company from 1 January. Thereafter, the first real item on the agenda is to have the Sector Consultation Groups up-and-running by 1 March.”

Next, Sharpe addresses the third and final accusation levelled at Skills for Security – that questioning the wisdom of locating its operational base at Security House in Worcester, home of the BSIA and, until the first day of 2006, SITO itself. Once Sharpe begins to explain the logistics behind the decision you begin to see through the claims being made by overly-cynical detractors who have raised eyebrows over the fact Skills for Security is not located at new offices.

“For one thing, the BSIA and SITO operations have always run on the same IT platform. That obviously needs to be split down the middle,” states Sharpe. “The systems platforms will need to be re-specified and set up independently. Also, we are finding our feet. We’re appointing new people and changing the face of the skills body. In the short term, we need to assess our working environment and then implement a number of new processes. I have just as much Duty of Care to the money divested by the BSIA to help us set up the organisation as I would Government funds. We’ll move as and when we are ready to do so and if we need to do so, and not before.”

Sharpe also suggests that there is an enormous job to be done in terms of developing the corporate image of Skills for Security by way of branding, the new logo and the web site. “The Internet is going to be a central driver for us,” she adds, with a glint in her eye. “That is where we can draw in the wider audience, and help to engender buy-in to what we are doing from the industry at large.”

Immediate priorities in focus

Is it too early to say who might take over from Sharpe on a full-time basis this time next year? She isn’t giving many clues away.

“The person who takes on what is currently my interim role on a full-time basis will have to be fully-focused on what is probably our biggest challenge going forward – plugging the skills shortage that presently exists within the security management arena, where there is a need for us to grow skills from within and import them from without.”