We are facing fast-changing risks in the hotel industry around the world. This challenges us to learn more about the mentality and behavior of criminals.
It also means we need to be more security aware – to be conscientious in sharpening our senses and upgrading our powers of observation so we can mitigate these increasingly serious risks.
How can we be increasingly proactive in the hospitality industry? How can we deal with potential risks that we might not even be aware of?
Most of the time we cannot know where something is going to happen next, the exact nature of the crime and who is going to commit the crime. Criminals are constantly looking for new ways to bypass and defeat hotel security. It seems criminals are always a step ahead of authorities and businesses. This sounds frustrating, but it is all too often a fact of life and should serve to motivate hotel management to be more security savvy and better prepared to prevent criminal activities. Hollywood movies like the Minority Report with Tom Cruise, where cops of the future arrest people before they actually commit a crime, are pure fiction. Meanwhile, hotel managers and staff have to operate in the real world.
Dealing with the real world
Following are some tips to help managers handle security risks:
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Managers should lead the way
Before a hotel can raise security awareness and expect correct responses from employees to potential and actual incidents, hotel management needs to have a deeper and better understanding of what security awareness is all about. Management also needs to be aware of potentially serious consequences, if the wrong steps are taken to deal with an emergency. This means hotels should implement security awareness training for managers so they can lead in mitigating the risks.
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Talk security
Start raising security awareness by initiating and leading the talk about security and involve all staff in the discussion.
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Build your own team of surveillance officers (SOs)
One of the arguments why hotel managers should start pushing for more security awareness training is that your employees are your eyes and ears on the frontline and this team effort works better than any technology. Therefore, educate your employees. Hotel staff must be skilled in the appropriate techniques of investigation, if they are to recognize a person acting suspiciously or a suspicious item left unattended in the hotel. When employees are able to identify something suspicious because it does not match the norm, then everyone in the hotel is safer. This means they have to learn about the norm in the country and region where they are serving first. Allow employees to learn more about global and local risks. More importantly, employees need to know what to do next and who to report to when they identify someone or something suspicious.
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The Duty of Care role model effect
Create a work environment where security awareness is understood as teamwork because we all are responsible for each other. When the employees see that you care, then they are more likely to care more for your guests, fellow staff members and for management too. Everyone’s safety and welfare becomes everyone’s concern.
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Don’t risk it, if you don’t have to
Know your line of defense and ensure your employees also know where they should never cross the line. In this context the YouTube video ‘Two Bellman’ from Marriott is not exactly the best example of how to handle professional security incidents, but it is useful to demonstrate what your employees should NEVER do.
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Choose the right security partners
Seek external advice from a security specialist you can trust.
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Leave room for wise decision making when face a new challenge
We can have the best security policies and procedures in the world in place, but this means nothing unless the management and staff are trained and committed to putting them into practice. Security policies and procedures are based on a calculated risk and on incidents that have happened in the past with the intent of preventing their reoccurrence. However, even with a comprehensive and well-designed security plan, managers must have the freedom to make a decision to keep guests and staff safe in the event of an unforeseen incident not covered in the security policies and procedures manual.
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Skill enhancement
Learn more about the knowledge surrounding safety & security. Hotel security has never been a comprehensive subject in hotel management and vocational schools. Some hotel management schools cover only the very basics, but never dive deeper into the common global risks or talk about security best practices. Others don’t even cover the topic at all. Consider, when the risks are changing fast, how this reality will impact the profile of the Duty Manager of the future?
Both hotel management and employees can learn more about how to mitigate fast-changing risks by enrolling in the Online Security Awareness Course from ehotelier Academy.
About the author
His hotel experience includes rooms division management, pre-opening, fire, health & safety, risk management & cost control. He has worked for leading hotel brands in Munich, Frankfurt, Bremen, Berlin, Cork, Edinburgh and Doha in the Middle East.
He graduated in 2002 as a Hotel Management Consultant at the Steigenberger Hotel Management School. He gained valuable experience as a Cost Controller at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers at Frankfurt Airport. He worked three years in Ireland where he built on his experience as a former volunteer fire officer and became a qualified IOSH Health & Safety Officer. He effectively combined the field of Health & Safety with his Assistant Manager positions.
Stefan now consults to hotels to implement innovative and affordable strategies to raise their level of security to meet growing global demands
