Security staffing done properly!
I have been a security operations manager in the guarding sector for many years. Probably the biggest challenge I faced was dealing with covering security officer’s leave, finding extra officers at short notice to fulfil client’s requests for additional staff, or covering sickness. Much of the time, I had no choice but to turn to traditional security staff agencies for help.
The big problem was always the quality of the officers that were supplied.
On many occasions, I’d visit sites and perform skills tests with my officers, just to ensure that they were up to scratch, and identify any specific training needs. Time and time again, I would regularly meet an agency security officer that didn’t know the phonetic alphabet, or even what it was! Many of these officers couldn’t tell me the duration of their mandatory SIA training course, had no idea about powers of arrest, the law, civil trespass, or even more vital areas like ACT training, to name just a few. Possibly most alarming was the lack of basic competence in spoken English, displayed by many agency workers. This makes them a danger to themselves and all of those around them should they need to deal with an emergency situation where clear and concise communication may absolutely mean the difference between life and death. I can not count the number of agency officers I had removed from sites for these fundamental failings.
Several months ago, I had a discussion with the CEO of GuardPass Limited, Shahzad Ali, and he told me that he had an idea that would improve the industry dramatically. I was sceptical at first, but I listened, and after bombarding him with questions, I came away thinking that his idea was a game changer.
In fact I was so impressed, I went to work with the GuardPass team, to spread the word.
“Flexible Staffing” from GuardPass is a new security shift fulfilment system, with a very big difference. No security officer will be cleared for deployment to any client’s assignment until they have either:
✅proven their security industry knowledge via bespoke in-house testing, and had their communication skills assessed and verified, or
✅they have had a minimum of two years relevant and verified security industry experience, or
✅they have completed their mandatory initial / recent top up Security Industry Authority training with a Get Licensed approved trainer.
When it is confirmed to GuardPass’ satisfaction that a security officer meets one of these criteria, they can be certified by Guardpass, as a fit and competent security professional. Only once an officer has achieved this Certification, will it be possible to utilise them for deployment to client’s assignments.
At long last, a guarantee of quality for the security officers supplied. Not just bums on seats, shirt fillers or “bodies” to make up the numbers.
But it isn’t just a winner for GuardPass clients.
Every security officer that wants flexible working through GuardPass, and has been certified ready for deployment, will be fully PAYE employed by them. They will be paying income tax and national insurance. They will have entitlement to paid holiday, and they are given a clear written contract of employment.
✅No more “cash in hand” cowboys.
✅No more sub minimum wage rubbish.
✅No more “sudo self employment” without any paid holiday or other benefits of genuine employment.
✅No more exploitation!
“Your charge rates must be astronomical though”, I hear you say…..
As GuardPass provides a suite of different services to the security industry, (I’ll talk about those another time) they already have admin, customer service, and support staff in place. Many of the GuardPass team work remotely, and the single company head office is not a huge expense. (and it’s in the middle of nowhere, without parking, and a total pain to get to! But less moaning from me.) This lean operation keeps expenses down, and charge rates realistic.
It is worth mentioning the elephant in the room at this point.
If you are currently paying some form of agency £12 to £14 per hour for the services of their “licensed security personnel”, you should seriously consider where and how they are making savings. These sort of rates will not cover minimum wage payments to officers, and fulfil an employer’s basic operational and legal financial commitments. At GuardPass, we want to improve the security industry and see quality professionals, in front line security roles, enhancing your corporate reputation.
GuardPass can supply genuinely professional officers, at surprisingly low prices, and we already have thousands of security officers in London and Birmingham, on the books, ready to help. We also have growing numbers being certified every day, so the service will be coming to other areas soon!
Why not get in touch for a chat? rollo.davies@guardpass
