With the complexity and diversity of security management tasks today, adequate initial train- ing for security personnel is expected. This may be supplemented by ongoing in-service train- ing for operational workers. Managers and executives also require further development
through education at conferences, seminars, and academic courses. Such training some- times seems costly to managers who do not understand its benefits. Training should be planned to achieve or exceed the objectives of the employer. A variety of training meth- ods can be considered to meet the requirements of cost-effective learning. Workplace training requires validation and review as well as long-term evaluation and follow-up.
D
ISCUSSION ANDR
EVIEW1. What are the salient arguments for training new security personnel?
2. How has the Information Age affected content and delivery of training programs?
3. What appears to be the main emphasis to the eight-hour pre- assignment training course proposed by the Task Force on Private Security? What is the reasoning behind pre-assignment training? Three decades later, are those educational goals still relevant?
4. Define ongoing training and compare it with in-service training.
5. What are the strengths of the case history method for training? What are its weaknesses?
6. Under what circumstances would management provide “T” group in- service training?
7. What are the inherent limitations in measuring the effectiveness of training? What reasonable measures might a manager take to collect data to help assess a recently completed training program?
E
NDNOTES1 J.B. Hylton (April 1998). “Is Security Training Getting Short Shrift in Schools?”
Security Management, p. 102.
2 M. Fletcher (October 1995). “Encouraging Safety Not Always Easy.” Business Insurance, p. 3.
3 D.A. Maxwell (1993). Private Security Law: Case Studies. Boston, MA: Butterworth- Heinemann, p. 15.
4 L. Thornburg (January 1988). “Investment in Training Technology Yields Good Results.” HR Magazine, p. 37.
5 National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals (1976).
Report of the Task Force on Private Security. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, p. 87.
6 Plaintiffs’ lawyers frequently include “negligence in training” in civil actions when it is alleged that a tort to the plaintiff would not have occurred had the security employees directly involved been better trained.
7 The New York State Security Guard Act of 1992 [Article 7-A of General Business law], as amended in 1994, provides a state registry of security officers including their current license status. Potential security guard employees are fingerprinted by licensees or other designated persons or entities. The fingerprint cards originally were screened by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Crime Information Center. The law was later amended and reduced the criminal records check to the state database. However, as of
Endnotes 119
May 2005, the state law again was amended to require the FBI background check. Other states continued to use the FBI database.
8 The case history method in professional schools presents the student with detailed and accurate facts about a situation as the basis of classroom discussion. A possible security- oriented case history: A department faces reorganization due to a merger. How should the new structure operate?
9 L. Rae (1986). How to Measure Training Effectiveness. New York, NY: Nichols Publishing Company, p. 4.
A
DDITIONALR
EFERENCESM. Adams (February 1999). “Training Employees as Partners.” HR Magazine, pp. 65–70.
S.M. Brown and C.J. Seidner (Eds.) (1988). Evaluating Corporate Training: Models and Issues. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
J.D. Calder and D.D. Sipes (April 1992). “Crime, Security, and Premises Liability:
Toward Precision in Security Expert Testimony.” Security J. 3(2):66–82.
J.D. Facteau (1995). “The Influence of General Perceptions of the Training Environment on Pretraining Motivation and Perceived Training Transfer.” J. of Management 21(1):1–25.
I.L. Goldstein (1989). Training and Development in Organizations. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass Publishers.
International Foundation for Protection Officers (1998). Protection Officer Training Manual, 6th ed. Boston, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann. (An Instructor’s Guide for the 6th edition is also available.)
J.P. Leeds (October 1994). “Legal Concerns in the Use of Psychological Screening Tests.”
Security J. 5(4):212–16.
L.G. Nicholson (1997). Instructor Development Training: A Guide for Security and Law Enforcement. Boston, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.
R.J. Phannenstill and F.S. Horvath (July 1991). “A Comparison of Computerized Interviewing of Job Applicants with a Personal Security Interview.” Security J. 2(3):172–79.
M.A. Quiñones (1995). “Pretraining Context Effects: Training Assignment as Feedback.”
J. of Applied Psychology 80(2):226–38.
W.C. Taylor (April 23, 2006). “To Hire Sharp Employees, Recruit in Sharp Ways.”
New York Times, sec. BU, p. 3.
5
121
Supporting and
Motivating Supervisors and Staff
There are few jobs more difficult but at the same time more interesting than that of supervising people.
—William R. Van Dersal
Executives and managers work through other people. No matter how talented the CEO, COO, CSO, and other “C-level” senior and middle management may be, results are achieved through the combined efforts of the larger organization working together. A key component to operational success of the organization are supervisors. Supervisors may be termed first-line managers—the lowest level of the managerial hierarchy, but management nonetheless. Supervisors differ from middle and senior managers in having larger direct- ing and controlling responsibilities and less to do with planning, organizing, and staffing.
The titles of those subordinate to supervisors differ according to the nature of the employer. Operational level security staffers may receive titles specific to their position, such as security guard or officer; agent; investigator; store detective; alarm console opera- tor; firefighter; or documents classifier. A few organizations use vaguer titles, such as asso- ciate or team member. Generically, these individuals may be termed “staff” (not to be confused with headquarters senior staff) or simply “workers.” Senior management often seeks to find a dignified, innovative, and enhancing term to refer to such personnel. For this chapter, first-level managers will be referred to as supervisors and the individuals they oversee will be referred to as staff. The term “worker” is not pejorative, of course, and is used interchangeably in various contexts by many management writers and educators.
S
UPPORTINGS
UPERVISORS ANDS
TAFFFor the work to be achieved and the desired results attained, management must not only provide ample workers capable of achieving or surpassing goals, they must also provide different types of support so that these staff members can thrive. The best planning and best team of coworkers will come to naught if those persons do not have what they need.
In a sense, the failure of the staff in such circumstances is a failure of management. The requirement of routine supplies, vehicles, and other resources is clear enough. Less obvious
are the procedural support commitments that are found in higher performing organizations.
The first section of this chapter, therefore, considers these specific needs for this cadre of workers. Nobody, for example, would blame an autoworker on an assembly line for not doing his or her fair share if that person didn’t possess critical parts or tools needed to do the job. The same analogy holds with security employees, though in most cases what these individuals require are not nuts, bolts, and side panels, but mostly intangibles that are central to getting the job done. Providing the staff with various support items and resources is not merely a desirable action for first-line and middle management, it is a duty: their duty.
To achieve desired results, management plans conscientiously so that resources are ready before they are likely to be needed by supervisors or staff. But before that occurs, it is necessary to find the right person for the right slot. That is the role of placement.
Placement
Fitting people and their jobs together is the first step in successfully bringing newly trained workers into the job stream. Management has determined that openings are available for particular shifts, days, and levels of experience. The human resources and training officer plan the assignment so that newly trained workers can be placed in positions to work without delay. Prior to the assignments, the supervisor is consulted on facts involving new staff workers assigned to his or her unit. At this point, the supervisor may review the train- ing files and pertinent information about the new worker. He or she may conduct a brief interview to ascertain that the nature of the job and the characteristics of the worker are compatible. This is no time for uncertainty. For example, if the new employee begins by working the night shift, is he or she truly prepared to accept that assignment for a mini- mum period of time? This is when the supervisor determines whether any reasons exist as to why the placement would not be successful. In addition to scheduling issues, the super- visor will review the particular nature of the position to assure that the fit for the worker to the position is appropriate. This includes an analysis of:
• The specific nature of the tasks to be performed
• The knowledge required for the site and the particular duties
• Past unusual occurrences at the work site to which the new worker must be capable of responding
• The equipment, supplies, and systems the security worker will require
• Any particular physical requirements, such as lengthy standing or walking, or the possibility of having to endure substantial temperature changes during a tour
• Any unusual requirements relative to the site and the position
Supervisors are likely to take for granted the physical circumstances of the job and the particularities of the personalities involved. This attitude could be counterproductive to staffers’ success. Therefore, the supervisor needs to consider carefully any means by which the new worker might not succeed in this placement and ascertain how further information or additional support might help mitigate any possible assignment difficulties early on.
Providing new employees with a personal welcome is practiced at some workplaces.
At Southwest Airlines, the new-hire orientation program includes signage: “New Hire
Celebration: You, Southwest, and Success.” Thus, Southwest Airlines provides an oppor- tunity for new workers to be welcomed by their peers in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere, focused on success. In many organizations new supervisors are taken to lunch or offered some other welcoming gesture by the supervisor’s manager.1
Within the context of supervision, several principles guide the relationship between supervisor and the supervised. The principles that need to be learned when a staffer is promoted to supervisor or when an outside person is hired into a primary or secondary management position include:
1. Staffers must understand exactly what is expected of them. Much of the information shared between the supervisor and the new worker will have been covered during training. However, such training is not generally site specific. The supervisor provides her or his own second orientation as a specific introduction to the job.2This process is highly meaningful as the staffer is about to start working and knows that pleasing his or her supervisor now will become a priority at the new assignment.
During this second orientation, the supervisor likely reviews topics of utmost importance at the time the worker begins the assign- ment. A number of issues are routinely covered at such times:
• A few words about ethics and fair working conditions. Security people work with the trust of others. Trade and professional organizations have codes of ethics, binding the members who belong to such groups.
But ethical issues do not stop there. At the job site, the nature of the ethical commitment of the organization itself and the nature of the tasks to be performed by the worker need to be reviewed. This is the time for the supervisor to make sure instructions are understood.
This is also an occasion to make clear the extent to which the supervisor will be available for assistance, the ability to contact other coworkers on the job sites for any assistance, and steps to take in an emergency situation.
The supervisor may communicate informally a message: “You are fortunate to be joining the leading manufacturer of smart widgets in the industry [or whatever the organization does]. Since the day this company was founded, all of us here have been committed to serving our customers with the best products and services. Our commitment to fair, honest, and honorable dealings equally involves vendors and employees. Security is important in our success and growth.” The new staffer may be referred to the organization’s ethical statement and information on the workplace ethics and ethos. This statement may be printed in the employee handbook or be posted at different locations in the workplace. By taking a moment to call the worker’s attention to these statements, the supervisor is bound to enhance their importance in the new staffer’s estimation.
The supervisor may point to the statement of principles involving dignity and fair play for all employees. If an employee has a complaint and it cannot or is not handled adequately by the supervisor, the new staffer should learn that higher management will be available to hear
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the dispute or issue. If the general manager has an open-door policy, this fact should be mentioned as well. These comments are relevant for proprietary organizations. When employees for the outside contractors have unresolved workplace complaints, mechanisms for dealing with them should be structured and communicated to those involved.
• What the organization does. After a period of orientation and training, it might be assumed that the new worker has a clear idea of what the organization actually does. This is not usually a safe assumption. The supervisor should therefore discuss with the new employee the work output of the organization: what it does; what the strategy appears to be; what the organization is particularly proud of;
and what current challenges and difficulties the organization faces.
Having established the ethical nature of the workplace, the supervisor should make it clear what the organization stands for and what impediments are in the way of the goal being achieved.
The new staffer may think that he or she knows what the organization’s reason for being is, and probably does to some extent.
But relating what takes place at the job site and putting it into a larger framework of the organization’s total goals and strategy is useful and valuable in the early interactions between the supervisor and new staff members.
• What the job involves. The training received by the new worker is valuable, providing general, legal, operational, and emergency information to the new security worker. But on the job site itself, the nature of the tasks to be performed by the worker need to be reviewed.
This is the time for the supervisor to make sure instructions are understood. This is also the period to make clear the extent to which the supervisor will be available for assistance, the ability to contact other coworkers on the job sites for any assistance, and steps to take in an emergency situation.
Initially, the new worker is likely to assist the efforts of an experienced person who acts as an on-the-job trainer and facilitator for the new staffer. The supervisor usually introduces the two parties to each other and observes the nature of the interaction. If the on-the-job trainer previously has not trained a new worker, the supervisor will stay in touch with both on a more frequent basis than would otherwise be the case. Before leaving the new worker with the experienced security staffer, the supervisor may again review important aspects of the job. The supervisor also will emphasize possible pitfalls and ask whether the new worker understands what has been said and whether he or she has any other questions.
• Where to get what’s needed for the job. The new staffer will need access to a supervisor and coworkers in order to obtain general information. Specialized information and supplies and services may be needed for the position as well. The worker will be on post and may need instant help, replacement parts for equipment that fails, or routine supplies that are unexpectedly exhausted.
• How the quality of work is to be measured. Workers in production and service positions are interested in learning what the quality of work is to be expected. This is particularly the case when trainers have stressed how the organization places emphasis on superior results.
Security officers may have the quality of their work assessed primarily by direct observation and frequent interaction with supervisors.
However, other methods are also available, including measurements and electronic recordings of data collected by the officer; observations and informal and formal reports by other workers; observations and reports by senior managers interacting with security personnel; and questionnaires and comments from the public.
Alarm monitoring operators may have quality of their work measured by the speed, manner, and accuracy with which an alarm condition is responded to. Central monitoring operations often have quality control standards that will be subject to supervisory or management review.
Investigators usually are evaluated on the accuracy, completeness, and insightful evaluation of the investigative reports they complete.
Such reports may be required for use in legal actions. Investigators often are separately judged by how well they use databases to speed their fact-finding. Further, the ability to interview others well, including obtaining signed significant statements, are attendant to evaluation of early stage performance by investigators.
Armored car personnel may be measured by the care and accuracy by which they note the deliveries and pickups from the various locations on their routes. Attention to security procedures will be another factor in determining quality of job performance. For example, does the guard vary routine as much as possible? Are firearms maintained in a safe and responsible manner? Does someone remain locked within the armored vehicle at all times, if company policy requires this measure?
Cash-handling back-office personnel are similarly assessed by the accuracy and speed of their work. The ability to handle exceptions smoothly is a measure of performance.
Security technicians are judged by their ability to complete a task fully, without the need for subsequent service calls. For example, a particular alarm system installer might take a few minutes longer than a peer to install a system. But that technician may complete the job with higher quality and instruct users on applications well so that further service calls will be less frequent.
The staffer may be informed that quality is a constant issue to be discussed with the supervisor. However, near the end of the probationary period and during formal reviews, the results of such findings will be discussed specifically.
• How the quantity of work is to be measured. Quality matters; however, quantity does as well. In security work, the nature of tasks performed by security personnel is increasingly measurable by security systems that
Supporting Supervisors and Staff 125
track completed tasks. Quantity of tasks completed by personnel is an important and usual basis of evaluating workplace performance.
Security officers may be measured by the frequency of security rounds to posts they must cover. Also, the number of specific recorded services may be a basis of evaluation. For example, the actions of security officers who conduct escorts, key runs, or vehicle checks may be recorded by data entry systems. Over time, these will serve as a basis for comparison between security guards working during similar time shifts. Such reports may also be aggregated to document total services performed by the security unit over a period of time to the entire organization.
Alarm monitors may be evaluated by the number of customer interactions during a work period. To be sure, a low number of alarm conditions may not reflect badly on a monitoring operative if that is the reality. In such cases, however, management will wish to evaluate the circumstance to determine whether an alternative way of managing alarms could be arranged to achieve optimal use of personnel
if an alarm monitor is not busy enough. In handling telephone
communications with system customers, management may set a desired goal of maximum average customer contact time, for example, two minutes. Signals to the operator and supervisor can indicate when that point has been reached.
Armored car personnel may be monitored by the time required for the number of runs assigned to the group for the course of a shift.
Security technicians may be judged by the number of installations and service calls completed during a period of work. Depending on the nature of the tasks, the assessment may be on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Adjustments can be made for time off or other circumstances that otherwise would make comparison meaningless.
In many cases, the quantity of work completed by security service workers is not comparable to that of other employees where measurable units of production or sales can be counted.
That does not imply, however, that supervisors and their managers are not concerned about measuring the quality and quantity of individual personal efforts. Supervisors and their managers constantly search for fair, logical means by which work can be measured and assessed.
• Relevant resources. The supervisor will make the new staffer feel more prepared to deal with the tasks at hand by providing resources directly related to the organization and to tasks at the specific job site. Here are some important examples:
• Procedure manual and post orders. In many security positions, a manual will outline the workplace tasks and expectations.
Additionally, specific post orders describe what is required of the worker for the specific work station. The supervisor will review these site-specific requirements, making sure the material has been thoroughly covered. The post orders may consist of at most a few