The Security Excellence Awards 2010 Categories
Categories and Criteria
ENTRY INTO ALL CATEGORIES IS FREE & THE CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES IS FRIDAY 9th JULY
Security Guarding Company of the Year
Event Security Team of the Year
Small to Medium Security Installer of the Year
Large Security Installer of the Year
In-House Security Manager of the Year
Contract Security Manager of the Year
Security Consultant of the Year
Security Training Initiative of the Year
IT Initiative of the Year
Customer Care Initiative of the Year
ACS Champion of the Year
Security Partnering Initiative of the Year
Security Innovation of the Year
Integrated Security Solution of the Year
International Achievement Award
Best Practice in Door Supervision
Environmental Initiative of the Year
Security Guarding Company of the Year
This award will be presented to a security guarding company that has demonstrated professionalism, consistency of service and responsibility to both customers and staff.
The judges will be looking for:
• Details of your company, including business performance, growth and areas of speciality.
• Commitment to training - how has your company integrated staff resources and technology?
• Examples of contracts under management - a minimum of two customer references that set your company apart from the competition are required.
• Staff loyalty - for example the average level of employee turnover among staff that complete their probationary period.
• Star quality - what sets your company apart from the competition?
• Have you met the SIA’s requirements for the ACS?
Event Security Team of the Year
Over the last few years, the growth in major events and functions has seen a new type of security professional emerge. Does your company specialise in providing security for pop concerts or sporting events? Do you protect VIPs, senior politicians or other personalities as they move from one venue to the next?
The judges will be looking for:
• A description of your business and how it has developed. What sets you aside from your competitors? What makes you special?
• Some examples of challenging live events where you provided the security. How did you do it? How was it innovative?
• At least two brief testimonials from satisfied clients.
Small to Medium Security Installer of the Year
Individuals working within SME, or companies employing up to 40 people.
This award will go to the individual or company that has shown the highest standard of workmanship and customer support throughout the year.
The judges will be looking for:
• Information about a range of successful installations (2-3 carried out during 2009/2010).
• Examples where obstacles associated with the installation have been met and overcome.
• Customer service procedures - references from customers are essential and your entry will not be considered without these.
Large Security Installer of the Year
Individuals working within, or companies employing 41 or more people.
This award will go to the individual or company that has shown the highest standard of workmanship and customer support throughout the year.
The judges will be looking for:
• Information about a range of successful installations (2-3 carried out during 2009/2010).
• Examples where obstacles associated with the installation have been met and overcome.
• Customer service procedures - references from customers are essential and your entry will not be considered without these.
In-House Security Manager of the Year
This category is for security managers who are employed directly by the company whose assets they are responsible for and will be presented to an individual who has demonstrated excellence in a senior security management role, with the ability to inspire and lead a team of dedicated security professionals.
The judges will be looking for:
• Individuals where security comprises at least 50% of their role.
• Effective management of technology and manpower.
• Evidence of innovation in security tasks.
• Evidence of leadership/participation in the wider security community.
• Evidence of reduction in crime and overall losses.
• Star quality – what sets this individual apart from his/her peers.
Contract Security Manager of the Year
This award will be presented to an individual who has demonstrated excellence in a senior security management role, with the ability to inspire and lead a team of dedicated security professionals. This category is for security managers who are employed by a private sector security solutions provider.
The judges will be looking for:
• Individuals where security comprises at least 50% of their role.
• Effective management of technology and manpower.
• Evidence of innovation in security tasks.
• Evidence of leadership/participation in the wider security community.
• Evidence of reduction in crime and overall losses.
• Star quality – what sets this individual apart from his/her peers.
Security Consultant of the Year
This award will be presented to an individual or consultancy practice who has demonstrated excellence in security consultancy.
The judges will be looking for:
• Individuals where security comprises at least 50% of the consultant’s activities.
• Areas of expertise in security, and an outline of the major work undertaken during the past 12 months.
• Evidence of leadership/participation in the wider security community.
• Star quality – what sets this consultant apart from his/her peers.
Security Training Initiative of the Year
This award will be presented to an individual or organisation whose training programme promotes good working practice within the security industry.
The judges will be looking for:
• Details of the training programme, including the number of delegates trained in the past year, length of training and training budget or spend per employee.
• Training objectives and evidence of having achieved them in addition to the introduction of good working practices as a result of training.
• Feedback on how the training programme met its objectives.
• Star quality - how is this training programme different from other training programmes, or an improvement on the programme that preceded it?
IT Initiative of the Year
This award will be presented to the individual or organisation that has made the most positive use of IT in the security sector, and is open to manufacturers, consultants, guarding companies, Installers and managers.
The judges will be looking for:
• A clear description of how IT has been used to improve the security of the business or the service provided.
• Examples of innovative IT applications, for example new software, intranets or new communications solutions.
• Please try to quantify the benefits the IT solution has delivered. If websites or other “tangible” features exist that the judges can inspect, please provide details.
Customer Care Initiative of the Year
How has your organisation embraced customer care issues? This award will go to the individual or organisation that has made the most progress in this area, all types of security organisation are eligible to enter.
The judges will be looking for:
• Evidence of a clear strategy for improving customer care - how have you set about addressing this issue?
• What targets do you have for improving customer care and service? What are your benchmarks and how far have you progressed towards achieving them?
• What is your current rate of repeat business or customer retention compared to a year ago?
• Is the customer care initiative being accompanied by any training of your staff? If so, please explain the training programme and its benefits.
ACS Champion of the Year
The SIA Approved Contractor Scheme aims to raise standards and promote good practice for the creation of a safer environment for the public and better opportunities for the private security industry. This award is open to all Approved Contractors and seeks to identify those that have taken exceptional steps to further the spirit of the scheme given the available resource.
The judges will be looking for:
• Active promotion of the ACS and its benefits with customers and other stakeholders
• Consistent contribution to furthering the aims of the ACS
• Evidence of creation of a safer environment for the public
• Participation in new opportunities for the private security industry
Security Partnering Initiative of the Year
These days, every successful business is involved in partnering and efficient management of suppliers and customers. This award is to recognise the security organisation that has done the most and is open to consultants, manufacturers, installers, managers and guarding companies.
The judges will be looking for:
• Evidence of a clear partnering strategy.
• How do you aim to work with your suppliers and customers? What do you do to build an effective team? What processes do you have in place to streamline decision-making and reduce
costs? What evidence is there that this is producing savings?
• Do you have systems for vetting and appointing suppliers or partners? If so, how do these work, and what benefits does the system deliver?
• Please feel free to include a simple example of how working more closely with everyone in the supply chain is producing better results.
Security Innovation of the Year
This award will be presented to the manufacturer of a product which is deemed to be ground-breaking in design and meets a specific customer need.
The judges will be looking for:
• Products that have been launched commercially in 2009/2010.
• Products that demonstrate potential for crime prevention.
• Details of the product’s innovative features and how these are unique to the product, either in itself or how it functions in this product.
Integrated Security Solution of the Year
This award will go to the company or organisation that best demonstrates the integration of security guarding with electronic systems to the demonstrable benefit of the client.
The judges will be looking for:
• Details of the initial challenge and a description of the successful solution that was developed.
• An explanation of the technology and/or systems employed and how these relate to the security team that was involved, as well as an indication of the benefits that resulted, preferably quantifiable.
International Achievement Award
This award is open to any UK company or individual that has demonstrated an outstanding achievement or improvement in international sales or exports, or has been instrumental in a significant security application or project outside of the UK.
The judges will be looking for:
• Evidence of the international sales/exports/activities. Please quantify what you have achieved in specific terms.
• An outline of a specific project/application that you or your company has worked on.
Best Practice in Door Supervision
This Award will be presented to the company or individual that has continually demonstrated professionalism, consistently high levels of service and responsibility to customers, members of staff or the leisure security sector in general.
The judges will be looking for:
- Details of how the company or individual has contributed to the customer service ethos.
- Examples of how the company or individual has improved levels of public and/or staff safety.
- Commitment to training and education.
- Examples of contracts under management including detailed references from two clients.
- Details of how the company or individual has helped to improve security provision across the leisure sector.
- Star quality – what sets the company or individual apart from other operators in the sector
Environmental Initiative of the Year
This Award is open to any security company, organisation or individual who can demonstrate an outstanding commitment to the environment in their working practices, products or projects.
The judges will be looking for:
- A specific ‘green’ initiative undertaken by the entrant
- Details of the environmental challenge addressed, and the steps taken to overcome this challenge
- Evidence of an ongoing commitment to environmental improvement and education