For the most effective results it is that paper-based testing and interviews are obsolete in the face of the latest batch of video selection tools.
In today’s connected economy, finding applicants to fill security roles is not that onerous a task. The main challenge facing security managers is to distinguish between the many promising candidates out there and those that really can deliver the goods.
Just recently I read an article in an aviation magazine that described the various techniques deployed for landing at airfields. The author of said piece mentioned that the English language is the most common in use among pilots. I was also pleased to read that the use of a single language is not a voluntary process. Apparently, it’s mandated by the international authorities to ensure that aircraft, traffic controllers and other interested parties can understand each other – thereby avoiding any accidents due to communication failure.
At the time I thought to myself: “At least that’s one possible cause of air traffic accidents out of the way”. Not so. This very practical article produced a flurry of letters from commercial and general aviation pilots alike, many reporting on harrowing examples of where this protocol had broken down.
Guarding in the real world
All of what you have read thus far would have been academic had I not been speaking with a corporate security chief who explained to me how a recent evacuation drill had been progressing extremely well until a security officer – assigned to restrict access to the building’s tenth floor lifts – met the company’s chief executive and his entourage…
On approaching the guard, the chief executive asked in clipped and educated tongue: “Why can’t I use the lifts?” At this point matters became a trifle muddled. The officer was unable to comprehend what it was that was being asked of him, and the entourage was unable to understand his oral responses. After much hand waving and gesturing, the officer was encouraged to use his highly audible and very busy radio. Sadly, the calm and measured voice of the controller was of no help, and after frequent “Say again. All after…” the by-now apoplectic chief executive and his entourage stormed passed the guard into the lifts and descended to the ground floor.
The corporate security chief was quick to point out to me that, during the ensuing investigation, it was established that the guard could speak English, albeit with a pronounced accent (a fact identified in his interview for the job). The investigation showed that the crunch moment for this particular officer came during what was – to him, at least – an unfamiliar drill.
Clearly, the officer was emotionally overwhelmed by events and reverted – in this case – to a mixture of his native tongue and English. As all procedures had been properly applied, management escaped with little more than bruised feelings and much report writing.
How to select the best
So-called ‘soft skills’ like communication skills are obviously important to both pilots and security officers, but picking the top performers for a job in which such attributes are vital – or where the necessary traits are too onerous to train – is very difficult.
In selection terms, without having seen the applicant in action it’s not easy for employers to gauge their likely degree of effectiveness. It’s in the visibility where simple modification to selection procedures can be applied.
The British Psychological Society believes that work sample testing is one of the most effective screening tools. Such selection tests involve placing the candidates in situations akin to those they would face once in the job. In other words, security managers would then observe how the candidates react and draw a conclusion based on that assessment. Alternatively, they would compare the observed responses to those of other top performers.
When it comes to staff selection, video-based selection tools provide the essential mix of standardisation and intensity that’s not available in paper tests or interviews. These assessments present an applicant with a number of short video scenarios depicting a job-related situation. At a critical point in each situation, the scenario ends and the applicant must choose between several alternative courses of action.
With the aid of an occupational psychologist, we have adapted these video clips for use in the selection of CCTV monitoring staff. Thus far, the move has been particularly beneficial.
Reduced time and expense
Another incentive for the use of multimedia selection tools is that they may be deployed to cover groups of people (in assessment centres, for instance), therefore reducing the time and expense needed to screen large numbers of applicants. Multimedia selection tools are also fun – a marketing benefit for employers who use feral schemes as a recruitment mechanism.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that staff retention is improved by using such techniques. Perhaps now you can envision a future where prospective candidates visit your company web site for a virtual tour of the business. This same site will also be able to deliver interactive sessions, and gather data from your on-line visitors. Then, by using biometric techniques to support identification, suitable career paths may be suggested, modified and updated.
In the meantime, think about which airports you might want to fly from and to!
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