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Employee hiring and screening are vital support functions for any company, but they may be the most important functions for a security company. If your security provider doesn’t have the right people in place, it reflects poorly on you, can leave your organization open to risk and can even impact your brand. 

The Basics 

Every security company should be doing the basics when it comes to employee hiring and selection, that’s a given. That includes tactics like:

• Proper vetting and background screening

• Security clearance requirements

• Drug testing

• Age verification

• Employment status confirmation

• Education verification

• In-person interviews

• Skill-testing exams 

If a security provider is not confirming these criteria, they probably shouldn’t be in business, let alone your security partner. Covering the basics is important, but it shouldn’t stop there. For your security program to succeed, you need... 8 Selection & Screening Differentiators

How your security provider decides who will work at your site is of critical importance. Matching the right people to the right environment leads to more engaged and therefore, more long-term employees who are familiar with your business and security operations. To truly succeed, you need to ensure that your security provider:
 

1. Profiles their people 

Not the type of profiling you see on detective shows, but profiling individuals’ personalities, preferences and the types of environments to which people are most suited. Do you need someone friendly to greet visitors or someone with more of an authoritative presence to serve as a deterrent to criminals? Depending on the role, hiring managers should be able to indicate the appropriate type of person for the post and recruiters should easily be able to find a match.
  

2. Considers what they’re protecting

Is it people? Is it data? Is it high value equipment or assets? Or is safety your primary concern? The type of security coverage you need will impact how your security program is staffed. The responsibilities of each post need to be considered each time there is an opening to ensure requirements haven’t changed.  
 

3. Assesses skills

What does your program require? Specific backgrounds, such as law enforcement, military or even hospitality experience? Someone who has worked with technology or other specialized skillsets? The security provider should share the kind of testing and evaluation they conduct in order to align your needs with the people who will fill them. 
 

4. Can efficiently search for candidates

When there are open posts, your security team should be able to find the right individuals by shift preferences, location and the specific needs of your security program, for example, a driver’s license requirement. The more efficient and automated the hiring system, the faster openings will be filled with the right people and not just a warm body.
  

5. Automates their recruiting and screening processes

Does your provider have efficient processes for finding, filtering, tracking and hiring qualified candidates? Are background checks ordered automatically without the need for manual entry? When the hiring system is automated it fills positions more quickly, saves everyone time and money and means recruiters don’t waste time reviewing unqualified applicants or accidentally overlook qualified people. 
  

6. Has a low selection rate

When there is an opening, are they filled quickly with well-suited applicants or just whoever seems to be available? Your security partner should not be hiring everyone who walks through the door. They should be carefully vetting each individual to determine suitability. Ask you provider what percentage of applicants they hire? The lower the number the better. 
  

7. Encourages career development

It should be easy for current employees to look for relevant opportunities. Are open positions within the company online so that employees seeking a new challenge or a career path can find positions that interest them and proactively apply?  
 

8. Provides status updates

Does your account management know the status of open positions? They should be able to log in to a centralized system and review candidates’ status in the hiring process and provide you updates quickly and easily.  

Everyone is best served when security officers are matched to the right job; managers are provided with employees who are willing and prepared to perform their specific responsibilities; and you have the best possible security staff. When it comes to recruiting and screening security officers, the right combination of process, people and technology will ensure your security program’s success.