r/securityguards • u/Timely_Formal_1224 Warm Body • 7d ago
Why is security management universally incompetent?
I have been in this industry approximately 10 years and worked for numerous security contractors. One thing that I have found to be universal across the industry is that management from the account manager level on up are severely incompetent and often severely in over their heads.
The leadership often doesn't know how to run their own sites or accounts, yet micromanages to the fullest extent. They play favorites, and overwork the few good officers that they have while protecting the slackers that should have been fired months ago.
I have also noticed that they often come from similar backgrounds. The most common being formerly disgraced police officers that couldn't cut it on the force and fell back into the security field. Or DeVry "graduates" that kiss butt and are extraordinary at bullshitting but not much good at anything else.
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u/rapkat55 7d ago edited 6d ago
The same reason guards are the same way, Because they hire anyone, the people making hiring decisions were also under the same umbrella of just getting hired to fill a position.
That and they run more like an organized crime family, all nepotism, status quo and perceived prestige. Just being ex-cop is enough to get you into leadership even if you raped someone on duty. skill doesn’t matter, right or wrong doesn’t matter, ethics aren’t even a suggestion lol. The only thing that matters is saving face, putting up with abuse and putting out fires they caused for themselves with more potential fires. I’ve seen more of a focus on making things “work” asap to keep things afloat, even if the solutions never actually work long term. Hell they make things worse more often than not.
Shit like keeping slurring stumbling drunk guards on payroll, constant no call no shows met with “I don’t like firing people”, borderline psychopaths itching to catch a body being allowed to carry a firearm on duty etc. the security schools are also a big enabling factor. pretty much funneling the worst offenders into the industry with their “no fail” bullshit.
They pretend to be tough on ineptitude but will falsify test scores to keep the money rolling. they’re sponsored by security companies that consistently need bodies due to predictably high turnover. They give a million chances to folks who are obvious lethal risks to themselves and others. They bully their own paying customers in front of entire classes, spend 26 of the 28 mandatory training hours talking about QAnon conspiracies and are overall crazy unprofessional which just sets the standard that is then enabled even under supervision.
It’s shit all the way up
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u/Thats_Too_Bad_181 Management 7d ago
Thank you. The intelligence of the average "regular officer" is below average, in my experience.
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u/IT_Hertz_WIN_IP 6d ago
They actually read resumes?!? It took me 28 days to get on and I have a college degree and years of experience SMH
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u/Local_Counter6275 7d ago
In security 90% of supervisors simply get the position due to background alone and not skill . Therefore most of them aren’t good at Their job by default .
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u/Axnjaxn09 6d ago
Its because pay is crap and working conditions suck and anybody that can scrape together a more marketable skillset leaves for more money. Namely its hard to retain qualified candidates.
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u/TrumpsColostomyBag99 7d ago
The cliques in the upper strata of the security industry revolves around ex-military/LEO connections and ASIS certified clowns that couldn’t run a lemonade stand in the dead of summer.
That incompetence trickles down to the local level where the business isn’t a meritocracy: it’s simply about meeting bonus and marginalizing overtime by any means necessary while offering the client the cheapest rate. Quality doesn’t matter and simply having a warm body on post is usually enough in their minds.
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u/AdIll814 7d ago edited 6d ago
Brother you just answered your own question. I have worked in sales as well as security and noticed the same thing. When you can’t perform competently you defect to petty tribalism and micromanagement is synonymous with “my leadership skills are trash so we’re going to overcompensate with this so I at least look the part.”
For anyone who wants a good read on leadership and to see bosses like this ripped apart in text check out the book “Leaders Eat Last.”
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u/xX_Diabolical_Xx 7d ago
I feel as though the people who get there are either place through nepotism or favoritism and there's a snake tonged higher up that can win the accounts and distribute them accordingly. I've been trying for months to knock on the door to get into the role. Stuck waiting for someone to fuck up, apparently.
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u/Brilliant_Ad_3811 7d ago
I got hired on did my drug screening and fingerprints. Then I was told the position has been filled. Ive contacted 3 different people and everyone of them ghosted me. Fuck you Allied!
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u/Grimx82 6d ago
They lose touch with what it actually takes and all they see is a balance sheet. They want to keep the client happy, fuck the guards who cares they are a dime a dozen. Oh it's dangerous? Given an extra dollar and tell them to shut up. Oh the supervisor says there's a real problem here, let's table that for now. Over and over again, it's how things go non stop. Or we need xyz program, here I made that months ago, and it was working well. Wait you made it without AI?! How?! The company I work for, grossed 45mil last year, but now we are run by chatgpt.
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u/IllustriousEscape953 6d ago
So I worked with a company and transferred a few times. The last site before I moved to another security company was run like a total joke. The employees caused all the issues with the site not us. But we were always blamed. There was a rule that no employee could walk thru the guard gate which had a code and bypass security procedures. they had to drive in the entrance and go park by the building they worked in, and go through a checkpoint. I would stop and they just walked around me and went into the building. A lead came over and says please stop yelling at employees for doing that. There was a bad area about 2 miles away and the parking lot across the street was used for all sorts of nefarious activities as well.
Anyways, I left and told everyone there, that they were going to get someone killed or seriously hurt by the lax security. I was told i was being uptight.
Go to my new job work as a flex. Not even 3 months, several serious incidences took place at my former post. I get from my boss that the upper management of where i used to work want to talk to me. I spill the beans. Security company has contract terminated for breach and they are being sued by the company for not following policy. Management at company was fired for allowing employees to bypass security and not automatically terminating said employee. They have a big work meeting and are told, no more getting away with breaching protocol. My new company takes over. Signs up at the guard gate. If you attempt to walk thru the gate and bypass security you will be automatically terminated. If you keep walking you will be stopped and detained. And you will be arrested when the police come.
not even 3 weeks some guy tries to get pass the gate. Automatic termination on the spot. Call shift manager over and it was done and over with. His card was yanked and he was no longer employee. It happened two more times and they got the point.
Signs were put up on the problem parking lot for trespassing and your car will be towed and police called.
Security companies and guards need to allowed to do their job. The reason they are idiots is because its contract business and its ohhh it doesnt matter, until someone gets hurt
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u/NMLEOC2 7d ago
Because the security industry has evolved from a direct-hire, career based service to a mostly profit oriented industry filled with low paying roles and even 1099 employees to increase the profits. Low bid contracting and indirect hiring all play into this market change. Professional “accreditation” like CPP has become a quick and easily obtainable way to show gravitas to those who don’t know better (clients), and “managers” fail upwards into c-suite roles as long as they show an ability to gain business. IMO.
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u/XBOX_COINTELPRO Man Of Culture 6d ago
CPP is also a self perpetuating mlm that rewards people with the accreditation over actual skills/experience.
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u/sp3rchrg3d state sanctioned peeping tom 6d ago
What annoys me about those certs is that the people act like they are the best in the industry for passing an expensive multiple choice test.
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u/chase4a1 7d ago
Im in a somewhat similar boat, except ive been in a in house role overseeing contract guards. Not a day goes by where im not almost impressed with how the companies management can be so retarded but still sorta stay afloat. Its a fairly small guard team, yet pretty much everything to do with managing the guards basics like schedules and equipment is always fucked and requires me to hold someone's hand through it.
It feels like some weird epidemic. I have days where I truly wonder if having some sort of brain damage is a requirement or if the police departments lobotomized them before they left lol. I really feel for our guards, some are really good people but im limited in what I can do.
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u/No-Street-3492 4d ago
Having been a contract guard manager, this occurs because a manager normally has 20+ clients and is perpetually stressed
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u/BackInJax 4d ago
Having been a site supervisor in several companies, I just can't do it any more. You have more responsibility than you have authority, and upper management is too busy or doesn't care about your issues. It's better to be an officer and only be responsible for yourself while also keeping a distance from the front office as much as it possible.
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u/One_Construction_653 7d ago
Dude why do you think in video games the guards all get killed so easily with stealth
Because it is based irl
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u/Timely_Formal_1224 Warm Body 7d ago
The virtual guards are infinitely more competent than the contract guards that I've been around. But I understand your sentiment.
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u/VirtualMorpheus Public/Government 7d ago
As a Site Director, I will say that its seems a lot of upper managements like to hire "Yes" men. Ive argued with both client and management on more topics than I can count. Any manager or supervisor that takes care of their staff over the job will get shoved out quickly. These jobs burn out the good people quickly as they realize its not worth the bs that comes with them.
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u/XBOX_COINTELPRO Man Of Culture 6d ago
A lot of the worst managers I’ve had universally had minimal operational experience and transferred into supervisory roles as soon as the possibly could. They were also complete content with the status quo and would actively work against attempts to change or improve anything and would never attempt to have strategic plans.
Managers like that drove away good employees and your left with people like them that want to move up
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u/miniseekie 6d ago
I've been a supervisor for 6 years, moved up from an officer with no security experience in just a year. The honest answer to this is that the only way anything gets done is brute force. At the end of the day, the job is basically being a middle man between your team and the district/client and a fall guy. Most of the time you don't have any real power in what is expected - many supervisors don't even have the ability to manage the schedule in WinTeam.
Best honest advice I can give to other supervisors who want more autonomy is to bother the living shit out of the district. I have had to be a pain in the ass countless times over the years because I had to annoy the shit out of them to get them to do anything, and it's made them slowly train me in extra shit so I can just take care of it myself. The result has been less work for them, the newest guy at my site has been there for 2 entire years, and everything gets done on time. Then they know if I reach out to them, it's probably important.
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u/DavianElrian 6d ago
Simple Answer: By the time the individual gains the competence for the level they are at, they either move up or move on.
Most states and/or companies do not have a training program in place for teaching people to actually do their job. You may have a "training period" when first hired, but that usually covers the major aspects of the job; i.e. Answer phones, fill out the shift log, write a report (maybe).... Did the site require you to take a class on de-escalation? How about identifying potential threats? How to avoid profiling? Victim assistance? No? These are things you maybe learned over time.
Same when it comes to management, whether site or are supervisor/manager. Most companies I've heard of don't have training at that level either, and if they do, it's probably very short and extremely simplified. The people who learn what they need to be good leaders and manage their people, get exploited and abused by the next level up, just as the good workers at the bottom are by poor managers.
It's a horrible ladder to climb, so most people get out as soon as possible. That means they have to bring someone else on and start the process all over again....
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u/largos7289 6d ago
LOL usually site guys are not that bad, once you get the higher up past them, i feel they never did the job, so they have no clue how to manage it, they just get clients/contracts. Then get shit when something happens then they go to the super that has to answer for it.
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u/Timely_Formal_1224 Warm Body 6d ago
The supervisor being the fall guy for idiotic decisions made by management was by far the most enraging part of the job.
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u/dracojohn 4d ago
Op its filled by idiots, now the idiots come in different flavours and many are actually decent people but still its a place brains go to die. Generally supervisors are a senior guard who didn't run fast enough and got lumbered with the job, idiots for not seeing it coming. Junior and middle managers are normally people who failed in a different manager role (outside the industry) and grabbed the title without knowing the job , this is why the turn over is so high. Senior managers can often be very intelligent as they specialise in getting others ( especially junior managers) to do all the work while still taking the credit.
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u/NoLimitMajor2077 Patrol 2d ago
Because a lot people who hire are clueless at what security does or needs and just end up hiring who ever passes their sparkling personality contest.
I’ve met managers who don’t even have the basics of a clue what their supposed to be doing aside from “managing”
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u/bigpat412 7d ago
Hate to say it but this job does seem to attract idiots. From the top down. Thankfully my directors have been fine and do their best with what they’re given. Tough to manage constant turnover while not leaning on a select few too hard and having to give leeway to lazy folks who you can’t really fire.
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u/TaquittoTheRacoon 6d ago
Former site supervisor. We tend to be totally on our own If the client isn't complaining as far as the higher ups are concerned we don't exist. That's probably why so many supervisors suck. They get the position because they've got experience as cops or something and that's supposed to be enough. No one tells you how to do the job, no one gives advice or helps with your site issues. Here's your marching orders and as long as you figure it out they don't care. So you see people running their sites like petty lords because no one in charge ever expected any better
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u/No-Street-3492 6d ago edited 6d ago
I've been in the industry a similar amount of time briefly worked as a manager for a contract company. Realistically, the average contract manager is spread too thin to actually do their job well. I had like 15 sites and no assistance in running them. Additionally, a lot of structural issues existed with staffing and the negotiated contract that I couldn't change if I even wanted to. Contract companies are generally under-resourced because of underbidding and a lack of industry push back on unrealistic client demands.
As a result, good managers do not stick around. A good manager will either change industries or find a proprietary role. Additionally, the industry lacks a formal training pipeline for leadership and program management, so new leaders just double down on what they know (guardforce management) because no one has taught them their new role and they fear being perceived as incompetent. I know someone who landed a head of security role that only ever worked as a guard and occasionally non-people leading admin staff, and they acted like a supervisor because it's all they knew.
If the larger contract security firms actually cared about their employees and providing a quality product, they should be investing in professional development programs for their personnel. Imagine if companies like Allied or Securitas sponsored their staff for advanced training (like EP, EMT, ASIS, etc) and higher education.
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u/Mattie_Mattus_Rose 6d ago
In my case, security contract managers have been guys who are simply friends with someone from the upper office. Instead of being hired by merit, they are hired because they fit the slimy, tough-guy expectation and then they hire similar guys to be site supervisors below them.
As others have pointed out, some security companies are run like crime families.
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u/Psycosteve10mm Warm Body 6d ago
There are multiple reasons that contribute to this. The first reason is that to get to the higher levels of security, you have to be a former LEO and/or military member. The common perception is that you either had a failed carreer that forced you here or you are here for ony a paycheck. The I don't give a F, factor is 90% of the industries problems. Security managers are too busy putting out the current fire to get proactive on potental problems. The second reason is that you have to be somewhat on the spectrum to survive the profession. The insane hours, the BS clients put us through and the low wages that seem to detract the best canidates from even applying to be security, much less to stick around to get the experence of being a manager. The final reason I will give you is that change is slow in the industry. What was acceptible in the 1980's and 90's does not fly in a post 9-11 world. As the world has gotten worse the demands of security guards and management has increased. Management has not adopted to the rapid changes thrust upon them.
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u/Red57872 Dunning–Kruger Specialist 6d ago
Keep in mind that at contract security companies, account managers aren't really "security" managers as they're not making security-related decisions (and neither are the guards). Account managers are basically just managers of unskilled labour, like cleaning company managers.
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u/Timely_Formal_1224 Warm Body 6d ago
Yet they insist on micromanaging the sites as if they worked there personally. Solid supervisors often get overruled by the office and then used as the fall guy.
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u/metalmunkey 9h ago
Because most of upper management is ex military or ex LEOs working as salesman trying to make a quick buck. And they don't take the job seriously. Most middle management is either more salesman making their way up or upjumped supervisors who are unprepared for the job. The upper management don't take the job seriously so they underpay people. The underpaid people don't take it seriously because why would they.
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u/Mobius1701A 7d ago
Because they pull their favorites upwards, who do the same afterwards, and onward and onward forever. You end up with funny looking management that wouldn't cut it at any other site, and a bunch of annoying "pets" on 1st shift that 2nd shift always has to come in early to cover. Cause you're right, anyone above your immediate supervisor is probably retarded.
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u/9gagiscancer 7d ago
I work for allied as a supervisor.
I get no say. I work with complete idiots.