Restless in Riyadh

August 2004

As recent news events have shown, both high- and low-level employees need to be concerned about their personal safety when traveling abroad on business. This is not an area where companies can afford to scrimp. Ensuring adequate executive protection through thorough safety assessments prior to travel is crucial when sending employees into a particularly unstable region of the world.

by David Nicastro
Secure Source, Inc.

It was 3 a.m. when Bob awoke, surrounded in darkness and drenched in sweat. Bob was lying on a concrete floor inside a bare, windowless room somewhere in Riyadh. Bob couldn't remember how long he'd been there. A rope bound his arms behind his back and a black hood was tightened over his head. He had been brutally beaten, and his broken ribs were throbbing, but the pain wasn't as bad as the fear. The captors were holding Bob ransom. Tomorrow, they told him, they were going to make a videotape recording of his "confession" and they advised him to think about what he wanted to say to his wife and young child back in his native Texas. It would be the last time he would speak to them.

The good thing about this situation was that it was only a dream. The bad thing was Bob was blaming me for having it. I felt a little guilty after I answered Bob's phone call, but at the same time, I knew his dream was a small blessing. Even though he lost a little sleep, Bob was already a little safer.

I had been thinking about Bob for a couple weeks, ever since we ran into each other at a mutual friend's birthday party and he told me he might have to travel to the Middle East on business. Bob is a salesman at a mid-sized, North Texas firm that manufacturers gate control mechanisms. His boss had asked him to travel to Saudi Arabia, and possibly even Baghdad, to negotiate several proposed deals. Bob is the company's top salesman and his bosses depend on him. Although the Middle East is beset with violence and political turmoil, it represents a perfect, new market for the company's products. The company is hoping the proposed deals will fuel the growth it needs to become a national player.

At the party, my ears perked up when Bob mentioned the trip. Having worked as a security consultant in Saudi Arabia, I knew about the potential problems Bob might face there and the basic steps he would have to take to ensure a minimal level of security. Bob said he had worked out a good travel plan with his boss and that he was feeling pretty good about the trip. I wasn't so sure. We spent about a half hour talking about security in the Middle East. I guess I caught Bob's attention. When he called to chide me for giving him nightmares, he also asked if we could get together later to talk in more detail about his trip.

Security Issues and Concerns

Bob is in a delicate situation. The proposed deals are a priority for the company and Bob, too, stands to gain a lot: If he closes the deals, Bob will make a pile of cash and most certainly land an executive position at the company. Yet he wonders whether the money and the status are worth the risk. Bob and his wife have a brand new baby girl at home. You might say Bob is caught between Iraq and a hard place.

Bob said he is generally willing to take the trip, but he wants assurance that his company's travel policies are truly adequate. Since the party, he's started to suspect they aren't. In fact, Bob knows that his company prides itself on being lean—management considers that part of its competitive advantage over its larger competitors. Until recently, Bob's bosses have never had to think about security. To make matters worse, they have a tendency of being reactive rather than proactive.

Bob isn't alone. Many businesspeople today are weighing the risks of traveling abroad against the benefits of landing new business opportunities and pleasing their superiors. But no employees should have to find themselves stuck in Bob's situation, wondering if their company has truly taken their personal safety to heart and, more important, dedicated tight company resources to ensuring their safe return.

Their fears and concerns are not misplaced. For most Americans—average citizens, parents, and businessmen—the gut-wrenching horror of September 11 has been replaced by daily reports of foreign workers being kidnapped and publicly executed. Abductions are not a new tactic, but their occurrence has reached an unprecedented level. In July the New York Times reported that Middle Eastern insurgents now use abduction as their primary weapon. Recent reports of kidnappings have involved civilian employees from Kuwait, Kenya, India, Egypt, and, of course, the United States.

"It is unclear to what extent, if any, insurgent groups in Iraq are coordinating the kidnappings of foreigners," the Times reported. "But it is clear that they have grown more clever and adept at using kidnapping as a tool of intimidation and publicity."

Ensuring Adequate Executive Protection

At the moment, most of the reports of civilian kidnappings are being generated from Iraq. But as the news reports make clear, terrorist kidnappings have become a permanent source of concern for personal safety whenever traveling abroad. As a result, "executive protection" is no longer a set of services tailored just for the upper-tier executives at Fortune 500 companies. Instead, all companies that send employees to work or live abroad must now adopt an overall-security policy that encompasses employee security from the moment they land in country until they return home to their families.

I felt a lot better about having disrupted Bob's sleep once we met and Bob explained the steps his company had taken in planning its trip. The company had hired a driver to meet Bob at the airport and arranged to have Bob stay at a luxury hotel. Bob said he was especially pleased with the hotel arrangements, believing them safe because the hotel is owned by a Saudi prince and frequented by Colin Powell and other dignitaries.

I asked Bob what he knew about the driver and he said he was an elderly Philippine gentleman, who reportedly speaks good English. I asked him if anyone conducted a background check on the driver and determined whether he was trained in evasive driving techniques, emergency medical response skills, and other basic security skills. Bob didn't know. I also asked Bob whether his company had made any effort to gather security reports about his hotel. It hadn't, as far as he knew. If Colin Powel stays there, isn't it safe to assume the level of security there will be higher than at other hotels? On the contrary, I said, the hotel was more likely to be targeted for a terrorist act precisely because of its ownership and its reputation for hosting prominent clientele.

As our meeting went on, the list of problems grew. Outside of hiring a driver, Bob didn't know if the company had made any in-country contacts, such as hiring bodyguards and other security personnel. Bob also didn't know if his company carried kidnap or ransom insurance, though he doubted it since company employees rarely traveled abroad. In fact, Bob wasn't even sure if the company had a travel security policy at all. At least, no one from the human resources department had yet discussed such a policy with him.

The Need for a Security Assessment

Indeed, the company hadn't even completed what people in my industry consider the first step of a good security plan: A security risk assessment. These assessments are crucial when traveling into a particularly unstable region, like the Middle East and many other countries, particularly in South America.

Using information complied from government databases, confidential sources and, more important, "on-the-ground" contacts in the designated country, these assessments are informational guides that all travelers need before they venture into troubled waters. They include detailed information about the current political situation in the country, including an accounting of specific terrorist threats and attacks that affect the country as a whole. The reports also contain city-by-city assessments, which entail specific reports of attacks and other security events, such as local crime, committed at hotels and company offices, in public parks, or at other specific locations. It is also important to consider the reputation of local police and healthcare facilities.

Besides giving employees a guide they can carry with them on their trip, these assessments evaluate risks based on threat, vulnerability, and the impact on the business. Typically, risk is assessed as high, medium, or low.

Once an assessment is complete, the next step is to devise a program to mitigate threats by identifying effective security measures relative to each risk level. For example, if a country has no specific threats, a stable economy, and no negative global or regional issues, then a normal security protocol should be put into effect. In a place like Saudi Arabia, where the threat level is high, more specific security resources need to be deployed.

In our industry, we have typically generated these kinds of assessments and the appropriate response plans for top corporate executives and high net worth individuals. As recent news events have shown, lower-rung employees also deserve the same investments in their personal safety.

Conclusion

I encouraged Bob to develop a strategy for discussing his concerns with his boss. In the meantime, I promised to send him a proposal outlining the basic framework of a good security plan. Although Bob was discouraged by some of the information I gave him, he came to realize that these types of security measurers are precautions that have simply become a business necessity. In the end, Bob left the meeting determined to make the trip and optimistic that that the subject of conversation will be much brighter when we get together next year to celebrate our friend's birthday.

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