For over a year, the turbulence and trauma of the COVID pandemic has taken its toll on the nation. The social and economic impact has been profound. In the retail sector, brick-and-mortar operators have been particularly hard hit by disruptions and slowdowns. But in the wake of a frightening resurgence of mass shooting and incidents of workplace violence, there is new urgency to the security threats faced by retailers. The combination of complex COVID variables, new pressures, and an evolving risk landscape means that retail executives should make it a priority to be sure their security infrastructure is capable of mitigating and minimizing today’s (and tomorrow’s) threats.
Retailers face a new security landscape
Even before the pandemic, the security threats facing retailers looked very different than they did 10 or 20 years ago, when the main concern was stolen cargo or petty shoplifting. Security concerns had grown in size and scope, with larger-scale political, economic, and social factors sparking a corresponding increase in the nature of the most urgent threats. Large-scale protests and street violence or a crippling global recession can obviously pose a significant threat to retailers.
Over the last years, the pandemic has made things even more complex. Record numbers of people are experiencing high levels of tension and anxiety. The unique stresses of the pandemic — from lost lives, lost jobs, and lost income, to isolation, increased substance abuse, and heightened anxiety — have sparked or reignited mental health issues for many. And when people are under historic levels of stress, it doesn’t take much for things to go wrong.
To make things worse, crimes against people and property have been on the rise in the age of COVID. Cybersecurity is still an issue, but non-virtual threats have escalated. Retailers have to reckon with both employee and customer theft, workplace violence concerns, and business disruptions, all at a time when both opportunistic crime and organized crime are increasing. In an industry which doesn’t typically have the highest margins, even modest amounts of theft can take a big toll. And larger threats pose a particularly worrying hazard for retailers. Extended downtime for any reason — from power outages, to quarantine restrictions, to closures because of threats — can deliver a crippling financial blow. And businesses that do choose to remain open in the face of threats will have to answer critical questions about whether they can protect their employees and their facilities.
Review master security plan
Against this troubling new backdrop of emerging and expanded threats, the first and most urgent priority for security-conscious retailers is to prepare and update their security planning accordingly.
The first and most important step in that process is to understand your risk profile. Determine what threats could realistically harm you, what the nature of that harm could look like (man-made or natural disaster), and how likely it is to occur. The best security partners work from specific formulas that account for probability, vulnerability, the nature of potential threats, and the costs and consequences if those threats were to materialize. But retailers should also look internally, reviewing records and connecting with employees to determine what threats have traditionally been problematic in the past — and to get a sense of where employees feel potential future vulnerabilities may arise.
The risk assessment and security planning process cannot exclusively be a middle management function. Similar to other projects within the organization, there must be buy-in from the highest levels for strategic security initiatives to be effective. Once you know your risk profile, then you can begin to allocate resources in an intelligent and sophisticated way to mitigate those risks.
Strategic security decision-making
For retail decision makers, one of the trickiest questions is how: how to go about evaluating security threats and making smart security decisions. Naturally, you need to take it seriously and approach it strategically, but the key factor is to do it as a team. That team should include representatives from HR, as well as frontline management personnel — in addition to any outside or internal security experts.
Dedicate time and resources to your security planning: treat it like you would any other project or mission — similar to a new product rollout or a new store opening. Set a budget, define clear goals, identify stakeholders, and secure high-level buy-in. Make sure you have in-house expertise and/or secure the services of a trusted and experienced partner. Strive to achieve a good balance of internal and external expertise, for a team that can effectively both identify threats that originate outside the company and those that arise internally from disgruntled employees and other sources.
Finally, while acknowledging that some security functions extend beyond bottom line considerations (such as employee safety), project and track ROI to ensure that you are be smart and efficient with your security resource allocation.
New solutions for retail security
As the threat landscape evolves, so do effective security solutions. Security cameras were a cost-effective and largely successful deterrent in many scenarios in the past, for example. But, while technology can still be an important piece of the security puzzle, many of today’s most urgent threats increasingly need a physical presence of some kind — often a professional trained to deter, defuse, and deescalate potentially volatile or harmful situations.
Even the way we think about threats has to continue to evolve. Active shooters, for example, are often thought of as random and unpredictable — the tragic equivalent of a bolt of lightning. But some buildings have literal lightning rods to protect against those rare events – a way to prepare for the unpredictable nature of a credible threat. And retailers can make modest investments with a potentially big payoff by putting systems in place that are designed to identify and address common warning signs of workplace violence.
The vast majority of incidents of workplace can be avoided by preventative monitoring and intervention, by training HR personnel to be cognizant of common risk factors, and by having a program in place to report and document concerns. Sound intelligence is part of the “soft skills” that are such an essential component of any security program.
Effective risk mitigation is about much more than just a security guard — it requires a comprehensive security approach that manages threats and reduces risk over time. Diverse security solutions are typically made up of a combination of boots on the ground, technology, expert resources, and the ability to be not just fast and flexible, but proactive in responding to potential threats. That is the combination that will make a meaningful difference to employee safety and to a business’s bottom line.
A foundation to move forward
Going forward, the post-COVID retail world is likely to see a massive spike in demand — especially for place like movie theaters and other brick-and-mortar locations that have been so hard hit by the pandemic. That full recovery might not happen this year, or even next year, but it will happen. And when it does, retail security needs will almost certainly continue to evolve. The good news is the work you do today will pay off in the future. Smart security infrastructure that’s put in place today can be part of durable, sustainable security solutions that will protect businesses and bottom lines for a very long time to come.
Subject Matter Expert Sam Stone contributed to this article
