How this security firm is using tech to protect physical assets

The security industry has experienced a change in which customers are more likely to use technology, which has led to digital disruption in the security domain. Security firm G4S is seeing this transformation as an opportunity rather than a problem. The company over the year has evolved to meet the changing requirements of the customer.

To cater to increased monitoring requirements from its customers, G4S is investing in setting up a state-of-the-art Security Risk Operations Center (SROC) in Gurgaon which should be operational by the end of March 2023. Through the SROC the company will build remote surveillance capability supported by the response. This will be a unique offering to the market and will benefit customers in BFSI, retail, residential and logistics sectors. Rajeev Sharma, Country Managing Director - G4S India, in an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz, elaborates on how the company has become a leading security and facility services company.

What is the status of G4S in India?

G4S Plc was acquired by Allied Universal in 2021 to create the world's leading services company with a footprint in 90 countries and a workforce of more than 8,00,000 employees. Our vision is to create one global organization with a unified goal and a common set of values. In the US, we have integrated G4S and Allied Universal and created one mega brand Allied Universal however, outside of North America, Allied Universal continues to operate as G4S, and we continue to safeguard the communities in which we operate. We are in a strong position to respond to our customers' evolving security needs, partnering and growing with our clients on a national and international scale while also serving G4S's current clientele globally. Additionally, our acquisition will build a stronger organization with more room for growth. In India, G4S continues to operate as G4S with the new ownership of Allied Universal.

How has the company evolved over the years?

Starting as a manned security company, over the years we have positioned G4S as a solutions company with multiple business lines in India. G4S India has the ability and expertise to provide customized solutions to its customers in India integrating security, technology, risk and facility. We have invested extensively in technology over the years and today we are the only organization in the security space in India which has real time visibility of all its workforce at every site in the country. Technology plays a pivotal role in the way we manage business and our people who are the heart of our business because we are in the service industry. We continuously invest in training our employees to upskill them, so that they adhere to company values and standards and provide excellent customer service. With more than a century of expertise, we have a robust and experienced operations team that works with our staff and customers to ensure that all service deliveries, service level agreements and processes are effectively implemented. We are adaptable and equipped to handle security challenges.

At G4S, we focus a lot on health and safety. With over 1,35,000 employees across India entrusted with the security of our customers and their assets, the physical and mental well-being of our employees is crucial to maintaining continuity and providing excellent service. Additionally, we have an HSE team to educate our employees on safe ways of working and how to ensure good health and safe working habits.

Over and above creating an Integrated Solutions Company, we at G4S have pioneered the G4S Academy concept to bring in a set of SMEs to create a CoE that enables us to work more effectively with our clients, suppliers, partners, and other stakeholders to share expertise, create value and jointly build future security solutions. The academy aspires to establish a network of security professionals who challenge conventional wisdom, embrace change and predict future demand by combining G4S knowledge and skills with that of other industry leaders.

Given the security threats on a continuous basis, how is the company gearing up for the technology?

In the coming years, we at G4S plan to assist our customers in transitioning from a manpower-centric domain to integrated solutions by leveraging our investments in technology and the G4S academy. We also believe AI will play a pivotal role in ensuring the integrity of data and providing analytics. Drones will be utilized more extensively in high-risk sites. A very important development on the anvil is the likely technology partnership between the government and the private sector.

What levels of quality do your security personnel have to undergo to meet your company standard?

Quality is the cornerstone of our business at G4S. We devote close attention to every facet of our business, notably the quality of our personnel. We have instituted stringent quality control processes.

Firstly, our high industry eligibility parameters guarantee that we only select the best candidates to join our workforce. Before being approved, prospective applicants must not only meet physical requirements including height, weight and BMI eligibility, but they also complete a medical exam and a mental fitness test.

We have a process for establishing each person's antecedent verification after they have joined G4S. To ensure that every employee has been thoroughly screened, we go beyond what is required by the PSARA for screening and vetting. We have put in place systemic procedures to ensure that every candidate undergoes mandatory training and is only made available for deployment after successfully completing it. To keep their knowledge and abilities up to date while focusing on health and safety, all staff members receive ongoing on-the-job training through a digital training platform. We comply with statutory laws of the land and ensure our every employee is taken care of as per the statutory laws. All our employees have access to our toll-free helpline for effective communication and issue redressal.

Do you generally employ armed forces personnel and what kind of roles do they play in the company?

Security and Armed Forces are synonymous and go hand in hand. G4S employs a large workforce from retired forces to provide the highest level of safety and security to our clients across the length and breadth of the country. We believe an Ex-Servicemen after doing the service for the nation matures to be a brilliant individual with the highest level of skill and expertise in the field of security, which comes exceptionally handy in our sector. We have some very senior retired officers from the armed forces working with us in management roles contributing to the overall growth of G4S in India.

Is the company geared up for foreign assignments?

As a part of Allied Universal, which is a global organization with a large and local footprint clientele, we can provide services in almost every major continent, country, and region. Since many of our clients are global, they get to leverage our presence in more than 90 countries. We provide global reach to our customers in India by partnering with them in assisting them with all their security and services-related needs outside of India. At the parent level, we have over 8,00,000 employees securing our customer assets in more than 90 countries.

What are the common technologies that the company adopts?

Innovation is a core G4S value. We invest in technology and industry best practices to improve our offering. We work with our customers to bring value to them by recommending innovative and cost-effective solutions. Investment in technology is key for our growth and sustainability and as I had said earlier, we have made large investments in technology keeping the future of the industry in mind.

We at G4S are setting up a state-of-the-art Security Risk Operations Center in Gurgaon which should be operational by the end of March 2023. Our IT systems are on GCP with the highest level of security protocols providing 100 per cent safety of the data that we store. We have developed in-house Active Compliance tool (ACT) to simplify the compliance audits of our clients. With this tool, we have done away with physical compliance papers requirements and have digitized all audit documents which can be accessed by our clients, their auditors and our teams from Cloud.

We have also developed an Operations Management application that gives us the ability to manage ground operations on a real-time basis. This also allows our workforce to manage their lifecycle themselves. Our supervisory teams and management teams get visibility of the presence and proof of our workforce on the ground and take fast remedial action if needed. We also have a customer portal wherein our select customers who have a presence in multiple locations in the country, are given access to see their site operations on a real-time basis.

Our invoicing and payroll are linked to iConnect which has reduced a lot of employee hours wastage at both client and our end and improved the cash cycle for the business.

Tell us something about the company's financial growth?

G4S has been steadily growing with a double digit growth year on year except for the last 2 years which were impacted due to Covid and lockdown of the businesses. In the future we see revenue growth coming in from return to work, growth in the economy and the government making efforts to outsource non-essential work to private companies. Additionally, we are likely to see improved cash flow due to roll out of ACT and iConnect, also because the government is also enforcing compliances on various parameters including payment to the service providers. We also see large growth opportunities from the G4S Academy and SROC as new business initiatives which will start yielding results in early 2023.

What is your forecast for the next three years?

In the next decade, customers will transition from needing Security and Technology to Security enabled by Technology. We are prepared for it and G4S has already started with a strong focus on integrated services. We firmly believe in pursuing cost optimization through monthly and quarterly business reviews. Additionally, we anticipate a shift from perimeter security to Security Solutions (in further years even to Residences and SMB portfolios).

There is going to be a greater emphasis on crisis preparedness and management, and industries will look toward competent service providers to provide solutions. We also see a shift in the buying behaviour of the customer from headcount to the solution which means more opportunity for G4S in India. We are preparing ourselves for the next 10 years and are investing heavily in building the infrastructure and capabilities to support our exponential growth in the coming years.