Professional certification: Does the security industry need a new yardstick?

摘要

National security depends on having skilled professionals leading their organizations through the preparation, mitigation, response and recovery phases of an emergent situation. The Certified Protection Professional (CPP) credential is the current yardstick that attempts to codify and measure the knowledge and competencies required for security leadership. Does the attainment of this industry credential provide adequate proof (or evidence) of proficiency of the required security leadership knowledge and competencies? During an adverse situation, it is too late to learn that the security leader does not possess the knowledge and competencies required for success.;This mixed-methods research explored the required knowledge and competency expectations of security leadership and the claims made by the leading security industry credential. The research included an extensive literature review, an evaluative study of recent security leader job descriptions, and the development and validation of a novel survey instrument designed to capture the perceptions of security leaders regarding the knowledge and competencies required for success. The survey instrument also identified the type of proof (or evidence) preferred to adequately demonstrate proficiency of the knowledge and competencies.;This research validated the CPP knowledge requirements and identified 19 key competencies necessary for security leadership. The results indicated that security leaders agree that proof of proficiency is required, and that they would prefer a certification assessment scheme with a higher level of job fidelity than the current multiple-choice test format within the CPP framework. The survey instrument provided quantitative information in support of the findings. Opportunities for improvement to security industry policy and practice are suggested along with recommendations for future research agendas.