PROBLEMS BEFORE SENIOR SECURITY SUPERVISORS

Interacting with a bright young and yet experienced senior security supervisor is always enlightening and is an excellent learning process. It will be appropriate to bring to the notice of the larger audience some of the thoughts shared by a successful senior security manager in some reputed private security agency in India.

The major part of the time of the security manager is spent on man-management, which, according to him, is getting problematic and trickier day by day. The guards and supervisors are no longer amenable to only "dictates". They have to be convinced of the decisions imposed on them. Secondly, the clients asking for security coverage seem to be generally aware of what all is possible or available as part of security system, but are not keen on spending money on security. "Their expectations are growing, but they want to spend less money while getting more and more satisfaction." This problem is becoming more acute because of unhealthy rivalry amongst security providers offering security service at lesser and lesser cost, at times undercutting their rivals.

Some security agencies are finding it difficult to maintain their training establishments and are considering to close them on financial considerations, but the security manager confided that such a step could be ruinous if not self-defeating. It would be necessary to give a break to the routine work and send security professionals - both at guard and supervisory levels - for short-duration training programmes so as to refresh and update themselves in the security methodology and practices. A leader in security profession must know more than other members of the team if he or she is to prove successful in the field, the friend firmly asserted.

IISSM congratulates the security manager for his candid views and will welcome such inputs from the readers and viewers.

D. C. Nath, IPS (Retd.)
Former Special Director, IB, MHA (Govt. of India),
Executive President & CEO, IISSM.