Together we can

Major change and much achievement. That’s the ‘End of Term Report’ for the Security Industry Training Organisation (SITO) as 2004 draws to a close.

The achievements have been varied and numerous. Early in the New Year, for example, SITO director Stefan Hay signed a co-operation agreement with the National Open College Network (NOCN) – one of the Security Industry Authority (SIA) Awarding Bodies.

In June, the NOCN Level 2 Door Supervisors Award – offered in partnership with SITO – was approved by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), and proved an immediate success. There are now 34 approved training centres offering the qualification and, to date, more than 1,200 door supervisors have been trained and achieved the full award in line with SIA licensing. A hugely positive development for the industry.

Further, 66 approved centres are now offering the Level 2 Award in Security Guarding, which received full approval from the QCA in August. The latest feedback from SITO’s Support Services Department suggests that a further 40 companies are currently going through the training centre approval process – a figure that’s increasing daily.

Nearly 50 guarding contractors have worked with SITO to ensure the training records for their Part 1 exempt officers are audited, with the organisation having issued 16,000 retrospective Basic Job Training certificates. Tremendous news ahead of the SIA’s licensing of manned security officers, which begins in January.

In light of the fact that operational managers and supervisors in the guarding sector will also need a non-front line SIA licence, the recent launch of SITO’s Management Certification Scheme – following on from extensive piloting both with numerous industry stakeholders and members of the Institute of Security Management – couldn’t be more appropriate (see the Career Development section in next month’s SMT for further details).

In addition, Stefan Hay and his colleagues are currently negotiating a new services agreement with City & Guilds – another SIA-endorsed Awarding Body – to offer a bespoke range of vocational qualifications and technical certificates in 2005 and beyond.

Meantime, uptake on the trainers’ course leading to the City & Guilds 7302 Certificate in Delivering Learning and the Maybo/SITO Conflict Management trainers’ course has been very encouraging, with (respectively) 240 and 235 individuals trained to date.

All of this has been achieved in the wake of the fact that, in 2004, SITO ceased to be an Awarding Body in its own right. This decision was taken to ensure that there were no conflicts of interest with the organisation’s National Occupational Standards setting and infrastructure training activities.

Clearly, the move hasn’t affected SITO’s involvement in establishing targeted, industry-based qualifications. Indeed, the team at Security House is arguably now more active than ever before in supporting qualifications uptake in the industry.

A vision of togetherness

With the national licensing of the door supervisor sector already well underway, and the final countdown to security officer licensing ‘going live’ just around the corner, it’s little surprise that SITO’s recent National Conference – aptly subtitled ‘Together we can’ – drew a record number of over 300 delegates to The Quadrangle Conference Centre at Oxford United FC’s Kassam Stadium.

Setting the scene for the day, BSIA chief executive David Dickinson – making a welcome return to the industry in the wake of major heart by-pass surgery – stressed in his Opening Address that the industry has reached a pivotal moment.

“The regulator has made it quite clear that it wants nothing less than complete transformation,” opined Dickinson. “There’s a vision there that we can all buy-in to, but in order to do so some customers will need to rethink their entire approach to purchasing security – and, on occasion, even the ethics of what they’re doing.”

Dickinson firmly believes the changes now upon us will be for the good, but they will not be comfortable. “The problem with change on this sort of scale,” added Dickinson, “is not so much about grafting on new ways of thinking and working, but eradicating the old ways of thinking.” He alluded to the fact that many contractors cannot invest sufficiently enough in their people because margins have been driven down so much in recent years. “When I joined Group 4 in 1988,” he suggested, “the company boasted something in the region of 38 different in-house training courses. Not any more. Not because they don’t want to, but because the economics no longer stack up.”

According to Dickinson, customers are still saying they can’t afford to pay more for their security, and hence cannot afford the cost of regulation. “I’m afraid this means they cannot afford a security service, then,” argued Dickinson. “There has to be a fundamental rethink here. We simply must deliver security and security advice through highly trained and competent individuals. Nothing else will suffice now that regulation is upon us. Training has never been more important, nor its output more valuable.”

Continuing the underpinning themes laid down by the BSIA’s chief executive, Stefan Hay delivered the SITO Annual Report. In Hay’s eyes, his organisation is now experiencing one of the busiest and most challenging periods in its 14-year history. “We find ourselves managing a constantly changing organisation, but we welcome change,” commented Hay. “With change comes the opportunity for us to work closer together with the many sectors we represent, listen to them and establish their needs, objectives and capabilities. Then, in partnership, we can develop National Occupational Standards and training and qualification solutions that facilitate the achievement of stated objectives while promoting and enhancing industry capability.”

Hay recognises that the quality of services security companies can offer is directly proportional to their individual commitment to excellence. It remains SITO’s central aim in 2005 and beyond to support the attainment of excellent standards which, in turn, will support the SIA’s vision of industry transformation.

“Now more than ever before is the right time for transformation,” stated Hay. Much like David Dickinson, he’s of the opinion that the unilateral raising of standards and improvements to the quality of service offered by security suppliers has to be a common objective for all.

“This will require investment. In many cases that investment will have to come from the end user community. The slogan of the Gucci family serves as an excellent and timely reminder – ‘quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten’,” he added.

Driving investment, Hay and his team have continued to source appropriate funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) throughout the year. Indeed, industry employer involvement in the ‘Black Country’ LSC pilot project and the Employer Training pilots offered by the London (East) and both the Birmingham and Solihull LSCs has led to more than 250 trainees achieving a combination of NOCN and City & Guilds qualifications. A marvellous outcome.

Hay – who’s only too aware that the security industry exhibits the same problems as the rest of the business community – added: “Training and people development at all levels in our industry are crucial components in the ongoing change process, as professional development will assist security staff in becoming a crucial supportive force.”

SITO’s director most certainly harbours a strong vision of a future wherein the security industry encompasses defined career paths, and where the opportunities on offer become career choices as opposed to necessities.

“We want to work with companies to identify regional champions who will stand alongside us and promote the industry to school and college leavers, and people re-entering the world of work,” said Hay with tangible passion. “Partnerships with organisations such as JobCentre Plus and the Ministry of Defence Career Transition Partnership will assume an increasing importance.”

SIA licensing: the roll-out

Many of the audience had made the trip to Oxford specifically to hear the next speaker – SIA chief executive John Saunders – who provided a welcome update on the roll-out of licensing across the private sector.

Pulling no punches, Saunders laid his stall out immediately. “Attracting, investing in and retaining the right people is crucial, and will represent one of the key competitive advantages over the next few years,” stated Saunders, who stressed that the “destination and direction of the SIA remains unchanged.”

Stepping back to the launch of his organisation some 400 days ago, Saunders recounted some of the quotes offered at the QEII Conference Centre (‘From aspiration springs reality’, SMT, May 2003, pp20-26).

“Does the security industry really view the future as ‘more of the same’ with a thin spread of regulation? Is that really an option? A kind of superficial polish?”

Or, as Saunders recalled, is regulation about advocating a courageous approach with uncompromising standards that will transform private sector security provision? “What’s the genuine ambition of the industry?”

He then hammered out again where the mindset of the SIA currently rests. “Business performance needs to be overhauled. New markets created. There have to be enhanced margins. We need an innovative and dynamic industry with Best Practice in abundance. Not one that competes on price, but instead convinces users to pay more for genuine quality and added value. A modernised industry wherein technology and knowledge are exploited to optimise competitiveness. Increased investment. Better returns on that investment. A trusted and respected industry with positive stakeholder feedback thanks to reduced crime and the dwindling fear of crime. Security taken seriously.”

Does all of this mean the current business model is obsolete, then? Is the SIA vision underpinned by more change and greater cost?

“Of course it is,” stressed Saunders. “David [Dickinson] was right to say that the problem before us lies in consigning the old ways of doing things to the past. Some will always embrace change and drive forward. Some will follow those pioneers as and when they can. Others will simply resist change until the end of their days. However, this industry cannot proceed at a convoy speed, waiting for the slowest players to catch up.” Saunders feels that the best security contractors are already outstripping the rest.

Regulation: achievements to date

Saunders offered a “stock take” of progress to date at 50 Broadway. 2003-2004 was, of course, the SIA’s first independent year, involving a focus on strategic planning, policy formation and the design, development and testing of all the processes and systems in place. 2004-2005 has been characterised by a move away from design and development towards delivery. “As of today, 37,000 application forms requested by door supervisors are now in the system,” suggested Saunders, “including 21,000 individuals who’ve already undertaken appropriate training.”

The SIA chief executive is adamant that achievements over the past 12 months – realised with the support of the BSIA, SITO and others – have been “outstanding”. Six new vocational qualifications have been specified for the industry during the past 18 months.

“It took 14 years to produce the former 12,” said Saunders by way of emphasising the point. “Even more significantly, all of those qualifications have been approved by the QCA and now sit on the national framework. Again, it would take most sectors a decade to achieve that kind of progress.”

The focus is now on developing a “total skills strategy” for the industry in conjunction with the LSC. Related to this, the SIA has established a Sector Skills Strategy Group (under the chairmanship of Wilson James director Stuart Lowden). “The agenda for that Group is challenging,” stressed Saunders. “Links must be developed with higher education forums, and with schools and colleges while portraying and delivering security as a valid career path.”

Speaking with great conviction, Saunders then laid his cards on the table. “The maze and complexity of gobbledygook surrounding skills and workforce development is a barrier to progress.” Very true. So how will the SIA circumnavigate that problem? “For one thing, the performance criteria for most sectors has now been determined and published. International links are in place to address the specific issue of overseas nationals working in the sector. Full compliance and investigation teams are in place, too.” There are currently eight regional teams, in fact, with the strategy built around the Government’s national intelligence model. “I can tell you that the strategy is working,” added Saunders.

The introduction of the Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) isn’t too far away, and – in spite of many calls to make it mandatory – will run on a voluntary basis. The SIA has chosen the voluntary route because it allows for guidance and facilitation, whereas it’s felt that a mandatory scheme would inevitably dictate commercial practice. “Contractors should be free to innovate and pursue their own commercial vision”, explained Saunders, “which is consistent with the philosophy of effective accreditation.”

For Saunders, the impact of that accreditation must be positive and continuous. “This industry is generally unsophisticated when it comes to learning and spreading Best Practice,” urged Saunders. “High staff turnover is undermining investment in people. Wastage is just far too high. Poor quality service delivery is undermining market opportunities.”

Finalising the accreditation plans

The final piece of testing on the ACS involved assessing the implementation implications and timing for all the suppliers. It also involved the SIA updating its own judgements on how many companies would buy-in to the scheme, and the value that suppliers could expect to gain by doing so. Saunders stated that the work involved over 250 consultation meetings during the summer months, stressing that the implementation process is “well underway”.

Workshops involving industry specialists will look at the generic (and sector-specific) qualifying criteria. That work will be complete for all sectors come the end of this month, with the criteria being published early in the New Year. System process testing is scheduled for the period April 2005 through to October. Crucially, that means the SIA is now in a position to unveil its pricing structure and, according to Saunders, will do so “probably before the end of the year.”

It’s highly likely that one of the criteria for membership of the scheme will be that a significant percentage of the workforce of a given company is licensed. “The scheme we introduce must be relevant and provide a commercial advantage to its participants,” continued Saunders. “Introducing the scheme for purely academic reasons would be a total nonsense. Access to markets underpins the scheme’s development, for example wherein contractors become involved in work that embraces the ‘wider police family’ mandate.”

Influencing buyer behaviour is another important element as far as Saunders is concerned. “In the future,” he asked, “will the police and Government bodies only buy security services from approved suppliers?”

Certainly, the major players in the insurance sector are conscious of the commercial benefits to be had from differentiating between ‘the best and the rest’ of security suppliers. Indeed, the Association of British Insurers is already issuing recommendations to underwriters about how to treat new policies and claims wherever unlicensed operatives are used. “That applies to buyers and suppliers of security services,” added Saunders.

The employment (and subsequent deployment) of officers will be important. Come January 2006 it will become an offence to operate without a licence. From early 2006, then, one of the prime benefits of Approved Contractor Scheme membership will be the ability of those companies to employ and deploy operatives prior to them receiving a licence – provided they’ve undertaken their training and a licence application has been duly submitted. “The recruitment, vetting, training and licensing process, and the timescales involved are the most critical issues for suppliers,” claimed Saunders.

“What of the buyers in the security chain? What’s their mindset? What will convince them that security should receive greater attention and investment? What will stop them spending more on corporate coffee than corporate security?” postulated Saunders. Certainly, the present situation is pretty dire. Net margins across the security service providers average 2-4%. “Prices simply must increase,” stated Saunders. “The current levels of 35% contract churn are not sustainable. We must attract new people and encourage them to meet new standards for the betterment of the industry.”

All of that is set against the backdrop of a severe skills and labour shortage in the UK. How on earth is the ‘new’ security industry going to attract its workforce?

“Buyer-supplier relationships must be re-engineered,” said Saunders. “There has to be a change from price-driven to solutions-driven transactions. Will buyers simply try to buy less? Well, shareholder demands and those of the insurance industry would appear to suggest not. Clients will not get away with it.”

Communicating with the market

To date, the SIA has participated in over 50 conferences and seminars involving over 3,000 delegates. The organisation has also engaged with over 30 national and business journals. It’s latest endeavour is to invest in a special corporate communications agency that will conduct a three-year campaign to raise awareness of licensing and regulation. That campaign is being kick-started with a letter to the UK’s top 1,000 buyers of security.

However, John Saunders feels strongly that the major communication channel must remain the suppliers. Those suppliers must also accept individual responsibility for managing their own client relationships, and for the operational and financial planning that sits within a regulated environment. Apparently, anecdotal evidence suggests that some contractors are succeeding in their quest to re-engineer their contractual relationships, but others continue to struggle.

Last June, the SIA set out some recommendations for the industry’s suppliers. They should organise approved training, having identified the number of staff members who require either full or partial instruction. They should also appoint a licensing project manager (many of the wiser contractors have done so). They need to profile the number of licences needed over the next 12 months, and then review their recruitment and vetting procedures for post-2006.

Contractors should follow this sound advice or risk being left behind.

Security recruitment in the future

Next on the podium was Security Watchdog managing director Terry O’Neil, who embarked on a well-reasoned discourse examining the future of security recruitment in a regulated environment. The Watchdog’s own independent audits of contractors on site are based upon the edict that clients are primarily concerned with the officers and managers who are operational on their premises. The real interest centres on the interviews of officers. A profile can be built up for a client to see whether those officers are going to become a recruitment problem of the future.

O’Neil divided recruitment into two halves. First, it’s the retention of existing workforce members (thus obviating the need for future recruitment). Second, it’s the hiring of new staff for (perhaps) a new batch of contracts or to ameliorate staff churn.

What sort of questions are asked during the audits? “What brought them into the industry in the first place is a good start point,” said O’Neil. “You need to establish the basic family circumstances and where they live. How do they travel to and from work? How long have they been employed on a particular site? Have they had the correct training? The supervisor is crucial here. As an industry we have betrayed this rank in the past.”

The Watchdog supremo then recounted a site visit to a client’s premises in north London three years ago. In the daily occurrence book were a significant number of ‘red’ entries, indicating that visits were being made by the supervisor and contract manager almost on a nightly basis. “When I discovered that virtually every officer was experiencing some major administrative problems it was evident that the site structure had completely broken down,” sighed O’Neil. “The contractor was working on a false premise.”

What, then, dictates the current recruitment market and the people the industry attracts? “The Terms and Conditions of Employment,” said O’Neil. “They vary enormously between companies. What’s much more sinister is that they also vary within companies. Luck can play a huge part in the sort of job an individual is given. The industry is still attracting people who are taking jobs as a short term expedient. That situation must be committed to the past.”

O’Neil then referred to audits carried out by The Watchdog less than two months ago in Greater London that offer some idea of the problems persisting in the industry. Case 1 involves a commercial property owned by a very high profile client. An individual who has made considerable noise that the industry itself is not serving his needs. That client was using a national guarding company that has been successfully inspected against industry standards. In this case, the audit was called for by the client because of alleged poor service.

“We suspected the results would be used to justify doing away with the current service provider and employing another,” said O’Neil.

Case 2 involved a commercial property, this time with a low key and unassuming client. The client had stipulated sensible terms and conditions for the London-based guarding company employed on site, which again had been inspected against industry standards by a UKAS-accredited body. The audit was used as part of a monthly programme of audits that form the basis of regular Service Level Agreement meetings, and paid for by a minimal incremental increase on the hourly charge rate.

In Case 1, the wage rates were £7.25 per hour for the supervisor, and £6.50 per hour for the four officers. In other words, barely £2,000 per annum more in wages for the supervisor than the officers. The shift pattern was seven days on, four days off, seven nights on, three days off. That represents 12-hour shifts, with each officer working 84 hours at a time! “You don’t need me to tell you that we’ll never attract the right calibre of individual with this sort of shift pattern,” exclaimed O’Neil.

The Death in Service benefit was the only benefit on offer, while there was no formal continuation training for the officers concerned. Not surprisingly, staff turnover levels were 100%.

A different scenario was being experienced in Case 2. Here, the supervisor’s pay rate was £12.00 per hour, the security officers earning £9.00. The shift pattern was four days on, four days off, four nights on, four days off. “Much better,” said O’Neil, “as the officers can rest sufficiently between shifts. It also allows for sensible amounts of overtime.” Benefits were self-evident. A 3% contributory pension scheme. A life assurance scheme. Personal accident cover. A discretionary sick pay scheme. A Death in Service benefit of £25,000. That’s the kind of benefits package EVERY security officer should be receiving.

In addition, training had been taken care of in terms of computer-based continuation learning coupled with a full range of SITO courses. At this site, staff turnover stood at a far lower 20%. What this client had done was spend the money saved by the initial risk assessment, ploughing it back into the guarding operation. Pretty clever (and commendable) tactics.

A crisis is looming

“Licensing will bring about a recruitment crisis,” said O’Neil, “most notably over the next three or four years. Until now, the industry has been characterised by an easy entry, easy exit system. That will change to a difficult entry, easy exit set-up. Licensed officers will be King. They’ll call the tune, and one suspects companies will need to offer ‘Golden Hellos’ to skilled officers in order to retain them.”

It’s O’Neil’s view that the industry ignores the Working Time Directive at its peril. Licensed sub-contract labour will be a problem from now on. “People are not necessarily going to have licensed officers in waiting, so there could be an opportunity for, dare I say it, recruitment companies to fill that void.”

Tellingly, O’Neil believes the transformation of the industry could take upwards of five years. “There’s no quick fix here. Clients may decide to go back in-house as a result, but that wouldn’t be the solution at all.”

So how might a brighter future in a regulated environment be realised? In O’Neil’s opinion, clients, contractors and recruiters all have their part to play. First, clients must request their contractors to re-shape their security cover to include increased technology and reduced manpower. Good Terms and Conditions of Employment must be ensured at all times. It’s down to clients to set sensible wage rates. Ultimately, clients must afford security the importance it deserves.

For their part, contractors must avoid low priced work at all costs. They ought to ensure sensible career paths for every officer, and provide an exemplary degree of service to their clients. “Contractors,” said O’Neil, “should also be prepared to work with competitor companies for the betterment of the industry.”

For too long now the vested interest mentality has prevailed. It simply has to stop. Regulation isn’t concerned with singular client or contractor issues, but about the betterment of the sector and the service as a whole. Many protagonists seem to have missed that point.

“The SIA has prepared the playing field. The manned security industry must now play fair on it,” concluded O’Neil. “We cannot afford to lose this opportunity to make things right. It might well be our last.” A comment that was greeted with animated applause.

Working with the industry

Following on from Terry O’Neil’s impassioned words, Justin Chamberlain – employer marketing director at JobCentre Plus – offered an overview of the ways in which his organisation is working with the industry.

Formed in April 2002, JobCentre Plus is an executive agency of the Department of Work and Pensions that aims to provide an end-to-end recruitment service for employers across a number of targeted industry sectors including security. The mission statement is clear: ‘Work for those people that can, support for those that cannot.’

“We must immediately address the staff retention issue and reduce those churn rates in the security sector,” suggested Chamberlain. “Terry [O’Neil] mentioned the five-year cycle for transforming the industry. I don’t think that will necessarily be the case. It may well be longer. There are demographic trends at play which point to an ageing workforce. By 2015, there will be more people not working than working in this country. That situation will be the same across Europe. We must therefore look at a far more diverse labour pool.”

Chamberlain made an interesting point about lone parents. There are 850,000 of them in this country, 90% of whom are female. “Clearly, we need to look at how we can attract those people into the world of work. We can do so by offering more flexible working patterns.”

To achieve its own goals, JobCentre Plus is working closely with the BSIA and SITO, and Chamberlain believes there are now a number of ways in which these organisations – in tandem – can address the SIA’s licensing requirements. There are advisor discretionary funds, for example, as well as sector ‘champions’ pushing the cause of good security across several regions.

“We’re also introducing a new national marketing campaign that will target 200,000 employers across the whole of the UK,” added Chamberlain. “In the past two years we’ve taken on more vacancies. The service has narrowed, but deepened. Moving forward, we need to engage with the smaller and medium-sized employers.”

In February, JobCentre Plus is launching EDON (Employer Direct Online), which will enable clients to place their jobs on a dedicated web portal job bank. Those vacancies can also be managed online. Towards the end of next year there’ll also be CV Bank, whereupon job seekers can place their CV online and wait for employers to contact them if vacancies arise.

Resettlement partnership approach

The last presentation prior to the Gala Luncheon was given by Derek Shaw, the director of training at the Ministry of Defence’s Career Transition Partnership.

The Partnership was first formed in 1998 as part of an overarching strategy to smooth the transition for personnel moving from the Armed Forces to employment in the private sector. Initially, there was a desire to address the ‘three R’s’ – namely Recruitment, Retention and Resettlement.

Ten regional centres have been established around the country, in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Germany – all of them necessarily located on military bases.

In practice, groups of Armed Forces leaders gather and look through candidates’ transferable skills and aspirations, offering appropriate briefings on issues such as housing and finance. Each ‘recruit’ will be allocated a consultant, who takes them through the same procedure on a one-to-one basis. The outcome of that is a resettlement plan which includes advance training.

The Partnership focuses in particular on security management, with training advice and provision centred at its Aldershot hq. “Our business model is said to be robust and challenging, not least by some of our partners,” suggested Shaw. “That model is in place to allow us to map, design and resource training in conjunction with client ‘output’ demands.”

The bespoke security management course (which runs for two weeks at Aldershot) was designed five years ago in conjunction with SITO. It covers supervisory management and IT skills. Only recently a module on conflict management has also been added.

“Our structures are in place, but what is the private security industry going to do to attract leaders from the Armed Forces into the sector?” added Shaw.

One suspects that depends very much on the future of security management as a profession, and in which direction it heads.