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Building a better security
officer
By Mark Smith
SMITH PROTECTIVE SERVICES,
INC.
Part Two:
Hiring and inspiring
Maybe there should be just one question on the Security Officer Employment Application -
�Do you care about other people?�
If they answer �No,� don�t hire them. Why? Because the job of a security officer is to be aware and watch out for the property of others, acting as another pair of eyes. If they do not care about other people, they will not care about your customers, and the customers will know it. If their sole motivation is doing the minimum to collect a paycheck, they may not spot that door ajar; they may be sloppy about their rounds; they may not stop and think before speeding down the road in your company vehicle; they may have no qualms about being distracted by �personal business� on company time.
If they answer �Yes,� consider them potential security officer material. Why? Because caring about other people means they will be open to the Golden Rule of Private Security: �Watch out for the good of the customer and you will keep them as a customer and keep your job, too.� Certainly aptitude and desire to work in the security field play the most significant part in making a good security officer, but if they have that extra ingredient of caring about others, they will be more diligent about their duties, they will know that their job is important, and they will understand that in doing their job well they are providing peace of mind to the customer, which after all is what the customer bought and paid for.
Of course, the question: �Do you care about other people?� is not on the Employment Application, so how do you tell if an applicant cares about people and will make a good security officer? As a Polygraph Examiner, I used to ask examinees to tell me about the job they were applying for. Did they know what the job was? Did they appear willing to do it? I asked them about their job history. Were they job-hoppers, indicating that they could not get along well with people? These are clues which can help you.
Still, there are no guarantees. In the end is up to you and your designated managers to convey the desired attitude to the personnel you do hire. Ask your officers how they would feel if they hired someone to watch their home or business overnight and that someone didn�t do it. Teach your employees how to mentally put themselves in the customer�s shoes before every shift - remembering that the customer is counting on them to be there when they cannot, to keep watch over something of value to that customer, whether it is a warehouse full of pricey goods or only a parking lot.
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