Get employees on board for upgrades

Jun 1, 2000 12:00 PM, Randall B. Stanfield

You have just put a new security system in place at your company. You thoroughly analyzed security needs; defined your assets; identified and carefully categorized credible threats; and analyzed relative risks. After studying the facility's vulnerabilities, you chose effective countermeasures to reduce the most unacceptable risks, including installation of an integrated security system with the latest in access control, intrusion detection and CCTV. An independent consultant was hired to assemble a quality specification, and a reputable systems vendor won the contract. The ribbon-cutting ceremony is imminent. The company's resources are strained, but your security troubles should soon be over, right?

Maybe, but not necessarily. A lot depends upon how well you have integrated your system not only with your facility, but also with your facility's occupants: the company's employees.

Although the year 1984 is well behind us, the rapid expansion of computer technology has perpetuated popular fears that Big Brother is watching; employees in the workplace are not immune. A security system that is perceived by employees as a means of monitoring their activities, rather than reducing threats from outside, may bring negative employee responses. Feelings of ill will may decrease morale, and can result in attempts to circumvent, or even vandalize, the security system - not what you had hoped for when you planned for the upgrade. How, then, do you as a security director ensure that employees will be as excited and positive about the new system as you are?

All Aboard! A sense of employee ownership of both the system and the decision-making process can be instrumental in prompting a positive reception to a security upgrade. Key to developing a sense of ownership is getting employees involved early. Before planning for the upgrade begins, encourage discussion among facility occupants. Pass along your concerns about employee and company safety; use actual security incidents from your own, or neighboring, facilities to drive home your point. Emphasize protection of employees from such threats as criminal and domestic violence, and protection of the company (and employees' jobs) from threats by outside forces.

Once committed to proceed with an upgrade, include the employees as an integral part of the vulnerability assessment and decision-making process. Ask about their security concerns, their work schedules and habits, and solicit ideas about desirable features to include in the new system. Valuable information will be gathered. The employee who parks in the back lot, the clerk who receives packages in the mail room, or the secretary who often works late will each have a different perspective on security needs than the company vice president.

Keep on track! Use the time between project kickoff and completion as a training period to prepare employees for operating procedures changes in that may result from installation of the new system, and to raise the general security awareness. Stress the concept of a partnership between the security staff and other facility occupants, and the vested interest of each employee in a secure workplace. Educate employees on the vulnerabilities of tailgating and piggybacking at card reader-controlled entrances. Provide instruction about how to challenge unfamiliar persons who may be seen inside or attempting to enter the facility. Consider implementing a Security Awareness Award program to reward good security practices. One successful security director occasionally plants an unbadged non-employee either inside the facility or attempting to piggyback through a card reader-controlled door. Armed with movie tickets or a gift certificate to a local restaurant, the intruder rewards the first employee who politely challenges his presence. Security awareness will pay added benefits realized later as additional eyes and ears supplement your CCTV and access control systems.

Approaching the Junction As the date approaches for the transition to the new system, you may be faced with the task of producing employee badges for the new access control system, and with entering or importing employee information into the system database. For employees to obtain access to appropriate areas of the facility at the proper times, the system database must contain accurate data on each employee's work schedule and access privileges. Allow each employee to review his or her data to verify that it is current and correct. Being locked out of the building for a rainy midnight shift can cause even upbeat employees to develop an attitude problem.

If the badges feature employee photos, don't be too quick to minimize the vanity factor. Many employees, of both sexes, will resist wearing a badge or will lose a badge with an unflattering portrait. Take a little extra time when producing badges and allow the employee to approve or reject and retake the portrait; the extra costs involved may be recovered quickly in the form of fewer lost badges.

Also pay attention to the final system transition and acceptance test. Employees will form an ownership bond more quickly with a system that operates flawlessly, and first impressions are important. Consider paying the required overtime premium to perform the transition and testing on a weekend, when more time will be available to work out problems.

A final thought on Big Brother: While access control and CCTV systems can be powerful tools for collecting data on the movements of personnel into and within your facility, use of that data for disciplinary purposes should be kept low-key. Avoid openly flaunting the capabilities of the system to track employees, and make sure you don't have better alternatives before using the data for routine time-and-attendance records.

Arriving at the Station Don't forget that the installation of a new system is just one step in building an effective security program. Program building never really reaches a final destination, but must be a continuing, daily journey. Security at your facility can only be at its best when your system and program have the acceptance and support of the personnel beneath the protective umbrella. Extra attention to the way your security system is viewed by employees can be a key factor in the program's success.

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© 2008 Penton Media Inc.

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