There鈥檚 an old saying that suggests money is the root of all evil. Many of those who espouse such sentiment do so because they鈥檝e had their fingers burned 鈥� perhaps by a promising business deal that collapsed at the eleventh hour. Or they鈥檝e simply loaned the proverbial pound and duly lost a few friends as a result.

Luckily for them 鈥� or not, depending on your point of view 鈥� a mountain of spare cash is not something that the majority of security officers will ever have to worry about. Even though it鈥檚 great to see the Low Pay Commission鈥檚 recommendations for a basic of 拢4.50 an hour (鈥楴ews Update鈥�, p9) being accepted by the Government, that鈥檚 still some way off what we should be paying the men and women whom we entrust to keep watch over our offices, airports, retail outlets and museums, etc on a daily and nightly basis.

Most reputable manned security companies would love to pay their officers a whole lot more than they do. After all, a happy and motivated 鈥榞uard on the ground鈥� is likely to provide clients with the added value service they鈥檒l wish to see post-Government licensing.

Alas, contractor managing directors are pretty much always prevented from upping the financial ante on home soil. The ever-spiralling cost of Public Liability Insurance continues apace, rumours abound that the now officially 鈥榣ive鈥� Security Industry Authority (鈥楴ews鈥�, p7) may charge upwards of 拢150 per licence under the Private Security Industry Act 鈥� and with that licence will surely follow the need for additional training. Guess who鈥檒l have to foot the bill for that as well?

Some end users who procure manned security services will no doubt hark back to the tender process, perhaps even glorifying in the fact that they 鈥渄id a nice cheap deal鈥� with their service provider. 鈥淐ontractors who suffer in today鈥檚 world only have themselves to blame,鈥� they鈥檒l say. 鈥淚f they accept a guarding assignment on poor terms and conditions just to glean market share over their rivals, they deserve everything that鈥檚 coming to them.鈥� Actually, they don鈥檛.

The truth of the matter is that end users must learn to shoulder their share of the monetary responsibility for improved service delivery. Be fairer with your tender rates, and don鈥檛 force contractors into selling themselves cheaply.

That is the real root of all evil for many in the industry.

Source

SMT