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Union of Security Employees (USE)
Union of Security Employees (USE)
A national organisation that provides support and resources to security officers employed in Singapore.
Its mission is to enhance security officers' welfare, benefit and security workforce's professionalism image in Singapore.
Introduction of USE Research Project?
What is USE Research Project:
A collaboration between USE and Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).
Research Aim: To study and track changes of private security officers' wages, welfares and work prospects in Singapore.
Research was led by:
Associate Professor, SUSS - Prof Leong Chan-Hoong
Research Associate, SUSS - Mr Toh Chin Seng
Research Scope:
1000 private security officers to complete the survey questionnaire designed to study topics include compensation and benefits, workplace conditions and dynamics, knowledge of labour laws, knowledge and use of technology, and perceived public attitudes and behaviours to Security Officers.
My Role: Research Assistant
From this experience, the relevant VSKs include:
Meaningful Research Project that made Me Closer to our Frontline Invisible Heroes who always Keep Us Safe.
What was this experience about?
In July 2021, I participated in this USE research project to study private security officer's welfare and work conditions in Singapore. I was in a team of 20 over people and we needed to go down to the USE centre physically to interview 1000 security officers over 2.5 months time. It was during Covid period and we had to wear mask and protective equipment in order to ensure interview can be conducted safely. It caused some inconvenience at times, such as had to speak loudly so that voice can be heard despite the transparent divider in between of me and the interviewee. Nonetheless, I had to accept the arrangement and focus on what needed to be done.
From the interviews I conducted, I noticed security officers have long working hours and most of them are on 10-/12-hour shift work. In a day of 24-hour, they usually have very little time to rest after deducting 12 hours of work, 2 hours of travelling time, 8 hours of sleep, they only left 2-3 hours of free time to spend with their family, friends or with themselves.
Security Officers appear to be overwork and have minimal time for themselves to rest and rejuvenate not just physically but also mentally. Their welfare might have been compromised. The reason is mainly due to the labour-intensive nature of work itself.
Thanks to digitalisation and technology, Security industry is actively adopting technology, especially after encountering the pandemic. These technology will help Security Officers to work be more efficient and effective and reduce the heavy reliance on labour in the industry. This will definitely help the industry to reduce the labour shortage issue in the long-run. Hopefully, with the help of technology, Security Officers can get better work arrangement and receive better welfares in the time to come.
Read Natasha Tan's Article here to learn more about our Invisible Heroes:
What Have I Contributed in This Project?
Gathering Data Through Interview
Respondents can provide comprehensive answers or short answers. Sometimes, I used probing technique to get more context from the respondent on specific questions. Sometimes, I also encountered respondents who can give very long answers. I might choose to listen or cut the conversation politely to continue the following survey question.
Whenever I conduct interview, I love to listen attentively to understand the respondent's perspective without bias or judgment. It requires me to put my personal experience and judgment aside so that I can empathise with and feel the respondent.
Data Analysis
Besides interviewing Security Officers, I participated in the analysis team with another 7 members. We used SPSS to analyse the 1000 survey response and draw meaningful insights from the data.
For example, one insight that I gathered was the barriers that refrained Security Officers from picking up new skills. The top three reasons were Time (approx. 40%), Financial (approx. 16%) and Age (approx. 10%).
For more insights, click on the link below to the Report on Wave 3 Research Result:
Team Engagement & Mental Wellness Champion
During the USE Project, I also took initiative on team engagement and mental wellness related projects with other members. The purpose was to build a closely-knitted USE team that everyone's wellbeing is taken care of.
For team engagement, we reviewed different team activities that can be done virtually (as it was during pandemic) and physically with the intention of enhancing the team bonding. For different festivals (e.g., Mid-Autumn, Christmas), we always organise gathering to catch up with everyone. This tradition is still ongoing as of 2023.
The picture at the left was taken during the training session of Beyond the Label Smol Tok conversation deck conducted by Van from NCSS. The deck can raise awareness of mental health and encourage the player to discuss mental health issues in a safe environment.
Our intention of learning this was to use this conversation deck to equip our team with more mental health knowledge and encourage the team be open up to discuss mental health issues.
Besides, other mental health related initiatives include:
Organised a basic journalling workshop
Created a self-care tips card
Reviewed Mental Health related games
For more details on the USE Project's impacts and the journey we have come through, please click the link below:
Reflection of this Experience (SWOT Analysis)
I was fortunate to be part of the USE research project and also, part of the side HR projects that catered to the team members who worked together.
My strength in this project includes:
my curiosity to explore new things, be it this USE research project or the side HR projects
my resilience to accept the different work environment and condition due to Covid
my meticulousness to understand the data collected and draw insights
my time management to juggle multiple commitments
my communication skill to communicate with security officers and also, to build relationships with team members to boost the team engagement.
My weaknesses include:
my presentation skill and persuasiveness in Year 2 was not as good as I would want it to be. Which was obvious when I was trying to encourage the team to join some engagement activities.
Thoughts about this Experience (Reflection)
Through this USE Research Project, I have gained better understanding on Security workforce and the industry, such as Security Officers' demographic, working conditions and welfare. Besides, I have learned many new skills related to interview, research, SPSS tool and HR.
I believed there are still much can be done for Security workforce who always keep our society and the nation safe. The public started to notice the hard work contributed by Security workforce since Covid started. Before that, the contribution of this profession have been overlooked for a long time. This causes Security Officers experience abuses at work.
Security industry is still a male-dominating industry but it shows that more female starts joining the industry due to various reasons. Majority of Security Officers (approx. 60%) are aged 40 and above, and about 45% are aged 50 and above.
If I were to be a HR in Security firm, some questions I think that are worth to be considered include:
With the active adoption of technology, are Security Officers prepared to utilise these technology to assist their work?
Are Security Officers having sufficient rest? How can we improve their work-life balance?
Are female Security Officers' needs being taken care of?
How can we enhance the pride of our Security Officers?
Are Security Officers being compensated fairly? Some consideration includes new skills acquired, experiences, inflation, benchmark to similar roles or different roles with similar job scope etc.
In view of the ageing population trend, how to make Security Officers job more senior friendly?
What is Next?
This experience allows me to have deeper connection with the community, especially the Security Workforce. After this experience, I have stronger feelings of wanting to take care of employees' welfare and benefits at work.
In 2021, Singapore was reported to have the unhappiest workforce in world. Two years have passed. In 2023, it was reported that almost 9 in 10 Singaporeans felt stressed in this year. That is 7% higher than global average. As we all know, the stress level of living and working in Singapore has been seen as relatively high due to various reasons. However, I believe that there must be things can be done to improve this situation.
Therefore, I will continue to expose myself to more workplace wellness and mental health knowledge. Hopefully I can contribute what I possess back to the society and make employees happier and less stressed in the future.
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