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They are the future: Security culture in Serbia must be raised to a higher level

Young security professionals Katarina Ristivojević and Stefan Topalović are this year's winners of the award for the Best physical security employees in one of our regions.
G4S employees Katarina and Stefan.

G4S: How do you see the current security culture in Serbia?

Katarina: Personally, I think that the security culture in Serbia is at a very low level, which is very devastating. Our compulsory schooling lacks a segment that would deal with security in general and that would develop a safety culture at a younger age.

Stefan: As I graduated from the Faculty of Security, I would quote dr Ljubomir Stajic who defined security culture as: "A set of adopted attitudes, knowledge, skills and rules in the field of security, expressed as behaviour and process, about the need, ways and means of personal, social and international values protection from all forms and carriers of threats, regardless of the place or time of their manifestation". As people in our country, both old and young, do not pay enough attention to acquiring these attitudes, knowledge, skills and rules, I think that the security culture in our country is at an unsatisfactory level (on scale from 1 to 10, the score would be 2). This is supported by everyday events, which endanger our security, both internal and external, to which we do not have an adequate response.

G4S: How long have you been a member of our team? What is the role of our company in your professional development?

Katarina: I have been working at G4S since May 2018. I started as a hostess and soon, I became the deputy coordinator at the facility. Today, I am the facility manager, along with my colleague Stefan. During these three years, I have developed a lot in a professional sense, with the help of older colleagues, but also independently. I had great support from my superiors, but I also "stole" a good part of my knowledge by observing them in different situations. At a time when no one was interested in hiring me as a newly graduated student with no experience, G4S gave me the opportunity, for which I am extremely grateful.

Stefan: I have been in the company since July 2018. First I finished one year practice in the Physical security sector of industrial facilities and in July 2019 I started working as a security officer at the facility. Today, I am one of the security managers of that facility. As for my personal development, I tried to learn as much as possible from older colleagues during my internship. When I started working on the facility, I developed my skills independently.

G4S: What is the biggest challenge you face in your daily work?

Katarina: Our position is very responsible and challenging. In particular, the biggest challenge for me was for my colleagues to ignore my age and gender and to accept me as an authority. Currently, the challenges are mostly related to the current situation with coronavirus and they change from day to day. We try to adequately respond to all challenges and maintain an optimal state of security.

Stefan: One of the biggest challenges is to maintain the achieved state of security, and to improve the same as much as possible. However, considering the current situation in our country and in the world, the biggest challenge is certainly to preserve the life and health of our colleagues.

G4S: How do you spend your free time?

Katarina: I like to read and paint, I always try to learn something new and also spend time with people I love.

Stefan: The job I do, as well as the distance to the workplace, do not leave much time for additional activities. However, there is a desire for additional training, so I try to spend my left free time with dear people.

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