Background
Alliance Events is committed to increasing diversity and equality within the organisation
and is passionate about ensuring we provide equal opportunities to our staff and set an
example within the industry. A 2018 report by the SIA displayed that women constitute
just 10% of the UK’s private security workforce. Our Women in Security programme
provides candidates interested in a career in the events and security industry the
opportunity to kickstart their path with funded training, mentoring and development.
The focus of this programme is to provide females with the opportunity to directly
access roles in the security and events industry & giving them experience to be able to take on senior roles within the industry.
By engaging with this scheme, candidates will not only have a fantastic qualification, but
they will have put it to full and proper use covering a wide range of scenarios of varying
difficulty. They will finish with a solid foundation of knowledge and experience that will
prepare them for a role in the security and events industry. Such a portfolio of
opportunities is what is missing from the industry and why this programme is a vital step
forward.
Training
The headline of the programme is a fully funded SIA Level 2 Door Supervisor
qualification to actively encourage females into embarking on the course, leaving no
barriers. Further to this, we offer online training in the basics of Event Health and Safety,
Event management and Security Management. Prior to completing the SIA course, a
large proportion of our female candidates will have completed several months of
working as a steward with us at both our venues and events. Acting primarily as
stewards before completing their badge courses has given them a vital base knowledge
as to how an event works, and why certain roles exist, as well as the opportunity to
observe those more experienced and gain a rich insight into the workings behind the
scenes. This will ensure that they can take on the course content with a pre-engaged
mindset, making it all the more effective.
Mentorship
Once all training is complete, each candidate is assigned to an experienced mentor who
will have regular check-ins with them throughout the year to keep up to date with their
progress and facilitate development opportunities that are tailored to the individual.
Having a mentor to call and discuss development is meaningful to the candidate
because they can ask for direct advice about various situations that may have occurred
on a shift that they were unsure about and learn from the teachings of someone more
experienced. We also host regular group meetings with all candidates to
gather and discuss each other’s progress and experiences! These are conducted by past graduates of the scheme who have built years of experience to pass on to new members. These are a vital component of the scheme, bringing together a
group of like-minded individuals and forming strong and trusting bonds that will be
carried on with them in the workplace and bring ready-made strength to the team.
Development
Mentoring goes hand in hand with development. The crucial element of the scheme is
the development of the individual once they're qualified. The Women in Security Programme allows the direct and purposeful development of each candidate, largely by way of mentoring. Our development opportunities are tailored to the individual and involve shadowing all areas of our service output with welfare teams, supervisors, admin and management across our venues & events.
Candidates will form a plan with their mentor as to which areas they want to receive
development, their experience will then be discussed in a post-shift call and so on. Over
time, candidates will be trained to be able to carry out these roles on their own and they
will come to be part of our pool of trusted supervisors for events across the board.
Not only is this scheme a fantastic opportunity for the candidates on an individual level, but the private security sector will benefit hugely in the long term as well. Increasing the diversity of the industry will create a broader and more effective array of skills as well as combating a longstanding unhelpful stereotype of ‘bouncers’ that exists in the wider public. A scheme such as this is essential to make a statement visible throughout the industry so pave the way for much needed change.
Contact Us
If you are interested in getting involved with our Women in Security Programme, contact our Programmes Lead, Elizabeth on Elizabeth@alliancemanagementgroup.co.uk.