It’s probably a bad idea to get your boyfriend or husband to march down to the security office and create a scene. Recently, All Singapore Stuff published a story about a female Certis Cisco employee who was sexually harassed by a “security manager” while she was stationed at the National Gallery. The angry husband went down to express his unhappiness and got nowhere.
After I read his letter to the All Singapore Stuff‘s news site, I came up with some advice, based on my own experience as a security guard, for the aggrieved party. If you or someone you know have been unfairly treated or harassed at work by your security manager or supervisor, you can take my advice and tweak them to suit your own unique circumstances.
Using the All Singapore Stuff‘s story as an example, my first advice is to find out the offender’s official job title before filing any official complaint. In the letter, the angry husband said the security personnel harassing his wife was a “security manager” who was working for a “security manager”. Well, there can’t be two managers in the same department. One has to be the assistant manager or maybe he’s just the supervisor. The job title probably isn’t too important if you know the offender’s full name but stating it clearly in your letter would help make the situation clearer to whoever is reading it.
Next, find out if the offender is an agency guard or in-house hire. If he’s an in-house employee, you will only need to complain to one group of people. The HR department of the National Gallery in this instance. If he’s an agency guard, you will also need to write to his agency to expose his wrongdoing.
Places that hire security guards, such as the National Gallery, usually have a public website where you can find a list of email addresses and phone numbers. Once you have obtained all the email addresses listed on the site, compose a proper letter of complaint and forward it to EVERY SINGLE email address. If you do that, you lower the possibility of your complaint getting ignored and deleted. And it will be harder for one department to attempt a cover up when everyone else already knows what’s going on.
When you write your letter, please leave out insults such as "fat security manager". They don't help to explain the situation and whoever is reading your letter may assume that you have some personal vendetta against the subject of the complaint letter. And that will diminish your case.
If you wish to make an appearance to file your complaint personally, please do not make the same mistake as the angry husband who wrote to All Singapore Stuff. He went straight to the security department, the home turf of the offender. And of course, he was refused entry to the staff room where the offender was hiding and the matter got nowhere. Did he think the “security manager” would shoot himself in the foot and report his own misconduct to the management?
I don’t think so.
Therefore, if you wish to make a personal appearance to lodge a complaint, remember to go straight to the top. I have worked for dozens of security supervisors and managers throughout the years, so I can tell you with certainty that most of them are just interested in the smooth operation of their respective departments. They tend not to think too much about complications that will disrupt the smooth running of their department, so marching in and screaming about misconduct and corporate image is not going to help your case.
Unless you say that to someone who might actually give a damn about corporate image or has to answer to people who do. Such as the manager of the HR department. So call the office using the phone number listed on the website. And quietly make your way to the office to complain loudly to the people who have the power to make a difference. Shouting at the security guards will only cause them to reject your entry and they have the right to do so if you are actually causing a commotion in public.
Last but not least, you can also choose to file a police report. According to the All Singapore Stuff‘s story, the wife received lewd text messages from the offender. Those are evidence which can be submitted to the police. In Singapore, you need to obtain a license before you can work in the private security industry. Doesn’t matter whether you are a mere guard or a supervisor or executive. You need a license before you can work. And this license can be suspended if you come under police investigation. So that’s one way the offender can be removed from the workplace. If he loses his license as a result of a police investigation, the National Gallery will not be able to keep him on as a security manager or security whatever. If he doesn’t lose his license even after the police report, the aggrieved party can write to the police licensing department. They are the ones who issue licenses to security guards.
I hope you find my advice helpful.
This article was first published on my blog, Guards Gone Wild!
After I read his letter to the All Singapore Stuff‘s news site, I came up with some advice, based on my own experience as a security guard, for the aggrieved party. If you or someone you know have been unfairly treated or harassed at work by your security manager or supervisor, you can take my advice and tweak them to suit your own unique circumstances.
Using the All Singapore Stuff‘s story as an example, my first advice is to find out the offender’s official job title before filing any official complaint. In the letter, the angry husband said the security personnel harassing his wife was a “security manager” who was working for a “security manager”. Well, there can’t be two managers in the same department. One has to be the assistant manager or maybe he’s just the supervisor. The job title probably isn’t too important if you know the offender’s full name but stating it clearly in your letter would help make the situation clearer to whoever is reading it.
Next, find out if the offender is an agency guard or in-house hire. If he’s an in-house employee, you will only need to complain to one group of people. The HR department of the National Gallery in this instance. If he’s an agency guard, you will also need to write to his agency to expose his wrongdoing.
Places that hire security guards, such as the National Gallery, usually have a public website where you can find a list of email addresses and phone numbers. Once you have obtained all the email addresses listed on the site, compose a proper letter of complaint and forward it to EVERY SINGLE email address. If you do that, you lower the possibility of your complaint getting ignored and deleted. And it will be harder for one department to attempt a cover up when everyone else already knows what’s going on.
When you write your letter, please leave out insults such as "fat security manager". They don't help to explain the situation and whoever is reading your letter may assume that you have some personal vendetta against the subject of the complaint letter. And that will diminish your case.
If you wish to make an appearance to file your complaint personally, please do not make the same mistake as the angry husband who wrote to All Singapore Stuff. He went straight to the security department, the home turf of the offender. And of course, he was refused entry to the staff room where the offender was hiding and the matter got nowhere. Did he think the “security manager” would shoot himself in the foot and report his own misconduct to the management?
I don’t think so.
Therefore, if you wish to make a personal appearance to lodge a complaint, remember to go straight to the top. I have worked for dozens of security supervisors and managers throughout the years, so I can tell you with certainty that most of them are just interested in the smooth operation of their respective departments. They tend not to think too much about complications that will disrupt the smooth running of their department, so marching in and screaming about misconduct and corporate image is not going to help your case.
Unless you say that to someone who might actually give a damn about corporate image or has to answer to people who do. Such as the manager of the HR department. So call the office using the phone number listed on the website. And quietly make your way to the office to complain loudly to the people who have the power to make a difference. Shouting at the security guards will only cause them to reject your entry and they have the right to do so if you are actually causing a commotion in public.
Last but not least, you can also choose to file a police report. According to the All Singapore Stuff‘s story, the wife received lewd text messages from the offender. Those are evidence which can be submitted to the police. In Singapore, you need to obtain a license before you can work in the private security industry. Doesn’t matter whether you are a mere guard or a supervisor or executive. You need a license before you can work. And this license can be suspended if you come under police investigation. So that’s one way the offender can be removed from the workplace. If he loses his license as a result of a police investigation, the National Gallery will not be able to keep him on as a security manager or security whatever. If he doesn’t lose his license even after the police report, the aggrieved party can write to the police licensing department. They are the ones who issue licenses to security guards.
I hope you find my advice helpful.
This article was first published on my blog, Guards Gone Wild!
