Robinson solved this problem by creating a corp
oral position. The promotion was a way to reward and retain security officers that have done a great job.
He also attributes the high retention rate to the practices of his organization’s human resources department. “I think HR spends a lot of time and effort making sure the salaries we offer are extremely competitive. We’re paying a lot of money, but we’re getting a lot for it. You get what you pay for.”
Additionally, frequent formal and informal interaction between management and officers helps keep morale high. This approach has won him the loyalty and respect of his employees and supervisors alike. “He’s by far the best person I’ve ever worked for,” says John Edwards, manager of protection and security services at Morristown Memorial. “He’s cognizant of everything that goes on but doesn’t micromanage.”
Robinson’s supervisor, Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Administrative Officer Andrew Kovach, summed up Robinson’s management style as inclusive and participatory. “He looks for the right things to do and the right answers, and is willing to admit when he’s done something wrong or can do something better,” says Kovach. “He listens to people when they talk to him about it.”
$2.3 Million in Grants Obtained to Improve Safety, Security
In addition to augmenting officer professionalism, Robinson and his staff have obtained federal and state funding to help pay for decontamination supplies, pharmaceutical supplies, access control upgrades, additional two-way radios, ventilation shutdown equipment and more. In total, Robinson’s department has won $2.3 million in Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) and state grants from 2001 to 2006.
Despite Atlantic Health being awarded these grants, however, the security department budget remains very tight, and Robinson must look for creative ways to stretch his resources.
For example, Atlantic Health has 378 CCTV cameras deployed throughout its organization. The cost to maintain and repair this technology through a vendor contract was determined to be approximately $150,000. To help offset these costs and minimize contract labor response time, Robinson reclassified a security officer position to that of a full-time security department repair technologist position. As a result of these changes, the cost savings came to $120,000 for 2005 alone.
Volunteering Rounds Out Robinson’s Workload
Despite all of his hard work to secure Atlantic Health, Robinson still finds time to volunteer for Project ALERT (America’s Law Enforcement Retiree Team). As a Project ALERT representative and child safety expert, he has delivered more than 200 presentations on how parents, teachers and law enforcement can prevent children from being abducted or sexually abused.
But when asked what he’s most proud of, Robinson comes back to the high officer morale of his department, as demonstrated by the employee survey. “The company that did it for us took the 10 areas employees evaluated as being the ones they were most satisfied with,” he says. “One of those areas in the top 10 was ‘Do you consider your workplace healthy and safe?’ I think that’s the real cornerstone of the whole program. You’re really judged by the people you’re doing it for.”
Robin Hattersley Gray is executive editor of Campus Safety Magazine and can be reached at [email protected].
For the unabridged version of this article, please refer to the January/February 2007 issue of Campus Safety Magazine. To subscribe, go to https://www.secure-mag.com/CSM_Subscribe/.
