ISJ Influencer 2022: Victoria Nkemdilim Ogbuehi, Senior Risk & Resilience Manager, Coca-Cola HBC Nigeria

2023 is one year to look out for because a lot has happened from 2020 through to 2022 that is expected to pattern the business threat landscape.

Just as countries and enterprises were excited that the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic had started to dwindle significantly in 2022, we saw the breakout of the Russian-Ukrainian war after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The battle, which is still ongoing, evidently has a significant impact on the global supply chain, which is currently affecting the movement of goods, leading to high operational costs and shortages in the commodity market. The acute shortage was visible in Africa, since Africa is heavy on imports and the focus of most global multinationals. Families struggle to make ends meet at the micro level due to inflation and the outrageously high cost of living. Overall, we see countries and companies doing everything within their control to stay cost-effective.

While some economies of the world are currently deep in recession, some companies are completely out of operations while others are struggling to stay afloat. It is, therefore, crucial to contemplate some realities that I will be discussing in projecting where ‘security’ will be headed in 2023.

To begin, versatility is required to stay dominant within the industry as companies will be more desirous of executives that understand the unique business dynamic, the requirements of competition law and industry crescendos to show leadership in leading their team in achieving business targets. Furthermore, agility and resilience through comprehensive business continuity management will be alluring as companies are becoming more interested than ever in business continuity professionals. Unfortunately, this is one significant aspect of general security management that security professionals are not leveraging.

Ensuring uninterrupted business operations is the primary security that most businesses are not unaware of. Some security professionals have recently been coming to terms with the nitty-gritty of business continuity management, which is excellent. Generally speaking, companies will be looking out for that professional who has committed to going above and beyond by understanding how and when to make contingency arrangements and develop policy documents for emergency preparedness that may arise due to hostile political, cultural and socio-economic activities with an in-depth understanding of how to respond to the different triggers during each phase of a crisis. This is important because businesses are keen on cutting costs and one way to make this happen is to go for professionals who can serve a fit-for-all purpose.

Lastly, broadening skill sets is appealing due to the stringent requirements for security managers and executives. For example, one of the skills that is obviously in top demand now is the knowledge of information security. So, I foresee more security professionals getting training and certifications in this field in 2023 and beyond as the industry gets more competitive.

Professionals not adding the needed value to the overall business objectives may be shown the door. At the same time, the bar will continue to rise for those that are valuable enough to be retained. So, for security professionals, anticipating business-as-usual security management will be their greatest undoing.

Bio

Victoria Nkemdilim Ogbuehi CPP, PCI, CBCP, RIMS-CRMP is a Nigerian security, intelligence, risk, deradicalisation and counter terrorism professional with over fifteen years of combined public and corporate security management experience. She is a three-time Outstanding Security Performance Award Winner and finalist of several other coveted awards. She is the only African on the ASIS International Professional Standards Board and an industry thought leader with several speaking engagements to her credit. She has published several articles on security and insecurity and is the current Senior Risk & Resilience Manager at Coca-Cola HBC Nigeria.