The Government will pave the way for awarding service contracts based on performance and quality, instead of price. Under the Security Industry Transformation Map (ITM), the Government targets for most government agencies to adopt outcome-based security contracts by 2020.
The $10-million Security ITM was unveiled by Second Minister for Home Affairs and Manpower Josephine Teo on 13 February 2018.
The move by the Government will include conducting security risk assessments and establishing longer contract durations.
According to Mrs Teo, this will encourage service providers to adopt technology and improve innovation.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Finance will work together to help government agencies to transit from headcount-based to outcome-based contracts.
Outlined in the ITM, the primary challenge in the security industry is that it has remained manpower intensive. There are currently about 47,000 security officers in the industry.
“Security industry manpower grew at 5 per cent per annum in the last five years … this is still not enough to meet the demand,” said Mrs Teo.
Reasons that contribute to the manpower shortage in the industry include security service buyers not conducting risk assessments before calling for tender, an over-reliance on manpower and a lack of understanding of how technology can be deployed.
“The cost of security officers will be going up, in fact at the rate of 3 per cent every year. If they do not take advantage of leveraging technology now, it will reach a stage where it would be quite costly to hire a security officer,” said NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Zainal Sapari.
The Security ITM was developed by the Security ITM Tripartite Committee (SITC) which consists of representatives from the Government, union, industry associations, security agencies, and service buyers.
Supporting Service Buyers
Several new schemes under the ITM to support buyers in best sourcing include the Smart Sourcing Initiative (SSI) by the NTUC U Care Centre and the Security Productivity Initiative (SPI) by Workforce Singapore.
Under the SSI, early adopters of best sourcing can receive funding support. The pilot grant covers up to 20 per cent of the total contract price, capped at $100,000 per contract.
Meanwhile, the SPI gives companies customised support to redesign jobs and equip workers with skills to use technology through the WorkPro Job Redesign Grant.
Outreach Efforts
The ITM also introduced various outreach efforts to educate service buyers on best sourcing.
This includes a guide that will outline the features of outcome-based security contracts and provide practical guidance. The SITC will launch the guide by the first half of this year.
MHA will also be working with SkillsFuture Singapore to develop a programme on how to best-source for security services. The programme will be launched by 2019.
The Singapore Industry Council (SIC), comprising the Association of Certified Security Agencies, Security Association Singapore and the Union of Security Employees, will be conducting a series of seminars targeted at buyers from March this year.
Improving Skills and Career Progression
Mrs Teo also launched the new Skills Framework for Security which provides vital information on the security sector such as skills in demand, emerging trends and career progression pathways. It also outlines existing and emerging skills and competencies for the job roles.
The framework also identified security consultancy as a new career path, beyond the five grades under the Progressive Wage Model (PWM).
From April 2019, a new Specialist Diploma for Security Consultancy will be offered at Temasek Polytechnic (TP). A partnership between MHA and TP, the diploma will equip students with the knowledge and skills on security consultancy.
Raising the Bar
Another strategy under the ITM is to align regulations to raise standards.
Starting this year, security agencies will be assessed according to processes, competencies of officers on procedures and counter-terrorism, the technology used, and employment practices.
“The security industry is on the verge of an exciting phase of transformation. Our work has reached a milestone, and yet we are also at a new beginning. The challenges are significant but so are the opportunities,” said Mrs Teo.
Mr Zainal added that the security industry has gone through several transformations.
“The first was when they introduced the security licence. The next one was the introduction of the Security PWM. The Security ITM is the next one that will help level-up the entire industry. The narrative the union and NTUC are giving to the security officer is, ‘We will do our best to help improve your wages, but you also need to help us make sure that it corresponds with the improvement of your skills and productivity,'” he said.
