Field supervisors and their responsibilities

As a security consultant of many years if I had to choose the single most important position in a security company it would be the field supervisor. If an officer interprets the position the right way he not only makes sure that as many security officers as he visit each day are performing according to post orders and customer expectations, but he also makes every officer better every day. In my many years in the security industry I have dealt with many field supervisors and one has to understand that they will not understand how important and demanding their job is unless somebody trains and coaches them the right way as well.

The responsibilities of a security supervisor include visiting his assigned posts once or twice at random times each day. The surprise visits are designed to keep security officers accountable. Many supervisors think that that is the extent of their job. As long as they make sure that people are present, show up on time and leave on time their job is done. When I train a new supervisor I explain to him that these duties are ten percent of his job. A good field officer should train new employees according to post orders and client's expectations, which means he has to communicate with clients and security consultants for each respective site constantly.

The field officer should review and help with reports, which means that he should review and correct each report at each site. He should talk to each officer about the activities and incidents for the day ensuring that everything is captured in the report. He should continuously look for coaching opportunities, which in the long run will make security guards better at their job. The most important advice I give the supervisors that work with is that the better they train a guard initially and the more they talk to the guards when they visit the easier their job is going to be.

If a security officer understands the client's expectations and is properly trained to execute to post orders one will encounter less problems in the long run. As security officers are coached and advised about potential risk factors it will prevent crimes and incidents and improve the guard's decision making in emergency situations. I tell my supervisors that work with me that they can be proactive and work smart or work hard all the time. If security guards are not trained properly and continuously coached their supervisors will constantly have to put out fires and explain mistakes to clients. A supervisor that takes the time to properly train his people will rarely encounter problems and will improve customer satisfaction. The same way security consultants should take the time to train supervisors that work for them. That will ensure the success of the security company and ensure that everybody in the company improves his skill set each day.