The Role of Human Relations for Security
Officers
Adria Strausbaugh
April 25, 2003
Generally, security officers are the first people that
visitors or employees come in contact with at an organization.
They serve to protect the organization and help those who
are in need of assistance. Since the security officers are
often the first contacts, they also serve to provide the
first impressions of their security department and the organization
as a whole. It is for this reason that human relations is
another major role for security officers to fulfill.
Importance of Human Relations
Human relations, which relies heavily on effective communication
skills, is an important role of security officers for many
reasons. How security deals and interacts with the public
influences the public's view of the entire organization.
When met with a friendly greeting and empathetic response,
customers are put at ease, feel more positive about the
organization and are more likely to follow any instructions
the security officer needs to give them. Beginning the customers'
visit on a positive note sets the tone for the rest of their
time there. Security officers must also deal with a variety
of people and situations during everyday activities. Without
knowledge of human relations skills, these everyday dealings
can be difficult and strained, which in turn leads to bad
customer relations within the organization and an overall
bad image. If and when an emergency incident should arise,
the security officers' human relations skills can determine
the outcome of the incident, as they are often first on
the scene. If the officers cannot deal with and manage the
people involved in the emergency, there is no way they can
expect to deal with and resolve the whole incident.
Basic Human Relations Skills
There are several basic human relations skills that every
security officer should have a working knowledge of. The
first is effective listening. By actively listening to the
person they are dealing with, the officers show interest
in what the person is saying and concern for his/her problems.
The officers should allow the person to vent reasonably,
express an opinion, and nod to indicate that they are listening.
Jumping to conclusions, prejudging, and placing blame should
all be avoided as they demonstrate the officer is not completely
listening to the person (Rice, 1999). Officers must also
be able to effectively communicate back to the customer
in a clear, concise and nonthreatening manner whatever they
need to get across to the person, whether it be directions
or instructions to leave the premises. Good communication
also involves smiling when appropriate, making eye contact
and displaying open posture. They can build trust with the
customer by showing sincerity, credibility and a willingness
to help solve problems. Avoiding jargon and keeping vocabulary
appropriate are also important. It may not be logical to
use some of the same terms one would when talking to a supervisor
as to a customer.
Empathy is another important part of human relations skills.
By showing empathy, an officer can acknowledge how a customer
is feeling. This does not mean sympathizing with or over
identifying with, but merely just trying to understand where
the person is coming from. If the officers make the person's
point of view their own at that time, they can demonstrate
an interest in understanding. Without this simple acknowledgement,
an officer can appear judgmental (Stiel, 2001). Apologies
are acceptable when appropriate and may help to calm upset
or angered people. Officers should never apologize for doing
their job, but should apologize for inconveniences or frustrations
and they should express appreciation when appropriate as
well. When an incident or some sort of information is brought
to attention, appreciation is helpful in guaranteeing further
cooperation and positive interactions. Ultimately, effective
human relations skills come down to the golden rule; officers
should treat others as they would wish to be treated in
the same situation. Keeping customers happy and making them
feel important is key to successful human relations (Garner,
2002).
The officer should take initiative when they see a person
who may need assistance. To take initiative, the officer
should get involved, make an opening move and show care
and concern. The idea to remember here is to act, not react,
to the person and to remember that "each customer you
make feel special will become a special customer" (Rice,
1999). Officers should not treat each customer as a number.
It may not be possible to give every person what he or she
is requesting, but the officer can make them feel as if
they were treated specially. This will do wonders for the
image of the security department.
Security Officers and Human Relations
The role of human relations for the security officer is
not to be an expert in it but to simply use the skills effectively
in everyday work and interactions with others. Human relations
skills should be practiced at all times while on the job.
They can be used in emergencies, decision making and to
improve professional standing. In accordance with these
skills, an officer should maintain physical and mental fitness
and also have an understanding of human behavior and stress
management (International Foundation for Protection Officers
[IFPO], 1998). A neat physical appearance is critical as
well, as "appearance is approximately 55% of the message
the security officer sends out to a person" (Rice,
1999).
Using Human Relations to Maintain Image
One of the most important outcomes of effective human relations
is the maintenance of a positive image for the officer,
security department and the organization as a whole. Image
is valuable; organizations work hard to attain and maintain
a favorable image. Image can make or break the success of
an organization or individual officer. Poor human relations
skills and unprofessionalism can destroy a positive image.
Security officers represent the organization that employs
them and they must project a positive image in accordance
to the image the organization wants to maintain. It should
be made clear by the organization to the officers exactly
what image they are expected to project and maintain. To
help maintain a positive image, security officers should
possess the following ten qualities: dependability, politeness,
show of interest and concern, tact, discreetness, maintaining
confidentiality, impartiality, calmness, patience and helpfulness
(IFPO, 1998).
Dealing with Difficult People
Human relations skills can also help when officers need
to deal with difficult people. There are several ways to
defuse a situation with an angry person, which all relate
to human services skills. First, the officer should be a
good listener. By letting the person vent a bit, he/she
may become easier to deal with. Security officers should
empathize when possible to show understanding of why the
person is upset, not reacting to another's aggression with
more aggression. Yelling back at someone will accomplish
little and will make the officer appear unprofessional.
One should try to ignore insults and exaggerated remarks.
It's appropriate to admit mistakes where they've been made.
Security officers should not be afraid to correct false
statements, but try to do so as gently as possible. An example
of this would be a person saying "It took you hours
to get here"; the officer could respond with "Dispatch
shows it really took us 30 minutes, but I understand it
must have felt like hours," if that is the case. It
is also useful to attempt to make an agreement on something.
It could be something as simple as the weather, but it's
a start that can lead to other agreements in the conversation
(Garner, 2002).
Importance of Training
Human relations training is obviously the most efficient
way to ensure security officers have effective human relations
skills. Training will increase the officer's overall knowledge
of human relations. In knowing more, the officers will become
more confident in the skills they have and their job. Training
exposes officers to situations they may encounter on the
job, preparing them to deal with any real incidents that
occur. Human relations skills are not natural to everyone;
it never hurts to reinforce any skills with training. With
training, human relations skills can become an integrated
part of the security function.
The Supervisor's Role in Training
The supervisor plays an important role in the security officer's
training, whether it concerns human relations or another
topic. In order for job performance to be increased, a significant
training effort is required. To ensure continuous improvements,
supervisors must also ensure that training is an ongoing
process. The following are a few things supervisors should
keep in mind when it comes to training:
- Training should be spread out, not just concentrated
into one session.
- Training should include some education about the history
and philosophy of the organization.
- A variety of educational techniques should be used to
keep training interesting.
- Input should be taken from the officers as to what they
want to or feel they need to learn.
- The supervisor should be knowledgeable and familiar
with the material taught in the training.
- Different instructors should be used, such as outside
experts and other security officers (Hertig, 1999).
If the supervisor keeps these things in mind, it will help
ensure the success of the training and also ensure that
the officers get the most out of their training. Successful
training includes a successful, informed and involved supervisor.
The Training Process
There is a training process, which is useful in planning
human relations training. The process consists of six steps:
objectives, lectures, scenarios, test exercises, individual
tests and reviews or refreshers. Before the training ever
starts, the security department or whoever is conducting
the training should determine goals. All objectives should
be outlined and clearly defined. Once the training starts,
lectures can provide an introduction and general overview
of the material that will be covered. Lectures should include
multimedia tools, such as videos, and encourage discussion
among the trainees. It helps to end lecture training with
some sort of evaluation, usually written. Lectures set the
basis for and can be reinforced by hands-on training, such
as offering scenarios. Scenarios are best utilized when
drawn from real situations that fit the environment the
officers work in; ideas can be drawn from the organization's
own incident reports, journals or even newspapers. If real
scenarios are not readily available, hypothetical scenarios
can be developed and used as well. The scenarios should
be played out to various outcomes with different threat
levels to expose the trainees to as many different possible
situations. The trainer or trainees can be used to play
out the different roles needed for the scenarios. Test exercises
are used to follow up scenario training. They will test
the trainee for performance and proficiency in the material
taught. Individual testing completes the training. This
testing should be formal and documented. It may show where
further training is needed in the future. Periodic reviews
and refresher courses reinforce what was taught in the training
program and ensure that the skills remain fresh in the officer's
mind (Kane, 2001).
Training Strategies
There are two specific training strategies that can be implemented
usefully in human relations training, role-playing and penetration
testing. The basis for role-playing is scenarios, as described
earlier. They are a sort of dress rehearsal where officers
will need to respond appropriately to real life situations.
Role playing is most effective as training when the trainee
is aware of the general situation to be played out in advance,
but does not know exactly how the situation will be played
out by the other participants. The other participants could
consist of other members of the security department or outsiders.
Role-playing is effective because it directly mirrors real
life situations and, at times, there may not be one right
way to deal with a situation. It is useful to engage trainees
in discussion after role-playing to discuss what happened
in the exercise and what any other possible courses of action
could have been. Penetration testing is having an outside
person go into a building or organization to test an officer's
ability. It is most often used for testing access control
but it can also be modified for the purpose of testing human
relations skills. Evaluators can be chosen who are unknown
to the security officers. They come in and test the officer's
human relations skills in a variety of ways, from simply
asking for directions to causing a major disturbance. This
is an effective strategy because the officers will not know
they are being tested and will react in the manner they
would normally on the job (Kane, 2000).
Human relations really is a necessary role for all security
officers. Security officers, as the front line, need to
make sure they are projecting a friendly and positive image
to the public and anyone else they come in contact with.
Effective human relations can determine the success of an
individual officer's career or the success of an organization.
For this reason, it is important that human relations is
included in training for security officers at all levels.
Even though human relations is not something that is normally
connected to security, it still plays a major role. If an
officer can master human relations skills, it will aid in
advancement of his/her career.
Adria Strausbaugh is currently a junior at York College
of Pennsylvania. She is a sociology major, with a minor
in criminal justice.
References
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International Foundation for Protection Officers. (1998).
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