single day. Others simply assume the opportunity is not meant for them, so they never ask.
Employers can do a great deal about this, and most of it is practical. Offer development materials and learning in the languages your people actually speak. Train managers to spot potential and raise it directly, rather than waiting for staff to nominate themselves. Set up 'buddy' or mentoring arrangements so a first application feels less daunting. Small adjustments like these can help people step forward who might otherwise stay quiet.
Too often, capable people talk themselves out of trying. When you give them confidence that the door is open, more of your team will put themselves forward.
Paper and practice
Formal qualifications do matter, and I would never suggest otherwise. In security they give a career its structure. A Security Industry Authority licence is the foundation, and there is real depth to build from there, through Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications and into specialisms such as close protection, control room operations, event and retail security, and risk and fire safety. Each one opens a different door.
'Ask your people what they did before, what they can do now and where they want to go. You'll be surprised who's already on your payroll.'
What gets overlooked is how much lived experience matters alongside the paperwork. A licence gets someone onto a site. The judgement needed to defuse a difficult situation, read the mood of a crowd or stay calm in a crisis is learned shift by shift, and it rarely shows up on a certificate. The strongest people usually have both. Good leaders know how to recognise that mix when deciding who is ready for more.
When you are deciding who is ready for promotion, don’t just consider qualifications. Look at what that person has already handled on the ground. Formal learning and real-world judgement should go hand in hand, and the strongest careers are built on both.
What technology can't replace The skills worth developing are shifting too.
Technology is rapidly changing the way buildings are secured, and it will keep changing over the next five to ten years. Automation is taking on more of the routine monitoring and screening, which frees officers for the parts of the job that need a human eye.
That makes certain qualities more valuable, not less. Resilience, adaptability and the ability to communicate across cultures are becoming some of the most useful attributes in the security workforce, because they travel across roles as the sector evolves. Technical know-how still counts, and it always will. But showing sound judgement under pressure and the knack of dealing with people are what mark someone out as being ready to lead.
Anyone thinking about their future in this industry should keep building those human skills alongside the technical ones. Those are the skills that endure beyond the next software upgrade.
Turning intent into action
Good intentions only count if they change what happens on the ground. That means building real routes for people to develop, and making sure those routes reach a workforce spread across hundreds of sites and dozens of languages.
A genuinely accessible development programme needs a few things to work:
• Learning available in the languages people speak, not only English
• Access that fits shift patterns, at any hour and, ideally, offline
• Content that covers both technical skills and the human ones that help people lead
At Bidvest Noonan we have tried to put this into practice. Our Frontline Rise programme spots talent at officer level and builds the capabilities people need to step into their first leadership role. We back it with a learning platform our teams can reach around the clock, in 120 languages, because a career should never depend on which shift you work or which language you speak at home. It is one approach among many, and the principle behind it matters more than the label. Give people the tools, and make them easy to reach.
Room for everyone
Some doors have stayed shut longer than others. Historically, security has drawn far more men than women into its ranks, and fewer women still into its leadership. If a career path is only visible to half the
© CITY SECURITY MAGAZINE – AUTUMN 2026
www.citysecuritymagazine.com
workforce, we are overlooking talent before anyone even applies.
As an industry, we should be setting ourselves clear targets to change that. At Bidvest Noonan, we want a 50/50 gender balance across our senior team within three years. This year alone, we are aiming for a 15 per cent rise in the number of women working as security officers, and a 10 per cent rise in women in security leadership roles. Targets matter because they force us to pay attention. They help make sure opportunity is not only available to the people who already feel confident enough to ask.
A more balanced workforce is a stronger one. It closes operational blind spots, and it widens the pool of people who can picture a career in security in the first place.
Ask, and answer
Developing security careers comes down to two conversations, and chances are, both are overdue.
If you employ security officers, show them the career ladder and let them know what they need to do to move up it. Make progression a standing item in your one-to- one catch-ups, rather than a subject that only comes up when someone resigns. Ask your people what they did before, what they can do now and where they want to go. Chances are, you'll be surprised what you find on your own payroll.
And, if you are reading this in a security uniform, wondering whether there is more you can do, the answer is almost certainly yes. Ask your manager what the next step ahead looks like. Tell them what else you can do, and let them know what you did before this job. The people who move forward are often the ones who start the conversation. And as employers, we have a responsibility to make that conversation easier to have.
Julie Mernagh
Chief People & Culture Officer Bidvest Noonan
www.bidvestnoonan.com
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