Professionalism in Protective Security

In his essay on why professionalism is still relevant, Associate Professor George Beaton provided critical analysis of the relevance of professionalism in today’s society. Professor Beaton’s work is well respected and supports the work of Professions Australia.

Professions Australia is a national organisation of professional associations. It advances and promotes professionalism for the benefit of the community.

Professions Australia confers professional status on learned persons, through professional bodies that meet certain standards:

A profession, they say:

•  confers status within society,
•  organises itself into some sort of professional body,
• is learned—i.e., requires prolonged and specialised training and education,
• is altruistic (orientated towards service rather than profit),
•  offers autonomy within the job role,
• is informed by an ethical code of some kind,
• is non-commercial,
• has collective influence within society,
• is self-regulatory,
• is collegial, and
• is client-focused.

Professionals in the medical field, accountants and lawyers hold a special status within society as a result of being conferred with credentials indicating a special status within their own field and with society.  The security profession has, for many years, been developing and professionalising and has now reached a stage where individuals have the same opportunity to be recognised as professionals within the security industry and within society.

As part of professionalization, the Attorney-Generals’ Department supported the creation of the Australasian Security Professionals Council, which has morphed into Security Professionals Australasia.  This body is the peak body representing security professionals in Australia and New Zealand.

Practitioners operating as security professionals in Australia and New Zealand will need to meet the appropriate standards for membership to Security Professionals Australasia and Registration on the Australasian Security Professionals Register.

Professionals in the security industry must gain qualifications that confirm knowledge and skills in the science of security and management that reflect continuing self professional development.

What are professionals?

Professionals are altruistic and express their altruism through serving in networks of responsibility within their profession, often on a volunteer basis. A certain degree of altruism is expected in the true professional, a certain amount of selfless service.

Altruism includes the sharing of knowledge and the continued development of a body of knowledge in security science, management and operations.  Writing articles for professional magazines, contributing or writing books that will be reference material for future generations and public speaking on matters pertaining to the security field are examples of further altruistic contributions that professionals provide to the industry and community.   

In 1992, Lord Benson proclaimed that a profession, in order to be considered professional, must operate within certain ethical principles, most of which ultimately pertain to the public interest. In fact, he said that ethical standards in a profession “should be higher than those established by the general law” and “designed for the benefit of the public and not for the private advantage of the members” (Spada Limited, 2008, p. 38). State protection makes it incumbent upon the profession to act in the public interest.

Acting in the public interest is a distinguishing hallmark of a profession—perhaps the distinguishing hallmark, as noted in the first section of his essay. Lord Benson again: “Indeed, it is the duty to serve the public interest which distinguishes a profession from a representative body such as a trade union” (Spada Limited, 2008, p. 38).

Not only is it ethically desirable for professions to act in the public interest, but it is necessary for them to do this in order to remain viable. Professions are unlike other goods and services in that they operate on trust. Trust will come from complying with a code of ethics which are the essence of professionalism—or the “soul of professionalism.”

Security Professionals Australasia has adopted a Code of Ethics, developed by Ray Andersson, RSecP that provides standards of accepted professional behaviour that is enforced by the Security Registry, through potential withholding or cancellation of professional status if breaches of the Code are found to have occurred by an individual.  The Code is the essence of professionalism and breaches of the Code can bring the individual and the profession into disrepute, reducing trust.

The great majority of the public are forced to trust the professional because they do not have the same amount of knowledge as he or she does in the matter at hand.

When professionals prove themselves unworthy of trust, public approval of the profession goes down, and the prestige and presumably—over time—the profits of the profession go down with it. US research has indicated evidence that public trust of professionals is eroding.  Doctor and lawyer professional credibility has declined over the years and accountants and bankers rank lower than ‘entertainers’.

Professionalism is about the delivery of specialised knowledge in a way that balances the attendant power. That is why trust is the essence of professionalism and its most necessary component—that around which all the other hallmarks of professionalism revolve. The power that asymmetric knowledge gives one person over another must oblige the practitioner to act in the client’s best interests.

Because knowledge is power, true professionals adhere to ethics when dealing with clients in order to harness that power for the good.

It is in a profession’s interest to safeguard, regulate and husband their specialised knowledge through establishing training schools and obtaining exclusive licensure through the state. “Monopoly and credentialism are the key elements of professionalism’s economic privilege” (Freidson, 2001, p. 198).

It is likewise in the public’s interest that those who do not have the prerequisite knowledge in their field are not licensed to practise a profession. Ideally, the professions exist with society in this sort of symbiotic relationship.

In Australia we are well served with training organisations and tertiary institutions that provide education and training in the science and management of security. These institutions harness studies and research to compile a body of knowledge that can be passed onto future generations.

Professional associations hold conferences and publish papers, keeping members—and, these days, the public—abreast of developments in the relevant profession. These associations not only have a duty to safeguard and protect the specialised knowledge of the field and to certify its attainment; they also have an obligation to keep up with innovations. In recognition of this, Lord Benson cited continuing training and acquisition of new knowledge as one of the major criteria for professionalism (Spada Limited, 2008, p. 38). The professions actively interface with society in order to keep renewing themselves and remain indispensable.

If they are not open to assimilating the new knowledge gained by interface with society, professions may stifle truth and, in so doing, become a detriment to society.

Professionalism contributes to economic growth and social mobility. Professionalism is more crucial now than ever before to society’s economic, social and moral wellbeing. The impact of professionalism on society is both wide and deep. Its essence defines and directs many of society’s endeavours in an ever more interdependent, informed and complex world.

Professionals drive innovation and progress. The industry makes it happen.

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Bibliography

Geaton, G., 2010. Why professionalism is still relevant. Available at http://www.professions.com.au/

Freidson, E., 2001. Professionalism, The Third Logic: On the Practice of Knowledge. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Spada Limited, 2008. British Professions Today: The State of the Sector. Spada, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Law Society and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) [online]. Available at: http://www.ukipg. org.uk/executive_group_resources/spada-britishprofessions- today.pdf [accessed 15 December 2009].

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Security in this new millennium

Security has come a long way since the late 1980’s where it was the norm for ex-servicemen and ex police to take on ‘watchman’ or ‘security’ roles in industrial, commercial and government complexes.   The industry has expanded almost beyond belief with technology that, until recently, was exclusively in the hands of major powers and governments and new laws that directly and indirectly impact upon our profession.  Our threat levels and risks have changed, bringing new challenges.  The type of person now being attracted into the security industry has changed as a consequence; they are a more youthful, dynamic, person who sees the industry as a career.  

Security officers are now required to be a professional; appropriately trained, licensed and competent in their duties. 

Business and the public now have expectations of security that the industry must meet and exceed.   Of course there is a compensator to all of this.  The industry and clients must recognize that the higher skill levels required and the superior level of service demanded by clients must also be reflected in the financial reward afforded the officer through their wage or salary. 

With increased skills and responsibilities comes the reward through increasing the pay levels.  The industry must be prepared to reward officers and guards with a livable wage or salary commensurate with their qualifications and skills that they are offering to provide the client.   The old adage still runs true that ‘if you pay peanuts, you will get monkeys’.  

What then do we demand of the Security Officer or Guard?  What standards must they meet? 

The security officer of this millennium must be well educated, articulate, smartly attired and professional in every way.   Surveys conducted in Darwin (Australia) revealed that business and the public demanded stricter selection criteria and higher standards of professional behavior for those employed in the security industry.   There is no doubt that these expectations are reflected in most other cities and towns in Australia and overseas. 

In Australia, Certificate II and III in Security should be seen as just a start point for security training.  Individuals must take every opportunity to enhance their professional training through specialist subject workshops, academic studies or even overseas training programs, available by correspondence.   Diplomas in Security & Risk management and tertiary education courses are becoming more common both overseas and in Australia and are an excellent tool for gaining the edge in knowledge.  

Individuals must have a sound working knowledge of all laws in which the security industry operates and highly developed inter-personal skills to complement their technical skills in security. 

Contract as well as proprietary security staff operate in a wide range of working environments.  This ranges from government work to hospital security, industrial security, commercial security, retail security, mining security, hospitality security and loss prevention in all its forms along with many other working environments where protective security is provided.    The Security Officer of the new millennium must be aware of their role within these various environments and be trained accordingly. 

It is imperative that officers get to know their clients business and understand its underlying culture.   This knowledge will stand them in good stead when decisions have to be made quickly without having time to brief the client.  By understanding the business and its culture, decisions can be made taking all into consideration ensuring that the clients’ best interests are always being protected. 

Security knowledge should encompass physical security, administrative security (laws, policies and procedures etc), risk management, computer security and crime prevention strategies.  Knowledge of business practices, administration and financial procedures is a definite bonus. 

By having this overall knowledge professional security officers are positioned to take on advisory roles in business making them an attractive return on investment for any employer or client.   One of the major complaints made by small businesses approached on the subject was that security staff did not communicate with their clients.  There was no two-way communication and in many cases small business did not know what service security was actually providing apart from their physical presence. 

By communicating with clients and offering advice based on in-depth security or crime prevention knowledge, the Security Officer increases their value to the client and to their employing company.   In many cases they are the first person a business may see when a problem occurs.  Security will make an appreciation of the incident and decide on further action, which may or may not involve Police attendance.  As such their knowledge and experience is invaluable in assisting the client, thus maximizing their return on investment. 

On the other hand the poorly trained Security Officer will often take one of three options: 

• Make the wrong decision and escalate the situation,
• Do nothing and await advice from the client or their contracting company, or
• Bluff their way through relying on luck to see them through the situation. 

In any of these cases the temptation for the client to terminate their contract for security, based on lack of trust in the abilities of the officers' concerned, is greatly increased. 

What then must we look for in our Security Officers?  They must: 

• be well educated.

• be appropriately trained in their roles and duties.

• be honest and confident in their abilities and knowledge.

• be service orientated.

• be curious and observant.

• be mentally attuned to responding to critical incidents, without warning.

• be loyal to their client as well as their employer.

• have pride in themselves’ and their role in society.

• have ready access to qualified and experienced Supervisors to provide mentoring, advice and guidance on situations out of the officer’s experience, thus gaining quality advice to maximize the learning value of the experience. 

All the above rely on one important ingredient: training. 

Training then is the cornerstone to the development of the professional security officer of this millennium. 

This training can be gained through the traditional courses, tertiary studies, in-house training, mentoring, workshops and seminars or through researching published material and security trade magazines such as the one you may be reading now.  All are a valuable source of knowledge. 

The Security Officer or Security Manager who has the skills, knowledge, and experience back up with qualifications and excellent communications and interpersonal relationship skills will be seen as an excellent investment for any business or client. 

Professionalism…. It’s more than a word.  It’s an attitude that enhances capability and credibility.