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Managing ROI In Security Officer Programs |
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Over view
Security officer programs often languish as underutilized cost centers, and bring headaches to both the organizations they serve and the companies that provide the services. Client businesses are unhappy and frustrated with the level and quality of service provided. They either tolerate a bad situation because they believe they can't significantly improve it, change vendors frequently without getting significantly better results, or take on a different seat of problems by starting a proprietary security officer program. None of these approaches usually delivers a satisfactory solution, but well run programs that deliver the required results are in fact both possible and affordable.
What's Wrong?
In many organizations we have worked with, at least 3 issues from the following list are present:
- Weak Analysis of Needs - Neither the client nor the vendor have put the necessary effort into defining the issues the client wants the security officers to address. This often results in misaligned expectations on both sides, and a mismatch between the skill levels of the assigned personnel and the tasks they are expected to perform.
- Fuzzy RFP - The request for proposal for guard services focuses only on cost and does not tightly define expectations, duties, personnel skill levels, and performance requirements.
 Poor Definition of Duties - An examination of the guard post orders often provides great detail on attendance requirements and uniform items, but very little on what the site duties are and how they are to be performed.- Inadequate Training - Officers are not trained to the point of competence in their assigned duties. Even where good initial training is conducted, it often falls apart as replacements are assigned for guards who have left.
- Weak Supervision - The vendor often focuses primarily on making certain shifts are filled. Little attention is paid to what officers are actually doing. There is little to no assurance that required duties are being performed consistently, especially after hours when guards are alone in a facility.
- Manual Records - Handwritten shift reports accumulate in folders, which accumulate in drawers, which overflow file cabinets. Attempting to locate information on a specific event is a nightmare.
- No Goals and No Metrics - No key performance indicators are established, and there are no management systems in place to determine if security is improving or deteriorating.
- Missed Opportunities - The question of what operations functions guards could support without conflicting with their primary duties is often not asked. Opportunities to have them perform routine inspections of fire extinguishers, emergency lights, IT room temperatures, machinery trouble indicators, etc. which would free up client personnel for other tasks are frequently overlooked.
Don't Give Up - We Can Help
Smooth and effective security officer operations are both possible and affordable. Excaliber Security Services LLC has deep experience with the successful management of security officer operations in a wide variety of environments. Contact us today to see how we can help your organization cure the guard headaches and get a measurable return on your investment in a security officer program.
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Last Updated on Monday, 14 September 2009 14:05 |
