In this edition we will discuss two important questions about the security profession:
1) Should we become generalists or specialists in the field of industrial safety?
2) What factors contribute to the credibility of industrial safety practitioners?
Let's go with the first question.
Generalists vs specialists
The constant changes occurring in today's organizations and business environment dictate the pattern that security practitioners should be generalists rather than specialists. This is more relevant with practitioners practicing in corporate security programs due to the challenges of austerity and cost-efficiency.
Initially, security management in corporations consisted of the management of internal investigations, physical security/access control programs, and security guard services at one or more locations. However, over time, security management has evolved increasing its roles within corporations along with the growth of and by the competition induced by globalization. This global vision has created new opportunities as well as new threats.
Security managers now handle complex operations globally that include executive protection actions, information security, business continuity, competitive intelligence, and security systems integration.
In this, the beginning of the twenty-first century, we are living in an era where corporations must protect all their assets, both tangible and intangible. As security practitioners we need to learn and develop all the necessary skills to be able to provide total protection programs for the assets of our corporations. As industrial safety continues to evolve and its programs increase in complexity, practitioners in the profession will need to develop more skills rather than specialize.
Credibility in industrial safety
We also live in an era where professional credibility has exceptional value therefore we must ask: what factors contribute to the credibility of industrial safety practitioners? There are four factors that we have to consider as catalytic for the credibility of our profession.
•Leadership: Corporations in the twenty-first century are looking for leaders!!! Anyone can become a manager but few know how to be true leaders. Based on the experiences of dealing with emergencies and contingencies, it is truly gratifying to see how many leaders exist in our profession. You have to ask what is the difference between a manager and a leader.
A manager manages systems, programs, procedures, and resources. A leader establishes a process of influence over the organization's most important resource; its members. In this process of influencing, the leader provides purposes, directions, and creates a motivating environment. As practitioners of this profession we must aspire to become the best leaders of our organization. This involves not only learning about leadership but becoming true practitioners of it. We must continually develop our leadership skills until they become part of us, always focusing on the fulfillment of the mission and the well-being of our followers. Nothing gains more credibility in a profession than the leadership of its practitioners.
•Safety Management Experience: This experience is developed through total immersion in all aspects of the profession. We cannot make the mistake of becoming specialists when we aspire one day to be high-level managers in our career. Being a specialist can be a factor that limits our professional growth; we must step out of our comfort zone and challenge ourselves to learn new fields within industrial safety. We always have to look for new opportunities, tasks and responsibilities with mind and heart open to professional discovery and enrichment. The experience developed also establishes the credibility of our profession.
•Educational background: the academic and educational development of industrial safety practitioners is necessary in order to establish credibility in the profession. There is still a perception that those of us who practice security are "security guards" or we are in the profession because we are not trained to do anything else. To establish our credibility as professionals we must develop through education and the achievement of academic degrees. We must never accept the status quo imposed by misperceptions about our profession; our credibility is established when we can speak the same language and conceptualize at the same level with colleagues and superiors from other business units in our organization. As human beings, we also need to grow in knowledge to develop our potential in its entirety.
• Professional certifications: these are another source of credibility in our profession. It is important to emphasize that they are not a substitute for experience, but distinguish practitioners of a profession in their pursuit of excellence. It is worth noting that there are many certifications in the field of industrial safety; it is worth studying a certification before incurring money and time expenditure because some certifications do not contribute anything to the profession.
To conclude, industrial safety continues to evolve rapidly. The twenty-first century presents us with unique challenges and opportunities requiring security professionals to become scholars as well as practitioners. I firmly believe that we live in exciting times where we will see our profession grow in credibility through the leadership, professionalism and capability of a new generation of industrial safety practitioners.
I invite you to continue to share your ideas and concerns from the world and security management. ! A hug and see you next time!!
* If you wish you can write to the author at the following email: [email protected]
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