How Recruits Select You as an Employer
As an employer or someone who hires security professionals for your organization, it is important to understand how candidates choose you as their next employer. Why is this important? Because there aren’t enough good officers to go around, and your knowledge of selectively recruiting from military and law enforcement communities will prove to be essential. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the security industry has a turnover rate of more than 200%, which rivals the fast food industry. In this type of operating environment, how you train, equip and compensate your security team will play a direct role in how long they agree to stay or how soon you’ll need to spend more money recruiting and training their replacement.
- Training: The type of training you provide should reflect the source of your recruiting pool. If the recruiting efforts were expended among people just interested in a job – any job – and at minimum wage, expectations of grooming an industry professional should be kept in check. Please heed my advice and leave this group to the “other guys.” Instead, concentrate on forming your training around the transition that former military and law enforcement professionals need to make to become the ultimate Protector of your organization. They will be evaluating how your company is better suited to walk them through this career change. By providing excellence in the delivery of relevant, quality material, your company can build a sustainable advantage in appealing to recruits. Remember, you are recruiting people who come from backgrounds where training was its own budget line.
- Equipment: This will come across as a little harsh, but if you don’t provide your best security talent with the tools they need to stay safe on the job, you don’t deserve to get them, much less to keep them. I know… ouch. The reality is that quality people in the security industry have marketable skills and will move to another employer if they feel they are being unnecessarily placed in harm’s way without the proper equipment. Proper tools for the job aren’t just a good idea. They’re an OSHA requirement that can get you fined and/or sued after you waited too long to budget for the gear. Take care of these brave men and women filling the security role in your organization, and I promise you they’ll deliver what you want at lower total cost than you expected.
Attracting Talent You Can Keep
Once you understand which people are naturally “wired” to keep your hospital, educational institution or other campus safe, focus your recruiting efforts on those who can deliver the positive aspects while also curbing the negative attributes.
By identifying the core aspects of the security officers you want on staff, your recruiting, training and equipment allocations should align with keeping these same people around for years. According to one security company CEO, the cost savings of reducing employee turnover rate from 100% to 50% delivers a $0.50 per hour savings across all officers to the company.
By taking steps to recruit the personalities that accurately match your needs and expectations, the work to stabilize your workforce and provide better security has already begun.
Paul Hughes is the COO of Guardian 8.
