For many companies, keeping your business secure requires professionally trained and licensed security officers that are immersed in your business culture. It takes time for security officers to learn the ins and outs of your business; ultimately, high turnover rates work to decrease the overall effectiveness of services provided. Having consistent turnover means your business may be constantly staffed by inexperienced officers without the necessary knowledge of your business culture, familiarity with the policies and procedures. Simply put, if you have high officer turnover, it's likely that officers you do receive will be less likely to meet expectations. To keep your business secure and retain quality officers, this article offers tips on how to reduce security officer turnover.

Educate And Update Officers About Your Business 

Every business is different and operations will vary so officers need to be educated about your expectations. Knowing what your business does, who it serves and what types of operations are involved will help officers to better protect your business and its inhabitants. For example, officers who are well versed in business operations can assist visitors by answering any questions they may have or even point them in the right direction if they're lost. You should teach this information in the initial training process and continue to update all officers with any business changes or expectations. This will avoid frustration and confusion while creating a relationship that enhances the level of security and helps the business thrive. 

Explain Business Expectations

Officers receive extensive training from the security company employing them. However, it’s also important to provide clear expectations that describe job responsibilities and specific company policies they need to adhere to. Additionally, the officers should understand your company’s procedure if an incident were to occur. This being said, they should know who to contact, inform and take direction from when duties need to be handled. Security officers should never be asked by employees of the client company to deviate from written procedures without the request going through the proper outlets.

Create Realistic Schedules

Overworking any employee leads to lack of performance and employee frustration. Additionally, be consistent with the schedule to avoid any scheduling issue that may arise. Be sure to make schedules balanced so that all officers receive an adequate number of hours to live on and no individual is overworked. Attempts should be made to accommodate any special scheduling requests of individual officers when applicable without impacting the business. This action shows the officers how valuable they are to your business and that you strive to create a pleasant workforce. 

A security officer will be more inclined to stay with a business that takes their well being into consideration. For example, expecting a security officer to drive to a far off location only to cover a two-hour shift will create tension and leave the officer feeling disrespected. You’ll also have a high turnover rate when scheduling an officer to work all night and expect them back to work early in the morning. Not only will the officers be exhausted unable to offer quality services but they’ll slowly start to resent the business and ultimately quit due to lack of consideration.

Acknowledge Exceptional Performance

It may seem tedious or unnecessary but acknowledging the officers' hard work goes a long way. Letting the officers know that they've gone above and beyond gives them incentive to continue working as hard as they do. Employee recognition is beneficial for the officers but also helps businesses avoid high turnover rates. Recognition promotes good company values and helps employees feel invested and motivated to come to work each day. Here are some ways you can acknowledge hard work: 

• Give a hand written letter of appreciation.
• Create a "security officer of the month" program.
• Send out an email to all employees recognizing the individual's hard work. 
• Treat them to a free lunch.
• Give away gift cards when goals are met. 

Incorporate Officers Into Business Culture

The security officers you work with may be employed by a security company but they are just as much a part as your business as other employees. Therefore, the security officers working for your business should be incorporated into business culture. Many companies offer a range of privileges to their employees such as free parking, cafeterias and company stores. It’s common for these benefits to be offered to employees only, excluding contracted employees such as security officers. As this may be a strict company policy, it is one you should consider removing as this makes the contracted officers feel excluded leading to high turnovers. 

United Security Incorporated | Security Officer Staffing

Although it’s tempting to hire security officers as quickly as possible to protect your property, ultimately it will cost you more than it’s worth in the long term. Hiring unqualified security officers can damage your company’s reputation and financial livelihood, compromising security. It’s best to take your time and develop a hiring process that will help you get the high quality security officers that you need. 

To ensure you're hiring quality security officers that are right for your business, download the checklist below.