Get down to the brass tacks involved in starting an on-the-money Corporate Executive Protection Program and keeping your company safe from threats.
Prevention. Protection. Organization.
These words are the core seeds that breed tasty fruits when mingled with any operation. And a business environment is no exception to the caliber of processes quickly impacted by these keywords.
How to build a Sublime Corporate Executive Protection Program for your Company
An Executive Protection program is more than central to the success and sustainability of a company, especially given the current internet age where companies and their employees can easily place themselves at an increased risk of security breaches.
Fortunately, several Fortune 500 companies have realized the need for Executive Protection Programs and incorporated these programs into their business structures. On the flip side, however, many other companies in the United States and abroad haven’t realized the importance of building corporate Executive Protection Programs for their establishments.
And whatever the reason for the hold-up in setting up Executive Protection Programs may be, one thing is sure – it’s an absolute must-have for any company looking to ensure its security and the safety of its employees from any form of physically or digitally targeted attacks.
Although the concept of an Executive Protection Program is still relatively new, and we can’t pinpoint a bunch of hard-and-fast reasons why you’ll require them for your company, it’s safe to say that at least some causes behind the incorporation of an Executive Protection program are recurrent.
At the top of the list is Protection.
In most cases, businesses consistently upscale until they reach a point where the need to ensure the safety of the company’s employees, particularly key figures in the executive leadership, arises.
Take Meta, for instance. Business Standard recently reported that the company spends a ton of money on Executive Protection – trying to protect its founder, the one and only Mark Zuckerberg. Why? Because folks like Mark often embark on business trips that keep them exposed and susceptible to either physical harm or logistical hitches.
This takes us to another recurrent starting point for companies opting for Executive Protection Programs. These Programs are integrated by companies looking to mitigate traveler friction, especially stress levels caused by many trips to unknown environments where the company executive and their detail need to touch down.
Also, some companies regularly evaluate the Key Performance Index (KPI) of their top staff, and if they find depressing figures precipitated by stress, they often opt for Executive Protection programs to help reduce fears or concerns crippling their team and boost their productivity levels.
If any of these rationales for building an Executive Protection Program happen to be your experience or your ‘why’ for wanting a corporate Executive Protection Program is a different cup of tea, that’s not the most critical point.
What matters is that you’re interested in getting this program to keep people within your organization safe; you’re also looking to educate yourself on the key considerations in curating a corporate Executive Protection Program.
Rest assured that this post will do justice to your thirst and keep any crippling uncertainty at bay. Here are some essential tips to keep in mind:
Get support from the Top dogs at your company
This is very significant because, without some sort of support from the top, you won’t be able to implement the Executive Protection program successfully.
Support from some top-ranking folks will suffice, especially if it comes from the Board of Directors. Sometimes, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) do not buy the idea of integrating Executive Protection programs into their operations if they don’t believe in a difference between an adequately trained Executive Protection staff and a mere security agent infamous for unwanted intrusions.
Now where a conflict of interests (and clashes in some cases) between the CEO and the Board may have adverse effects on business activities, the Chief Security Officer may have to become your go-to person.
Creating, Navigating, and Harnessing your Company’s Executive Protection Network
This is more than essential, especially if your company lacks experience in Executive Protection practice. The Executive Protection staff cannot deal well enough with a company whose peculiar needs they do not understand.
More importantly, and by way of extension, hiring an Executive Protection company to operate the Executive Protection program is one-half of the pile; the remainder is filling the other workers in the company in on what to expect from the integration of the Executive Protection program into the company’s operations.
This enlightenment will establish and consolidate a mutual understanding throughout the company and whittle down the negative impacts any lack of Executive Protection practice experience may impose.
Distinct Financing for the Program
There are direct and indirect costs when it comes to business financing.
Direct costs are expenses connected to a specific product, while indirect costs are expenses involved with maintaining and running a company.
Your company’s finance department needs to note that scheduled payments applicable to regular company employees may not work out fine in the grand scheme of the Executive Protection program because of recurrent dynamic needs and unforeseen circumstances that may necessitate the operation of the staff outside official or contracted hours.
Say, for instance, the CEO embarks on an unplanned trip to a country where insecurity runs riot. In such cases, their security needs are bound to be more intense than the security requirements during regular outings.
Every additional itinerary can be equated to a ballooning budget.
Recruitment
HR personnel may need to embark on learning experiences concerning Executive Protection. For instance, they’ll need to understand the distinction between Executive Protection employees and regular staff on various bases – a prominent one being that Executive Protection staff can work for as much as 80 hours a week, while regular staff may be privileged to do half that time.
Threats have evolved and continue to evolve; that’s unquestionable. But because of that, there is now a need to factor expert recruitment into Executive Protection Programs.
A rarely charted territory in this premise happens to be the integration of specialist partners. Since HR personnel within companies are usually inexperienced with Executive Protection industry best practices, specialist partners are often recommended as alternatives. They are Executive Protection recruitment experts who are familiar with identifying talent.
They also serve various companies, which exposes them to different integration practices and industry best practices they can implement for companies that hire them. Having a specialist partner is particularly important because having the right staff is directly instrumental to the success of any Executive Protection program.
Creating a Bespoke Experience
Every company has its separate and distinct security needs inspired by the risk the company faces, and the successful delivery of an Executive Protection program is not always cast in stone. So alternative security solutions may have to be developed by distinct business organizations.
For instance, a Fortune 500 company CEO will have to opt for a more extensive Executive Protection offering than a startup CEO. This choice can be linked to the varying reputations these two firms possess.
In summary, your company must identify its security needs and tailor its Executive Protection program to meet them accordingly.
Create Operational Methodology and Educate Stakeholders
These are intertwined because while it is crucial to birth ideas that will be instrumental to the mode of operation of the Executive Protection employees, communicating this mode of operation to guarantee a seamless experience can be equated to educating relevant stakeholders, and this is non-negotiable in the grand scheme of things.
Are you looking to build a first-rate Executive Protection Program for your company? Well, look no further, buddy. Security Pro is in the business of linking you with the tip-top professionals in Executive Protection Program operations.
You can always book a free consultation with us or contact us to begin the process for your protection and safety as quickly as possible.