By Loretta Veney, CPP, Member of the ASIS International Board of Directors, Professional Security Training Network
SubscribeFor security officers, protecting the client's people and assets is a serious and sometimes tough responsibility.
Handling this responsibility takes constant focus, fairness, and the consistent enforcement of policies, procedures, and protection protocols of the organization.
When security officers are unfocused or they begin to bend the rules or treat people differently, they are no longer doing their job. The result is simple—problems will occur. To avoid these problems, security officers should maintain professional integrity in work relationships.
Professional integrity is having the maturity and judgment to ensure that friendships developed on the job do not interfere with an officer’s ability to perform his or her duties. Friendships and relationships, if not monitored, can lead to problems such as fraternization.
Fraternization is defined as becoming friends or mingling with a hostile group. This term does not mean security officers’ clients are a hostile group, but it does mean that all of the client’s employees represent a group that is part of the “assets” that officers are mandated to protect and that can cause the loss of a client’s property.
For security officers, fraternization means the line of friendship and relationship has been crossed and an officer’s judgment and ability to intervene effectively with a co-worker is compromised.
While the old axiom of to not mix business with pleasure holds true, officers don’t want to get the reputation of being unapproachable. The two sides are tough to balance and not always fun.
However, to be effective, security officers must remember that while being friendly and approachable, they should maintain their professional integrity and keep the friendships developed at work separate from their duties at work. This separation can keep officers from getting in trouble.
To keep relationships separate and to maintain professional integrity, officers should observe the following:
Rules For Maintaining Professional Integrity
Rule #1 – Be friendly and professional without allowing this friendly attitude to interfere with the ability to enforce protocols and policies.
This rule means security officers should smile and greet employees warmly. If possible, officers should call employees by name. When calling a person by name, officers should say, “Good morning, Ms. Clark,” or maybe, “Good afternoon, Sam,” if the client is well-known to the officers.
While these greetings are appropriate, using slang to greet client employees is neither professional nor appropriate. For example, greeting employees with such phrases as, “Hey, Dude. What’s up?” is not appropriate.
Using these phrases tells employees and visitors in the area that the security officers are not taking their job seriously and have little pride in their profession.
Some examples of topics that officers can talk about with client employees include sports, the weather, and current events. These topics are all good for brief conversations that help establish a relationship with a client’s employees but keep officers from getting too personal.
Topics such as politics and religion and personal conversations about dating and relationships should always be avoided in the workplace.
Staying away from more personal topics of conversation is not always easy, but it is necessary. Officers should make sure they do not become too involved with the personal problems of employees, even employees they have known for years. Officers should not allow anyone who is going through a hard time to bypass security procedures, park illegally, or break any other rule or protocol.
Also, officers should not keep a conversation going to long. Security officers can miss possible security breaches if distracted by a discussion. An often-heard comment is, “Well, they started talking to me, and I couldn’t get up from my post and leave.”
While this comment may be true, a variety of polite statements can be used to end inappropriate conversations such as “I’d love to listen, but I really need to get back to work now.”
Rule #2 – Do not take a client’s food and drink without direct permission from security management.
When security officers are required to work special events or meetings, food and drink are often present. During these events, officers must realize that they are at these events to work and not eat.
Officers should have the same level of vigilance when working special events as they do at a regular post. Chatting and laughing with employees during the event is a great example of security officers failing to maintain their professional integrity.
Security officers are working the event, not participating in it. When the event is over and they are invited to have some of the remaining food and drink, officers should still make sure to get permission from their management first.
If permission is given, officers should never take large amounts of the leftover food home since this act can be interpreted by an uninformed observer as stealing. Having something to eat and drink at a special event is not worth officers losing their jobs or their professional integrity.
Rule #3 – If officers are invited to participate on a company’s or client’s sports team, they must consider how joining might impact their ability to perform their duties as well as discuss this situation with their management team to receive approval.
Even if approval is given, security officers should be aware of the many risks that could compromise their integrity by joining a client’s sports team. In some situations, fellow team members, over time, might ask or expect special favours such as:
- letting them pass without their company identification.
- allowing them to give their friends an after hours tour of the facility.
- permitting an unauthorized person to spend “just a few quick minutes” in a restricted area.
The potential damage to a client’s property as well as to the officer’s career can be major just because he or she allowed special privileges to a team member out of fear of alienation.
Again, it is important for security officers to carefully consider their duties, levels of responsibility, and personal integrity when considering joining a company’s or client’s sports team. Officers who discuss these situations with their management team and who are upfront and honest with all of their dealings ensure that their professional integrity is safeguarded.
Rule #4 – Do not date client employees.
One of the most frequent reasons why officers are removed from a client’s work site involves officers who date a client’s employees. While the situation may seem harmless to meet a person at work, begin dating, and maybe even live with that person, this scenario is never a good situation for security officers.
The employee involved in the relationship with a security officer is rarely held to the same standard as the rest of the employees.
Consider this common and true example of the consequences that can happen when a relationship turns sour. An employee who was dating a security officer was allowed to park in no parking areas, smoke in non-smoking areas, use emergency exits, and ride in the security vehicle when no passengers were ever supposed to be in the vehicle.
When the relationship ended, the employee tried to continue some of the same special privileges she had received when dating the security officer. However, not only did the officer start enforcing the company rules, he went overboard and being much harder on her than he was on anyone else in the company.
The security officer’s behaviour went from one extreme to the other, too lenient or too strict. Either way, his behaviour was wrong. Of course, the security officer was fired.
Most officers can think of other less drastic but still awkward and embarrassing situations that occur when a relationship ends badly with someone from the workplace. There are many people in this world to date. Security officers should date people who are not their client’s employees.
Rule #5 – Do not share personal information with client employees.
Security officers who share personal information with fellow employees and client employees cross the line of professional integrity. This information can be used against officers in the future.
For instance, an officer who shares information regarding a pending bankruptcy or who complains about low wages appears less professional and can reduce the staff’s respect for security.
While many circumstances that can lead to financial difficulties are beyond a person’s control, the gossip that can be spread is less likely to be supportive of the officer’s plight.
If the fellow employee or client’s employee has empathy and complains to upper management, supporting the officer’s plight, the officer can look very unprofessional and can have his or her future promotion potential impacted.
The best bet is to only discuss personal problems with close friends, family, and counsellors. Security officers should take advantage of their employer’s EAP program or look for other low-cost options for assistance with personal challenges.
Rule #6 – Do not take gifts or other company perks from employees that could compromise professional integrity.
This rule is a touchy area that many people disagree over. Many security companies have policies that security officers cannot accept holiday or birthday gifts from client employees. Some companies allow gifts to be accepted under a certain dollar amount and with permission from management.
Whatever the policy is, it must be followed. Some employees have good intentions. They simply want to recognize the excellent work of security officers.
Other employees give game or theatre tickets or other perks but expect something in return from the security officers. These officers will pay a drastic price if they accept gifts while knowing they are expected to bend or break the rules.
Another situation to consider is that many security officers have been terminated for accompanying client employees to special events such as going to the company’s sky box to watch a sporting event.
This situation usually results in the security officer losing his or her job the next day when someone else in the sky box complains about or questions why a security officer was present. This situation also can breed jealousy from fellow officers. As always, before accepting any favour or gift, security officers need to check with their management.
Rule #7 - Never divulge information to employees about pending layoffs, terminations, or the details or status of ongoing investigations.
If security officers are privy to confidential information, they must never share that with client employees with whom they are friendly in an attempt to “give them a heads up.” This breach of confidentiality is not just fraternizing and sharing information with friends.
This information leak is a serious offence and could actually lead to someone getting hurt or killed. If an employee was to be told in advance that he or she was about to be terminated, he or she may steal information, materials, or property or even destroy documents prior to the occurrence of the termination.
The same rule holds true when employees are being investigated. Security officers must never divulge information to employees under investigation or give them any information about the investigation.
Conclusion
Many of these situations can be avoided if security officers practice keeping a professional distance with client employees.
While keeping this distance may seem difficult, maintaining a professional distance at all times and practicing the seven rules can help keep security officers stay on the right track and maintain their professional integrity.
Crossing the line of professionalism and becoming friends with client employees may seem innocent enough, but at some point this line crossing will cause an officer’s professional integrity to be called into question.
There are many people with whom officers can form lifelong friendships. People such as neighbours, classmates, church members, and members of social groups and professional organizations are good people with whom to socialize.
Security officers should find good friends with whom they can spend quality time and who work for someone other than the client to whom they are assigned. If officers are ever in doubt about a fraternization situation that occurs at work, they should always contact their supervisor for clarification.