Talking French

Regional vice-president of ASIS International Region 25. Founding member and now Junior Warden of the Company of Security Professionals (of which he’ll become Master in 2007-2008). Certified Protection Professional (CPP). Active supporter of The Security Institute, its aims and objectives. Managing director of SSR Personnel, the security industry’s foremost recruitment consultancy. SSR representative as one of 40 European members of the International Security Management Association.

When you’re talking about individuals that underpin professional standards in the private security sector – and have a passionate desire to see that sector exceed its own expectations – the discussion inevitably leads you in the direction of one Peter French. A hugely committed member of the security community, Peter makes sure he’s in attendance at every important industry event, be it a conference on Security Industry Authority licensing, a debate on structured career progression for security officers, trade exhibitions (including IFSEC and Securex) or Awards dinners.

One can’t help but wonder how he finds the time for these many and varied work activities. Not to mention pledging his allegiance (and many out-of-office hours) as Trustee of a ‘Business in the Community’-supported project where he lives – a tiny village by the name of Mistley in north Essex, right on the Suffolk border. That project aims to raise no less than £3 million which is desperately needed to restore No 1 Mistley Quayside Maltings, some pioneering Grade II-listed maltings buildings dating from the 19th Century that overlook the Stour Estuary.

“I’m a firm believer in the work-life balance ethic,” opines French when I begin chatting to him in the Boardroom of SSR Personnel’s Blackhorse Road headquarters, “and so I strive to manage and influence the SSR business as I perceive it should be managed in relation to that. As the company has grown in size, it would have been easy for me to plough a lone furrow. That’s not the right approach to business, though. Although I have to be proactive in searching out ideas, it’s important for me to interact with my co-directors and senior managers at every opportunity.”

By his own admission, French now revels in the role of “blue sky thinker” at SSR, carving out tomorrow’s strategy while leaving the day-to-day running of the business to his management team. “That’s mainly why I make time for outside interests within the security sector,” adds French. “It’s interesting to discover what people in the wider community are thinking. I’ll be the one who asks the awkward questions of clients. What do they want to see happening in their business? Then I can return to the office, using my findings to challenge our business processes and people.”

It’s a networking philosophy that’s obviously working a treat. SSR Personnel remains the recruitment consultancy of choice for many of the UK’s Top 500 blue chips, and is beginning to benefit from a growing reputation among the Fortune 500 to boot.

With a particular emphasis on the security sector (but also serving the Health and Safety, facilities and project management, IT and telecomms industries), the London-based company sources temporary, contract and permanent staff for client organisations, provides screening and testing services and runs the industry’s foremost Executive Search facility that selects top quality people for Board and senior management level appointments.

The brochure published to advertise the latter service quotes Sir Francis Bacon (“Knowledge itself is power”, which fits nicely with Peter French’s own view of the world). French’s knowledge base has helped SSR progress from its humble 1986 beginnings to a business that now employs 70 members of staff and deals with 500-plus contractors.

Entering the commercial fray

Born in London during “the late 1950s” – French is “an individual with a non-age bias”, and will not reveal his exact birthday – the young professional’s early years were marked by change, both for himself and his family. French’s father Robert, a designer with engineering concern Roots, decided on a career about-turn so that he could transpose the French clan from an inner city to the countryside and a home in Harlow.

As an 11-year-old, young Peter didn’t really appreciate the magnitude of his father’s actions. “He had to learn a whole new set of skills, and he did that just so we could benefit,” continues French with obvious respect and affection in his voice.

Although he went on to sit his ‘O’ Levels, including examinations in his favoured Arts subjects of English, geography and history, French confesses to having had little desire for academia. Probably due to his father’s engineering bent, however, there was a keen interest in technical drawing. Sport was also a prominent part of the inquisitive teenager’s world, and football trials for the County followed. However, with part-time work having been secured from the age of 14, French was already finding the call of commerce too tempting to resist.

Leaving school at 16, he took a job in a local store. “It was then I discovered that people were prone to walking in and stealing things. To me this was fascinating. Why were they doing that?” His questioning mind led French into a short spell within retail management, working across several outlets for a small, privately-owned chain. “While your sales targets could hit the mark time and time again, and you could change store layouts to boost sales, the most devastating aspect was theft,” says French. “Some of your best customers would be the ones who’d try and steal from you.”

Just as now, French wasn’t afraid of hard work, but he took time out to listen to employees, take on board their concerns and then influence them in the workplace. Not yet 20, he was already managing a team of men and women all with different attitudes and views. French is adamant that his current management style – of which more anon – has been framed by this period in his life, although it was one now slightly tinged with regret.

“In hindsight, I should have done more academically,” sighs French. “If I had the time I’d definitely apply to a university and complete a business degree.” French, you see, is into the life sciences, people and people relations. “The things that make us all tick”. The parallels between his individual interests and role as managing director of a recruitment consultancy display an obvious synergy.

Security via building services

Communication skills top the list of attributes needed by security managers before you even start to think about anything else. The ability to impart the language of that industry. That’s of paramount importance

Mirroring his father before him, French decided on a career change of his own during the early 1980s and joined the building services industry. The company for whom he worked – StaGuard – provided total contractual services for a plethora of (predominantly) Arab clients who’d come to the UK during the Thatcher-era corporate building boom. “That was the time when the commercial security industry as we know it today began to take off,” recalls French. Eventually, he and his business partner Roy Henley decided to throw all of their eggs into one basket and concentrate on security.

Retail security, in fact. From the ashes of StaGuard, French (a founder director) and Henley formed contract security concern Libra Services. The company’s operatives were soon apprehending no less than 16,000 people every year on suspicion of shop theft. It was a tough environment, and French soon realised the importance of developing “a sound strategy for recruiting and retaining members of staff.”

At that time – ie the mid-1980s – the recruitment sector was already a regulated animal. All agencies were forced to comply with Government rules from 1974, when increasing IRA activity on the UK mainland was a contributory factor behind the Employment Agencies Act (which was subject to revision only last year). “We realised pretty quickly what the licensed audit was all about,” adds French. “Inspectors could arrive on your doorstep on any day of the year, totally unannounced, and ask to see any one of your contractual invoices for a given client. They had to be able to see how you’d sourced a member of staff, what instructions the client had passed on to you and how you’d billed the client.”

Back then, French was of the opinion that the best way to secure a premises was to say “Good morning” to staff and customers alike, followed by “Good afternoon” and “Good evening”. Security was viewed as the ‘no can do’ profession, and was treated in such a way that a tangible mystique surrounded it.

Word of mouth is a powerful driver in the business world, and noises on the grapevine suggested to clients not even looking for a security service that Libra was a staff placement company with a difference. Seizing the opportunity, French took the bold step of selling off Libra and transferring all of his considerable energies into SSR Personnel, which had been formerly established in 1986 to “sit on the front end” of the original Libra business. A prescient move. Particularly so when you consider that, today, the UK recruitment industry is now worth a whopping £28 billion per annum and deploys 1,300,000 temporary workers five days per week.

Processes for the business

On top of ‘blue sky thinking’, French believes that his present role at SSR entails enquiring all the while to discover the best processes for the business. “I’m the biggest process-buster you’ll find,” he states with total conviction.

French positively abhors ways of working in which a given task is carried out in a certain manner simply because that has always been the case. “That’s why I hunt down people with different outlooks on business processes, no matter what sector they happen to be in. Seasoned individuals will proffer the same old solution. Business never moves forward when that situation persists.”

Complacency isn’t a word within the French vocabulary. As SSR has grown, he’s realised that the parental nature of a smaller company can easily be lost, and is thus massively keen on continually enthusing staff and contractors alike. For French, external contractors are also SSR’s employees. “We’ve just taken on a 50-person resourcing contract, and we send each of those people a birthday card during their time with us. Only a small token, but it’s one that makes a great deal of difference in their perception of us as a company.”

Over 50% of SSR’s current employees have been with the company longer than five years (which speaks volumes). One of the reasons why is that French steers team players in the direction of extra curricular activities that bond them to the company and the local community. “From October time onwards we go out to local charities in search of Christmas promises,” suggests French. “The staff then pick out those with which they’d like to be involved.” For instance, many SSR employees help out with the local Salvation Army, serving food and the like. A great way of building team spirits.

This year, French has unearthed a local charity that helps traumatised teenagers. The money saved on postage by despatching the 2004 SSR Christmas card via e-mail (as was the case in 2003) will be diverted to the cause. A fantastic gesture, and one which should not be lost on the security fraternity where the vested interest culture generally remains to the fore.

Underpinning all of this activity is Peter French’s own management style, which he (and fellow director Del Hunter) describes as “passionate”. Passion for his individual role. Passion for the way in which SSR interacts with its client base. And a great passion for quality service delivery. He’s not averse to taking risks, either. “Seven years ago we opened an office in Moscow. At the time it was a huge gamble, but it’s one that really paid off for us.” Indeed, the company has since nurtured operations in Washington DC and South Africa. The tentacles of SSR are spreading, it seems.

Outlook on security management

Peter French is perhaps better placed than anyone to discuss security management (and its future) as a discipline, given that SSR’s core business lies in sourcing managers and project leaders for quality clients. What attributes define the first class security manager, then?

“Communication skills top the list of attributes needed by security managers before you even start to think about anything else,” stresses French. “The ability to impart the language of that industry. That’s paramount. In some environments you’ll need a tinge of grey hair before you can do so, while in others that will not be the case.”

Human Resources professionals are Chartered. Why shouldn’t that apply to security practitioners as well? We’ve learned so much from the Human Resources sector at SSR to know that Chartered status can make a very real difference

Security management is all about knowledge and talent management. “A good manager is someone that’s capable of recognising talents within each of their team members and developing them to fruition,” states French. “Think about it. Could the next chief executive of most corporate concerns come from the security function of the operation? Probably not. That’s why we need far more people in the ranks with sound MSc and MBA qualifications.”

Security, of course, is predominantly an experience-based environment. For Peter French, management within that profession should be focused on integrity – and demonstrably so. In this way, the security and safety functions will begin to attract people with degrees in relevant disciplines who have enquiring minds and are drawn in because there’s a professional path for them to follow.

“This path should be framed by Continuing Professional Development, and the need to benchmark what managers do across their function,” continues French. “Most managers are a singly different voice at the corporate table. If there’s a major incident on or near the site, they’ll be asked what everyone in the company should do. It’s their 15 seconds of fame. If they then turn around and say: ‘Evacuate the building’, that’ll not necessarily be what the managing director or chief executive wants to hear. What they might like is something along the lines of: ‘Well, of the 20 businesses in the immediate vicinity, three have chosen to evacuate while the remainder are staying put’. In other words, you have benchmarked the company’s surroundings. That’s only achievable if the security manager networks with colleagues in the area.”

As far as French is concerned, there are so many elements of business life on which the security managers of tomorrow might hang their collective hat. Human resources professionals are always looking at issues like bias and diversity in the workplace, so too business ethics. “These are variables which security managers could deal with,” suggests French with much forethought, “but how many champions do we have in the profession capable of delivering the message? That’s what separates a good manager from a poor one. If a security professional can link all of these strands together and communicate a cohesive message to the Board, their job is done.”

Unprompted, he takes the conversation a stage further. “If someone is sexually harassed in the office, to whom will they report the incident? The security manager? No. Most probably personnel. Why is that, when the security manager might well be tasked with investigating such issues? Some directors will not trust their security manager to be in charge of matters like these because they don’t feel they’re sensitive enough, yet with all of the laws on unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination now in place it’s plain to see that security must have a role to play as a first line of defence for the organisation and its people.”

The benefit of qualifications

French’s ASIS International (and UK Chapter 208) connection currently means that he’s now in charge of the education and welfare of 1,000-plus members spanning Belgium, Holland, France, Ireland and the UK. He also sits on the prominent body’s European Advisory Council, examining ways in which the organisation’s membership might be increased still further in the years to come.

At the heart of ASIS is the CPP qualification. Like Dennis Ahern (‘Tate of the Art’, Profile, SMT, June 2004, pp16-19), French is a great believer in it. Unlike Ahern, however, he failed to pass the first time around. “I was brilliant on the people management questions, but rather weak on the technical aspects which I then had to brush up on for the second attempt,” he adds. In excess of 9,000 candidates have taken the CPP examination now, and while it’s true to say that some continental variations still exist within the qualification, they’re now becoming less and less as greater numbers of questions have an international element added to them.

“The best thing about the CPP is that you have to re-certify your skills,” explains French. “Also, the fact that here in the UK we’ve bolted-on legal aspects to the examination has allowed us to scrutinise the true role of the security professional. Are they involving themselves in more IT-related tasks or less, for example? When we find out we can then incorporate new questions and adapt existing ones to make sure the examination is always relevant to the moment.” Impressive stuff.

How much store does French place in membership of ASIS? The answer is black and white. “If I were to recommend an organisation that any security professional should join, it would definitely be ASIS.” French harks back to the third European conference held by the organisation in Madrid last February. “Over 300 people attended,” spouts French with obvious pride. “There were some fabulous presentations on all manner of security-related topics. Those in attendance must have learned a hell of a lot about their profession.”

As stated, French is also a great champion of The Security Institute (TSI). He’s fully behind TSI’s original premise that security managers should eventually be recognised as Chartered professionals. He rightly observes: “This simply has to be the prime focus as the profession moves forward.”

Security: a decade from now

Towards the conclusion of our highly interesting conversation, French turns his attentions to the ongoing march of technology. The Internet is nearing its 20th birthday, and for French “there was no world before that online resource existed”. The time ‘pre-www’, in French’s eyes at least, was a grey area. “Just think about that technology revolution being replicated in the security sector,” he muses. “That’s what excites me. The ability of technology to replace people.”

Not such good news, one humbly suggests, for managers and officers who might find themselves surplus to requirements as a direct result of this revolution. “What’s left behind will be a motivated team of people doing a worthwhile job,” retorts French. “Guarding companies and in-house operations shouldn’t be in business if they can’t integrate people and technology in this day and age. You’re right to talk about ‘technology blindness’ in SMT.”

“Whatever the scenario,” adds French, “if quality is continually driven out of the service by way of price cutting then the current downward spiral will continue. It’s relatively easy to meet standards, but it’s not so simple a task to exceed them. In the future, those operating in the security and safety sectors will be known as knowledge providers.”

Never one to rest on his laurels, French then points out an inscription framed on the Boardroom wall. “No fact is too small to know, and no task is too big to attempt.” Rumour has it this is one of Peter’s favourite quotes.