星空传媒

Today鈥檚 business environment is becoming ever more complex, interdependent, competitive and global. Change is a fact of life, and risks are dynamic in nature. That being the case, a key element in ensuring the profitability and success of a corporate enterprise is effective, dynamic and flexible management. This applies equally to the leaders of both core and support functions.

Furthermore, pressure brought to bear by the public, Government, shareholders and other key stakeholders correctly expects organisations to identify, anticipate and evaluate risk, and to set in motion a cohesive and accountable strategy for risk mitigation. Indeed, as a professional body ASIS International argues that a proactive strategy for the management of risk is nothing less than a central organisational corporate governance responsibility.

What, then, should be the qualities inherent in those managers chosen to take a lead on organisational security risk management functions, and what are employers looking for when seeking to recruit for these positions?

Image can be deceptive

The image of the security profession can be deceptive. In fact, there鈥檚 no other profession quite like it. Go to any ASIS International seminar in the UK and count the number of women or ethnic minority representatives in the audience. It will not take long. A quick glance creates the impression that, in the UK at least, the industry is dominated by middle-aged, second career, ex-military or ex-police officers clad in dark business suits.

The rationale behind that is obvious. Former senior police and military personnel have a demonstrated ability in strategic leadership and management. They鈥檙e also relatively cool under pressure. That鈥檚 not to say the situation isn鈥檛 changing. Nowadays, the security management door might just be opening a little wider to those without such a background.

In my capacity as a trainer of security managers I鈥檝e been fortunate enough to work with practitioners from almost 100 different countries. Those with a non-uniformed service background consistently make up at least half of all delegates, while the proportion of security manager entrants with a pure business background is steadily rising.

There鈥檚 also an increasing trend towards recruiting younger managers. Historically, the argument has always been that the security profession is so unlike any other in the business domain that a security manager cannot function effectively in his or her role unless they have spent at least a decade or more in some sort of formal security role. However, many companies are now beginning to question this premise.

As a direct result, a new breed of security manager is emerging. Typically in their early 30s, they鈥檒l possess a degree in a business-related discipline and experience of various non-security business functions. Not surprisingly, these are bright individuals who, on security management courses at least, are invariably conspicuous by their excellent problem-solving skills. On top of that, they almost always achieve distinctions in security project presentations and course exams.

Adopting a new stance

Why is this trend emerging? Many companies are increasingly realising that much of the skills set required to lead a security function in the modern 鈥� and rapidly evolving 鈥� business environment goes beyond those which can be learned in the uniformed services. Engineers (in particular), Health and Safety specialists, law graduates, diplomats, human resources professionals and even commercial aviation pilots are now competing with ex-service and policemen and women to become security managers in the private sector.

鈥淓ngineers (in particular), Health and Safety specialists, law graduates, diplomats, human resources professionals and even commercial aviation pilots are now competing with ex-service and policemen and women to become security managers鈥�

Earlier this year, ASIS International published its guidelines on the 鈥楥hief Security Officer鈥� (aimed specifically at helping organisations recruit and develop senior security managers). It can be downloaded from the Internet at: www.asisonline.org/guidelines, and is a hugely instructive read. In particular, there鈥檚 implicit recognition within of the value in recruiting security managers harbouring a formal educational qualification.

The ASIS guidelines recognise the value and relevance of advanced degrees in law, business administration, accounting and finance, information systems management, criminal justice and, of course, security management. Additionally, the guidelines are quick to stress the added value of proficiency in more than one foreign language.

One area that does require further development is that of introducing more women to security management roles. There are splendid examples of female security professionals in the armed forces, police service and Government bodies but females are markedly under-represented in the commercial sector. Just 2% of CPP-qualified security professionals in the UK are female.

Without more research it鈥檚 impossible to speculate whether women are simply not applying for security management positions, or they鈥檙e not being given the opportunities. In my experiences 鈥� and those of my colleagues as trainers of security managers 鈥� I鈥檝e found that women possess certain innate skills that make them highly suited to security work. We鈥檒l explore that particular theme in a future article.

Strategic management skills

Most of the security managers I鈥檝e trained have several key traits in common. An awareness of what these are would be particularly beneficial to anyone considering entering the profession.

First of all, security managers are noticeably modest, undemonstrative, resourceful and self-sufficient individuals harbouring an ability to get along with others, and exhibiting a healthy appetite for personal development.

Perhaps most important of all is the ability they share to communicate with individuals at all levels, and to quietly influence management. The comments of a security manager who works for a leading financial services organisation sum it up rather neatly: 鈥淭he most valuable course I鈥檝e ever been on was a one-day workshop looking at influencing skills.鈥�

• David Cresswell CPP is md of ARC Training International