Building High Performance Security Teams from the Ground up

Every security director wants the same thing from their security team. Security
officers, who can think on their feet, have strong work ethics, try their best and look
professional. But are we always laying the best groundwork and foundation when they
join you? Does it take your average officer a year or so before you can truly take off the
training wheels and they start to function at a higher level?

When we hire our security staff we are generally looking for the type A personality that
can rise up in a crisis or disaster, take charge of a situation and have that enamoring
“command presence” when we need it. We all have a few “super stars” on the team. In
the terminology “super stars” I am referring to your core folks who you can always count
on to get the mission accomplished no matter what.

Here are five simple concepts that may help you jump start that process as well as
keep your Type A super stars more engaged.

1) Start a mentoring program. My philosophy is when I bring in a new officer I am

50% responsible for them being successful and working out and the employee is 50%
responsible for working out and being a contributing member of the team.
Collaboratively we are going to be successful or together we fail. Any director, manager
or supervisor who says Officer Smith didn’t work out and left is not getting the big
picture nor taking responsibility for their charges lack of success. I had one college
professor who said that he had some students that were in the “deferred success”
program.

We as security professionals should be setting the tone and context of how to be

successful. I have had a designated mentoring program for several years. The premise of
the mentoring program is to do everything possible to make that new employee feel
welcome and part of the team. The way we bring someone on board is to send them a
letter welcoming them to the security team. In the letter, it is spelled out who their FTO
(Field training officer) is as well as who is their designated mentor. As we all remember
our first day at work, we want to set the tone to that of professionalism and team building
environment before they come in for their orientation and “first day” with us. The FTO’s
job is to get the new officer trained up and signed off on the competencies of the job. The
mentor’s job is to make sure that they have a streamline transition during their first year.
The first year is the hardest year in any job and that fact isn’t ever going away. We are
trying to do everything possible to make that fit in work as cleanly as we can.

The process of mentoring is actually over 3000 years old and had its start in Greek
mythology. I don’t believe it is being utilized enough today. The Big Brothers and Big
Sisters organization is one of the most well known entities whose principles are deeply
rooted in the mentoring process. Bringing in a mentoring program can have multiple
benefits for the department, the mentor and the mentee. Each becomes stakeholders in the
success of your new employee. The department benefits by having a positive culture of
the exchanging of information and fostering learning from senior staff. The benefits for
the mentor are that the experience allows them an opportunity to build on their leadership
skills and enhance their self worth and job satisfaction.
For the mentee it enhances their ability to quickly build their skill set and feel like they
are part of the team on the quick step.
In selecting mentors I always look for someone who would be enthusiastic about the
process and see it as opportunity for self development and paying it forward. A mentor
will instill a little bit of him or herself into each mentee so if it is presented properly it
can be a very rewarding experience for both parties. The program can be as structured or
unstructured as you want it to be. Some law firms have very well built and structured
programs that allow for the mentor to receive extra pay. I myself see the mentoring
program as a labor of doing the right thing for the right reason and in the same context as
the good Samaritan who stops to change a tire for someone on the road and refuses
payment.

2) Get to know your team: One of my previous jobs was that of Safety manager for a
nuclear power plant that was being built. The construction superintendant personally
hand picked every member of his team. He brought all 15 of us together in a room and
told us the mission would be hard with long hours and unique challenges. He said it was
vital that everyone worked together as quickly as possible. He said that normally it would
take a team to come together in about 6 weeks, but we did not have the luxury of time.
His expectation was that we would function as a well oiled machine in 2 weeks. We were
to go around the table and tell our 3 biggest strengths, 3 biggest weaknesses and 3 things
that were unique about us and share those with the group. Many of these people had
worked before for about two years and were surprised when team members would
mention that they were an only child, had an interest in sailing, climbed a mountain and
were in school to be a priest. You can try this concept the next time you have a
department meeting or training and have each person tell one unique thing about
themselves to get it going. People who break bread together and know something about
their co workers are more apt to bond quicker and trust one another.

3) Set the tone: Every department, facility, or company has its own unique culture and
mission. Make sure everyone on your team knows what direction you are going in. It is
vital that they are helping you get there and not hindering forward motion unknowingly.
When John F Kennedy was running for President, he visited NASA and ran across a
janitor who was sweeping. Kennedy said to the man, what do you do here? The janitor
replied, “We are helping to put a man on the moon”. What a perfect example of engaged
staff. All of us have an overall mission statement for our facility but do we have an
individual one for our security department? If you don’t have a mission statement,
construct one and ask for input from your team.
4) Involve your Team: If you are really serious about team building try and get their
input in as many areas as you can. When I draft policies, procedures, directives, and even
grants I solicit the input from my team. Many times the most junior officer may have an
excellent idea that makes your project even better. Many people leave their jobs because
of not feeling that they have any say in matters. We can easily overcome this obstacle by
facilitating their input whenever you can. If you do use a team member’s idea, promote
the heck out of it and give that person credit. That way the next time you ask for their
input you are going to get their best efforts. I will sometimes use the computer program
“survey monkey” to solicit information about what the team wants to do for training,
equipment or other issues. With survey money you draft up your unique questions and
your staff can answer anonymously and be frank. If you can deal with hearing the truth
and having a bit of a thick skin then this type of feedback is priceless.
Let your team know what is going on within the organization. The best leaders are the
ones that inform their teams about everything that they can.

5) Empower your Officers: When I hire a new security officer I let them know that I
will do everything possible to show them the road to becoming a security director if they
want to. I tell them that they will be the only ones to hold themselves back. I will teach
them everything I know and how I got to know it. I tell them, if you ever want to know
how to do something you just have to ask me. The biggest success I can ever have is to
plant seeds in young officers and see them become more successful each year and
develop. In the book, Good to Great, Jim Collins speaks about the flywheel effect. The
flywheel effect is when the leader steps away from the organization and that the
momentum doesn’t suddenly stop. Create an atmosphere that allows your team members
to take on more responsibility and understand the big picture. That way when you are
away your team is still functioning at a high performance level.

As General Norman Schwarzkopf is famous for saying: When placed in command-take

charge!

William R Losefsky, CHPA, CAS