Security usually serves as one of the most important services in the 21st century. This is especially so in the business world in which there is a high dependence on corporate assets for an organization to achieve its goals optimally. Usually, corporate invest heavily on security to safeguard these assets. In this paper, the role of security in the provision of protection to the assets of an organization will be explored. To achieve this particular objective, the paper will seek to discuss the security director’s various professional responsibilities, as well as, the critical skills required of him or her if they are to succeed. Aside from this, the present study will explore the essence of both internal and the external relationships to the fulfillment of the mission of the security department. Ultimately, the broad spectrum of activities that the security operatives involve themselves in protecting the assets of an entity will be covered.
A security director is a person who heads a private security force that works for a certain business or industry. One of the major responsibilities of the security director is loss prevention. As such, the director is supposed to ensure that the possibilities of loss affecting the organizational assets are completely eliminated or where not possible, are mitigated. To fulfill such a mandate, there is a range of competencies that the director should exhibit (Wang, et al., 2013). One of the most important skills is the ability to implement and manage security strategies along with standards. Aside from this, the director should have the ability to manage, coordinate and direct the security department staff. On top of this, the director should exhibit the capacity to conduct a frequent on-site evaluation of the security posture of an entity.
Another important responsibility of the security director is related to the investigation. According to Gill (2014), where there is a security issue facing the organizational assets, whether actual or perceived, the security director is mandated with the role of commissioning an investigation. He or she is required to set up a team of investigators and, guided by the department’s investigation policy and the investigation standards set by the country’s constitution, the director should initiate the investigation. The director should direct the team in the manner the investigation is to be performed, providing adequate process to the entire process. Apart from this, as it was clarified by Gill (2014), the security director should ensure that the investigation procedure is a coordinated effort. There are also important administrative functions that the security director is supposed to serve. For instance, the security director is expected to provide customers with the security information that they may require. Additionally, the security director is required to provide supervision to the security officers and other personnel whose role is closely associated with the security department. Further, the security director is expected to make a documentation about different issues related to security that affect the department and the entire organization (Shin, Shin & Lee, 2013). Another important administrative role of a security director is to coordinate and provide support to every tier of the organization.
To succeed as a security director, a person should also play the managerial mandate. There are several managerial responsibilities, which deem a security director as a manager. Foremost is recruitment. Where it is determined that a need for new talents exists, the security director, together with other personnel, should take charge in the hiring and recruitment process. Additionally, the security director is supposed to plan and schedule (Wang, et al., 2013). As such, he or she ought to plan events such as security board meetings. Also, the director has to establish security plans for the department, allocate resources, including financial and human resources, and lead through the implementation process.
To undertake each of the responsibilities mentioned above in a successful manner, there is a set of skills and competencies that the security director is expected to depict. One of these is exemplary communication skills. The director has to communicate with the members of the staff, whether directly or indirectly through verbal and non-verbal communication. For instance, he or she has to communicate the goals of the security department to all the members. The director has to have the capacity to employ the most appropriate communication approach to doing this. Also, he or she has to communicate in a manner that everybody understands. As such, he or she has to be clear and concise. Another important skill is the analytical skill. The security department involves the analysis of risks that relate to the corporate assets. As such, the potentiality or the probability of risks and their severity, and the various alternatives for mitigating them have to be analyzed (Shin, Shin & Lee, 2013). This process goes beyond normal analytical skills. This is to say that a direct has to have a thorough approach to risk analysis. There is also the issue of decision-making. The director of security owns the process of decision-making in the security department. He or she is accountable for every decision made by the department. Therefore, the security director has to have greater decision-making skills as compared to the staff in the department (Wang, et al., 2013). He or she should be in a position to analyze the decisions and determine which are appropriate and which are not, and which could be improved. The security director should also have desirable managerial skills. As it has been discussed in this paper, the security director is the manager of the security department. Therefore, he or she has to undertake managerial duties such as hiring and recruiting, initiating plans and implementing them. Without these skills, it follows that there is a possibility of failing as a security director. However, with adequate managerial skills, one can easily help the department to accomplish its goals optimally.
It has been documented across research that both internal and external relationships are of central importance of the security director is to fulfill the mission of the security department. It is imperative to have an understanding of what the internal and the external relationships mean. The internal relationship refers to the bond formed between the members of the security team. It can refer to the nature of understanding and interaction between the director and the staff or between the staff members. Such a relationship is very important. Where there is a good relationship, the level of commitment is essentially high. Therefore, each person is dedicated to his or her role and at the same time, they are motivated to achieve a greater outcome, much to the benefit of the department (Shin, Shin & Lee, 2013). Also, with a good relationship between the members of the security department, it means that information can be easily shared. This is of central importance as it ensures that a certain goal is completed with ease and precision. An external relationship might mean the association of the security department with the rest of the organizational departments or with the customers. Such a relationship is also essential (Wang, et al., 2013). A good relationship means that the other departments and the customers will be committed to working with the security department to ensure that a greater level of security is accomplished. The external members are likely to report any security issue, which the security department will strive to work on. Eventually, the department will deliver outcomes, which are beyond the expectations of all.
There is a broad spectrum of activities in which the security operatives involves themselves to provide protection to the assets of an entity. One of the most important is the identification and classification of assets. According to Gill (2014), the security department has to identify all the corporate assets and then classify them based on some security standards such as high risk assets among others. Other activities that the security operatives have to undertake include regularly communicating with all the stakeholders involved, allocating resources to implement security changes, and implementing security measures and equipment such as CCTVs around the corporate assets (Wang, et al., 2013).
- Gill, M. L. (Ed.). (2014). The handbook of security. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
- Shin, J., Shin, W. S., & Lee, C. (2013). An energy security management model using quality function deployment and system dynamics. Energy Policy, 54, 72-86.
- Wang, F., et al. (2013). A system framework of security management in enterprise systems. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 30(3), 287-299.
