Security Tips to Share With a New Security Guard
I was talking with a client once about the importance of providing officers with an appropriate level of training prior to their starting work. That conversation started me thinking about the employee orientation that we provided to our officers before they started working at our clients’ sites. In hindsight, while the orientation was pretty comprehensive, there are a few things that I think we missed. If I were going to do it again, I think I would include some real world, common sense security guard tips in our orientation. Here are a few of the tips that I would give to my security officers.
• Remember that the client is not your friend.
Never confuse the client’s kindness or congeniality with friendship. What the client is showing you by being friendly is that they respect and value the service that you provide. Those kind gestures do not mean that they are willing to overlook any shortcomings or lapses in service. So when the client calls complaining about something that you did, don’t feel betrayed because the client is just doing their job. It’s nothing personal, because as a security officer the client is not your friend.
• Learn to be professional without trying to be friends. Don’t attempt to build friendships. Attempt to build professional relationships that make the client love having you there. That type of relationship makes you more valuable to the client and the security company.
• The difference of the billing rate minus the wage rate is not what the company makes on the contract. So despite all of the rumors security officers hear about how much the company is raking in, the company is not that profitable. Security guard companies have a lot of expenses beyond what they pay their officers. Which takes me to the next point…
• Pricing a security contract is a science that security officers should familiarize themselves with. When you evaluate a security guard contract you have to look at more than just the billing rate and wage rate. You have to look at FUTA, SUTA, General Liability, Workers Compensation, and a dozen other costs. So in the end the $1 – 3 that the security guard company makes per hour really isn’t that much.
• Complaining to the client about how much you make as a security officer doesn’t get you a raise. Nine times out of ten they probably already know. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard about officers complaining to clients about pay. But I do remember that on a number of those occasions, the client asked for the security officer to be removed from the site. To get a raise, one of three things has to happen:
1) A yearly increase is built into the contract that allows for officers to receive raises;
2) There is a wage increment program built into the contract; or
3) The client agrees to a billing rate increase that will allow the officers to receive a raise.
• Not signing your write-up doesn’t really mean anything. If and when you are ever disciplined, whether or not you sign your write-up, it makes no difference. If you don’t sign it, a witness signs it stating that you were informed but didn’t sign. This isn’t a battle you can win, so don’t waste your energy objecting.
• Take responsibility for your own actions and the success of your security team. Taking responsibility will help ensure that the contract for the site that you are working is successful. Because although the management team can provide support for the officers at the site, it is ultimately the officers’ performance that the client uses to judge the success of the contract. Taking responsibility will almost guarantee your success with any security company.
There are probably a dozen more security guard tips that I could come up with, but you will probably come up with your own as you go. Make sure to write them down and incorporate them into your orientation program for your new officers. Of course, one of the most important things you will cover in your orientation is how to write daily activity reports, so let’s talk about how to do that.
