Your guards are the face of your company, and it’s essential that they are always operating according to your high standards. From making a great first impression with your clients and all those who enter their facilities, to correctly & accurately reporting security incidents and efficiently completing their assigned tasks, great guards are what can set your security company apart from the competition.
Part of managing a great workforce includes conducting a performance review on an annual, bi-annual or quarterly basis that ensures both you and your guards are working towards the same goals. However, your performance review should be more than a simple scoresheet that you present to your employees with no context and no constructive discussion. If you want to conduct a performance review that truly makes an impact on how your guard performs out in the field, keep the following in mind:
Performance reviews can be stressful on both you and your security guards. Hopefully, when performance assessment season comes around, you’ve already taken steps to address any ongoing issues with your employee, so bringing them up should be no surprise. Try to avoid using the performance review meeting to bombard your guard with a laundry list of problems, which will only serve to demotivate them and harm their performance overall.
Aim to offer actionable steps to your security guards when conducting a performance review. Whether their overall performance is exemplary or poor, in both cases you can offer specific steps for your employee to master skills to help them be a better security guard or advance their career.
Remember that the performance review should be a two-way street. While you’ll want to talk about how you view your guard’s on the job skills, you should also allow them the opportunity to voice any opinions about their own performance. Ask him or her if there is anything you can do to make their job easier or help them achieve their career goals.
Implementing performance review procedures that go beyond the typical scorecard format can help you retain great guards and help you support underperforming officer to transform them into better employees.