ASIS Advances on All Fronts
Ahead of Global Security Exchange (GSX) 2019, The GSX Daily sat down with ASIS President Christina Duffey, CPP, to discuss the significant strategic and operational progress the association has made over the last year.
Q. When one looks back on the past year, it seems that ASIS was quite productive. Can you discuss some of the association’s recent accomplishments and progress made?
A. There have been many exciting developments across the entire enterprise. Allow me to highlight three.
First, the new global governance structure that we are rolling out. Why this should matter to ASIS members is that the board has worked very hard to develop and implement a structure that is much more inclusive, that is much more transparent, and that distributes leadership globally through the combination of Global Board of Directors setting policy and strategy and then working with six regional bodies to begin with to implement that policy and strategy in the regions in a way that is culturally and regionally appropriate.
The second exciting accomplishment is the launch of our new Associate Protection Professional (APP) certification, with many thanks to the Professional Certification Board.
The third involves how we serve our members. This year, ASIS launched its new customer service program called “Going the Extra Mile.” This program will entail many improvements and is outlined in the Customer Service Commitment on the ASIS website.
It includes a “one touch” method so that issues can be escalated and quickly resolved, and it creates more consistency in how each ASIS staff member can solve problems. It also provides more internal resources to enhance the customer service culture within ASIS.
Overall, the association has recommitted itself to providing superior customer ser- vice and satisfaction, delivered by friendly, knowledgeable, and accessible staff, for every member, customer, and partner.
Q. How about developments at the chapter level?
A. We launched the chapter outreach program to speak directly to chapter chairs all over the world. This is the first time this has been done. It started with a pilot program that was conducted in Europe in late 2018, which was successful.
We also increased the number of volunteer engagement managers that help chapters full time, so that each chapter has two instead of one. That’s had a big impact in 2019.
And then there have been improvements in the areas of the chapter award process and chapter virtual meetings.
Last, but not least, we hosted the first chapter bootcamp training session at the Leadership Exchange in January.
Q. Any new progress with certifications?
A. Very much so. More than 30 members came together to develop a new certification, the APP. The creation process began in early 2018, and the APP was beta tested in late 2018 and early 2019. More than 200 people sat for the beta exam.
The 152 professionals who passed the exam are now the inaugural class of APPs—in fact, many of these folks are attending GSX 2019. So, if you see someone with an APP designation on their badge, please take a moment to congratulate them!
Q. Sounds like there’s a lot going on for members. How about on the governance level?
A. There’s significant progress here too, because the orientation will be much more global. As mentioned before, we’ve been transitioning to a new global governance structure that will establish a strategic global path for ASIS. This will unify our management system across the world and incorporate best global governance practices for our association.
In fact, our new global governing board will be seated and introduced here at GSX. It will officially start serving 1 January 2020.
Q. For the last few years, ASIS has committed itself to advancing an Enterprise Security Risk Management (ESRM) Initiative. How is that going?
A. The ESRM initiative is going well. After a few months of hard work by volunteers and staff, the ASIS ESRM guideline was approved, and it’s being introduced here at GSX. The guideline is the result of collaboration of dozens of ESRM experts from all over the globe, and it will be the framework for all additional ESRM content.
Also, we have released the first version of a survey that will help users gauge the level of maturity of their ESRM programs. Even security professionals who believe they don’t have an ESRM program will be able to identify which aspects they may have already in place. ASIS will use the data from this maturity model survey to identify areas of need and to create educational materials to help users advance their program’s level of maturity. Members who have not taken the short survey yet, please spend a few minutes on it at https://www.asisonline.org/publications--resources/esrm/esrm-survey/.
Q. Overall, that sounds like quite a bit of progress, on many fronts. To what do you attribute this broad success?
A. First and foremost, the dedication and hard work of volunteer leaders and members.
One other positive contributing factor is the ASIS Strategic Framework. This infrastructure has put the volunteer and staff team squarely on the path of serving members where they work and live around the globe. Since its approval by the board last January, ASIS has made some good headway on the pillars of the strategic plan.
For example, under the pillar of Elevating the Security Function, we have the new ESRM Guideline and all the other progress we have made in that area.
Under Achieving Recognition for the Profession, we have the launch of the new Associate Protection Professional certification and other initiatives. The Serving Global Needs pillar has produced the new global governance structure and other global advancements.
The ASIS motto is Advancing Security Worldwide, and to do that you have to keep moving forward.
