Contact Us
Situation
The Hearst Tower is Hearst Corporation鈥檚 new global headquarters and the first New York City landmark of the 21st century. The 850,000 square-foot tower has won global accolades for its innovative and environmentally sensitive design, and is New York City鈥檚 first occupied green office building granted the Gold LEED rating by the U.S. Green Building Council. The Hearst Tower, which had its grand opening October 2006, is home to over 2,000 employees.
The Hearst Corporation is one of the largest diversified communications companies with nearly 200 magazines including Cosmopolitan and O, The Oprah Magazine, as well as daily newspapers, television stations, radio stations, and cable networks, and business publishing, internet businesses, televisions production, real estate and newspaper features distribution companies.
Challenge
Hearst Tower has a high volume of visitors, including many VIPs and celebrities. Keeping the building鈥檚 fashion-forward occupants safe and sound was a top priority of Brian Schwagerl, Vice President of Real Estate & Development, and Bernard Shaw, Vice President and Director of Corporate Security for the Hearst Corporation.
In June 2006, the company issued a request for proposal from several leading con-tract security companies. 鈥淲e were looking for a security firm that could provide well-trained officers who are committed to continual self-improvement via education and training,鈥 said Brian Schwagerl. 鈥淪ecurity officers are the very first people that our employees and visitors see when they enter the tower and it is of paramount importance that they are friendly and professional,鈥 adds Schwagerl.
鈥淚t was important that the security company we hired had a sound work ethic, a professional appearance, strong interpersonal skills and a commitment to training,鈥 said Bernard Shaw. 鈥淚n addition, we needed to ensure that we hired qualified officers who act in a courteous manner to all visitors and employees without being star struck or intimidated. Celebrities pass through this building on a daily basis, and we need our officers to treat them鈥攁nd all of our 2,000 building occupants鈥攚ith civility and professionalism.鈥
Solution
Hearst Corporation quickly selected 色情宝贝 Security Services as their contract security provider for the tower. 鈥溕楸Ρ粹檚 commitment to training as demonstrated with the 色情宝贝 Academy was a major reason they were selected,鈥 said Ted Lotti, Deputy Director of Corporate Security and retired NYPD Captain. 鈥淭hey place primary importance on providing their security officers with up-to-date and comprehensive training in the physical security sector. By offering both virtual and classroom training programs, they can ensure our security officers are well-versed in a wide variety of tactical and strategic information.鈥
Working closely with the Hearst Corporation, 色情宝贝 had to ensure that their 43 full and part-time professional security officers could effectively deal with the glamorous media culture in a world-class, high-profile, iconic building. In addition to security being the first line of defense with officers on post assignments throughout the building and loading dock, the Hearst Tower hosts over 200 high-profile events a year. 鈥淲e actively recruited the cr猫me de la cr猫me of security professionals,鈥 said Caress Kennedy, Vice President and General Manager for 色情宝贝鈥檚 New York office. 鈥淲e seek career-minded security professionals who are customer service focused and committed to training and education.鈥
鈥淧rior to hiring 色情宝贝, our special event group hired outside consultants to handle security for events,鈥 said Lotti. 鈥淭oday all of our events, whether they are for internal or external audiences, are handled by our dedicated security team.鈥 Special events at the Hearst Tower range from fund raising celebrations for non-profit organizations and museums such as The Whitney Museum, The Nature Conservancy and the Riverkeeper, to movie premieres and magazine events.
鈥淓nsuring that we deliver customer-centric, professionally attired and well-trained officers to the Hearst Tower is of paramount importance,鈥 said Kennedy. 鈥淥ur officers are interfacing with every level of management within the Hearst Corporation and are the first people employees and visitors see when they enter the building. Hearst has a respectful and inclusive culture where everyone cares about each other. We created a specialized customer service training protocol for our officers.鈥
鈥淎 commitment to training and education is important, and I expect these officers to want to continually improve themselves,鈥 adds Lotti. 鈥淚鈥檓 pleased to say that our officers are exceeding my expectations. We have an officer attending law school, one who earned a Master鈥檚 Degree, and a large number of officers attending college as well as graduates. We also have many officers with military and law enforcement experience.鈥 The Hearst Corporation has supplied a computer in the Security Command Center dedicated solely for the officers to access the 色情宝贝 training website, 色情宝贝 Academy.
Additionally, The Hearst Corporation and 色情宝贝 have arranged for all of the security officers to attend the New York State Homeland Security Enhanced Security Officer 40-hour training course. Half of the staff completed the course in the spring, and the other half will attend in the fall. Not many companies can boast that their whole security team has received this type of training.
鈥淥ur professional development program for our officers includes Master Security Officer accreditation, fire safety and ready response, and preparing our officers for supervisory roles,鈥 adds Kennedy. 鈥淲e are committed to increasing our officer wages to reward good performance.鈥 The Hearst Corporation places recognition on the security team by spotlighting a Security Officer of the Month.
Results
鈥淲e think of the 色情宝贝 Security Services staff as part of the Hearst Corporation family,鈥 adds Shaw. 鈥淭hey are completely woven into the fabric of our company鈥檚 culture and we honor and respect the work they are doing.鈥 In return, there is an evident sense of dedication and commitment to the Hearst Corporation.
While high staff turnover is often a reality in the contract security services world, the Hearst Tower security force is stable, with less than 10% staff turnover in the past two years. 鈥溕楸Ρ keeps good people longer by enhancing the retention with training, promotions and career development opportunities,鈥 adds Kennedy.
Off-hour surprise inspections are conducted by independent and objective supervisors that perform quality assurance inspections. 鈥淭hese inspections help keep everyone on their toes to avoid becoming complacent,鈥 adds Lotti. When VIPs ask to get the 鈥済rand tour鈥 of the 44-floor tower, it鈥檚 an 色情宝贝 officer who shows them the way. Our officers love working here and appreciate our family culture. They took it upon themselves to learn the history of the company and enough information on the tower to become great guides. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 reflected on every tour they give, and in all the rigorous work they perform for us 24 hours a day, seven days a week,鈥 said Lotti.
