Seven Tips to Retain Good Security Guards
Use these seven tips to stop the revolving door and retain your best security guards.
This article is posted in partnership with Kwantek, and its original version can be found here. Kwantek is the preferred Applicant Tracking Software partner for TEAM Software, and is an industry leader in the Contract Security and Building Services Industries. After processing millions of employment applications in these two industries, Kwantek has unparalleled data and insights around the hiring process. Click here to learn more about how Kwantek integrates with TEAM Software.
Turnover is always a challenge in the contract security industry, but not all employee turnover has the same impact on your business. While losing mediocre employees creates more work for you, losing your best guards can impact the health of your business. Follow these seven tips to improve retention of your best security guards.
Ensure Job Fit from Day One
Tip #1: Determine what shift they want to work. The hours that people work have an impact on their personal time. After all, no one wants to work at a job that prevents them from spending time with their family and friends. To retain your security guards, put them on shifts that complement — rather than impede — the things they want to do on their time off work.
Tip #2: Find out how they like to work. Some people thrive when they’re surrounded by others. Others prefer working alone. Determine the ideal working conditions for each new security guard and place them in roles that match those preferences.
Tip #3: Ask them about their long-term goals. Some employees may have goals to move into supervisory positions. Others get bored easily and want to learn something new every few months. Find out what new security guards are looking for in the future, then, for example, you can create paths to promotion or plans to move them into new roles.
Provide Great Security Guards with Reasons to Stay
Tip #4: Offer unique benefits. Even if you can’t afford frequent salary increases, you can make your position better than others your security guards may be considering. Paying for uniforms takes the burden off new security guards when they’re getting started with your company. Consider increasing the amount of paid time off your best security guards get or moving them to locations closer to their homes. By providing your security guards with benefits that provide them with a better work-life balance — you can create positions that are much harder for great security guards to walk away from.
Tip #5: Create a great culture. Creating a great culture doesn’t require a monumental effort. Sometimes, it’s as simple as making your employees feel heard. Build a culture where everyone feels valued by making sure employees have regularly scheduled meetings with their supervisors where they’re free to ask questions and share concerns.
Tip #6: Provide incentives to stay. Consider offering guards an annual bonus for each year they stay on the job. Give your most tenured guards their choice of shifts or locations or create a promotion path that satisfies the goals of ambitious guards. Offer a shift bonus for guards who show up on time to every shift for a week.
Tip #7: Keep your guards informed. Using a messaging service to stay connected with your employees helps keep your employees engaged. It has the bonus impact of maintaining customer satisfaction, too. Find a tool that lets field supervisors send important information like site instructions directly to the individuals or groups of guards who need them to keep your guards informed and customer needs met. When security guards feel connected to their job, they’re more likely to stay.
Sometimes, high turnover — even among your best employees — feels inevitable in the contract security industry. However, if you put people in the right roles from day one and offer unique incentives for great employees to stay with your company, you can stop the revolving door and start retaining your best security guards long-term.
