Good Security Guards: Why Some Companies Have Them, and Others Don't

The security industry has a well-known reputation for high employee turnover. The reason? Low wages, long working hours and operators poaching guards from one another can result in good guards leaving your company from time to time. If you’ve seen some of your best-performing employees leave your company for another, you may be left wondering where exactly you’ve gone wrong.

It’s unlikely that you have a large enough budget to offer extensive training and development to turn your existing guard force into a dream team of high-quality workers. Your best bet is to work on retaining the excellent security guards you already have, in addition to attracting great officers in the future. So, what does it take to attract and retain quality employees? And how can you become one of those companies that has great security guards?

Retain Great Employees

Working on retaining your best existing security guards is the most cost-effective way to improve your force. Focus on fixing some of the most common issues that may contribute to an employee’s departure, such as:

• Few advancement opportunities. Often, security guards view their position as a dead-end job without opportunity to advance in their career.
• Poor work/life balance. Working night shifts can make it difficult for guards to find time for family and interests.
• Negative view of management. In many security companies, employees have little recourse if their supervisor or manager is doing a poor job of communicating, scheduling, etc.

The good news is that these issues can be addressed in order to hold on to your best security guards. It’s important to ensure your employees feel like they are working with the company towards a common goal to create loyalty and a sense of belonging. You may want to reward your most loyal guards by offering them monetary bonuses, increased responsibilities, training opportunities or the chance to move up to a superior position. Additionally, the relationship between guards and supervisors can be developed. Let employees know that you have an open door policy and that their feedback is highly valued.

Attract Great Employees

While improving your management styles, creating a sense of loyalty among employees and building your corporate culture can retain good security guards, you also have to evaluate your hiring process and if it is helping you to attract great candidates.

• Look past the resume. Just because someone appears to be a great fit on paper does not mean they’ll work out well in-person. Ask the right questions during interviews to determine whether they will succeed in your organization long-term.
• Make sure that candidates understand what is expected of them. Before they are hired, explain the aspects of their role and reinforce these expectations during training.
• Leverage employee referrals. The hiring process can be improved and can help you attract higher quality guards when you look to your current workforce for recommendations.

By taking the time to ensure your potential new hires are compatible with your company, you’ll face fewer turnover issues and avoid hiring incompetent guards. Avoiding candidates who are a bad fit right from the start will help make sure that the guards you bring in help you achieve your organizational goals and contribute to your overall corporate culture.