Bradford College principal in job swap

The principal of Bradford College posed as a security officer as part of an ‘undercover boss’ project.

David Harwood swapped his suit and laptop for a security uniform and radio and walked the floors of the college’s various campuses across the West Yorkshire city.

It was a chance for the executive to see how the students and security team interact and he was pleased with what he discovered.

“It was an interesting and useful exercise,” said Mr Harwood.

“I chatted with lots of students, telling them it is my first day on the job with the security team. I asked them to tell me what security is like in college and the feedback was brilliant.

“The students said the security officers were friendly and welcoming. They all had positive views about the team and what they do. I asked students if they felt safe in the college and they overwhelmingly said they do and said they welcome security being around.”

It was the latest in a series of job swaps for Mr Harwood who, since joining the college 18 months ago, has also gone undercover as a receptionist, as a cleaner and even spent a day as a student while a student filled his shoes in return.

He said: “It is part of a programme I have got of trying out other people’s roles across the college.

“It gives me as principal a real insight into the daily challenges people face in doing their job.

“We make decisions at executive level and it is interesting to see how they impact on the ground.

“We have around 4,000 16-18-year-olds and 9,000 adults at Bradford College. That is a huge number of students and we want the college to be a safe place to be. Our security team plays a huge role in that so it was interesting and informative to spend the time with them.”

Security at Bradford College is provided by Churchill Services Solutions. The firm secured the contract last September.