Singaporean Security Company Leads by Example

The manpower security sector has never particularly had a stellar image but it certainly seems to be having a rough time PR-wise at present. The revelation that Omar Mateen, the perpetrator of last week’s horrendous gun massacre in Orlando, Florida, was an employee of the worlds’ largest security manpower provider has really not done the industry any favours. So imagine my surprise when I read a positive and dare I say, optimistic story on manpower security in Singapore’s The Strait Times.

It seems the Singaporean’s are proactively addressing this sector’s image shortcoming’s. First of all, on September 1^st  2016 a compulsory wage ladder will be introduced to revitalize an industry "beleaguered by a manpower shortage due to stagnant wages, poor career prospects and long working hours" (Paul Lim, CEO Secura Group). All security companies must adopt the wage ladder by September or risk losing their licenses.

Furthermore, one of Singapore’s largest security companies Soverus, aims to build on this with the launch of their Security Specialist Vocation Scheme. In a nutshell, the scheme aims to dispel the idea that being a security guard is a dead end job.

Mr Lim said: "We can encourage more people to join the industry knowing that if they perform well, they will be given opportunities. Exemplary employees can rise to senior management level”. The scheme allows for employees to learn about and migrate into other facets of the industry like electronic security or cyber security, promoting career development from within the organisation. Something that isn’t at all remarkable in any other industry but seems revolutionary in this one! 

There has been a lot of talk in security focused publications in the wake of the Orlando massacre that something has to change in the current business model for acquisition of manpower services. In Australia, like in the US, the industry is plagued by the big players under- quoting so much for manpower contracts that there is no way to actually deliver a reliable, effective service using high quality personnel. I know of an operations director (from a reputable security company, I might add) forced to canvass security personnel at a shopping centre in New Zealand, in order to try and coax them into positions that had already been secured in a winning tender but couldn’t be filled by traditional recruitment methods because the remuneration was so low!

Sure, wages in the Australian security industry are much higher than in most other first world nations but there are hardly people clamouring to become crowd controllers for the fantastic career growth opportunities, are there?

We have to face the fact that human involvement in security services is vital, now more than ever, and should be valued considerably higher than it presently is. The link between the human aspect and the technological has never been stronger or more intrinsic. You can have all the technology in the world to monitor events, people and buildings but without committed, well- trained security guards, it’s not a lot of use. Yes, we have a fairly well regulated industry here but it’s not only up to the security companies to change this pattern of under-quoting on manpower contracts. The clients themselves have a role too. They are slowly starting to realise that less is not always more and that paying a reasonable amount for manned security is far better in the long run. Hopefully, this will lead to more of the smaller companies getting an opportunity to land security contracts and provide a more integrated, cost realistic and professional service.