Anyone who has been in the industry for a few months or more knows that security officers often represent a ‘comfort blanket’ that’s provided for staff and customers alike. Of course you can train them in-house to the specifics of the role, and engage them all with more interesting tasks. They will respond. They are human, after all. We all respond to being engaged and treated with respect. Officers who are treated well will be much better motivated, and a good deal happier. This will reduce sickness and staff churn levels, resulting in a better service to the customers.
However, if you try deploying said officers based on a resource-to-risk strategy, the retail sector managers will be up in arms. Try explaining to those managers that, in truth, most of their sites don’t need an officer presence. Save the – not inconsiderable – costs of deploying the officers by instead engaging store managers, supervisors and general members of staff in an active loss prevention culture. Effective customer interaction will deter crime. Wastage levels will fall. Till losses will be reduced, so too stock losses with extra attention paid to deliveries.
Members of staff in the retail sector can do all of this and more if they are afforded the right leadership, training and some additional staffing hours. Retailers will also save on over-the-top guarding budgets.
I would love to see some independent research on this area. I suspect the MSc that Mike describes was probably funded by the company selling the guarding services.
Jim Gibson MA MCMI MASIS
Head of Loss Prevention and Security
Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes