Background
He is presently Deputy Chairman & Group Executive Director of Pathfinder Group, based at Karachi. He has over 48 years of Management and Security Experience in both Military and Govt/ Private Sector. In his 27 Years of Army tenure, he held various command, instructional and other appointments. He also remained Instructor at PMA (Pakistan Military Academy) and OTS (Officer Training School). He has also done Senior Management Course at Army School of Logistics.
After retirement, he joined Special Investigation Wing (ISI) in February 2000, which was working in support of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Sindh. Later, he was appointed as Additional Director NAB and served in this position till July 2004.
He joined Security & Management Services (Private) Limited (SMS) on 26 January 2005 and has over 18 years rich experience in different positions such as (1) MD Cash in Wackenhut Pakistan (as part of G4S, a multinational Group, in March 2007) profoundly managed business of Cash Division for over four years meeting annual targets and winning rewards/ bonuses every year, (2) As MD Guarding Division (in August 2009) he was declared a Star of Wackenhut Pakistan during NAME-SA (North America, Middle East and South Africa) Conference in Vietnam as part of G4S, (3) MD Cash & Deputy CEO (in 2008), (4) Acting CEO WPPL (in Feb 2011), (5) CEO WPPL (in April 2012) hereafter WPPL became 100% Pakistani Company, (6) Appointed Group Executive Director Pathfinder Group in August 2014, (7) COO of SMS (Pvt.) Limited in January 2016, remained Advisor to the Chairman from 2018 to Jan, 2023.
He then became, Deputy Chairman & Group Executive Director, Pathfinder Group in Feb, 2023.
He also attended various Seminars/Annual Conferences in Thailand, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Vietnam and Cyprus. He attended training in Finance in Dubai and Risk Management Training in UK.
Interview
Q. Thank you for giving your time for this interview. Seeing your 48 Years rich experience, both in Army/ Govt and Private Sector, you have served in numerous positions, especially in Pathfinder Group. Can you share this successful transformation of companies into a Group, its background/history and how it reached to the present stage as a dynamic business Group?
Ans. Pathfinder Group started with Security & Management Services in the Year 1987 (Aug, 27), starting with 11xguards. The founding Chairman laid more emphasis on the quality of its services. Very soon SMS became a quality symbol in the security industry. Then came SMSESS, dealing with Electronic Services, Cash in Transit Service, Research and Collection Services. All this was part of SMS. In Year 2007, it started joint venture with a multinational Security Group G4S Company Wackenhut which was a Cash in Transit and Guarding Company. All components became part of Wackenhut (Pvt) Ltd. Pathfinder parted its way from G4S in Year 2012 and purchased G4S shares of Wackenhut and SMS. As a result, Pathfinder once again became 100% Pakistani Group. Ikram Sehgal, then Chairman of the Group reorganized the whole Group. Wackenhut Pakistan, SMS, SMSESS, RCS, FSMS became separate companies which were previously divisions of Wackenhut Pakistan. The Chairman then brought all these companies under umbrella of Security Services Division enabling it to provide One Window Integrated Security Services.
After successful experience of establishing a Security Service Group, he turned towards Finance and Technology companies. In this first two companies which were formed were Virtual Remittance Gateway (VRG) and i3 Pathfinder Solutions, followed by iPath and Futafut Company. Now these companies are part of FSTD (Financial Services & Technology Division). Both Divisions combined together make the present Pathfinder Group which is progressing very well under the visionary leadership of our Chairman, Mr. Zarrar Sehgal and Co-Chairman, Mr. Ikram Sehgal, the Founding Head of the Group.
Q. Private Security Companies in Pakistan have a very challenging task. There are hundreds of small and large security companies operating in the country. How Pathfinder has emerged so successful inspire of such a competition and has been able to distinguish itself so well. What are the key drivers which keep your guards motivated and energetic, unlike rest of the companies?
Ans. Basically, Pathfinder Group believes in Quality and Merit, which unfortunately, does not exist in many of the small security companies. Our monitoring Mechanism is well organized and thorough which ensures Quality Services Delivery and Continual Improvement, which are the source of customer and market confidence and trust.
Guards’ performance/ conduct is being monitored by various tiers of Management and clusters monitoring teams, starting from COO down to Branch Managers and Patrolling Supervisors. All of them visit the locations to ensure provisioning of quality services to the client, besides solving guards issues (if any). Moreover, 24/7 monitoring teams include MCTs (Motorcycle Teams) who visits the locations at different times during day/night and report it to management for corrective actions if required. Also feedback is taken from every client, which is reviewed by Management to analyze areas of weaknesses and take additional measures to avoid recurrence.
Some of the good measures taken by the management are that the guards/ supervisors are given certificates/ cash rewards in the form of (1) Monthly Guard of the Month, (2) Supervisor of the Month, (3) Best Crew and Driver of the Month, (4) Performance based bonus (5) Taking proper care of the guards and provision of all possible facilities which we shall further discuss during the course of interview.
For continual improvement, meetings/reviews are held, issues discussed and decisions given by Management to get the things done, these includes (1) Daily SSD Meeting headed by Co-Chairman personally through Zoom, (2) Weekly RCC (Regional Coordination Committee) Meeting, (3) Monthly Progress Meeting (4) Annual Risk Management, (5) Bi-Annual SMG (Senior Management Group) Meeting. Matters of high priority are escalated and resolved without waiting for the scheduled meeting. Besides this, as per ISO standards a dedicated team ensures operational audit of all locations at regular interval and reports are prepared for taking necessary actions before Annual Global Audit by MSS Global.
Q. Pathfinder Group, is one of the largest security services provider in Pakistan, can you throw some light on the products offered by different companies of Security Services Division?
Ans. Pathfinder Group, over the period has grown manifolds rapidly and has emerged as the largest provider of Integrated Security Services. While maintaining high quality services, this is the only Group which can provide One Window Shop Services with customized end-to-end solutions. Despite business slowdown in the country, we still find that the security industry is growing.
The Group is spread Pan Pakistan in over 50+ cities/ towns with having over several thousand employees. SSD (Security Services Division) provides complete and customized manned/un-manned and electronic security services solutions.
Since August, 1987; SMS (Security & Management Services Pvt. Limited), is providing Guarding services including (1) Security Guards, (2) Bodyguards, (3) Close Protection Officers, (4) Executive Protection Escort Services, (5) Events Security and (6) Project Management for successive contracts like US Embassy/Consulates in Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi for the last 35 years, as well as leading MNCs besides residential complexes, retail and trade outlets, banks, embassies/consulates, government and non-government organizations and a wide range of industries. SMS became the First Private Security Company not only in Pakistan but in the developing countries which got three ISO Certifications at one time (ISO 9001:1994 (First Company in 1999), ISO 9001:2015 and also Quality Assurance & Operations certifications under ANSI/PSC.1 and ISO 18788:2015.
Since December 1992, Group was doing Cash in Transit business, being part of SMS, however after acquisition of WPPL, this became part of WPPL. Since than, WPPL is providing (1) Cash in transit services across 65 stations/ cities/ towns Pan Pakistan, having over 400 clients with its fully armored/ imported cash in transit fleet comprising 390 vehicles providing secure and safe bulk cash delivery in time to customers. To maintain these vehicles we have own workshops at different places in the country. In addition to this, WPPL also provides (2) ATM replenishment services, (3) Vaulting services and (4) Cash Processing Centers (CPCs) recently established countrywide.
ESS (Electronic Safety Services Pvt Ltd), provides (1) Home Alarm Systems, (2) Remote CCTV Monitoring & (3) Satellite Vehicle Tracking Services. ESS provides services to government organizations, diplomatic missions and international agencies, multinational corporations, the financial, petro-chemical, mining, transport, retail, commercial and industrial sectors as well as individuals. To support and back ESS monitoring, SMS and Wackenhut together operates 24/7/365 full- fledged Control Rooms (CRs) with state of art facilities, operating across Pan Pakistan, who in collaboration with specially trained Response Forces (Sabre Hunter Group comprising of Motor-cycle Teams and Vehicles) provides Monitoring and Response Mechanism. This arrangement remains round the clock. As part of the Business Continuity Plan, we have back-up Control Rooms to ensure continuity of our business during crisis.
RCS (Research & Collection Services) is providing security surveys, security audits, debt realization/ stolen assets recovery to world organizations and Govt/ Semi- Govt departments, financial institutions and private clients. RCS also conducts credential based background screening and verification of employees and clients.
FSMS (Facility Specialist & Multi Services) is providing Employees Outsourcing, Meet & Greet Services and Training. It has under it training institutes at Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad known as Pathfinder Training Facility (PTF).
Now as regards FSTD (Financial Services & Technology Division), it came into being in Year 2013. Starting with VRG as a flagship followed by other companies as well. I shall now share with you each company and its products/ services.
VRG was formed in 2013 which has focused on providing Financial Inclusion to Financially Excluded and under banked population. It holds Pakistan’s first PSO/ PSP & TPSP licenses by SBP & PTA, Electronic Payment Gateway enables Interoperability between Telcoms and Banks, making it for the first time a true Many-to-Many model in Pakistan in shape of Asaan Mobile Account. For public sector, it has established G2P (Government-to-Person) Payments aimed towards Social Fund disbursement from beneficiary enrolment to Cash-Out at Interoperable Agent Location.
I3Pathfinder Solutions provides IT infrastructure sales & support, BPO, Security Solutions & Consultancy. It has managed many diverse projects in Telcom Solutions, SMS Marketing and ICT Analytics.
iPATH provides Fintech and Health-Tech solutions, these includes (1) Financial middleware, (2) API gateway, (3) Payment Gateway, (4) Payment Card Solutions, (5) Open Banking, (6) Digital Wallets, (7) Health Record Platform. It is the first Pakistani company to attain Payment Card Industry Council Secure Software Lifecycle Certificate. Secure SLC is first Global PCI standard to focus on vendor’s software development process.
FUTAFUT is providing digital and financial inclusion tools to retailers, merchants with medium- large scale enterprises, empowering end-to-end digitalized shopping experience. It is focused to bring digitalized payments and reduce use of cash by not offering cash-on-delivery option. It processes payments via bank cards, accounts, and regulated wallets along with Asaan Mobile Account. This gives Futafut near real-time settlements for both merchant/ retailers and riders.
Q. In Private Security Companies, normally it is observed that security guards are not properly taken care of in terms of salary, healthcare and their welfare. What does Pathfinder Group offer to their guards and employees in this regard?
Ans. Obviously every employee works for better Perks and facilities. We therefore provide: (1) Better Salary package, (2) Timely Payment of Salary, (3) Monthly Bonus, (4) Elena Care Health Program, (5) 24/7 in-house Medical Centers in Big Cities, (6), Living Accommodation, (7) Pick & Drop service to those living in Company Accommodation, (8) Subsidized food, (9) Welfare Package which consist of (a) Life insurance Cover (b) Provision of Quality medicines and injectable, free of cost (c) EOBI & Social Security coverage, (d) Provident Fund Contribution, (e) Promotions and Annual Increments (f) Complete Career progression, (g) Training Facilities include training abroad of selected employees from Supervisor to Senior Managers, (h) Hajj & Umrah Package, (i) Pension Benefit for widows, (j) Scholarship for guards wards at Cadet College Jajja, (k) All those who are willing to serve after 60 years age are given opportunity to serve in the VPU (Veterans Protection Unit), specially created for them. This has been done, with a view to ensure that all interested guards remain in service even after reaching the age of retirement.
Q. In general public there is a perception that security companies select/ deploy substandard guards without adequate training who ultimately bring bad name to the Security Industry. How do you go about it?
Ans. The reason why all MNC’s and Top Clients trust Pathfinder Group more, is due to our (1) Training Facilities, our selection criteria which ensures proper recruitment, besides (2) initial Medical Fitness is done by Company Doctor, (3) in 15x Days Training lectures and practical scenario training is imparted and written test conducted, after which (4) Qualification Fire is done at Firing Range, (5) Background check by RCS is done before deployment at clients location, after which (6) individual is given a location to perform duty.
After deployment, on job training on locations is conducted at different intervals and debriefing done by team to ensure that guards are well oriented with procedures and remain confident to act suitably in case of any emergency. Annual firing of all guards is also conducted/ weapons tested.
Q. You are such a large group involving thousands of personnel. How did you manage security services during COVID?
Ans. Soon after the start of the COVID in 2019 in Pakistan, different committees were formed to monitor the spread of COVID. Thorough SOPs was prepared and issued to all concerned for implementation. All those who were suspected of the virus were immediately checked by the Company Doctor and segregated, kept in the separate rooms for the specified number of days. They were again tested by the Doctor and based on the result, if found fit were taken on duty.
Simultaneously, arrangements were made for the vaccination throughout the country and the Group ensured that everyone was given First and Second Dose progressively as per the policy given by the Government. As a result, 100% vaccination was ensured. Due to this, there was not even a single casualty in the entire Group as a result of COVID.
Q. What services Pathfinder Group renders as part of Corporate Social Responsibilities.
Ans. Pathfinder Group provides various social services which includes (1) Provision of Security Services to the Churches in Pakistan on Sundays (free of cost), (2) Medical OPD’s services are provided to common citizens residing around our Pathfinder Facilities, (3) Establishment of Heat Stroke Relief Centers to facilitate general public, (4) Distribution of free rations to public during Earthquake/Floods/COVID, (5) Special Welfare Center has been established at Pabbi (KPK Province), this includes provision of free ambulance service for shifting of patient to hospitals, free medicines, services of doctor, delivery of lectures on hygiene and sanitation.
This facility also has stitching & basket making centers for females, in this material is provided by the Group, the product is sold in the market at higher price, thereby giving good return to these families. The Group is now spreading these social services to other areas of the country.
Q. What would be your concluding comments about such a success about the Pathfinder Group?
Ans. Such an achievement by the Pathfinder Group though has been possible due to Visionary leadership of Mr. Ikram Sehgal. However, it would not have been possible without a dedicated team of senior, mid-level manager, supervisors and the motivated guard force. In fact over the period of time Ikram Sehgal transformed the entire team into a Pathfinder Family which he proved through his actions. He has always led his team from the front and shared with everyone down to guard force the fruits of such a progress.
He does not let go any achievement by any individual un-noticed. The same is acknowledged and the concerned person quickly rewarded. Unlike other companies, he has introduced monthly bonuses for the employees and attractive salary packages and other better facilities more attractive than any other security company.
In nutshell, Pathfinder has emerged so prominent because it provides quality services due to its well trained and motivated guard force. It has effective supervisory/ monitoring tools to monitor our services in order to timely rectify the faults. Side by side, there are Control Rooms and Emergency Response Forces which further add to the quality of its services.
For all this, credit goes to the great architect of Pathfinder Group, Mr. Ikram Sehgal and off course with his to all his team member both present and those who are no more with us now.
In the end, if I have to sum-up all the human/ leadership qualities of Mr. Ikram Sehgal, the founding Father of Pathfinder Group in two verses, I would say:-
