Are Employees Your Security Weakness? 5 Ways to Change That

In any security system, the users — primarily employees and management — are a vital factor in success. Are you concerned that your employees are the weak point in your security program? You're not alone. Unfortunately, relying too heavily on penalties is unlikely to get the positive results you need. Instead, here are five ways you can increase security by strengthening this weak link. 

1. Automate Security

If forgetful or lax humans are a weak point in your security, find ways to avoid relying on them for primary security. Automate as much as you can, ranging from self-closing doors to key control systems that independently report when all keys have been returned. 

Adding automation doesn't have to be expensive or difficult. If all the employees in a department share a key to enter or exit their secure office, switch to a coded access control system and issue individual codes. You have more control and it may even be more convenient to employees. 

2. Provide Engaging Training

Security training for employees is vital. It should be ongoing so that people not only learn new aspects to the security of their work areas but also receive reminders. But to be effective, that training must also be engaging. Rather than boring lectures, get interactive. Create games that illustrate security challenges and solutions. Arrange for hands-on learning. And replace one long training with several short ones. 

3. Use Positive Rewards

If an employee fails to lock up the doors to the office more than once, they will likely be penalized in some way. But can you get more benefit from using positive reinforcement instead? Can you offer incentives to people who do remember to lock up their offices every day?

There are many ways to switch to a more positive rewards system. A department with zero security issues during a period might win a free lunch or get extra time off. Or if your security staff devises a test, like planting a suspicious stranger on the property and seeing who reports the person, offer a reward to employees who pass the test. When employees get positive responses, they are more likely to participate. 

4. Layer Your Security

Another way to take human tendencies out of the equation is to add more than one layer of different security to an area. This idea stems from digital security that uses 'multi-factor authentication' that requires users to provide two different verification methods to gain entry. A company can do likewise with physical security. 

How could you enact multilayered security? If an entire department has the same key to the perimeter of their work zone, add separate locks or coded access for individual offices. If one employee has a key to the room with the safe, a different employee should have the actual safe key. Or you might add a picture badge verification to a coded access door for two-layer authentication in sensitive areas. 

5. Empower the Employees

Do your employees feel like targets of security measures or like partners in it? The answer will greatly affect how much they embrace the effort. 

Make employees your partner by giving them a voice and a reason to care. You might, for instance, highlight the danger to their co-workers if they let others tailgate through locked doors. Commit the company to increasing department budgets as inventory losses go down. Or create a security committee that includes representatives from all levels of employee groups. And certainly, take suggestions seriously. 

Rather than focus on the ways your employees may let you down when it comes to security, find methods to make them more involved and to override their lax tendencies. This way, your company is more secure and your employees stay positive. Learn more tips for making sure employees aren't the weak link in your security by meeting with the team at Phoenix Access Control today.