Turning Security into a service (Part 2)
At the very outset, there must be an understanding as to the role security is to play in the loss prevention efforts. This involves more than a mere reliance on a job description. The question is what really is or should be the objective of a hotel security programme? Bluntly put, what is security? Is it the protection and conservation of all assets - real, personal and intangible, where the hotel recognises that its guests, invitees and members of staff must be safeguarded at all times if they are lawfully present in the premises? Or is it a contender who causes conflict among staff, creates labour unrest, disrupts operations and demonstrates a ‘let’s catch a thief’ mindset for problem solving? It all comes down to senior management’s understanding of security.
Equally important is for security personnel in general and security managers in particular to become progressive in their thinking and in their attitudes. They need to focus more on prevention rather than detection (be proactive rather than stay reactive), be more concerned with the effectiveness of their programmes than with staff cadres and budgets, be more aware of costs vs profits and be attuned towards protecting the overall reputation and image of the hotel.
Security staff members that make up a security department in a hotel can be either employed directly by the hotel operator (in-house or proprietary security) or employed by a security contract company (outsourced). A big hotel is more likely to hire its own staff or at least set up an ‘in-house cum contract’ security operation (where in-house employees overlook loss prevention management and supervision, complemented by outside staff).
However, in recent years the trend has shifted towards outsourcing security operations, mainly based on the economic advantage of lower costs i.e. the hotel budget determines how risks will be managed. This can work equally well - so long as hotel operators who opt to outsource their security operation take care to select a professional contractor i.e. by conducting a ‘proper’ evaluation that the contractor can reasonably be expected to provide the required level of service and is one who conducts business according to the highest ethical and business standards, whilst providing properly selected, screened, trained and supervised staff. Unfortunately, this is more the exception than the rule. Otherwise, how can one explain the so many unsuitable, poorly trained, badly supervised, dis-engaged and disheveled security staff one encounters nowadays in most hotels? Simple…it’s usually because the vendor who tenders the lowest rate often gets the job.
It goes without saying that a low pay and billing rate has much to do with the quality of personnel hired for the assignment. As the saying goes ‘you pay peanuts… you get monkeys’.
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Ex-Hotelier.
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