One of the significant appeals of club membership lies in its ability to provide a secure and sheltered environment, protecting members from various potential hazards. Children, spouses, and guests benefit from added comfort, convenience, and premium experiences, all enhanced by an important sense of safety. This level of security often exceeds what is typically available in public spaces. Recognizing this inherent value underscores the crucial responsibility club leaders bear as guardians of the club’s well-earned reputation for safety and security.
Navigating the Landscape: A Manager’s Responsibilities
No organization is entirely immune to potential threats. These risks, which range from minor inconveniences to serious disruptions, are becoming more frequent and intense, and in rare instances, they may even jeopardize the club’s very survival. Club managers must implement consistent and effective strategies to mitigate these risks through continuous evaluation and appropriate action.
This proactive approach to security and safety falls under the umbrella of risk management. Peter Bernstein, author of Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk, defines risk management as “maximizing the areas where we have some control over the outcome while minimizing the areas where we have absolutely no control over the outcome and the linkage between effect and cause is hidden from us.”
In practical terms, effective risk management requires the unwavering attention and dedicated effort of the club manager.
Finding Balance: The Four Ps of Security
Club managers are increasingly embracing four key risk management strategies to control and contain threats to club security. These strategies, often referred to as the “Four Ps of Security,” encompass prevention, pervasiveness, persistence, and protection.
Maximizing Control: Prevention and Pervasiveness
- Prevention: Expanding education and proactive measures to minimize security risks are gaining momentum. The human element remains a critical vulnerability in the security chain. Clubs must establish and enforce robust hiring processes, conduct comprehensive background checks, and implement workplace policies that support security goals. By increasing staff awareness of potential security challenges and providing in-depth training on best practices, clubs can significantly bolster their overall security posture.
For example, Joseph Saracino, a security expert with experience in the club sector, highlights that security breaches often stem from poor password management, lax attitudes towards workplace security (including unauthorized desktop access), and inadequate control protocols for sensitive club records.
Club members are also vital partners in enhancing security. Given the growing awareness of security needs at home and in the workplace, members are increasingly receptive to assuming new responsibilities and adopting a more security-conscious mindset, contributing to a safer club environment.
- Pervasiveness: This involves the widespread adoption of monitoring systems and security controls throughout the club. A recent survey indicated that 70 percent of clubs utilize camera systems to monitor club areas. However, the effectiveness of these systems can vary considerably depending on the number, location, and quality of the camera equipment. Substandard equipment can create a false sense of security. Many clubs are upgrading their camera systems to high-definition “prosecutable” cameras to enhance their surveillance capabilities.
Best practices also encompass effective lighting, comprehensive staff background checks, and readily available first-aid support, including CPR training and automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Many clubs are now implementing card security systems with photo ID cards that are scanned upon entry. These systems can also provide members with personalized messages and updates.
Beacon technology is also gaining traction in clubs. This technology uses mobile applications on smartphones to detect beacon signals within the club, enabling member presence detection, movement monitoring, and targeted messaging. Some clubs utilize dedicated apps that leverage this technology for various services, including entry and identification, directions, valet parking, and internal communications. Furthermore, biometric software is being implemented to enhance security in restricted areas, such as childcare facilities.
Minimizing Impact: Persistence and Protection
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Persistence: Maintaining vigilance and ensuring rapid response are crucial for minimizing the impact of security incidents. While complete risk prevention is unattainable, swift detection and containment strategies, facilitated by thorough contingency planning, can significantly reduce the impact of security breaches. Regular testing, simulations, and drills are essential for ensuring preparedness. While survey data suggests that these tactics are not yet universally adopted, a growing number of clubs are incorporating “what-if” scenarios and procedural walk-throughs into their operating procedures.
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Protection: Transferring risk through insurance policies, security contracts, and cooperative partnerships is becoming increasingly common. As risks become more diverse and severe, including cyberattacks and business disruptions, innovative products and services can help mitigate these threats. Many clubs are transferring cyber risk to the cloud, where servers, records, membership data, email services, and software reside in a more secure environment with enhanced monitoring capabilities.
Furthermore, clubs are increasingly outsourcing the handling of sensitive financial data, such as members’ credit card information, to third-party specialists. Similar scrutiny is being applied to staff and personnel records. Partnerships and cooperative agreements with local police forces are also becoming more prevalent. Residential communities often have separate security entities, and clubs co-located within these communities frequently collaborate and share the costs of security arrangements, including physical monitoring. The Gated Community Security Managers Association provides training and facilitates knowledge sharing among these security forces.
Maintaining Vigilance
According to security expert Saracino, club leaders must prioritize basic education and assessment initiatives. Given the dynamic and rapidly evolving security landscape, these initial steps should be followed by the acquisition of relevant tools, technology, expertise, and managerial judgment. Like all organizations, clubs operate with limited resources, making it imperative for managers to allocate these resources effectively to ensure the safety and satisfaction of club members.
Risk Management Trends
Deloitte’s “The Future of Risk: New game, new rules” highlights several key trends impacting risk management. These trends, particularly relevant to the private club industry, emphasize the need for organizations to proactively address risks to their reputations, embrace innovation to mitigate disruption, implement pervasive controls for real-time risk monitoring, prioritize vigilance and resilience in addition to prevention, and utilize risk transfer instruments to protect against a wider range of threats.
(The full report is available at http://bit.ly/2hBXOkr.)
