Singapore invests in integrating security guarding and technology

In 2018, the Singaporean government decided that its security industry needed to transform. While funding, skills development and new regulation were needed, it identified changing security buyers’ behaviour for the better as the key challenge.

Even before the labour market challenges posed by COVID-19, Singapore’s security personnel sector was struggling to meet demand.

Security manpower grew at a rate of five percent per annum in the five years to 2018 – about double the growth rate of total employment in Singapore. With many of the country’s 47,000 active security officers already working long hours, the heightened security threat from terrorism and a boom in new buildings and facilities would see demand for services far outstrip supply.

Faced with increasing demand for security services and a slowing pace of workforce growth, Singapore’s government launched an ambitious $10 million (over three years) plan to support initiatives to transform the industry, increase productivity and make job requirements less manpowerintensive.

Led by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Security Industry Transformation Map (ITM) constituted a collective effort by industry associations, companies, unions, service buyers, security agencies and Government agencies to develop a vibrant, technologically advanced and competitive security industry delivering better security outcomes for Singapore.

Changing security buyers’ behaviour

In her 13 February 2018 speech to launch the Security ITM, Second Minister for Home Affairs and Second Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo set out the challenges that the ITM sought to address – and it makes for interesting reading:

"The first set of challenges have to do with buyers’ behaviours. Many buyers of security services still do not have the practice of conducting risk assessments before they call for tender.

Typically, they use the same tender specifications that have been in place for years – kind of like the idea that if it isn’t broken, why fix it. Most often, they ask for the same number of guards as in the previous contract, not knowing whether it is optimal.

They also tend to select vendors on cost only, rather than assess value, because if the contract spells out, you need X number of people, then, there is really nothing very much else to evaluate. How much does that number of people cost to us?

So this is the consequence of how the contracts are specified. Not because the buyers are not keen to do anything else, they just took over what was given to them. There is low awareness of new technologies and innovative solutions that can provide them with the same or even better security outcomes.

But even if they were prepared to invest in technology, there may not be follow-through to redesign jobs, or as quite a few of the security providers have told us, they may not equip staff for effective implementation to use the equipment properly or to optimise its value.

As a result, from the service providers’ perspective, there’s little incentive to differentiate their services, because the buyers are not asking for it.

Several other industry practices also have unhelpful consequences. For example, contract durations tend to be short. That is to keep security service providers on its toes. This means that service providers have not much time to recoup investments, even if they are willing to bear the upfront costs.

On a day-to-day basis, liquidated damages for a range of service lapses can be quite punitive. The relationship with buyers is quite transactional, with little room for building trust, on something as important as securing the premises."

The answer: a range of initiatives aimed at shifting buyer behaviours, including the adoption by government agencies of outcome-based contracts (OBC), government funding support for private sector OBC adoption, education and awareness programs, and the publication of a Guide of OutcomeBased Security Contracts and a Step by Step Guidebook for Service Buyers (including a section for security buyers).

From a Headcount-based Model to Integrated Security Solutions

The Security ITM identified four strategies to transform the industry from being manpower-reliant to being capable of leveraging new technology and skills, including:

1. Supporting technology and innovation;

2. Promoting ‘best sourcing’ of services, with Government taking the lead;

3. Aligning regulations with ITM objectives to improve standards; and (iv) improving skills to enable career progression.

4. Supporting Technology and Innovation

Supporting technology and innovation

The Security ITM sought to support technology and innovation in the industry via several initiatives, including the development of a Security Industry Digital Plan (IDP) for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The IDP would promote broad-based adoption of market-ready solutions (such as advanced CCTV analytics) and provide step-by-step advice to SMEs on the digital solutions required at each stage of their growth.

Promoting Best Sourcing

“While promoting technology adoption and improving innovation capacity on the supply side, it is equally important to bring about change on the demand side,” stated Minister Teo at the ITM launch. “It is the buyers who determine what is in demand. They shape the kind of security services and outcomes provided by the security agencies. The customer calls the shots.”

Thus, the Security ITM aimed to actively promote best sourcing via funding schemes and outreach efforts, including helping buyers to become ‘smarter’ by understanding ‘value-for-money’ (including by getting a more thorough understanding of their security needs through a risk assessment), and supporting buyers to adopt best sourcing practices through outcome-based security contracts.

Regulations to Improve Standards

As part of the Security ITM, the grading criteria for security providers would be revised to focus on security outcomes and technology adoption, enabling better differentiation of providers that invest in training and technology, and that deliver high quality services.

Improving Skills and Career Progression

To improve the quality of jobs in the security industry, a Skills Framework for Security coincided with the launch of the Security ITM. This framework sought to provide key information on the sector and career progression pathways, and also outlines the existing and emerging skills and competencies for the job roles.

A key feature of the framework was a new career pathway in security consultancy. “Expertise in security consultancy is a key enabler to transform the industry,” said Minister Teo. “The security consultant carries out risk assessments to identify what needs to be protected – based on the threats, vulnerabilities and risks to a facility – as well as how to best to provide this protection. In other words, they help ensure the solution put in place is effective and best meets the buyer’s needs.”

Three years on, how has the Security ITM assisted in the transformation of Singapore’s security industry? In articles in this issue of NZSM, we feature insights into (i) new legislation protecting Singapore’s security guards from abuse, and (ii) Singapore’s new security consultant accreditation scheme.