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19/07/2022

Hiring a Security Risk Assessor – Where do you Start?

In 40 years of cross sector and cross border security working, I’ve encountered multiple interpretations of what constitutes a ‘security risk assessment’. It is a particularly grey area in the industry, and the response you will get very much depends on:

• Who in the security industry you speak to, their knowledge, skills, and abilities, their qualifications, their security licenses, and their experience. In essence their front-line exposure history, progressive learning development, and legal standing.
• The security issues or concerns you have and the gravity of those issues or concerns. For example: a simple considered layered security solution based on a micro security risk assessment, will be on point in many small-scale situations, where an ill-considered solution, will not. Size isn’t everything.
• Your available budget. Arriving at a credible security solution on a limited budget requires a high level of skill to avoid tokenism. A reputable security consultancy will tell you if your budget falls short of meeting outcome requirements, it will not press on regardless.
• The knowledge you have regarding your needs against a backdrop of issues and concerns. Potentially problematic and based on limited security knowledge, you might arrive at knee jerk ill-considered, security solutions. A security provider (and installer) who is asked to provide numerous cameras, will do so, sometimes without questioning the viability of video surveillance as a solution. A security consultant with integrity will always question security saturation.
• The knowledge you have regarding litigation exposures and the potential pitfalls that await were you are unable to defend your security posture as reasonable and prudent under legal scrutiny.

The variations in security risk assessments are so considerable, they range from tokenistic at one end of the spectrum to overly complex and unnecessarily sophisticated at the other. The tokenistic solution will not work to any degree, and the complex (too much effort required) solution, will gather dust on a shelf somewhere and not be acted upon. Neither is the winner of the chicken dinner!

Due Diligence

A security services provider of quality will openly invite your scrutiny; indeed they would probably suggest it’s the least you should do as part of your due diligence and background checking. Your security is too important to leave to chance

For each potential security company on your list take a few minutes to research them on line; then follow that with a call.

Lions Gate Risk Management Group is more than happy to provide the ‘look before you leap’ question format below, because we believe this will separate ‘those that can’ in the industry and ‘those that cannot’, in support of your security ambitions. We do this because you the client have a right to receive a qualified and measured appropriate, realistic, risk and cost commensurate professional service.  When you consider due diligence remember

‘Caveat Emptor’ (Let the Buyer Beware).

This might seem like a lot of work, and a lot of questions—but it is critically important to do your homework—after all, your company security matters, and it matters that you get the best possible advice, guidance, and tools to serve both your business and your customers most effectively.

Identifying the Right Security Company Fit

In my considered opinion you need to look for a security services provider that can walk the talk, and whose values align with yours. A company with a positive reputation demonstrating that they have integrity and principles. A company with strong leaders continually pursuing excellence and wholly accountable to clients for their actions. A company that has already proved it can deliver.

Become an open-source intelligence researcher and check the security company out on-line. A quick company search through your browser will provide you with multiple indicators including reviews. Check them out. Easy to do and an independent assessment. Google reviews, glass door, and many others, all combine to tell a story. Check Social Media feeds to get a flavour of the conversation.

Go to the company website and review it. Remember the content is managed by the company you are researching so there will be no intentional demerits. The question is “are security risk assessments core business for the company?” and “do they provide me with clear unambiguous information on the credentials of their team and specifically their security risk consultants?”. Further are there any insights on the website that point to credibility, or is the site ‘light’ in this area. Beware light on the site because it often suggests business is secured by ‘sellers’ quick to talk, gift of the gab in the sales pitch.

Identifying the Right Security Consultant’s

The quality of product will also vary a great deal depending on the individual security professional, or team of professionals, assigned, so be sure to look at the whole team, their expertise, experience, and the value they can bring to address your security management requirements. Where on the quality scale you end up, depends on your criteria for contractor selection, consultant/s selection, the depth of your background check into the potential security service provider and in the final analysis, how important ‘best value’ is to you.

Lowest cost rarely delivers best value and the following well known quote attributable to Red Adair has currency here

“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait till you hire an amateur”

Look Before You Leap Questions

You may not want to ask all of these questions, but you should consider taking the time to do so. At the very least read them and ask yourself whether the question focus is relevant to you. The questions are all part of your due diligence when contemplating hiring a security risk assessor or security consultant.

• Will you be focused exclusively on my needs as a client?
• What does client need led mean to you?
• When do you determine deliverables?
• What are the most important attributes for a security risk consultant?
• Can one security consultant address all my security concerns?
• Have you worked in my sector before, and how often?
• Can you provide a front to back, assessment to live, security solution for me?
• What practical experience in my sector does your wider team bring to the table?
• Do you protect client confidentiality?
• Do you have the capacity to service my project on time and to the quality required?
• Do you provide risk proportionate solutions, and if so, how?
• Is all of your risk business intelligence led?
• What is a layered security solution, and why is it important?
• Do you use sustainable, evidence based, and proven approaches?
• Are there possible litigation exposures if my security is not demonstrably reasonable and prudent?
• Can you ensure I meet my regulatory and legislative obligations?
• Can you prioritize recommendations and explain interdependencies?
• Do you understand offender behaviours and community crime dynamics?
• Why are they important when determining solutions?
• Do you consider client return on security investment a legitimate expectation?
• How do you maximize that potential?
• Are your Security Risk Consultants qualified and licensed, and what are those qualifications?
• Do your Security Risk Consultants bring a strong criminological theoretical understanding to the table?
• Would you be content to share proof of qualification and licensing?

The Lions Gate Security Risk Management Team can apply fixed and / or hybrid risk assessment methodologies to meet the specific requirements of any client in any industry. In our experience the complexity of some risk assessment methods means recommendations are over complicated and matrices prescriptive, resulting in them not being properly integrated into the organization management decision-making process. We overcome this by working with the client to deliver assessment products with recommendations that are, easily interpreted, justified, prioritized, focused, and being relevant, actionable.

For more information please click on the following link SRA Contact Request and complete the short request to contact. Mike Franklin will call you on the number provided and would be more than happy to answer the questions posted above.

For any other support and assistance call 1.604.383.0020 or toll-free at 1.800.212.2026 or visit www.lgrmg.ca  at any time. Our expertise is your peace of mind.