Unless you don’t watch the news, you’ve probably seen and heard about the United Airlines incident. The incident involved a passenger being forcibly removed from a flight by security.

Those of us who saw the video, as recorded by a fellow passenger’s phone, were shocked. While we weren’t there and don’t know all the details of exactly what transpired, it’s still shocking to see a person being treated like that.

To make matters worse, not only did the video footage go viral across the internet, it reached the White House. Press Secretary Sean Spicer had this to say, “I don’t think anyone looks at that video and isn’t disturbed that a man was treated that way.”

It gets worse. Spicer confirmed that he was quite confident President Trump watched the video, as well.

Talk about having a bad day at work. Not only was this a disturbing incident, it was a PR nightmare.

Public opinion and downright outrage has resulted not only in negative press for United Airlines, but plummeting stock prices.

Reaction to the incident spiraled so far out of control; it prompted United Airlines CEO, Oscar Munoz, to make a public statement.

“The truly horrific event that occurred on this flight has elicited many responses from all of us: outrage, anger, disappointment. I share all of those sentiments and one above all: my deepest apologies for what happened,” Munoz said in his statement.

Warning to Companies Employing Security Officers

At this point, the damage has been done. The reputation of United Airlines has been seriously compromised. All due to this one incident on a day which started out much like every other at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

Of all the probable thousands of interactions at the airport that day, which one is standing out in everyone’s mind? Sadly, the negative incident prevails.

In this day and age of cell phones, it’s a safe bet to assume that at some point, it will be captured on video and shared on social media for the entire world to see.

When negative experiences regarding your company name and image (brand) are shared with the world, it can cause serious damage.

For any company employing outside security officers, remember the lesson to be learned from this incident. The ways security officials handle delicate incidents are representing your firm. There are right ways and wrong ways to handle potentially brand-damaging incidents.

It is one thing for security personnel to receive the minimum training requirements as mandated by your state. However, is that really enough? Can you afford to ruin your company’s image due to bare bones training of security staff?

How to Protect Your Company’s Reputation and Brand

It’s time to take a look at the training your security staff has received. Are you sure they really know how to deal with difficult people, diffuse situations and bottom line, handle any situation with dignity and respect for all involved?

Whether you hire an outside security company to provide concierge or guard services, we can help provide the customized training that is critical to protect your brand.

Our extensive security training program includes standard, site-specific and customized curriculums. We start by meeting with management to cover specific concerns and specialty areas of training to positively represent your company brand.

After all, the way guests are handled in any situation reflects directly on your brand.

Our accredited courses train security staff as to their role, responsibility and expectations in terms of representing your company.

Training includes both video presentations and role-play interactions in situation-specific scenarios.

Once security personnel completes the intensive training program, they are tested for both understanding and retention of the materials covered.

In light of the ever-increasing potential of negative situations that may come up for those employed on your security team, customized training is essential.

By providing customized training for your security staff, you can take those extra steps in preparing them to understand and handle situations in a way to position your brand in a positive light. Even in bad situations.