Security Honor Roll--- Sandy Cowie

Sep 1, 1998 12:00 PM, KATE HENRY

           

It is hard to say to whom Sandy Cowie, CPP, is more valuable: the global financial giant whose security/safety operation she runs, or her Des Moines, Iowa, community, for which she works tirelessly. At the Principal Financial Group, where she has worked since 1981, Cowie has invigorated the security operation by increasing staff, upgrading systems, and instituting groundbreaking policy and procedure. Since Cowie took the security management reins five years ago, the now world-class security and safety operation is frequently benchmarked by other organizations. By her community, Cowie was honored this year with the Des Moines Police Department's Crime Fighter Community Service Award, which recognizes her efforts to increase security and safety by partnering with public agencies such as the police. Cowie is a regional vice president for ASIS; she sits on the board of directors of Polk County Crime Stoppers and on the Domestic Abuse Coordinating Council; she is a member of the Iowa Crime Prevention Association; and she is a victim advocate at a local family violence center.

Cooperation between public and private sectors There are many benefits to be reaped from synergy between the public and private sectors, according to Cowie. "Partnering between the business community and public agencies like the Des Moines Police Department makes for the best safety for the community," she says. Cowie wrote a request for proposal for the police department when they wanted to solicit someone to produce a TV show called "Metro's Most Wanted." She has also done security surveys for community school systems and other nonprofit agencies, indirectly assisting the police by ensuring that such facilities are more secure. In turn, the police department has trained Cowie's officers on drug identification, bomb threat procedure and other critical situations that have empowered her staff to handle situations more effectively prior to police involvement. Of the local family violence center, Cowie says, "I think the benefit of my involvement there is that domestic abuse is almost always one of the components of workplace violence, which is probably one of the most critical workplace exposures we face at the Principal. So not only has it been personally rewarding for me to help these women - and in some cases men - but it has also increased my knowledge of what resources are available for these people, so if I'm involved in a security situation involving domestic abuse, I can direct them toward help."

Streamlining operations Workplace violence training, undertaken in partnership with the human resources department, is only one of many improvements Cowie has instituted at the Principal. She is responsible for security and safety for the company's corporate center offices and for incident reporting and investigation for the entire global corporation. She is assisted by a comprehensive staff, which includes an assistant security manager, an assistant safety manager, a security systems specialist, a full-time investigator, a security assistant, an emergency management analyst, emergency communication specialists, and a team of proprietary and contract security and safety specialists. They all work in Des Moines, home to the company's emergency response center, which Cowie played a critical role in developing. "A lot of elements indicated a need to move toward having an emergency response center," explains Cowie. "One was a growing need to consolidate our operations for efficiency and effectiveness and to better utilize technology; the center provides an additional level of security for certain functions and some critical backup capabilities. But we also wanted to establish a hub for the company because of the growing awareness and importance of security and safety in the corporate environment. We wanted to have one place our employees knew they could go with security and safety issues." All alarms, intercoms and calls to an emergency number are monitored in the center, as well as surveillance cameras, which are integrated with access control. Critical building alarms are also monitored there, so, Cowie points out, the center provides a support service for building operations as well.

A self-fulfilling philosophy But for all the emphasis on technological innovation, Cowie is quick to point out her belief that people are the most valuable asset. Her motto, borrowed from Shakespeare is, "as you think, so you become." "If you expect the best of people and of yourself, typically that's what you'll get back," she says. Given this mindset, Cowie sometimes wrestles with a paradox: How do you place a value on a person's life, security or safety? "In this industry," Cowie elaborates, "there's a human factor that is not typically associated with other business units. That's always in the back of my mind, but as a manager and a fairly good strategic planner, I have to acknowledge I can't protect people 100 percent of the time. We have to operate as a profitable, productive, contributing business unit or we won't exist, and then there won't be any security and safety. After all, we're in the insurance business, and we have to take some risks." Cowie has also taken charge of the security and safety committee at the Principal. The mission of the committee is to serve as a communication conduit to security/safety's customers. "We have representatives from every strategic business unit and service center/business unit on the committee," she explains, "so people can identify issues and bring them to us." Being in touch with her customers is important to Cowie, and when asked to choose the most important program she has instituted, she identified the security and awareness programs done for "the masses." Her team takes part in new employee orientation, does a security and safety awareness week, and publishes an article at least quarterly in the company publication. When Cowie addresses a group of employees, she'll often say, "Welcome to security and safety, because you're part of our team now" to emphasize the vested interest they have in taking ownership in safety and security. "We can spend millions of dollars on an access control system, but if one employee decides to hold a door open for 20 people, it compromises our security. Encouraging employees at all levels to take responsibility is like having 8,000 more sets of eyes," she says. When not working for the Principal or her community, Cowie enjoys spending time with her two children and her dog, going to high school football games and art auctions, taking aerobics and dance lessons, and reading and listening to music.

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