Each day, security professionals face a growing number of problems forced upon them by a rapidly changing business culture that places constant demands on management to do more with less. As Shareholders put increasing pressure on senior managers to keep pace in the competitive race for survival, senior managers are constantly in pursuit of new ways to increase revenues, reduce expenses and improve the competitive advantage.

Simultaneously, as senior managers struggle to compete, employees struggle to cope with the growing demands placed upon them by constant change. As the level of care diminishes on both sides, employee loyalty fades, morale decreases, and internal programs begin to fail. Fading loyalty and poor employee attitudes inspire abusive behavior and otherwise good people begin to look the other way at wrongdoing. As technology, social values, management styles and legal climates within the workplace succumb to these changes both the risk and loss potentials associated with workplace stress and workplace violence increase.

This combination of multi-dimensional change creates a more stressful and dangerous work environment for employees at all levels. From the factory worker on the production room floor to the executive in the mahogany tower, there is both growing concern and need the for increased prominence of security.

Heretofore, senior management has looked upon security as a necessary expense to be tolerated only to the degree absolutely necessary. In spite of growing concerns, many senior managers continue to view security as a series of questionable restraints that serve to slow down work, add to production costs, and are not always needed. However, as the number of security related incidents continue to rise, and the prominence of the security function continues to escalate, senior managers have little alternative but to confront the issues. Unfortunately, the same changing business culture that is demanding an increased impetus for security is also causing senior management to impose greater demands upon security managers to cost justify their very existence. Herein lies a catch-22 that leaves many security managers perplexed, frustrated, and with a hopeless feeling that this is a situation beyond their control.

Security practitioners must now evaluate security programs, policies, practices and procedures not only in terms of asset protection, but also in terms of their acceptability to the work force. If security is to be a real part of the business environment, it must encourage more than compliance. It should seek commitment, minimize the number of controls, transfer both responsibility and accountability to the individual, and implement more security by example and less by mandate.

Security managers must build security programs and trust through collaborative rather than adversarial relationships.