Securitas AB: From ground to cloud – Reshaping protective services
Global security specialist Securitas AB embraced a new era of predictive security through strategic planning and a focus on innovation – enabled through a five-year partnership with IMD.
Context
When Magnus Ahlqvist took over as President and CEO of Securitas AB in 2018, he stepped into a security industry marked by thin margins, fierce competition, and major technological disruption.
The sector was primarily focused on “boots-on-the-ground” guarding services, but rising sophistication in security threats and rapid tech advancements were threatening to upend this traditional business model.
Challenge
Recognizing the need for a strategic overhaul, Ahlqvist and his top leaders sought to reset the company’s direction to not only stay ahead of these trends but reshape the future of the industry.
Strategically, the company needed to undergo a major shift from being a traditional security services provider primarily focused on manned guarding to a technology-enabled protective solutions company.
To do so, it would need to leverage advanced technologies, such as data analytics and artificial intelligence, to offer more sophisticated, comprehensive predictive security solutions to clients.
Organizationally, however, achieving this strategic pivot required a major overhaul across multiple dimensions of the company’s operations. First, Securitas needed to enhance people’s capabilities by recruiting top talent and upskilling the existing workforce to handle new technologies and complex security challenges.
Second, the company had to upgrade its infrastructure, investing in modern IT systems to support advanced security solutions. Its operating systems also required updates to move from decentralized operations to common platforms, so that all parts of the organization spoke the same “language”. Third, innovation models needed revamping to foster a culture of experimenting and piloting new offerings to better address client needs.
Partnering with IMD
To make this all happen, in 2018 the company partnered with IMD, an independent academic institution with deep roots in business practice. Over nine months, IMD, as a trusted advisor and provocateur, facilitated an in-depth and rigorous process that helped Securitas formulate a strategic plan to guide the company over the next five years.
“We embarked on a truly exciting journey as one company, where we geared ourselves together for high-value growth with next-generation security solutions,” said Andreas Lindback, Chief Financial Officer at Securitas.
On IMD’s part, this strategic planning involved extensive diagnostic work, where data was collected from across the organization, including insights from various business units, functions, and geographies.
“IMD’s researchers thematically analyzed thousands of pages of transcripts and notes generated from the ‘listening’ sessions to home in on the opportunities that Securitas could pursue, as well as key barriers the company had to overcome,” explained Ivy Buche, Senior Advisor at IMD.
“Strategy is not about applying stock frameworks or trying to copy what others have done; it is about an organization and its leaders making a series of choices, decisions, and actions over time,” observed Thomas Malnight, IMD Professor of Strategy and Management.
It was a collaborative approach that encouraged significant input and buy-in from Securitas’s senior leadership and employees, fostering a sense of ownership and commitment to the new strategic direction.
For instance, the new strategy introduced a clear corporate purpose – “We help make your world a safer place” – designed to unify Securitas’s global identity, both internally and externally.
“Our new purpose will unite the organization, create motivation, and serve as guidelines for important decisions,” observed Helena Andreas, CHRO and CMO at Securitas. “Irrespective of where they are in the organization, our people feel that they are a part of something bigger – and are making a positive contribution.”
Guided by this purpose, the company embarked on a series of strategic and organizational development initiatives over the next five years, maintaining momentum despite the disruptions caused by COVID-19.
Additional engagements with IMD included a mid-way review of the strategic and organizational progress in 2021 and the launch of Securitas’s first group-level Executive Development Program for senior leaders in 2022
Tangible impact
A critical outcome of the new strategic focus was the $3.2bn acquisition of Stanley Security in 2022, the largest deal in Securitas’s history, expanding its electronic security capabilities and positioning it as the second-largest player in the global security industry. The additional acquisitions of 20 smaller companies further bolstered its market presence and capabilities. All these moves culminated in the creation of a new business division called Securitas Technology, delivering an increase in sales of technology and solutions from 20% of total revenue in 2018 to 32% in 2023.
In yet another ground-breaking move, the company launched Securitas Digital, a new business unit aimed at digitizing core security services and accelerating the launch of new digital offerings – a key step toward achieving a long-term profit margin of 10%. By 2023, Securitas had successfully digitalized more than 130,000 client sites, a remarkable leap from under 1,000 in 2018.
Securitas’s strategic transformation was supported by investments in modernizing IS/IT infrastructure and operating processes, with over SEK 2bn spent from 2018 to 2022.
For example, in North America, their Freedom program focused on improving efficiency and digitalizing operations, which contributed to the regional operating margin increasing to 7.5% in 2022 compared with 6.8% in 2021.
Similarly, in Europe, their North Star program standardized key processes in HR, finance, and operations. In Ibero-America, the Atlantico program transitioned the region to common platforms, systems, and processes in finance, workforce management, and HR.
Building client centricity was a key area of thrust under the digital transformation of the company. This was driven by the implementation of a global Client Excellence Platform, which combined Securitas’s service offerings into one platform and standardized and streamlined key processes throughout the client lifecycle, boosting engagement with customers.
“The Client Excellence Platform has improved the way we take care of our clients, our market capabilities, and our digital offerings,” said Hillevi Agranius, CIO at Securitas.
As a result of multiple efforts, the corporation achieved a notable milestone in 2023, reaching a client retention rate of 90%, in an industry known for high price sensitivity and fierce competition.
Talent development was another cornerstone of this transformation. In 2019, Securitas established a “people function” at the group level to support the strategic transformation. This function worked closely with divisional and country-level teams to align agendas and leverage best practices, ensuring consistency and cost-effectiveness.
Key initiatives included the relaunch of the Securitas Toolbox, a leadership tool used globally, and the development of a new Leadership Framework. These initiatives aimed to provide consistent assessment and development of talent across the organization.
A testament to that is the fact that sales per employee increased by more than 37% over the five-year strategy period. Brand repositioning was another critical aspect of the company’s strategic overhaul. Market research showed that while Securitas was seen as stable and trustworthy – the “good guys” – it lacked a reputation for being progressive or innovative.
To address this, the company undertook a comprehensive rebranding in 2021, updating its visual identity with the first major logo change since 1972, and shifting its messaging to move away from being product-centric and alluding to risk and danger, to emphasizing positivity and potential.
It was a strategy that worked. By 2023, Securitas was ranked as the 8th most valuable Swedish brand, with a 72% increase in brand value year-over-year, reaching SEK 31.7bn, while enhancing client attraction and retention.
By the end of the five-year plan, Securitas had successfully transformed into a protective solutions provider, leveraging advanced technologies and innovative approaches to live up to its purpose of helping to make the world a safer place.
“We have been delivering on the classic challenge to perform and transform at the same time,” said Helena Andreas.
