In this column, Héctor Torres will talk about the importance of the concept of "effective security management" for the Latin American market today.
by Héctor R. Torres, PhD, CPP, CFE, CHS
A fraternal greeting from Puerto Rico to all colleagues and readers of this column. It is a pleasure to share again with you. In today's column we will talk about effective Security management. As a reference to this topic we can base ourselves on one of the best books on effective management entitled The Effective Executive by Peter F. Drucker, one of the great thinkers on management. Although this book was published in 1966, it contains principles that continue to be applicable today and especially to security management.
Efficient or Effective Management?
As I have emphasized in previous columns, the competitiveness and volatility of the global business environment in the 21st Century requires that security programs support an organization's strategic goals and objectives. But the questions of rigor immediately come to mind. Efficient or effective programs? Efficient or effective managers? The terms do not mean the same thing or are written the same.
Drucker said that efficiency is doing things right while effectiveness is doing the right things. For people who do manual labor, efficiency is enough but for the business world of this century what Drucker defines as knowledge workers is required. For knowledge workers, effectiveness is more important than efficiency.
A manager is a knowledge worker who is responsible for his contributions (decisions and actions) that have a significant impact on an organization's performance and results. This is what makes them potentially effective managers. According to Drucker, effective managers have five important attributes: they manage time well; focus on contributions and results; they build on fortresses; they set the right priorities and make the right decisions.
Time Management
Drucker points out that time is the scarcest resource and if you do not know how to handle you can not handle anything. The supply of time is inelastic, that is, time as a resource is perishable, irreplaceable and cannot be stored. Every job to be done in a company requires an amount of time.
To learn time management, Drucker teaches a three-step process: time recording, time management, and time consolidation. When we record the time we can realize how we use this scarce resource. When we manage time properly, it is used more effectively.
When we consolidate time, we merge the time saved to achieve other goals. A lot of time is wasted due to the lack of an established system, overstaffing, poor organizational structure, and misuse of information. All of us who have suffered in marathon meetings can understand these concepts.
Focus on contributions and results
Drucker in his book highlights that an effective manager focuses on contributing and achieving the desired results for the organization rather than on the effort required. To achieve these contributions and achieve results, managers must understand the four basic requirements of effective human relationships: communication, teamwork, manager development, and the development of their followers.
Building on strengths
"In every area of effectiveness within an organization, opportunities must be nurtured and not problems" (Drucker, 1966, p. 98). With this quote taken from his book The Effective Executive, Drucker points out that effective managers build on strengths and make weaknesses irrelevant. Drucker presents us with four rules for building on strengths:
1. Ensure that the work or task to be performed is well designed.
2. Ensure that the work or task to be performed is challenging.
3. establish a policy to measure performance.
4. Deal with weaknesses with the exception of weakness of character and integrity.
Setting the right priorities
According to Drucker, effective managers set the right priorities and hold them firmly. They focus on areas where superior performance will produce outstanding results. Effective managers also identify tasks that are not worth the effort to perform. Drucker said that tasks that do not directly contribute to success should be abandoned. Jack Welch, the best Chief Executive Officer of the General Electric firm followed this practice when he got rid of those businesses that could not be number one or two in their industries.
Making the right decisions
"No decision has been made unless, when carried out in specific steps, it becomes an assigned task and someone's responsibility. Until this happens, they are only good intentions" (Drucker, 1966, p. 136). For the right decision making Drucker teaches us his decision-making process:
1. Determine whether the problem is generic or one-of-a-kind.
2. Specify the objectives of the decision and the conditions it needs to satisfy.
3. Determine the right solution that satisfies the specifications and conditions.
4. Turn decision into action.
5. Establish an evaluation process to measure and compare results with expectations.
"The first rule in decision-making is that a person does not make a decision unless there is a disagreement" (Drucker, 1966, p. 148). Drucker emphasizes that a decision is a judgment, a choice between the alternatives. Many decisions can create disagreements rather than consensus. But the same disagreements provide us with additional alternatives and stimulate the imagination.
To conclude, Drucker explains that effectiveness can and should be learned by all managers. The effectiveness of managers is the greatest hope for our modern world to be economically productive and socially viable. And there is a greater need for this than in security management. I invite you to continue to share your ideas and concerns of the world and security management. A hug and see you next time!
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