Secure culture

Johnny Rose, Managing Director of Allied Universal Europe offers advice on how to build better security by understanding the client’s culture and values

The role of the security provider has developed significantly over recent years. Alongside technological and intelligence-sharing advances, a focus on collaboration and understanding the client’s culture and values is now crucial to delivering the best security and customer experience.

It is no longer enough for security companies to understand their clients’ operations to address their security challenges. They must also immerse themselves into their client’s culture and values and have an understanding of their employees and customers.

Security should be tailored to the client’s requirements, with the security operatives becoming an extension of the client’s team, working in close collaboration with the facilities and front-of-house teams to deliver the most appropriate, bespoke service and best possible experience.

In London, in particular, security teams often provide the first and last interaction with visitors and, in some cases, deliver the front-of-house services. The security team must be able to engage with visitors, and the more they understand the culture of the organisation and the people that work within it, the more tailored that communication and their response will be.

However, having a security operation that is aligned with the customer’s values and culture has benefits that go far beyond the security team looking and sounding like an extension of the team and providing excellent customer service. Understanding the culture helps the security team appreciate how the business operates, including how people move around the building, and this means they are more aware of any security vulnerabilities which need to be addressed.

For example, as part of their culture, some locations require frictionless access to their buildings, using devices such as watches or phones to secure entry. Security providers need a team that understands the expectations of those within the building and who has the appropriate skills to operate effectively in this environment. This could include having enhanced training to spot people who should not be in the building, as well as additional customer service training. Strong customer service skills are extremely important, both to engage with and assist employees and visitors, but also to use what we call ‘the power of hello’ to start a conversation and quickly establish whether the person is a legitimate visitor.

For other customers, such as those involved in construction, health and safety will be a dominant part of the organisation’s culture and so, by being fully aligned with this, the security operation will ensure that it is providing a service that is compliant with the health and safety requirements.

PARTNERSHIP APPROACH

Achieving this alignment requires a partnership approach, with effective induction programmes, regular communication and ongoing assessment.

The security provider and client should work in partnership to agree on how the security operation will be aligned to the culture and values of the organisation, with regular feedback and specific KPIs established to measure how well the security team are aligning with the organisation’s values.

For many security employees, the start of the process is to take part in the clients’ own induction programme, which helps them to understand the culture, ethos, history and purpose of the company, and their role within it. Where this is not possible, the Allied Universal security manager will create an appropriate induction programme for security personnel.

Both during the induction and on an ongoing basis, it can be useful to introduce programmes to enhance employees’ understanding of the client’s culture. For example, awards to reward employees for demonstrating the customer’s values and making it an important part of the employees’ feedback and appraisal processes.

Alignment to the customer’s values and becoming an extension of their team will also impact the way the security officers dress, with workwear reflecting the businesses in which they operate. The customer’s culture can even impact the job title of the security operatives, who may for example be called ‘guest experience officers’ rather than security officers.

ONE TEAM

Alignment to the organisation’s values should extend to other suppliers working within the building, such as cleaning and maintenance teams, with a ‘one team’ approach that will also have security benefits. Everyone in the building has the opportunity to see security vulnerabilities and should be empowered to report them to the security team so that mitigations can be put in place. To achieve this, it can be helpful for all teams to undertake induction training together and for regular meetings to take place. Allied Universal also runs security masterclasses for non-security individuals to raise security awareness amongst everyone within the building, and works closely with neighbouring organisations to share best practices and intelligence and actively bring the industry together to shape security policy and set quality standards.

Understanding a client’s values and culture enables providers to deliver a service that not only addresses their security challenges more effectively but does this in a way that achieves better customer service for the client and its customers. When this is combined with experience, knowledge, resources, and an understanding of the local community and cultures, security providers are best placed to protect their clients from the varied and emerging threat landscape.