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He may look stern when he walks past you at Downtown East, but in reality, Mr Johari Abdul Jalil is a warm and approachable Security Officer who always adorns a smile when he serves guests at NTUC Club.
Mr Johari, 52, has many reasons to love his job. Constantly empowered with new knowledge through training opportunities, he exudes enthusiasm and displays professionalism at work. He impresses the people he serves and is often commended by his bosses.
He also pockets a decent salary every month. Many years ago, such a life for a worker in the private security industry was almost unthinkable. But today, this is possible with the collective efforts by tripartite partners through enlightened approaches like the Best Sourcing Initiative (BSI).
Mr Johari’s story is one example of a successful career carved through BSI. Retrenched from the tool and-dye making industry, he was introduced to the security sector by a friend and has stayed in it for close to 12 years now.
He joined NTUC Club in 2007 as a Joint Operations Officer under a yearly renewable contract term. Then, the security department at Downtown East was managed by in-house Security Officers, both permanent and contract.
The company then decided in 2008 to outsource some of its functions for a more efficient management of security needs at Downtown East.
Shared Mr Steward Ang, Director, Downtown East Operations: “At NTUC Club, we care about the welfare of our employees.
“We knew BSI was one area we should tap on if we wanted to have stronger win-win outcomes for both sides. When we decided to best-source, we were mindful to take care of workers like Johari.
“We worked closely with the Union of Security Employees (USE), NTUC’s Unit for Contract and Casual Workers (UCCW) and NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute).
“When we were in-sourcing, career progression was a challenge. Now that we outsource, with a BSI-contract, these workers are better trained, better paid, have better career progression and have higher morale at work.”
Together with UCCW, the tender specifications for security services at Downtown East were evaluated, discussed and improved. Keeping in mind all the positive impacts that BSI would bring about for the workers and their employer, NTUC Club engaged security agency Apro Asian Protection Private Limited.
As a permanent staff and one of 25 best-sourced security officers at NTUC Club, Mr Johari receives a higher remuneration package compared to other organisations’ non-BSI security officers and has his union membership paid for by Apro Asian Protection.
More training opportunities are provided and he has attended courses such as Occupational First Aid, Handle Counter-Terrorism Activities and Handle Customer Enquiries & Requests.
Mr Johari returns to work with more confidence and knowledge after every course and revealed that the courses on managing customers made the most impact on him.
“In a place where there are people from all walks of life – children, teenagers, elderly and foreigners – I must always be vigilant,” he said.
Mr Johari has therefore never shut the door to any learning opportunity. His pro-active learning attitude has driven him to perform more diligently in his job. From April 2012, BSI allowed Mr Johari to have an even better salary.
