Mitigate Security Risk through Better Asset Management

Risk is unavoidable. When your team is tasked to do its job but isn’t prepared to handle assets correctly, then your business is at risk. You can take actions to make sure your team can manage assets as they should.

In this article, we’ll break down 4 ways your team can better manage assets.

1. Have a Risk Management Plan

Any physical security company, even if it’s large or enterprise level, needs a risk management plan. But, before making a plan, you have to do a risk assessment.

A risk assessment for risk management is critical. It helps you maintain compliance when managing assets and helps you keep your contracts.

For a good risk assessment, use the REACH framework:

• R: Research which assets are risky and look to see how others handle them. This will help when you evaluate the current “state” of your assets.
• E: Evaluate how each asset should be used and create ground rules for your officers.
• A: Assess any safety protocols connected to asset use. This will help you make sure your team knows how to respond if an incident happens.
• C: Comply with state and federal guidelines on how to manage high-stakes assets, like firearms, or other assets, and know your neighborhood.
• H: Hone your technology stack. This means seeing what works and where you can improve your technology.

2. Organize High-Stakes Assets

High-stakes assets can be different for every business but there are still some things to consider. The first is to define what high-stakes equipment is to your company. Here are 3 categories.

• Armed weapons: Mismanagement of armed weapons is dangerous. If your team is unskilled in proper use, it can unintentionally contribute to the illegal gun possession crisis.
• Keys: Mismanagement or loss of keys can result in breach of access. This threatens internal security, perimeter security, and visitors or employees within.
• Vehicles: If your team mismanages their work vehicle, it can lead to harm. For mobile patrols, a clear record of who drove which vehicle on each shift also protects you from liability.

Next, decide how high-stakes assets can be managed. This can be with the help of an asset management tool.

An asset management tool tracks where assets are and when they are being used by your team.

With an asset management tool, you can track assets with tags. Supervisors can then track where the asset is, who checks it out, and when it’s supposed to be returned.

What to Track and Why

Asset	Risk if lost or misused	What to record	How TrackTik helps
Keys and access cards	Unauthorized access to client sites	Holder, site, check-out time and due date	Check-in and check-out with who, when and where
Radios and devices	Communication gaps and replacement cost	Assigned officer and condition	Barcode scanning for fast, error-free check-out
Vehicles	Accidents, misuse and liability	Driver, shift and condition	Assets linked to a specific employee
Uniforms and equipment	Lost inventory and unprofessional appearance	Issue date and return at separation	A full history that survives every edit
First aid kits and tools	Missing safety gear when it is needed	Location and condition	Deactivate damaged or obsolete items
Firearms on armed posts	Serious safety, legal and compliance exposure	Licensed holder, serial number, issue and return	Documented check-out history, alongside your state storage and licensing rules

3. Know Who You’re Hiring

Before having your guards manage assets, it’s important that your hiring managers properly vet your guards. This includes a proper background check. Red flags like a history of violence or assault need to be seriously considered.

Part of having good background checks means you have to have a good background check procedure list. Making a procedure list means your hiring managers can measure up candidates based on standards that you say are “must haves”. These must have standards will be different for every company but generally mean that a candidate must meet or exceed these standards before they’re hired.

Standards can include:

• Previous work experience doing a similar role
• A background check that meets your screening policy and applicable law
• Good indication of emotional intelligence and communication skills
• Overall respect for the job duties and role
• Proper training and certifications for handling high-stakes assets

4. Use Technology to Manage Assets

Asset management is more than just tracking items. Good asset management also means good team training and communication practices.

Training procedures can be used to improve how your team must manage assets. With a security workforce management system, your team can have access to configurable training modules that you set up. This will help your business stay in compliance.

You can also improve asset management procedures with clear communication practices. Your team must feel comfortable communicating any wrongdoing with asset mismanagement. This means that tools like Push-to-Talk or other bottom-up communication methods should be easy for your guards to access.

Corporate security leaders can take charge of their organization’s information while maintaining the ecosystem by ensuring the ownership of technology. As part of any long-term strategy for the organization’s security, corporate leaders can require security firms to adhere to the tools and processes outlined in the organization’s security plan.

A Check-In and Check-Out Process That Sticks

1. Tag every asset. Give each item a barcode and a record, including keys, radios and vehicles.
2. Assign a named owner. Link every check-out to a specific officer, client, contractor or vendor.
3. Set due dates. Every check-out should have an expected return time.
4. Close out every shift. Make asset check-in part of the end-of-shift routine.
5. Automate overdue alerts. Send SMS, email or push notifications the moment an asset is late.
6. Recover assets at offboarding. Tie returns to each officer’s employee record in TrackTik people management.
7. Review the data monthly. Look for patterns in late returns and losses with TrackTik business intelligence dashboards.

Treat a Lost Asset Like an Incident

A missing key or radio is a security event, not just an inventory problem. Report it the same way you would any other incident, with the time, location, last known holder and the steps taken to secure the site. TrackTik incident reporting captures that record with time-stamped evidence, so you can show the client exactly how you responded.

The cost of getting this wrong adds up quickly. Trackforce estimates that rekeying after a lost master key can cost $10,000 to $100,000, as explained in the hidden costs of ineffective asset tracking.

Safely Monitoring Your Assets, One Step at a Time

When it comes to proper asset management, security companies like you can’t take any chances. Learn more about asset management, and other ways to improve your operations, by booking a TrackTik demo with an industry professional.