Health

Ways in Which Security Officers Can Stay Fit While on Duty

Written by LoftyServicesConsultants

It goes without saying that physical fitness is an essential part of being a security officer. However, officers sometimes struggle to maintain a healthy physique.

While spending time in a gym is usually advocated to achieve the desired level of fitness, it is not always possible or practical for some security officers. Thankfully, there are several ways in which officers can maintain fitness and overall wellness while on duty.

The Importance Of Fitness

Security officers often need to respond to the unexpected quickly and effectively. Whether that be someone acting suspiciously, a shoplifter, or an armed robber, a lack of physical fitness on the officer’s part is likely to endanger themselves as well as those who trust them for protection.

Conversely, being physically and mentally fit means officers have better chances of realizing that an incident is occurring and can respond more successfully. There are 8 ways that security officers can easily improve their fitness and do their jobs more effectively.

1. Healthy Food Choices

As tempting as sugary snacks, pies, burgers, chips, and other junk foods can be, they are the worst choices for anyone who is weight and health-conscious. Fitness begins with proper nutrition; foods that provide essential vitamins, minerals, and protein.

Loading up on carbohydrates can offer a short, sharp burst of energy, but they ultimately lead to dulled senses and sluggishness. Exchanging the donuts and carb-loaded snacks in favor of fresh or dried fruit, nuts, salads, cheese, boiled eggs, whole grain bread, and plain yogurt sweetened with honey or stevia can help to start making these changes. While it is not necessary to give up caffeinated drinks entirely, officers should alternate their caffeine intake with water so they stay hydrated.

2. Stretching For Wellness

Stretching is another way in which officers can enhance their wellness while on duty, especially if they are stationed in one place and don’t frequently move from checkpoint to checkpoint. Staying seated for a long time can lead to tightened hamstrings, which ultimately can affect walking and running.

Stretching, however basic, can help promote and maintain muscle strength and flexibility, which in turn can improve the health of the body’s joints.

3. Embrace The Benefits of Standing

Officers stationed at a desk may find that their fitness will improve if they spend at least 15 minutes of every hour standing up. Alternatively, they can alternate periods of sitting and standing regularly in order to ensure they do not remain in a sedentary position for too long.

There are several benefits associated with standing, such as improved core muscle strength, better posture, and blood sugar levels that normalize faster after eating.

Standing also decreases the risk of developing certain forms of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity.

4. Encourage Mental Fitness

Mental fitness goes hand in hand with physical fitness, so security officers should aim to develop and maintain both. A lack of stimulation on the job can lead to unnecessary distractions, lethargy, and eating out of boredom. However, aiming to remain mentally stimulated should not provide an excuse to play games. Instead, a security officer can exercise their brain by memorizing words from a new language, perfecting memory recall exercises, or similar brain-training activities.

As officers are generally assigned specific orders per shift, they should try and maximize any potential mental stimulation from these tasks. Even learning to type up reports properly or mastering neater handwriting gives the gray matter a workout.

5. Use The Stairs

Taking the elevator can be a tempting prospect, but using the stairs is one of the best ways to maintain physical wellness while on duty. Research shows that stair-climbing helps strengthen muscles, improve cardiovascular health, and decreases the risk of stroke.

Using stairs has also been shown to burn more calories than jogging, plus unlike running, it has less of an impact on the knees.

6. Muscle Training At Work

Many bodyweight and isometric exercises are simple enough for security officers to do while on duty. If it is not possible to do them during the active periods on shift, they can be done before the shift begins or during a break.

Examples of such exercises include:

  • Push-ups: Almost everyone is familiar with push-ups, which are an excellent way to develop strength in the upper body.
  • Wall sits: Wall sits form right angles at the hips and at the knees, which help to strengthen the quadriceps muscles.
  • Planks: Planks are a good exercise for developing upper body and core strength.

7. Use Breaks Well

Eating and then doing nothing is a longstanding way of spending one’s break time, but doing so is not likely to contribute much to health and wellness. There are many ways in which security officers can use their breaks to stay fit.

A break is an ideal time to do the previously mentioned physical and mental exercises that will keep officers energized and motivated for the next part of their shift. Whether that be a few push-ups or climbing the stairs all the way to the top, followed by a healthy snack and a Sudoku puzzle, it can leave officers physically and mentally more fit than before.

 Another way to promote wellness while on a break, especially if officers are stationed in indoor environments with air conditioning and artificial lighting is to go outside for sunshine and fresh air, which can revitalize the body and mind.

8. Keep Active Off Duty

Staying active off duty is another way in which security officers can keep fit. If an officer has become accustomed to sitting for long periods, they may continue this habit at home. However, if they are encouraged to exercise in their downtime, and if they support their level of activity with the healthy foods, water, and exercises suggested above, they will find that their capacity for activity increases.

It’s Always a Good Time To Get Moving

As can be seen, promoting health and fitness among security staff pays off. Not only will security officers feel healthier, but they’ll also be more alert, and their reaction times can improve too.

At the end of the day, a job shouldn’t determine your fitness levels. Staying fit is everyone’s business.

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Crisis Management

Crisis Management: What Security Owners Need To Know

Written by LoftyServicesConsultants

We can probably guess why you’re reading this today. The Coronavirus, or COVID-19, is on every single news headline. With so much noise and chaos coming from every direction, it’s hard to keep a level head.

Silvertrac wants to cut through the noise and, instead of writing another article to stir up panic or get a few more views, we want to give security companies the help they need to deal with crises calmly and effectively.

Things like pandemics with quarantines, terror attacks, and serious natural disasters happen unexpectedly and bring panic with them. A quick and effective response from critical industries (i.e. healthcare, transportation, law enforcement) will help people bounce back on their feet.

Physical security is one of those critical industries. Keeping a level head and having a plan is the key to keeping the rest of the world safe and moving forward.

We’ve identified four things that every security team should do to be prepared for any crisis.

  1. Be prepared in advance
  2. Have an emergency response plan
  3. Help and serve the community
  4. Think about company structure

1. Be Prepared

Assignment Host identifies the three questions you should ask about how you can prepare for crisis management. You should ask these questions before a crisis happens in the world so you can prepare effectively for different situations and put your clients at ease when the time comes.

What is the threat posed to your client?

You will need to think about how a crisis situation will affect every client you serve. In the case of COVID-19, many grocery stores are dealing with a rapid increase in customers. Many of them are on edge, which can quickly lead to violence. Also, with fewer people on the streets and less traffic to stores, theft and robbery are more likely by bad actors.

But, every property will have different issue types that will depend on what kind of crisis is happening in the first place. By thinking about these needs, you will be better prepared to serve your client when the time comes and can more easily create an emergency response plan.

What is the element of surprise?

Your clients will be depending on you to use your experience to be ready for anything. Having the mindset of “everything that can go wrong will go wrong” will help your response be the best it can be.

How quickly will you have to take decisive action?

Knowing how quickly you will need to snap into action after a crisis happens can help you figure out how and when you might need to hire more officers. It can also help you design your officer training to have them be prepared for anything at any time.

In the case of a tornado or earthquake, response times need to be as fast as possible. In something like a hurricane or a pandemic, you might have slightly more time to make decisions.

2. Have an Emergency Response Plan

Things can change quickly in a crisis situation. Physical security operations are expected to be able to respond to those real-time changes. Let’s look at three processes in your operation that will need to have emergency protocols.

Visitor Management

In times of crisis, you have to expect changes in traffic to properties you manage, especially if you run security for any critical infrastructure property types. These changes in traffic can bring an increased threat to the property.

In the case of a global pandemic like COVID-19, having specific screening questions – “do you have any symptoms? Have you been tested? Etc. – and sanitary products at the entry-gate for visitors can help you keep healthy people from being exposed.

If you work for a more industrial property type, you might want to consider taking a close look at different types of sign-in systems you could implement or improve on to make sure you always know who is coming in and out of the property.

Access Control Systems

Having strict lock and unlock schedules or alarm open and close schedules is an essential part of keeping buildings on a property secure. They are even more important in times of crisis.

You will need to consider having different schedules for locks and alarms that can be applied to different crisis scenarios. Your alarm needs will change between a response to a natural disaster or something more people-oriented like the aftermath of a terror attack.

You will also want to think about doing an audit of any privileged access lists a property has. Having more restricted access to critical areas can help reduce traffic in times of chaos, allowing you to do your job more effectively and keep people safe.

Remote Security Services

Resources can become limited in a crisis. Being able to provide the same level of service as normal even when you’re working with new challenges is critical to still being able to serve your clients’ needs.

During something like a quarantine, consider how you can run more mobile patrols to cover ground faster while you still limit human interaction.

3. Help & Serve the Community

There are certain kinds of businesses, like security services, that help people feel safe even when everything in the world is going according to plan. When a crisis comes, people depend on those businesses even more as a source of safety and security.

Through all of the chaos and panic, you have a chance to help people feel like everything is going to be alright, because it will.

It’s important for any security company to be as involved as they can be in their communities, so you should do that no matter what state the world is in. But, you can also use crisis situations as an opportunity to get even more involved in your community. In the long run, it can help you make a name for yourself and maybe even secure more contracts.

More importantly than making money, you can make a positive difference in your community and give people a positive idea about what security does.

4. Company Structure

Every security company should pay a lot of attention to how their operation is structured. Having clear leadership and reporting systems helps keep the company efficient and effective.

Especially in times of crisis, having a good team structure in place will help your whole team be prepared for anything. With a solid management team, you can have order in your operation even when there’s chaos in the streets.

But keep in mind that a time of crisis can change how you serve your clients. If necessary, supervisors in your company should be ready to get out into the field at any time if that’s what the situation calls for.

During this specific crisis, we at Lofty Services & Consultants Ltd. hope that these tips are useful and give you some direction while you try to figure out how to respond. To recap, here are all the tips one more time:

  1. Be prepared in advance
  2. Have an emergency response plan
  3. Help and serve the community
  4. Think about company structure
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Customer Service

How Customer Service Affects Your Security Operation

Written by LoftyServicesConsultants

Customer service, customer support, or customer success (CS) is an important part of any service-based business. For small-to-midsize physical security companies, building a successful CS team can be hard. Often these operations have minimal manpower and resources.

That’s where we comes in. Our team has built a quick guide on how to build a successful customer services team.

But first, let’s look at what exactly CS is and why it’s important.

What It Is & Why It’s Important

Customer service, at its most basic level, is the support that an organization provides to its clients. But in order to provide a great experience, CS is necessary before a contract is even signed. CS is the personal touch that helps potential and current clients create trust with a company.

CS is so important to people now that they are willing to spend more money on goods and services when a company provides better CS than its competitor. Great CS along with great service offerings can increase your bottom line significantly.

Not only are people willing to spend more money on companies with better support, but it is also the easiest way to create customer retention. Happy, loyal customers are also more likely to refer other potential clients. If CS operations are set-up properly, the company has now created a cycle of client renewals and client referrals.

Within small-to-midsize physical security operations, companies are constantly going up against companies with similar offerings or are just bigger operations with more resources.

That’s where CS helps a small-to-midsize security operation stand-out. In our 12 years of experience, our clients constantly run up against competition that is too similar to their service-offerings to stand-out. The winning factor for the bid…great customer service!

Sounds great on paper, right? But how do you implement great CS?

What Makes Great Customer Service?

Before we look at how to implement great customer service, we need to look at what makes it great. Take a second to think back through your experiences with CS in your own life. What has worked? What hasn’t?

Great support looks different for every organization, but there are a few basics that all great CS has:

How to Implement Great Customer Service

Before much CS strategy can take-place, your team has to define what success means to your organization.

For Silvertrac, success means helping all of our clients, regardless of size, make the most out of our software so they can grow their business. Success means being readily available and having friendly, supportive relationships with each and every one of our clients.

Once you figure out what success means for your organization, it’s important to build a hiring strategy that will allow management to easily identify candidates that are ready to provide great support. A few things to look for are:

  • A positive, patient attitude
  • Passion for your organization’s service & mission, as well as, your client’s well-being & success
  • Past customer service experience

Working in customer service can be very challenging. CS teams regularly speak with angry, frustrated, and confused clients that often aren’t able to communicate very well. It’s up to your CS team to manage these clients. They have to listen to their issues and provide an explanation that makes sense to the specific person they are talking to.

Hiring with the above characteristics in mind will help create a successful CS team right away.

If you’ve already built your CS dream team it’s time to start looking at how to provide support. It’s important to remember, you don’t have to use every type of customer support channel.

For a small-to-midsize physical security company with less than ideal man-power, you may look at just providing the basics to your clients:

  • Phone support between certain hours
  • Email support
  • FAQ/Help Center on your website
  • Chatbot on your website

The goal is to pick a few channels that your team can respond to promptly and efficiently. If there are too many support channels for your CS team to attend to, your response times will get longer and the effectiveness of every support ticket decreases.

If your CS operation requires more resources, you can look at adding different technology solutions that can help you offer even better support.

Building in a reporting structure for your CS operation is the last piece of the puzzle. Like any other team in your security operation, if you don’t have a baseline for determining success, you are wasting money, time, and resources. How you build your operation will determine what CS reports your team needs.

Customer Success Key Takeaways:

  • CS is incredibly important to the success of your business and your overall bottom line.
  • Clients will spend more money for better service.
  • Hire CS team members with attitude, passion, and experience in mind.
  • Only utilize the CS channels that your team can effectively monitor and respond to.
  • Make sure CS reporting is in place so you can measure the success of your CS team.
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