It’s safe to say, society as a whole has experienced heightened anxiety over the last year. We have collectively been through a pandemic, watched riots & protests break out, and dealt with a tense political scene. It can take a toll on anyone’s mental health and that includes security personnel. Behavioral psychologist Michael Corcoran says now more than ever, it’s a good idea to check in with not only the people providing security but also the employers hiring them. The goal is to make sure everyone is in a mentally healthy space to be on point.
Corcoran reminds us of the old adage, proper preparation prevents poor performance. It is imperative security companies and employers of security personnel provide proper training.
At Premier Risk Solutions we frequently check in with our employees. We want to make sure they feel protected while protecting your company, employees, or assets. For more on this topic, please watch our latest session of “Strong, Safe & True.”
Here are the Top 5 areas that businesses (employers) should be concerned about with the increase in working-from-home.
1. Breaches of Confidentiality & Proprietary Information
This can be either through intentional or unintentional means. Intentional: Certain nation-states have spies workingwithin employers/companies through legitimate avenues of employment (either direct employment or via a staffing agency). These actors are working to steal trade secrets (more often than not) to cause economic espionage. This practice has been working its way into businesses for years—it is not new—and the FBI estimates that American businesses lose hundreds of billions of dollars a year from trade secret theft.
A nosy visitor working their way through one’s residence could also exacerbate this issue if computer screens are left open & unlocked and/or the Wi-Fi utilized is unsecured. Any printed or written documents left out in the open or in an unsecured area are also susceptible to exposure, especially if someone is working to gather information discreetly.
Unintentional: With sensitive business conversations occurring in the home instead of the office or other off-site locations, the employee’s partner and/or children, household staff, or other transient visitors could inadvertently eavesdrop on a conversation they were not meant to. The information could be mistakenly shared with someone outside of the household in casual conversation and be utilized by that third party for unintended consequences (insider trading, gray market sales, etc).
What to do? Keep work data contained to work computers (do not share devices with anyone else). Ensure employees or contingent staff are utilizing secured Wi-Fi connections at all times; consider supplying a private (personal) hotspot as well as enhancing any level of encryption services that may normally be offered. Have a “clean desk” policy that extends to the work environment at home. Ensure sensitive or confidential documents are shredded properly and not left in regular recycle pickup bins; consider scheduling a private contractor (like Iron Mountain for instance) for weekly pickup for company key personnel.
2. Email & Text Messaging Scams
Phishing: Most of us have received those emails that appear to be from a reputable partner or company we do business with that are veiled (masked) as that entity but they are NOT. They are actually from a bad actor who is seeking your personal identifying information (username, password, or other similar data) and requesting you to take an action often associated with clicking on a link or other document they are sharing in the email. Once you click on that link or open the document they are providing, a virus of some sort is typically installed on your device for their monitoring or tracking of data input (keystrokes) or obtaining copies of what’s on your hard drive.
What to do? The best and easiest way we’ve found for working to validate or verify the authenticity of communication in email format is to open the header of the email so you can view the email address of the sender. Click on that email address to open it further, and you’ll often find it’s working as a mask for another sender (they do not match). Delete the email under such circumstances without clicking or opening anything.
If you are suspicious of a text message received, start working to contact the known representative of the supposed sending company/entity separately and apart from that communication. Do nothing with the original communication until you are done working to verify its authenticity with the actual entity. If you cannot confirm its legitimacy after workingthrough your checks, delete the text message without clicking on the link provided.
3. Locking Your Doors & Windows
This may sound simple enough but outside of major urban areas there are households that keep doors unlocked (we’ve visited with a couple of them!) whether it be their residence or their personal vehicles. This is the proverbial “low hanging fruit”.
What to do? Be sure to always secure the home and vehicles to keep out prowlers! Roll up windows in cars. For residences that are at ground-level, be sure to secure windows overnight for at least the main/first floor. Encourage employees and contingent staff to do so with gentle reminders as part of an outreach program, company newsletter, company intranet site, or similar.
4. Keeping Staff Feeling Safe
The OSHA General Duty Clause extends the care for employees by the business to when they are on business time, regardless of the physical location of the individual. For example, in the work-from-home environment, if you are on a business call and you slip and fall OSHA has indicated that is a worker’s compensation issue. However, in the same scenario, if you trip over your dog in that same hallway it’s not (unclear as to the exact distinction why one is covered and the other is not but most likely because the dog would most oftentimes not be in the standard workplace). Additionally, society has a certain percentage of its population that participates in cyberbullying on a variety of media platforms. Businesses will need to assist those employees who may be subject to cyberbullying to help them feel supported as well as take steps towards ending it.
What to do? Enact clear policies that have employee buy-in (engage employee representation when developing or enhancing policies). Ensure your company has contracts (or master service agreements) in place with the proper professional resources available on-call for support when it’s needed or to act as a force multiplier to your own internal business support mechanisms.
5. Safety at Home
Following along the lines from the example provided in #4 above—where a slip & fall occurs in the home on business time—often working to provide education and awareness training to staff can help prevent even the smallest of accidents from occurring. Whether it be something as simple as working to pick up toys left from the kids playing during the daytime, or working on covering and stabilizing handrails, or even working to enhance exterior lighting to act as a deterrent to the criminal element, there is a myriad of such items that can be addressed. By working on these preventive measures, we actively aid the cause of creating a safer environment.
What to do? Host a “brown bag lunch” speaker series with a professional to allow employees the opportunity to gain more awareness of the issues that each of us can at times be blind to. Doing so also allows the employees to ask questions that they may otherwise not have the opportunity to do or know who to ask.
Social media is everywhere and its effects are profound. That includes effects inside a workforce among employees. In this week’s edition of “Strong, Safe & True” we spoke with behavioral psychologist, Dr. Michael Corcoran on the importance of employers being proactive instead of reactive when it comes to posts.
Surprisingly, social media and security go hand in hand. In a world where people post on a daily basis, sometimes with controversial content, tension can mount. This is true, whether it’s employee to employee having a difference of opinion on social media, or if it’s someone from the outside of the company. Social media presents an opportunity for bullying and harassment, whether the employee is at home or in an office space. It is paramount that an employer gives attention to any concerns and promptly reacts.
When you think about a company being able to ensure a safe workplace, the immediate thought typically goes to physical security. However, in these times, there is just as much of an emphasis on emotional security—an area where responsiveness plays a critical role. As an employer, it can be tough to navigate the growing need for emotional awareness and timely responses to individual concerns. That’s why we sat down with behavioral psychologist, Dr. Michael Corcoran, to talk about the importance of responsiveness in adapting to a new level of employee expectations.
Now more than ever, there is a need for employees to feel heard. They want the assurance that their voice matters and that the company they work for demonstrates consistent response to their concerns, feedback, and values. This is especially true in a time of social and political movements, where conversations around these topics are happening more frequently—even in the workplace. A culture of responsiveness can help foster trust and emotional safety. Here are a few tips to help a workplace stay safe and rooted in genuine responses.
Premier Risk Solutions ensures that employees remain heard and we evolve to their expectations. To see the full interview, watch the video below. To keep up with our video series “Strong, Safe, & True” stay tuned!
Right now, like many employees out there, we are working from home. While it may seem like being at home is about the safest spot possible, that’s not necessarily true. We sat down with our friend and PRS consultant, Dr. Michael Corcoran. He is a behavioral psychologist and has many years of experience in dealing with volatile situations.
In our series, “Strong, Safe & True”, we are looking to arms companies and leaders with the knowledge of how to identify a potential problem and what to do about it. It has never been more important as we are all facing new realities and environments forced on us by Covid-19. We have seen statistics about increases in both mental health issues and domestic violence during the pandemic. That can exponentially affect employees working from home. In this video session, we talk about the warning signs employers should be looking for. The goal is to help support employees in mental health so there isn’t a potential security threat.
Dr. Corcoran says there are a few tell-tale signs with employees. They include low self-esteem, changes in behavior, takes the job too seriously, and has few outside interests and hobbies. Click on the 12-minute video below to learn more details! PRS is happy to help, even if it’s just answering questions. Feel free to reach out at natasha@premierrisksolutions.com.
