It’s a cliche that in business you get what you pay for. However cliche that statement is, though, it is based in some truth. This is especially true when it comes to something like professional security. Professional security is a serious job and a serious industry, it’s not a place to be cutting corners and trimming costs. There are some potentially very serious downsides to hiring professional security like you might shop for concert tickets — trying to find the absolute cheapest around.
To begin with, the importance of paying crucial employees for a business a living wage is not something to take lightly. A living wage in America usually roughly works out to between $3 and $7 more per/hour than the federal minimum wage. In the past year, companies like Walmart, Target, McDonalds, and more, have invested huge sums of money in their workforce. Not only is this good for the image of those companies, and keeps their employees happy and secure, but it addresses issues like inflation and the so-called “living wage” gap, between the federal minimum wage and the actual living wage for people in this country.
If it is important for companies like Walmart, Target, and McDonald’s to raise the wages for their employees, it is doubtlessly important for professional security companies to pay their employees a living wage as well. Professional Security Officers serve an extremely important role for the businesses they serve. They are the first response to any emergency, an effective deterrent to all kinds of crime, and one way that a business conveys to its employees and customers that the business is serious about their well-being and security. Paying these individuals minimum wage, while it can save a couple bucks, opens up a range of potential issues with regard to the efficacy of the security provided, and overall cheapens the important role that Security Officers perform for businesses everywhere.
Some of the potential issues that come with paying security professionals minimum wage are very serious. Underpaid Security Officers are more likely to have personal financial problems that can lead to issues like bribery and other ethics concerns, seriously detracting from their ability to provide professional security, and possibly opening up even more security concerns.
Similarly, even if an underpaid security professional isn’t personally susceptible to issues like bribery, other stresses of a life underpaid can cause distractions or physical issues in their work. An underpaid officer might face transportation challenges that make them less reliable, potentially resulting in an officer being late or absent during an emergency. Additionally, they might have personal or family health problems that they can’t deal with appropriately, leading them to being absent, tired, seriously distracted, and less effective while at work.
At BOS Security, we make sure that our professional Security Officers are trained properly, and treated properly. BOS Security pays employees a living wage, and provides a superior service to companies that skimp and scrape by, paying their employees minimum wage. We know how important Security Officers are to the success of a business, and we know how challenging the job of security can be. We make sure that this tough and crucial job is not thankless, and our Security Officers know we have their backs — just as they have the backs of every employee and customer at the places they serve.
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