5 Easy Steps to Improving Your Security Guard Service
When property managers hire security guard companies they have an image in your mind of exactly what their contract security force will look like, but too often what they get isn’t what they envisioned. What we have discovered is that almost all security guard companies are capable of providing the service that property managers want, but too often do not due to a lack of ongoing excellent control processes.
Security guard companies are unlike any seller that a property manager usually hires. If you hire a painter, then you are able to see whether they do their tasks by taking a look at the walls. But when you hire a security guard business, how often can you see if the guard organization is doing their job including running background checks and drug screenings, providing good training to your own guards, and effectively tracking and supervising your guards. In most cases they probably are, but it’s crucial to employ a method of verification and quality control to make sure that problems associated with the lack of doing these tasks don’t start to occur.
In this guide we will discuss five (5) easy steps to improving your security guard service and achieving everything you imagine as your ideal gate house security guard.
Screen Your Guards Qualifications
In most states, guards have been mandated to have a specified amount of training before they can start working as security guards. If your condition is one of these states, make sure that your security guard organization is compliant.
If you are in a country where there are no state requirements for shield certificate, then inquire into the type of training that is being provided by your security provider and inquire does it look adequate.
Additionally, is your security guard firm performing background and drug screenings on all of your defenses until they send them to your property? If they’re, they should be providing you with verifications. Otherwise, why?
Another superb method to screen if the guard is a good fit for your property is to perform a short”interview” to get a sense of the guard and also to explain your expectations. This first dialogue will tell you a lot about what to expect from that guard and it gives you a chance to request another guard if you feel that it is necessary.
Evaluate Guard Training
Though most security guard companies have a very comprehensive orientation that introduces each guard to the business itself, in several circumstances the guard’s orientation to his assigned land isn’t quite as complete. We predict the orientation to the assigned land”Site Specific Training”. Learn What your site specific training resembles:
• Does it occur at your property?
• Just how long is each new officer trained?
• Just how long does the security firm double bank? (Double banks is the procedure for experiencing a veteran guard working at the exact same time as the new guard.)
Determine the response to every one of the questions and make sure that they fit with what you feel is sufficient. You should even think about sitting in on your security guard business’s orientation and also your site specific training to get an understanding of what goes on preparing a guard to work at your property.
Review Your Guard’s Supervision
Protect supervision is one of the main factors of good security guard service. When security companies provide poor oversight, there isn’t enough emphasis put on preventing mistakes, problems, and complaints. Deficiency of oversight also removes the chance for the guard to learn and better understand their responsibilities. When the guards are not being supervised, they start to feel that their work isn’t important and they start to see themselves as not as a region of the security team. When guards don’t feel as part of your team it typically contributes to unacceptable practices such as unprofessional behaviour, tardiness, and even theft.
Based on the structure of your contract, onsite managers may not be included. If your contract doesn’t demand on-site supervision, how does your security guard firm remotely supervise its guards? Outside of the normal security firm field manager spot checks, the two methods of remote oversight that prove most effective are: Officer Check-Ins
If your guards must make rounds of your property, then a method for tracking them while on duty is indispensable. Officer Tour Tracking Systems offer a remote means of tracking the guards while they’re in your property. These tracking systems permit the security guard business to track the log and time the action of the guards while they’re making rounds to several areas in your property. Most Officer Tour Tracking Systems can generate reports that empower the security guard firm to quickly get an understanding of if the guard is making rounds. The property manager also needs to be provided with an abridged version of these reports.
In addition to Officer Tour Tracking systems, we have discovered that having a method for guards to check in regularly with the security guard provider provides a method of earning sure that each guard is secure and alert. By having guards check-in regularly together with the security guard business, at least every 30 minutes, guards feel that their security is important and that being awake and attentive is also an significant part their job.
Expand Your Guards
After hours inspections of your guards are almost always good ways of finding out exactly what is occurring with your security while you are not there. During these inspections, make sure to ask your security guards questions regarding their responsibilities and duties to make sure that they understand their tasks. In fact, we suggest getting your security guards audited regularly, formally (i.e. post inspection) and informally (i.e. secret shopped) by a licensed security adviser as part of your ongoing security program.
Firms like Asymmetric Strategies offer a free service aimed at doing precisely that. Remember, when choosing a security adviser be sure that the adviser isn’t actually a security guard business. If so, your audit is sure to develop problems with your existing security guard business.
