Although two decades ago they dealt exclusively with physical and technical security, Secut today offers clients services for security, health and safety at work, professional cleaning, fire protection, couriers, receptionists, secretarial services, waste management, minor repairs…
Our company has for years been working on improving its processes through the digital transformation – says Miroslava Jocić, the CEO of Secut, and points out that they are particularly proud of the various software applications that have been developed for their needs to facilitate and speed up their work processes in all areas of business.
Your company was founded to provide physical and technical security services, but you soon began to expand your business. How did your market position grow?
Our name gives us away, doesn’t it? Secut = security, but Secut is much more than a security company today. We have adapted to the market as quickly and well as we knew how, we have listened and been ready for every new task.
With this approach, we have become one of the leading companies in services. Today, we are recognized on the market for security, professional cleaning, health and safety at work, fire protection, courier services, reception services, waste management, secretarial services, small repairs… We offer everything a company needs that is not its core business.
Is your reference list the best indicator of a successful business?
It definitely is. Our clients actually say the most about who we are. In the 20 years we have been in existence, we have acquired 850 employees, more than 200 satisfied customers and 500 premises that we service. The strength of our clients is our strength and we are keenly aware of it. That’s why everything is dedicated to the client. We are their service, we are at their service 24/7, 365 days a year. We are happy to have clients who recognise our commitment and appreciate our approach.
There is a lot of competition, almost every day new companies are emerging that deal with similar business, but you not only survive, but also continuously acquire new clients. What makes you different?
I don’t know if we are different but I know we have our own style. We are not too big a company for a client to be just a number to us, and neither are we too small a company to dedicate ourselves to each client individually. I think we have chosen the right measure and that is the key to success.
We are aware of both a client’s wishes and the possibilities open to us. The trust that has been built up over these years is important. Our clients know that we will always do our best to complete the task in front of us.
Do the jobs you do require constant learning, professional development, updating to international trends and standards?
Yes, we are constantly improving and learning and that is one of the ways to stay in the game, especially in the field of physical and technical security, risk assessment, fire protection and occupational health… We invest a lot in the development, first of all, of people, and after that of processes. People like to learn and develop, we recognised this and have enabled our employees who have been working in the company since its inception to develop with the company. There is no successful company without successful people, that is the only truth.
The digital transformation has brought you a lot, including “smart cleaning” and Ecobot robots. What are Ecobot robots? Can they replace people?
Ecobot robots are only the more visible part of our transformation. The Secut company has for years been working on improving the process through the digital transformation. Various pieces of software that has been developed according to our needs have facilitated and accelerated work processes in all of our areas of business, and we are very proud of that. By shortening the time for certain processes, we have not reduced the volume of work nor the number of people. On the contrary, it has just helped us to move on and develop.
We are happy to have clients who recognise our commitment and appreciate our approach. Because everything is dedicated to them
Ecobot robots are autonomous floor-cleaning machines. The machine is told what it should wash and when, and it does this entirely by itself. It moves and returns to its station, where it throws out dirty water, takes clean water, plugs in to the charger to recharge its battery and continues cleaning. I am fascinated by their performance, their way of working, precision and reporting. Very intelligent machines. However, they do not replace people, but they free people from routine work and send them to better jobs.
You often point out that investing in Ecobot robots has greatly reduced the operating costs of the company and that the capitalization of the investment increases the value of the company. What does that actually mean?
By using robots, not only do we reduce operating costs but also other, hidden costs that are not immediately visible, which is the management time spent on finding suitable workers, their training, the procurement and servicing of traditional cleaning machines… There are many factors that influence the decision to invest in the Ecobot machine. The return on investment is very short, depending on how well the machine is engaged, the return is from eight months to two years, which is better than excellent.
You have a low staff turnover at all levels. Is that rare for companies in your business?
Yes, for today’s conditions, we have very little fluctuation, which is a very interesting fact, especially for the business we are engaged in. We are fair to all our colleagues, open and honest. What we agree on – we fulfill. Both us and them. And that is the key. Trust.