Executive travel nearly came to a complete stop at the height of the COVID crisis. For security professionals, the focus necessarily became less about how to protect CEOs and other C-suite executives when traveling and more about protecting them closer to home. As prominent execs become more visible and more well-known, their exposure — and the corresponding level of risk — also increases.
Now, with the pandemic pendulum swinging back close to normal, in-person work has returned in some form and business travel is slowly increasing. And threats to executives have become correspondingly more complex. Economic tensions and disgruntled employees unhappy about layoffs or new and different work conditions have prompted renewed focus on executive protection priorities.
Here are a few of the key priorities and best practices to consider when designing an executive protection program:
Executive safety starts with deep knowledge
A detailed and comprehensive risk assessment is the foundation of every effective executive protection program. That assessment starts with who you are protecting: their demographic group, their social connections and habits, their religious affiliations, the nature of their business, and their political views. Once you have a deep understanding of who your asset is publicly, privately, and professionally, you can create an accurate threat picture and plan accordingly. The deep research doesn’t end there: The best providers employ a protective intelligence team actively searching for emerging threats. The result is a security program that can be proactive instead of reactive.
Educating the security circle
Social media activity and visibility has real implications for executive protection. Coaching C-suite executives about the risks involved in sharing strong opinions or disclosing their whereabouts is an important part of the executive protection paradigm. These cautionary considerations extend to family, friends, and close associates of executives, as well. Educating those individuals is equally important. If a spouse or child or executive assistant is posting fun pictures from a trip that reveal locations and travel plans, that’s an added layer of vulnerability and exposure that needs to be accounted for. Executive protection isn’t just about protection, it’s about education.
The nuances of executive protection risk-benefit analyses
The best way to keep somebody safe is not to put them in harm’s way in the first place. Realistically, all executive protection comes down to an assessment that balances risk, personal priorities, and business objectives. The risk-reward calculus of travel to volatile parts of the world is different for different people.
For example, many C-suite executives don’t typically fly on private aircraft, and it isn’t always economically practical to have someone personally on board the plane with them. But a drop-off and pick-up from security professionals, combined with diligent advance work and pre-planning (routes, risks, resources) can be as good — if not better. Good intelligence is not just invaluable, it’s essential. For businesses and individuals without a robust or a coordinated executive protection initiative, close consultation with a trusted security provider is really the only way to understand the nuances of those risk-benefit analyses. Allocating resources for a realistic level of protection depends on a wide range of individual and company circumstances.
Cost versus value of executive protection
By far the most common blind spot in executive protection is budgetary constraints. Too many decision-makers see any expense that doesn’t directly produce revenue as a financial drain. Oftentimes, the value for an external executive protection resource provides value in the way of time-savings and day-to-day convenience. If you can save someone making millions a few hours a week and provide a pathway to mitigate concern about their travel arrangement or their personal safety, it can provide significant benefit in the long and short term.
With executive risk on the rise, more boards and decision-makers are recognizing that executive protection isn’t just personal: it’s also about brand protection. If a CEO is attacked or even just embarrassed, that negative publicity can affect stock prices and public perception results in reach financial implications. Consequently, some boards are mandating executive protection programs to protect that investment.
Finding the right agent-executive match
Finally, recognize that much of the success of an executive protection program depends on buy-in from the principal. Which is why matching agents to an executive is a process that should consider both core competencies and personalities. Many executives don’t want a highly visible security presence — they may prefer an agent that can blend into the executive team.
This again ties back to the importance of that risk assessment profile. For example, throwing more personnel at a protection detail for an older CEO with health issues might be far less effective (not to mention less cost effective) than a single agent with advanced medical training. Understanding the nature of the threats and the level of risk that each protection target faces is essential to providing them with the kind of personalized protection that aligns with their preferences, meets their needs, and keeps them safe.
Connect with a trusted risk advisor to learn more about designing an executive protection program for your organization.
