As it is within Law Enforcement, low morale is also prevalent in the security industry, particularly among contracted security officers. They rate their job satisfaction in the bottom 7% of careers.[1] The cause-and-effect relationship between low employee morale and an inferior customer experience is well documented. Therefore, part of my job as a security consultant is to help clients create a positive corporate culture. Yes – our primary business is creating safe and secure environments, but even the best security technologies and programs will fail if they are supported by a disgruntled workforce.

Gallup reports that teams with low morale experience 18 to 43% higher turnover. [2] Glassdoor reports a strong statistical link between customer satisfaction and the well-being of the employees delivering those services. Its study concludes that happy workers lead to happy customers.[3] Research by Eagle Hill Consulting found that 64% of U.S. workers say their employee experience impacts their ability to serve customers, with low-morale workers half as likely to deliver quality outcomes.[4]

Security services management may complain about their workers’ lackluster performance, calling in sick, no-shows, and high rates of turnover, but the root of their problem is often not the fault of the employees. It’s dysfunctional management and the environment they’ve created that makes workers feel unappreciated, unempowered, and underpaid. The first two are things companies can easily fix. As for the third, employees are more than 10 times more likely to leave a job due to a toxic culture than salary.[5] If companies can make employees feel appreciated and empowered, they will save money by reducing workforce churn. This, in turn, could free up money to pay higher wages.

So, how do we fix low employee morale among security guards and others hourly workers in the security services sector? Here is a list of suggestions:

1. Train your supervisors on how to be effective leaders. The number one reason employees leave their jobs is because of their supervisor. The CEO of Gallup, Jim Clifton, says it best. “When you name the wrong person supervisor, nothing fixes that bad decision. Not compensation, not benefits – nothing.”[6]

Promoting from within has a positive impact on workers because they see that there are opportunities for advancement, but those benefits only accrue if you provide associated management training. The skills that make a successful “worker bee” vastly differ from those needed to manage the hive. Yet 82% of people promoted to supervisory roles do not receive any formal training, according to a 2023 study by the Chartered Management Institute.[7]

• Solicit feedback from employees. Encourage them to offer solutions – not just identify problems. Simply being heard immediately makes them feel more valued – even if acting on their suggestions takes time.
  
  
• Make sure supervisors are clear about expectations and don’t criticize their underlings’ every move, especially if there are no written guidelines defining roles and responsibilities. If your organization lacks such guidelines, create them and put them in writing!  

Everyone on your team, from the top down, should make it a habit to offer praise and recognition for jobs well done. When employees know their efforts are appreciated, they are more likely to repeat them. Small gestures go far!

• Make security guards feel like they are part of a team. Keep them informed about news or changes happening at the corporate level.

Companies that contract guard services will find that those officers are more dedicated when they feel like they are part of the organization where they are assigned to work. They appreciate inclusion in workplace events and value privileges like access to the company gym and break room.

• Empower guards so that they can feel pride in their job. Patrolling a predictable route or sitting behind a desk with no power to do anything gets old fast. Provide guards with technology to maintain better situational awareness and tools that alert them to suspicious behavior. When security officers can be strategic and proactive about how they perform their duties, they’ll find their jobs far more exciting and rewarding.

Many of these tactics can be employed by your in-house management team. Corporate culture doesn’t change overnight, but with dedicated efforts, progress will occur.

Hiring a consultant can be instrumental in moving the process along. An outsider’s perspective often pinpoints problems and strategizes solutions more objectively than managers who have skin in the game and egos that bruise. If that’s you, reach out. We may be security consultants, but solving morale issues is essential in running an effective security team. We’re here to help!

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The post Don’t Let Low Employee Morale Get You Down. Instead, Fix It! appeared first on ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´.

For years, AX – formally known as Anime Con – earned the unfortunate nickname of “line-con” due to massive crowds that formed just to gain entrance, which meant headaches for security and operations staff.

Thanks to a unique combination of weapons screening technology, guard and canine services, and temporary security technology – all coordinated by security firm ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ – AX 2022 was a rousing success. The project has been named has been named as an honorable mention in the 2022 Security Vanguard Awards from SecurityInfoWatch, Security Business magazine and Security Technology Executive (STE) magazine.

The Crowd Control Challenge
Based on turnstiles at the entrances, more than 110,000 people attended the Anime Expo over the three days at multiple venues, including the Los Angeles Convention Center, Novo (an indoor club), and the Microsoft Theater.

Efficient screening was the first challenge for Michael Grossman, a senior advisor at New York City-based ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´
Photo: Anime Expo
A carefully crafted screening strategy helped was part of a successful crowd control effort at the 2022 Anime Expo in Los Angeles.
A carefully crafted screening strategy helped was part of a successful crowd control effort at the 2022 Anime Expo in Los Angeles.
Consulting, who was responsible for all security planning and operations, including the preparation of a comprehensive operations plan and the management of the overall on- site security operations.

A massive crowd is one thing, but the vast majority of these attendees came to the AX venues in full costumes – many including imitation weapons. The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), the event organizer, also required COVID-19 checkpoints.

“We were getting people into the buildings, but the crowding on the outside [creates] a soft target,” explains Matthew Thomas, SPJA’s senior director of operations.

Thankfully, Grossman and the ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ team came up with a multi-faceted solution, combining high-throughput weapons screening technology with good, old-fashioned security officers – provided by Ayvar Security, JRM Security and Executive Event Services – and canine teams from MSA Security Services, a division of Allied Universal. Additionally, RFID badging implemented at the show helped with counting attendees and protected against people getting in without the proper credentials.

“It is not all high-tech, but when you use all those things to your advantage and integrate their use, that makes a system more efficient and there are a lot fewer problems,” Grossman says.

As for the technology aspect of the crowd control technology, Thomas and Grossman zeroed in on the Evolv Express, a high-throughput walk-through weapons screening system that uses digital sensors and artificial intelligence to spot concealed weapons and other threats.

The company claims a unit can screen 4,000 people per hour, and that the technology has been successfully used at stadiums, theme parks, hospitals, schools and other busy venues. Ideally, the technology is accurate enough that people are not required to stop, empty their pockets or remove bags as they are screened.

2022 was the first year that AX used the screening technology, and Thomas – who held previous security operations roles at Universal Studios and Westfield malls – says it enhanced the throughput of patrons from 55 people per hour to 300 people per hour at each entry point.

“Honestly, I think it was a little too quick, and we slowed that down on site just to be very thorough,” Thomas admits. “That was due to my thinking that it is impossible. I am used to the metal detector going off on every belt buckle.”

Achieving Situational Awareness
Grossman – who retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 2013 as chief of the Homeland Security Division and later served as SVP of U.S. National Security for Westfield Corp., where he oversaw security operations for 32 malls across the nation – assembled a security command center at AX that coordinated the activities of all security and life safety agencies, including convention center security and private contractors, Los Angeles Police Department, and many others.

Through the assistance of Las Vegas-based Unified Command, a temporary surveillance system was also deployed, with cameras placed at strategic locations to maintain situational awareness at key points throughout the venue. The temporary system focused on areas outside the venues, since the buildings had their own cameras.

“We were working with the existing Convention Center security with their technology and adding on our technology to compliment,” Thomas says. “That really helps us get good angles to manage crowds and respond to certain things from the [security monitoring] perspective.”

Those working in the Unified Command post could monitor cameras, zoom in on nearly any area or focus on certain cameras. “They know exactly the things that need to be seen and where to put cameras,” Grossman says, adding that the command post at AX was similar to one that he might set up for a large wildfire or other major event.

“You have representatives from all the agencies that do security or emergency response in the same room and monitor for 24 hours a day through the entire event,” he explains. “If you don’t have adequate planning, and documented planning, a clear organizational chart, clear lines of communication, and contingency plans, [if] something comes up, it is pretty tough to manage,” Grossman says.

In reviewing the successful AX 2022 security operations, Thomas says “the secret sauce is there right now” to maintain an effective security program for AX in the future. As for similar events, he implores event security managers to take advantage of all the technology and tools available, even if the cost is hard to swallow.

“All it could take is one situation, and you no longer have an event anymore,” Thomas says. “I like spending a bunch of money on security…because [it means] we’ve done the most that we can to protect everybody.”

John Dobberstein is managing editor of SecurityInfoWatch.com.

Project Overview: Anime Expo

Project submitted by: ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´

Weapons Screening: Evolv Technology

Temporary Surveillance System: Unified Command

Video Management System: Milestone

Guard Services: Ayvar Security, JRM Security and Executive Event Services

Canine Services: MSA Security Services

This article is part of the annual Security Vanguard Awards, presented by SecurityInfoWatch.com, Security Business magazine and Security Technology Executive (STE) magazine. Learn more about the Vanguard and its many winners over the years at www.securityinfowatch.com/vanguard.

Article Link – https://www.securityinfowatch.com/security-executives/article/21284746/keeping-350k-anime-expo-attendees-safe

The post Keeping 350K Anime Expo Attendees Safe appeared first on ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´.

SSN interviewed both Michael Amaro, Director of Engineering and Sivan Weizmann-Robbins, Operations Manager, about their respective backgrounds and perspectives on the industry today. We will be sharing their full interviews once published. 

In the interim, you can read more about this award . Please check out Michael‘s and Sivan‘s profiles to learn more about what they bring to the table.

The post ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ Staff Awarded ’40 Under 40′ Recognition appeared first on ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´.