Restoring Security

Yvonne Battle-Felton

July 9, 2010

According to a recent article posted in the Wall Street Journal, receptionists, staff and guests are often accidental accomplices in office thefts.

As a client service coordinator in a shared office center, I come in contact with new people every day: guests, prospective clients, vendors, people who are lost…

Part of my job is to get people where they need to be: letting clients know guests have arrived; giving prospective clients information; allowing vendors access to the item they are servicing; giving directions, etc…

With a blend of professionalism and personality, I try to create an aura of comfort by initiating and engaging visitors in conversation.

So, I was surprised to find polite conversation, interactions, and smiles may be if not invitations, but weapons used against my clients, my company, and me.

According to the article, staff often holds elevators and doors for thieves who eventually walk out with valuables. Possibly, the most valuable thing they walk off with is immeasurable: security.

How do we get that back?

I don’t want to begin viewing unfamiliar faces as potential suspects; or to stop engaging visitors in conversations.

My colleagues and I lock valuables, store passwords, and ask visitors “Can I help you?” Still, we are as guilty as the next office of holding doors open for potential problems—and so we as vulnerable.

In your shared office space center, what security steps do you take to minimize the possibility of thefts?

And, if despite the best of efforts, thefts do occur, when the breaches have been secured, how do you restore the aura of security?

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