Security Teams, Pay and Display or an Investment?

The purpose of this article is to shine light on the fact that security officers, not guards are here to stay and will be with you for the foreseeable future. We have been given key worker status by the government for providing essential services during this time of Covid19 and I believe it is time businesses who buy security start recognising the contributions that their security service provides.

There is an argument that you are buying a service and that is the end of the relationship, but you are buying a service that protects your most valuable assets. This purchasing of a service goes beyond things like car washing or a painter and decorator service would and consideration needs to be given to future training investments. Companies who purchase security and companies that supply these services must look at the relationship as a whole and not just supplying bodies in suits to sort of fulfil a function.

Training and ongoing continual professional development can only benefit the company that supplies the officers and the client that retains the services. If you commit time and energy into your security team then the give back will be higher than a less than motivated shift stirrer, plus a motivated and knowledgeable work force can have a positive impact on your brand as a service provider and client. As a client your security service also carries your brand and the security service needs to be seen as an enabler of business rather than a negative must have service. If a client comes to your company and gets a bad service it is reflective on your brand initially and it will always be “X companies security officer was rude” it is never the security companies security officer but the clients security officer.

Reap what you sow

The cost of not investing in your team is greater than the cost of investing time and energy in ensuring your security team is performing optimally. There are many courses that can aid the security department and a gap analysis is needed to go beyond just the typical first aid and CCTV courses.

Demotivation can be a major factor within the security department and complacency destroys many teams. The teams become autonomous and then end up drifting along and you aren't getting a highly energised committed service that go beyond the normal remit of security. The levels drop and the team suddenly stop reporting issues when not acknowledged or noticing hostile reconnaissance attempts. If time is spent on the department and inclusion on issues affecting the buildings they are protecting before they happen then you will get more of a buy in and more actionable intelligence. If your team is more reactive than proactive then the culture needs addressing from you the client and not the service provider and you need to include the security team in your meetings and information. You will be surprised what a daily 10-minute chat with the team can unfold and what you will find out, keeping the security team in the inner communication circle can only benefit you as the client.

That unmotivated officer you have has probably seen and heard more in the last 24 hours than you have found out in the last week.

Investment

"oh, we put our guards on first aid and cctv" is a comment I hear regularly. Firstly, I have a problem with guards as a descriptive for an individual doing security but that's for another time and secondly "AND" please don't be that purchaser or supplier. Security Officers are people and need growing professionally as they do in any other way. Investment in your security team can only bring dividends, especially as security wear many different hats in the course of their duties. For example:

1.   Health and safety duties

2.   Customer Service

3.   Legal knowledge GDPR, Data protection

4.   Mental Health Ambassadors

5.   First Aid

6.   Conflict Management

7.   Risk assessors

8.   Confidant

9.   First on the scene for incidents

10.   Business Continuity

11.   Technology and Reporting

12.   Asset Protection

The list goes on but you get the point, security isn't just about sitting behind a desk anymore it has a whole remit behind the position now. I could really pad this article out and address each point in detail but let me summarise it for you:

the crossover of this department into others is apparent, so we need to train the operatives in quality courses and refreshers.

If something happens in your building or site and you have shifted responsibility of an area which has a legal ramification then ensure you get the team appropriately trained in it. Fire safety being a main point here, your legal responsibility is passed to a untrained security team and when disaster does strike you will be in court and asked why you decided to push that on to an untrained security officer and what checks were in place to make sure things were correct. Now, if the team were trained in a suitable fire safety course or NEBOSH then they would be more aware of the responsibilities and feel more empowered to carry out the checks.

Although you have shifted the responsibility to an untrained security department, you are still accountable for its results.

Security is here to stay

In summary the main message is if you invest in security then you should invest in security. See the team as more than a commodity and please don't buy into the race to the bottom on pricing. A security team that is motivated, accepted as part of the team will give you more than you can imagine for a token investment in them as individuals and their careers. It also covers you when your day to day becomes more stressful but remember shifting responsibility does not eliminate accountability. Companies in the main will invest in what they can with profits being limited, so as a purchaser keep a training budget in mind when you buy security.

With security officers wearing many hats on their day to day jobs we need to ensure that they are trained and motivated to do their jobs correctly and informatively. Address any gaps in the team’s knowledge and refresher training is paramount because you then get skills fade.

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