Page 5 - SyI-Annual-Report

relation to some of our more traditional cohorts of practitioners
still falls within the aspirations of an increasingly inclusive
Security Institute: inclusion is for everyone, not just the
under-represented. For example, we are we are signatories
and supporters of the Armed Forces Covenant, and we are
passionate about supporting the recognition and career
development of frontline security practitioners into management
roles. We are currently partnering with the BSIA and Security
Commonwealth in the ongoing Hidden Workforce campaign to
highlight the essential role that Security Officers play in public life
and to increase respect and recognition for their capabilities and,
in recognition of the low average wage levels in frontline security,
we endorse the real Living Wage campaign. We are now in the Professor Alison Wakefield
process of becoming accredited as a Living Wage Employer, and PhD CSyP FSyI,
pleased to support the social enterprise Wagestream, which Chairman
partners with employers to give workers instant access to their
earned wages, without having to wait till the next payday.

We are working to improve diversity and inclusivity monitoring
within the Institute to help us assess the extent to which
our applicants and members reflect the diversity within our
profession; looking at ways of attracting a greater diversity of
members into the Institute and into Institute committees across
the organisation; considering how principles of equality, diversity
and inclusion can be embedded more actively in all that we do;
and exploring the role that the IISIG might play in informing
the Institute’s own practices. Such topics feature increasingly at
cross-sector meetings we attend and one-to-one interactions
with prospective partners, and there seems to be a growing
momentum across the security sector to address such objectives.
Even when the groups sitting around the table often remain
fairly homogenous, there is commonly a shared commitment
to enhancing the diversity of the next generation, although a
frequent uncertainty about how best to achieve this. I believe
that the realisation of such a goal will be fundamental to the
future expansion of the Institute, the ongoing professionalisation
of security, and the continuing rise in the standing of the
security sector, which still has much catching up to do with other
sectors and professions that are further along in their equality,
diversity and inclusion journey. It will bring a greater variety of
experiences, perspectives, insights and skills into our community,
make us more innovative, and help us achieve the excellence for
which we are collectively striving.

My term of office comes to an end at the close of this year, and
I will be sorry to step down from my role in our increasingly
dynamic, fast-evolving Institute. Positively, as time goes on I
feel less and less pivotal to an organisation that is increasingly
moving forward as a collective, with decreasing reliance on a
small number of individuals. A growing number of members
and organisational partners are actively making contributions
and initiating and driving projects that will help us move forward
together in our mission. We are continually celebrating new
developments and successes at a rate I had never anticipated. By
the end of this next financial year, there will be still more exciting
achievements to announce, and I thank each reader sincerely for
your continuing commitment and support to us, and invite you to
browse this report for opportunities to get actively involved with
the Institute if not already.

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