4 Tips To Help Your Security Officer Performance Reviews Go Smoothly
If you are currently getting ready to conduct your security officer's performance reviews, here are four tips that will help you ensure that the reviews go smoothly and are beneficial for both you and the officers that you interact with.
#1 Make The Goal Of The Review Clear
Make sure that that the officers that you are reviewing understand the purpose of a performance review; don't assume that they know what your goal with it is. Your goal should be able to work together with each security officer to create custom and actionable steps that officer can take to improve upon or master a specific skill. This should be a skill that will help the security officer better perform their job.
#2 Have A Prepared Formal Document
If you don't have a formal document prepared for your performance reviews, create one before you get started. This will help you keep each review on track and will help ensure that the reviews are as uniform as possible.
Your review document should go over the responsibilities that each officer has to perform while on duty as well as an evaluation or mark on how they are doing with each duty. It should also include an action step area where a skill to work on can be identified and an action plan to improve upon that skill can be written down.
#3 Stick To The Officer's Performance
During the review, stick to the officer's performance. If your company uses security guard management software, you should easily be able to pull numbers and information about the officer's performance, such as how many times they were late to their job, the number of reports they have submitted, and the number of specific actions they have performed.
Keep out subjective words such as if the officer is "nice" or "rude". Using subjective words can stir up emotions and distract from the overall purpose of the performance review; to identify specific skills the officer needs to work on and make a plan to help them work on those skills. If you have issues with an employee's attitude, address those at another time.
#4 Use The Cushion Method
Use the cushion method during the review process. Start out by letting your officer know what specific things they do well and use details and numbers to back up your praise. Next, let the officer know what task or tasks you want them to improve upon, and provide specific details and numbers that supports why you want to work on that task. Work together to come up with ways to improve that task. Finally, wrap up your review with something else that you like that the officer does. This cushion method puts the "negative" or "thing to work on" in the middle, allowing you to build positive energy and end on a good note.