We must supercharge the process of building an inclusive culture in the security sector where we don’t just recognise and accept difference, but we embrace it.

We’re all aware of just how big the security industry is. We’re over half a million strong and contribute £7 billion annually to the British economy. Put that into perspective: we have more people than the armed forces and emergency services combined and have a bigger economic value than a small country. Only a brief internet search can bring up row after row of statistics that show our value.

From protecting us from hackers to keeping entertainment venues safe and secure, our people, often unseen or unheard, play an important role in everyone’s lives. They consist of people of every identity, characteristic and background.

Yet when we ask someone what a security sector employee looks like… they’ll invariably say: a heterosexual white male.

Organisations like the National Black Police Association, or the taking part in Pride parades of soldiers, sailors and airmen, show just how far our colleagues, in similar industries, have come in building an inclusive culture, in which free self-expression is built into their workplace culture.

When you look at our own industry however, we’re not there yet. Currently, we don’t have ballpark figures as to how many women, LGBTQ or ethnic minorities actually work in our sector. There’s no doubt that things are changing and improving, but we need to up the tempo, we need to become an industry that appeals to the brightest and best talent.

There is only one way to look at things until someone shows us how to look at them with different eyes – Pablo Picasso.

To start, I’ll admit, I have a vested interest in this: for a woman of colour who is LGBTQ, the more inclusive the workplace, the easier my life will be. I’ve worked in the sector for nearly 25 years and I understand what it means for an individual to minimise or hide aspects of their true self in the workplace for fear of not being fully embraced. In my early years as a professional, I personally faced similar challenges in the workplace. But my journey has given me the courage to not only be myself, but to share my experiences and passion for advocacy to help organisations and individuals contribute to their fullest potential.

It’s the year 2021, we live and work in the UK, one of the most inclusive and open-minded countries on the planet. We need to turbocharge the changes in our industry that are already taking place.

An inclusive culture is one where we recognise difference and not just accept it but embrace it. Where we see the world from other people’s perspectives and really think about what we can do to make changes for the better.

This can be really small personal things like checking the language we use when talking with others, offering different types of social event that are not always ‘down the pub’ or taking an active interest in our colleagues of differing identities lives.

It can also take the form of big policy and workplace changes like blind CV recruitment, unconscious bias training, flexible parental leave or creating workplace advocacy groups. There are some great examples of security companies already doing this, but it needs to become the norm in our industry.

Inclusion is not about political correctness. It is the key to growth – Jesse Jackson

Unless we wholeheartedly embrace diversity and inclusivity, the best-case scenario we can look forward to for the future of our industry is stagnation. We want to become an industry which people want to work in and feel valued. At the same time, why would we as an industry want to restrict our potential resource pool to only certain people with certain characteristics or backgrounds?  It doesn’t make sense – either ethically or financially.

The jobs market has never been as flexible and open as it is today. Careers for life are no longer the norm. Retraining has never been easier and with transferable skills, industry hopping is common. The risks we face are losing existing employees who simply don’t feel valued because of who they are and failure to attract the next generation of people who will lead us forward into future success. We have to act now to stop this in its tracks.

We need diversity of thought in the world to face the new challenges – Tim Berners Lee

There’s an old phrase that says ‘nothing changes if nothing changes’ and that is so true when it comes to the security industry workplace. When we lack differing perspectives, when we fail to listen to different points of view, we only get the same responses. A truly inclusive culture is one which recognises that the lived experiences of others can bring something different and new to the table. It is one that not only actively looks for this type of input but also fully embraces it.

This is as true as for the casual chat around the canteen table as it is for the most serious of high-level board room discussions. Remember, innovation is built on different perspectives, of different people tackling the same problem with different approaches. The pace of change in the world is only getting faster, without the diversity of thought brought by those of different lived experiences, we’re going into it already at a disadvantage.

There is nothing permanent- except change – Heraclitus

As the world moves forwards, it’s slowly becoming a more diverse and inclusive place. We now have the opportunity to move forward with it. Through small changes in behaviour and improved workplace policies and practices, we can join the march of progress and truly create a culture in the security industry in which everyone, regardless of their background or identity, can be themselves and thrive.

The Security Institute’s Inclusive Security Special Interest Group (ISSIG) is leading the much-needed change in the sector. The ISSIG’s aim is to explore and understand how engagement with all groups of society will pave the way for innovation, and how an inclusive security culture could lead to enhanced practices in the broader field of security. If you interested in learning more about the ISSIG, visit the Security Institute website.

Satia Rai MSyl

A member of The Security Institute’s Inclusive Security Special Interest Group.

www.security-institute.org

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 As part of its #NextGen initiative, the Security Institute is partnering with the EY Foundation, a social mobility charity which seeks to break down barriers to employment for less advantaged young people.

The Security Institute and the EY Foundation are striving to combine their relevant industry experience, for the benefit of both young people and the security industry at large.

Designed to make the security industry more attractive and accessible for young people, the partnership will help ensure that the industry is better equipped to tackle the ever-evolving security challenges faced across society.

The security industry is currently facing a range of complex issues, complicated further by new technologies and the increasingly global nature of our security threats. To effectively address these challenges, our workforce must be diverse and fully harness the unique knowledge and personal experiences of young people.

As the Director of the Security Institute’s #NextGen initiative, Paul Barnard MSyI, expressed passion for this cause: ‘Young people are an essential component of our workforce. They offer a fresh perspective and insights that can inform innovative solutions to long-standing issues.

‘There are so many areas of security where the younger generation can provide invaluable contributions, from the issues surrounding knife crime to emerging cybersecurity threats. We need to embrace young people and help nurture their skills, to help secure the sector’s future prospects.’

The proposed ‘Secure Futures’ programme will support thirty 16-18-year-olds from low-income backgrounds to access invaluable experience within the security industry, empowering them to consider pursuing careers working within the sector. The new bespoke employability programme will run for ten months and include skills training, professional mentoring and paid work experience.

We hope that by reaching out to the vast amount of untapped potential through this programme, we will help develop a diverse pipeline of talent for the industry.

In addition to the ‘Secure Futures’ programme, the Security Institute and the EY Foundation will seek to run the ‘National Security Challenge’. Working in small teams, young people will be set a challenge by security sector experts. This will help them gain insight into the vital work of the security industry and give them a taste of the different careers available within security. The one-day challenge will be run in a range of schools across the country, targeting over 300 young people from low-income households.

These two projects will highlight the variety of different career opportunities within the security sector, and emphasise the far-reaching positive impact that these careers can have on wider society.

This is an imperative investment in young people and requires support from across the industry to achieve its full potential.

Organisations can support the Secure Futures Programme in the following ways:

• Fund one or more young person to participate in the Secure Futures programme; £1,500 per person will pay for their work experience, paid employability training, mentoring, travel bursary and all additional HR and admin costs.
• Become one of four sponsors of the National Security Challenge (£10k per sponsor)
• Become a mentor, to guide and advise a young person at the start of their career journey.

• Offer your expertise to help run the skills training and improve the overall programme.

Contributing to this programme is a fantastic opportunity to champion young talent, and help the next generation of security professionals gain the skills they need to excel in this field.

For more information on how to support the Security Institute and EY Foundation Partnership, please contact:

Kathryn Eastwood Corporate Partnerships Leader

www.ey.com

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We caught up with Guy Mathias FSyl Chairman of the Security Commonwealth to find out more about his background, views and ideas for taking the security sector forward.

Guy is a well-known expert in Extremism and has lectured widely on the threat it poses. This follows his role with Huntingdon Life Sciences where he directed counter-extremist operations during a campaign of public order threat, violence and intimidation. He is Chair of the Food and Drink Security Association and has held many other leadership roles in security. Guy is now the risk and operations director at a major drinks manufacturer and well placed to take the Security Commonwealth to the next stage.

What are your goals and priorities for the Security Commonwealth under your chairmanship?

To maintain our key strategic aims of ‘Collaboration, Communication and Influence’. We represent over 40 constituent member bodies and seek to channel their contribution and considerable resources, when required, to support UK national security challenges and emerging issues.

We intend to be involved at as many national security events in 2019 as our resources permit, to continue our aims of developing positive relationships with our existing and new stakeholders. We will assist in signposting a clear pathway for awareness of our sector and reinforce the collaboration between Public/Private sector.

We want to promote skills profiling and the most effective ways to ensure our stakeholders can find and obtain the right skill sets for their roles and future careers in security. We would like to see further consultation on how to support apprenticeships (especially the Trailblazer scheme supported by the Security and Resilience Industry Suppliers Community – RISC) as well as mentoring initiatives. Whilst we wish to attract young people to make a security profession a first-choice career, we should also continue to support those who seek to move from law enforcement SyCom supports the UK Public/Private objective in fulfilling our economic potential to market our world-class private security resources on the domestic and international trade stages.

How do you see partnership working between the security sector and law enforcement evolving?

I very much hope that I can build on the effective steps to date that my SyCom Chair and their Board predecessors have undertaken to develop and promote linkage. Our law enforcement colleagues are doing a magnificent job in the many demanding areas of policing in which they provide a first-class service, whilst under the ever-challenging landscape of budgetary constraint. It would be remiss not to acknowledge, however, that these cuts are having an impact.

It behoves the private sector to support UK policing with the most effective partnership arrangements; for example, assistance in intelligence provision and analysis capabilities to deliver against the law enforcement mission in combating fraud; data theft; on-line stalking, grooming and exploitation of children; and Serious & Organised Crime (notably Human Trafficking/Slavery). Our members do have a range of skills to support, if required. With the right protocols in place, we are sure that these could be used to assist law enforcement in certain areas.

Our desire is that all our SyCom membership are champions in support of UK security, to promote best practice, shared learning and professional competency.

How do you think the security sector should evolve to meet the challenges it faces?

Our sector has to become ever more professional, upskilled, and diligent in process and application. The challenge will be to embrace this aspiration and then apportion funding to achieve this necessary aspiration.

There is a real need for all constituent bodies to work together and we have the vehicle already in place to aid this collaborative effort in the Security Commonwealth.

What are your views on career paths and career development within security?

Absolutely essential… and vital. All of us as stakeholders in the Security and Risk sector, working in whatever industry sector, should be promoting this at every opportunity with great vigour and supporting at a personal and professional level.

You are Risk and Operations Director for Suntory, plus Chair of the Food and Drink Security Association – what are the particular challenges and threats facing security in this sector?

Having canvassed FDSA members regarding this question, the response was most interesting as a myriad array of threats exist. The massive attritional threat from data and cybercrime that continues to vex us. The scale of attack is relentless but in my view this would be no different to every other business or industry sector in the UK.

The other main threats to the food industry at this time are aimed at supply chain integrity and protection, particularly thefts, threats to sabotage products and animal rights activism. The threat of a tainted supply chain beyond our control remains a threat in food as with collusion and mixing of tainted raw materials.

In our drinks sector, it is product counterfeiting, and for our retail members, organised shoplifting and violent crime.

The food production supply chain is always subject to vulnerability because of the role that people play in the process, either as production worker or consumer. Effective security enforcement is challenging due to the numbers of ‘people’ involved. Few businesses are willing to police their workers effectively to provide additional security, which will always leave a level of residual risk, so the challenge is managing the risk appetite

Budget reductions have resulted in a declining police presence in many areas, especially given the societal need to address the rise in violent crime. As a consequence, criminal investigations that involve food fraud, contamination where no injury has occurred or where the risk is a commercial one through loss of reputation, have suffered. However, the relationship between security professionals and law enforcement and government agencies is one of the most positive aspects in the industry at this time. FDSA benefits enormously from effective liaison with national policing units, the National Food Crime Agency and UK Government departments.

The National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) has begun a phased expansion in line with the recommendations of the Kenworthy review.

This increases the investigations function as well as creating officers to work with other law enforcement partners and industry.

The unit looks to work with industry to improve their capacity and capability to identify food crime and strengthen identified areas of vulnerability.

NFCU needs good, accurate intelligence to enable us to deal with suspects quickly and effectively so as to protect the public, UK plc and individual companies as affected.

This needs good, strong relationships and NFCU looks to develop new ones, and consolidate those already established.

How would you describe the current threat from extremism?

Sadly, Single-Issue Extremism is still a very real and current threat. Overshadowed (and understandably so) by the continuing over-arching threat from international terrorism, many extremist concerns continue to exist and provide a need for companies and organisations at risk to continue awareness and vigilance. The extremist landscape concerning protest is extremely agile with considerable resources of time, funding and intelligence-led targeting available to a diverse number of protest campaign groups.

The ‘old’ stalwarts remain in various stages of vigour (whilst some require resuscitation!) – Animal Rights, Anti-Fracking, Extreme Left /Right wing, Plane Crazy and Anti-Arms in particular – but there are emerging ‘new kids on the block’ such as Yellow Vest and Extinction Rebellion (climate and  species change).

Throughout our history and especially in times of economic turbulence and political uncertainty, protest groups attract a diverse range of people for a variety of reasons – be it disaffected or alienated individuals who seek an outlet for frustrations, a sense of injustice or a clear, unequivocal narrow view of how they see our world. Mix the right elements of protest together with the right people at the right time and it can lead to a perfect storm of tactical and strategic protest that will, on occasions, blur the lines between legitimate peaceful, democratic protest and, at worst, intimidation, harassment and criminal behaviours.

Policing resources have waned over the past years in comparison with what was in place, albeit the remaining specialist units maintain a clear focus and extremely adept intelligence monitoring capabilities to be proactive in preparation and suitably reactive when required.

We finished by finding out more about Guy, starting with: what led you to choose a career in security?

It was an area in which I wanted to genuinely make a difference and one that I felt contained huge potential to develop as a practitioner, and hopefully, illustrate that people can lead successful and meaningful careers.

What attributes do you think have helped you succeed in your career?

Patience, empathy, a modicum of intelligence, sheer hard work… and invaluable support from a huge raft of people over the years.

How important have qualifications been to your success?

In my early days not overly important but latterly, in terms of professional development they have been essential as I have moved through various security and risk sector trade association and member bodies.

Was there a key individual or mentor who helped you achieve success?

Yes, there were actually two – I would pay a huge debt of thanks to Geoff Whitfield, one of the founding fathers of the Security Institute, and Bill Trundley (ex-Corporate Security VP for GSK, now retired). Bill engendered a real belief in me as an SME and in my abilities to deliver against expectation and in periods of intense pressure and times of personal danger. Their support, encouragement and belief was incalculable for me in my fledgling career as a security professional.

Would you recommend security as a career?

Definitely – the world is one of great threat and danger and now is a fantastic time to enter a sector that is diverse, demanding but immensely rewarding in terms of challenges and developing appropriate skills.

Our area of security is managing and mitigating risk and the associated expectations of those who employ us. I speak to so many sector colleagues who remain frustrated that the intrinsic value of the role they provide is simply not recognised. The challenge, therefore, is to actively change this lack of recognition and indeed perception.

How do you relax outside work?

I still play football (yes, even at my age!), as well as lots of walking, cycling, reading and gardening. I spend my weekends in the country so it is a great opportunity to slow down the pace of body and mind.

I also enjoy my extra-curricular activities outside the day job, in my new appointments with both the Security Commonwealth and the CSSC Eastern Region, and ongoing with FDSA. I am honoured to chair all three bodies.

See also:

Security Commonwealth update

Prevent: Resilience to Radicalisation

Articles on CSSC in our CSSC Category

The post Guy Mathias Security Commonwealth Chairman appeared first on City Security Magazine.

The Security Industry Authority (SIA) is currently running a new, four-week consultation (second of two) on the draft specifications for its licence-linked qualifications. Following an initial consultation last year, we have been working closely with expert working groups to inform the content of these draft specifications. These panels were made up of private security industry representatives and subject matter experts. The new draft specifications include their suggestions, as well as findings from extensive research that we conducted in October 2018 in order to understand the current and future skills needs of the private security industry in the UK.  Details of this consultation are available via our website.

Understanding the needs for the SIA License

The purpose of the SIA’s Skills & Qualifications review is to fully understand the current and future skills’ needs of the private security industry.  This new consultation will help to determine the content of the next generation of compulsory qualifications for licensed operatives. Therefore this is a key initiative within the SIA’s Skills & Qualifications Review and it started on Monday, 14 January and it will conclude on Monday, 11 February 2019.

This consultation is specifically requesting views on important areas such as:

• Is the proposed content fit-for-purpose?
• Does the new content represent an unreasonable burden on individuals and businesses seeking to enter the industry?
• Should the additional content relating to the door supervisor role be included in the close protection specification to facilitate the current licence integration arrangement? Or should licence integration end, so that close protection licence holders can only work in close protection roles?
• Should there be compulsory physical intervention training for the security guard and close protection roles?

To ensure a meaningful consultation the SIA is carrying out a comprehensive range of communications initiatives to publicise it across the SIA’s communication channels.

Qualifications and the SIA License – ensuring fit-for-purpose

Tony Holyland, our Head of Quality and Standards, says:

“We have gone to great lengths to ensure that the next generation of qualifications are fit-for-purpose. This is the latest stage in a robust development and consultation process. The initial consultation attracted more than 840 responses, and this brand new consultation will be equally meaningful. This is the last chance for the public to have its say and help us to get the specifications right. We all now have an opportunity to shape the future of the licence-linked qualifications and ensure they are relevant for the security industry in the years ahead.”

He added:

“As always it is essential that as many people as possible give their views on this new consultation. Employers and prospective operatives spend a considerable sum of money each year on these qualifications. We can only achieve this with the help of the private security industry.”

Sectors that require qualifications and the SIA License

This new consultation is structured around our six licensable sectors that require a qualification. These are backed by nine sets of skills specifications, which are included in the consultation.

Our licensable sectors that require qualifications are:

1. Cash and Valuables in Transit
2. Close Protection
3. Door Supervision
4. Public Space Surveillance (CCTV)
5. Security Guarding
6. Vehicle Immobiliser.

The current table of specifications is available on our website.

To date there have been more than 3,800 responses to the consultation.

The consultation survey is available here.

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We have begun a wide-ranging review of the licence-linked qualifications needed for the private security industry.

The current specifications will expire in December 2019 and the new qualifications will be available from January 2020. The review will examine the licence-linked qualifications, ensuring that they are fit for purpose. We are future-proofing them so that they are in line with private security industry working practice; to withstand new risks that might emerge and technological changes.

Scope of SIA Review

The review occurs every five years and a significant change for this review is that we have widened its scope. It will consider the mandatory qualifications and any further training required to be licensed as well as developing a strategic approach in collaboration with the private security industry. The aim is to work with others to help drive the broader skillsagenda, considering career paths, the development of a new apprenticeship framework and continuing professional development.

Learning and development for security

One aim of the project is to create a structure of learning and development in partnership with the private security industry that will help it to become a career of choice. The review also looks to ensure that there are robust assessment and quality assurance arrangements in place for the licence-linked qualifications. This will further assure us of the integrity of the qualifications and help us to reduce instances of training malpractice.

Working with industry to raise standards

Crucial to the success of this project is the engagement of industry and stakeholders.

Steve McCormick, our Director of Operations and Standards, says: “This is a very important piece of work because we have a statutory responsibility to raise standards in the private security industry. Our aim is to improve the professionalism of security operatives, drive standards in the industry, and help to protect the public in the UK.

“I believe that we can facilitate the development of a new set of qualifications to raise standards over time. We will also help to better define career paths and opportunities for those joining the workforce. This will assist the industry to improve the standards of service delivery, and help with recruitment and retention.”

The path to a new set of qualifications

There are several milestones to achieve this; the first one is the development of the content of the specialist qualifications required.

An initial consultation – which is an integral part of the development of the draft qualification specifications – has been running since September and has now concluded. To date, more than 840 people have participated in the consultation.

As part of the consultation process we have formed working partnerships with people from industry called expert working groups. These groups are made up of representatives from companies who are approved contractors, individual businesses and subject specialists drawn from each of the specialist areas to develop the content for the qualifications. The members of these forums made a significant contribution to the creation of the draft qualification specifications.

Another milestone that we are delivering on is the research programme that has been conducted by IFF Research, who had the brief to investigate the characteristics, working methods and what the future of private security will look like. The research comprised a qualitative and quantitative methodology and sought the opinions of a broad range of private security operatives, and focus groups with security businesses and consultation with expert stakeholders. The findings of the research are currently being reviewed.

Tony Holyland, our Head of Quality and Standards, says: “Employers and prospective operatives spend a considerable sum of money each year on these qualifications, and they need to be fit for purpose. We can achieve this only with the help of the private security industry.”

Following this primary consultation, the specifications will be re-drafted. The feedback from the research will also be included in the refreshed qualification specifications. The expert working groups will be asked to review them and the feedback will be captured. We will be working with them to design the new qualifications and develop quality measures to improve the delivery of training. The new version of the specifications will be made available to the public again for comment from December until the end of January.

The approach which we have taken will give us a broad and deep insight into the skills needs of the industry. Our aim is to improve the professionalism of security operatives, drive standards in the industry, and help to protect the public in the UK.

Security Industry Authority

The Security Industry (SIA) is the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry in the UK.

www.sia.homeoffice.gov.uk

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The Security Institute (SyI)  launches a new initiative –  Next Generation –  to inspire and attract young people to consider a career within the security industry.

The“Next Generation” in Security programme is backed by an ambitious 10-year plan designed to change perceptions about the security industry and to showcase the career opportunities that exist to 13 to 17-years-olds who are considering their career options.

Backing from the Security Sector

Next Generation has already received extensive industry backing with 50 businesses and organisations stepping up to offer work experience programmes and lend their support to the initiative. Baroness Ruth Henig CSyI, President of the Security Institute, is also lending her support.

Changing perceptions

The Security Institute’s 10-year plan to improve perceptions of the industry will seek to address the long-term issues such as the gender pay gap, improving diversity in the profession and specifically look at promoting lifelong learning, professional development and security qualifications.

“We must promote to young people the key role security plays in our society,” says Rick Mounfield CSyP FSyI, Chief Executive of the Security Institute. “The security profession is one of the most ‘job secure’ lines of employment on offer to young people today, but unfortunately the perception of security is poor, often fixated on the image of a security officer in a retail setting. The reality is very different. Our industry offers a range of rewarding career paths beyond simple security guarding; it is a professional career of choice with a clear pathway to leadership.”

Paul Barnard MSyI, Board Member of the Security Institute, who has been a driving force behind the initiative, says, “There is a real need for the security industry to address the reasons why we are not attracting bright young people and to change perceptions that it does offer both an interesting and lifelong career choice.

“Having had a successful career both in the City of London Police and now in the security industry, I know first-hand how rewarding it can be as well as the importance of the convergence of the security industry with the national security strategy. The security industry is crucial for the ongoing defence and security of our nation and it is important we take action now to address the recruitment issues and to attract the calibre of people we need to help us protect our society over the long term.

“If you ask some young people, or for that matter adults, if they are interested in a career in security, they think the role is solely about door supervisors at night clubs or guards at supermarkets. These are important jobs and rewarding jobs, but of course, only a small part of the picture.

“They may not realise that there is a whole world of security roles out there, like those architects who shape the street scheme with unobtrusive security installations, or engineers who design and implement leading-edge technology solutions or analysts who gather and interpret intelligence.”

Next Generation scheme launched with Volunteer Police Cadets

The SyI began its roll out of the Next Generation initiative at the International Security Expo on 28th November at Olympia, where it hosted a group of 50 secondary school-age children, including Volunteer Police Cadets.

The scheme was opened by Lord Admiral West, with inspirational presentations and a tour of some of the exhibits, with the aim of demonstrating the huge range of different organisations, both public sector and commercial enterprises, and the varied things they do.

An App to support the scheme

To support the young people on this tour, the SyI has developed an App they can use to guide them and record their experiences. Paul says, “We will encourage them to think about whether they could see themselves working in any of these organisations and if this has triggered an interest, to look further into it. We really want to know: has this experience made you think differently about a career in security? We’ll also ask them to feedback on the tour – so we can improve next time.”

Following the tour, the SyI will match these children with three-day work experience placements hosted by its business partners in their local area.

The SyI will replicate this activity at the Security & Counter Terrorism Expo in March 2019 as well as IFSEC in June 2019.

Paul concluded, “Of course, how the programme develops over the next few years is key to long-term success, but our challenge to the first cohort will be: this is your scheme and we’d like to see one of you running it 5 –10 years from now!”

If you would like to know more about the scheme, or to get involved, please get in touch.

Rick Mounfield (CEO) and Paul Barnard (Board Member), The Security Institute www.security-institute.org

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While that is accurate, the jury is still out on whether these changes are positive. It turns out not everyone believes the next best things yield the best results. As a result, in 2019 security search firms may find themselves at the forefront of the next step in recruitment evolution. Which may be a somewhat backwards one.

Many organisations around the world have restructured to separate their former HR departments into human resources and talent acquisition teams. Regardless of moniker, these internal departments spend massive amounts of money on technologies designed to better manage their candidate management processes.

Externally, companies aggressively fund their organisation’s social media presence and spread themselves across multiple platforms for perceived better visibility and access. The now-usual suspects that dominate the socialisation of internet recruitment roll out wave after wave of enhancements each year. These upgrades and new products are advertised as better messaging and management for a company’s target audience and come with steep price tags for organisations while remaining free to use for candidates.

In large companies, human resources and talent acquisition are often sizeable departments with substantial budget commitments to their infrastructure. As a result, they – rather than hiring managers – can often be the ones driving the train in recruitment.

So: has this evolution of recruitment technology positively affected what recruiters in organisations do? Depending on the level of jobs they recruit for, the candidate sourcing techniques of internal organisational recruiters vary widely. Some still build strong candidate networks in the areas in which they regularly recruit while others limit their search strategy to internet research.

Each method can deliver results; however, when limited to online candidate research alone, the search results will only be as good as the individual conducting it. A recent Harvard Business Review article notes a significant digital skills gap within HR departments. HR are not necessarily skilled at operating in a digital environment. This should strike fear into the heart of any candidate who relies exclusively on social media to secure their next position.

Add in the variable that the search is for a professional level security position, and the odds increase that an internal recruiter may be challenged.

Despite security’s heightened profile, security roles remain in the minority of all roles within organisations. Internal talent acquisition departments often struggle to fill these positions as they recruit for them infrequently so turn to social media as an answer. As a result, many hiring managers see only those candidates who are readily available online.

By its nature, security is a profession whose practitioners are necessarily sceptical and cautious. There is often a reluctance to place large quantities of their personal data online for consumption by unknown individuals. I refer to these tendencies as social monitoring vs. social media when it comes to the security community. Simply said: a large percentage of professional security candidates are not accessible via online sourcing.

In our roles as owners of a global specialist security recruitment company, we have noticed an interesting trend amongst clients in 2018 that we expect to see continue into the New Year, one directly linked to the socialised recruitment dilemma. SMR is frequently told by hiring managers that they are not confident that their internal recruitment teams have found either all or the best candidates for the roles they are seeking to fill.

While SMR generally views our relationship with the clients who hire us as a partnership that extends to all involved stakeholders, we have had hiring managers fund their security search independently of their internal HR function. Some security departments at our client companies are adding an external recruitment line item back into their annual budgets to ensure they can recruit top talent.

Recruitment companies of all sizes have adapted in different ways to the ever-changing face of talent acquisition. Within the security space, some that pre-dated the IT/cyber security frenzy have either been sold, diversified into other recruitment sectors or branched into unrelated businesses such as themed conferences to augment revenue.

Many new firms have formed as a direct result of the rise of high-quantity quick-fill IT-related roles. Additionally, the rollout of GDPR earlier this year is likely the end of transactional recruitment whereby fringe recruiters harvest large quantities of personal data to peddle.

Given these pivots within corporate recruitment practice and external search providers, what is the outlook for security recruitment going forward in 2019?

The best search firm partner for an organisation will remain one that is skilled at working collaboratively with its clients regardless of which internal department initially reaches out. Actively listening to what each stakeholder requires is key, as is the ability to understand and manage client expectations. Agility to adjust to new technologies and practices should be a core competency. Ready access to – and strong relationships with – top security talent are paramount.

Security specialist recruitment will continue to be a valuable partner for hiring organisations both into the New Year and beyond.

Jerry Brennan, Chief Executive and Joanne Pollock, Chief Administrative Officer, Security Management Resources® (SMR)

The post How can recruiters support the security sector in 2019? appeared first on City Security Magazine.

We asked Amanda McCloskey, Marketing Director, CIS Security: How can developments be made with regard to diversity and inclusion in the security sector?

A changing sector

The private security industry is a vigorous and rapidly expanding sector of the British economy. Last year alone, it grew by 17% and in the last five years, its turnover has doubled to £12.2bn. With hundreds of thousands of employees, this business is constantly progressing and growing.

This exponential growth brings new challenges, the most central being the industry’s future leaders. In the wake of new threats, building a robust security capacity and resilience is more and more essential and, to do so, this sector needs to step outside its “comfort zone” and think long-term.

Something is changing

Diversity and inclusion are instrumental for any industry, but even more so in the realm of public safety, security and risk management.

Traditionally, manned services have been a male-dominated business, carrying the intrinsic meanings of strength and courage typically associated with heterosexual male figures, with military or law enforcement backgrounds. The security industry has been associated with such stereotypical imagery since its very beginnings.

However, in the last few years, alternative members of the industry started to offer new and refreshing points of view, thus turning this arena where a wide range of different voices and contributions can be heard from an inclusive workforce representing a variety of backgrounds.

Beyond the stereotype to increase diversity and inclusion in the security sector

Mitigating threats will always involve the power of dialogue with a number of people who possess diverse perspectives and opinions, and the security industry in the UK has been proactive in wanting to eradicate the outdated image of the mission-driven muscular male security officer.

In the last few years, and increasingly after 9/11, awareness was raised throughout the world about the need for knowledgeable security professionals. This has led to increased job opportunities and longer-term career prospects in the varied arena of security services and management.

Security is not a solo profession; it is broad and is based on the synergy of many factors: legislation, current events, trends, and available technology all in synch with each other towards a common goal. It comes as a consequence then, that this diversity provides the right balance to fundamental risk-related processes, be they frontline services or across technology domains.

Diversity and inclusion in the security sector brings benefits

Forward-thinking companies providing security services understand the unlimited and widespread benefits inclusion and diversity bring. Getting different input from diverse groups is enriching on a corporate level and provides social inclusion on a wider scale as well: more and more people will ultimately feel safer if a more heterogenous community is represented within our industry.

The security territory is becoming a space of empowerment for women and any individuals who do not fall within categories classically associated with this sector and its activities.

Amanda McCloskey, Marketing Director, CIS Security

The post Diversity and inclusion in the security sector in 2019 appeared first on City Security Magazine.

An interview with Asif Sadiq MBE, sharing his insights on diversity and inclusion in the security sector.

Diversity and Inclusion in the security sector is such a large topic with so many factors, where do you start?

We can start by simply accepting and treating each other equally. The foundation to behaving this way is that everyone is able to share as much or as little of their true selves at work as they would like to.

For most people, this is what happens naturally, we’ll share information on some characteristics of ourselves, such as age, gender, ethnicity, but might not want to discuss other aspects – our religion, sexual orientation or education. It’s also important that we do not use what we do know to label each other. No one has just one characteristic and the use of labels can mean we jump to conclusions about people.

So you could ask: why is diversity and inclusion in the security sector important? Well, research has shown that if we allow people to be their authentic self and create a sense of belonging for them, then their output and performance is improved and they are better able to deal with both day-to-day challenges and create innovative solutions. Within the security sector, this is particularly important, as finding creative ways to better protect individuals and companies is of the utmost importance.

How do you create an agile environment that makes everyone feel included?

This involves making inclusion, where we are consistent and fair to each other, part of everyone’s role. It’s not about creating stringent procedures for people to follow, but more about encouraging and normalising inclusive behaviour. Managers and those in leadership positions can play a key role here, by demonstrating and encouraging inclusive behaviour at all levels within an organisation.

This is part of embedding Diversity and Inclusion into the organisation’s culture.

It does not mean creating a whole new culture – what’s more impactful is assessing where small changes can be made, that allow all cultures to thrive. Like adjustments to a security officer’s uniform that make it comfortable for everyone. Or offering essential training at different times, days of the week and locations to allow everyone to attend with ease. This helps support an agile environment which doesn’t require its diverse workforce to assimilate into one homogeneous space or way of thinking.

When you’ve created an inclusive environment and have hired a diverse workforce, how do you get the best out of such diverse teams?

Diverse teams can initially provide challenges, but there’s so much evidence to show that they create a greater output, are more innovative and spot more opportunities – so I think it’s important to reframe our thinking from challenges to opportunities.

One of the great things about diversity is that it disrupts ‘normal’ processes. Diverse teams make your organisation look at things through multiple lenses. We can’t waste that opportunity – we have to provide spaces and ensure our processes are in place to support that diversity, from flexible working to respecting differences in cultures.

Diversity and inclusion within the security industry helps support efforts to tackle the varied security challenges organisations face. A good example of this is the opportunity diversity presents to challenge norms that have established over time within security, which might not be the best way to tackle emerging challenges and threats.

You said that we should stop putting labels on others. Can you expand on that?

I think that adding a label to someone is lazy, it’s not insightful and it makes us complacent.

Take me as an example: someone might label me as BAME and make assumptions about my needs, background and experiences. Based on those assumptions they will project their unconscious biases onto me and presume what my needs are, which might not be true.

BAME is an issue in itself: it’s a label that homogenises all British Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people – surely that’s too broad of a brush to make assumptions from?

I’m an Asian-looking man, and as a result, people often make the assumption that I will be quiet – which couldn’t be further from the truth! They also wouldn’t presume that I was born in Kenya, and when they find out, they make new assumptions, which again are often wrong!

I don’t say this to complain. I appreciate and understand that people act with genuine intentions – but by stereotyping, they often produce negative outcomes. We should encourage learning, explore differences and ask questions of each other, as that helps us understand and create a more inclusive workplace for all. I am not aware of anyone being offended if a question is asked with the right intent!

What key message would you like people to remember about Diversity and Inclusion in the security sector?

We need to treat people as individuals; only then can we create a true sense of diversity, inclusion and belonging.

As the security industry evolves, Diversity and Inclusion is providing a platform to improve our efforts around the challenges we face and create a workforce that benefits from the diversity of ideas, solutions and thoughts, and one where everyone can be themselves and succeed. The key is treating people as individuals.

The post Diversity and Inclusion in the Security Sector appeared first on City Security Magazine.

The cyber security sector continues to face a significant gap between the number of people it needs and the availability of those with the right skills. As well as the skills gap, the sector is not attracting proportionate numbers of women to its ranks.

Gender and skills gap

The WSS, together with the government Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, initially tackled the gender and skills gap through a round-table event in 2013. Thirty professionals came together and produced a report with recorded outcomes and recommended actions: www.womenssecuritysociety.co.uk/wp content/uploads/2013/07/Women-in-Cyber-Security-Final.pdf

The report provides two points that stand out over and above the other findings:

1. The lack of standardisation of, or formalisation in, career paths and qualifications.
2. The need for women working in cyber to become role models.

Three years on, has anything changed around the issues of skills and gender gaps?

Single career framework

Reflecting on the first point from the report, I still don’t believe we have a single career framework, approved and advocated by various professional bodies. This causes a number of issues. On the qualifications piece, whilst I’m an advocate of professional training companies, they do, on occasion, publish lists of often unpronounceable certifications and align these against a range of cyber roles. This can be helpful but, conversely, can sometimes confuse and coerce individuals into paying for professional qualifications that may not be relevant.

Perhaps the dominance of certifications is causing recruiters to be overly cautious and restrict their search to solely those with qualifications which may not actually be required for the role in question? Although there are some highly technical aspects of cyber security, it encompasses a broad range of areas requiring a wide set of varying skills. The right aptitudes and a willingness to learn can take you far.

I’d love to see more organisations investing in apprenticeship-style, on-the-job training which actively looks for difference.  BAE Systems are doing just this and I applaud them. They have embarked upon an innovative approach to hiring cyber talent. Partnering with recruiters Via Resource and trainers QA Consulting, they’re hiring 150 diverse graduates (or similar calibre) with the right mindset, to join a bespoke academy programme. Interestingly, women are finding this alternative route to cyber particularly appealing. Just six months later, this bright, adaptable and eager talent will have re-qualified and been security cleared, to help defend us all from cyber threat and terrorism: www.baesystems.com/en/cybersecurity/careers/our-people/ns-academy

Embracing difference

So, is the time right for the profession to really embrace difference? I believe so. There is an increasing demand for cyber professionals to be more business facing, to translate ‘Cyblah’ into business relatable issues easily understood by the board.

Does the traditional computer science graduate route provide the type of candidate who can meet increased business-facing expectations? Can it potentially exclude those bright individuals, often from diverse backgrounds, who have not been to university or further education?

I firmly believe we can look at the current skills (and gender) gap as an opportunity to introduce a more diverse and dynamic angle to the profession – a healthy mix of difference surely means we can enhance and expand cyber roles and capabilities.

An article written by the Financial Times in late 2015, ‘Cyber Security Sector Struggles to Fill the Skills Gap’, nicely summarises the situation, referring to it as “the largest human capital situation in the world”. The article states that cyber jobs take 14% longer to recruit than the average, making cyber more difficult to recruit for than data science, advanced manufacturing and petroleum engineering.

Women as role models

On the second point from the report in 2013 on encouraging women in cyber to put themselves forward as role models, there is some great momentum building, including a book published later this year about women in cyber security by Jane Frankland. There are numerous forums and networking groups emerging and, more importantly, collaborating.

We have some fantastic cyber role models visible and available via social media – Dr Neira Jones, Sarah Clarke, Karolina Oseckyte, Eliza May Austin and Marilise de Villiers being ones that immediately spring to mind. There are also a number of male counterparts who actively support and speak on the gender issue. But we do need more women in cyber to become visible and to actively support and advocate those who are starting their careers, those who are looking to move into cyber or who are developing a social media presence.

So a few ideas from me, as to how people can provide low effort, but high return support – support can be one of the strongest enablers out there for change!

• Be available – comment, like, share and support all individuals in cyber. A few minutes on your mobile device on Twitter or LinkedIn on the train, or while cooking dinner, isn’t a huge outlay. The return from this demonstration of active support for others can be incredibly rewarding and will consolidate strength of movement and facilitate change.
• Search and locate talent – connect with talent at events, via social media, within your organisations. Often informal support is far more impactful than formal programs. This shows you care as a person and as a leader.
• Build bonds and establish your own informal network. Arguably one thing I do well is catch up with other professionals for a cup of coffee or glass of wine. This is a great opportunity to share details of roles, discuss and introduce talent – to knowledge share, to collaborate on a one- to-one level.

I recently reached out and actively supported an individual who wrote a great post about his challenges finding a cyber role. His message to me after we connected speaks volumes, “I would like to think that in the months/years to come I will also be able to offer advice and a helping hand to someone who is going through a situation similar to mine, just as you have.”

Supporting extends a ladder to others and those individuals will recognise the value and apply the same behaviours. That’s change.

www.womenssecuritysociety.co.uk

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