Crew goal setting for security control

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness, efficiency, and robustness of simple goal setting in airport security control. As outcome, crew performance in terms of productivity (Experiment 1, field setting) was studied. Furthermore, the moderating role of negative and positive priming due to a previous task on the impact of goals (Experiment 2, laboratory setting) was analyzed. This research builds a bridge from goal setting theory to practice and prepares the grounds for its application in security or emergency organizations. In Experiment 1, supervisors of Security Officers at a large European airport communicated goals to their subordinates without any prior intervention or training. Goals were applied to a short "peak" time span (40 min). Dependent variables were objective team-level measures of productivity, namely passenger density and throughput. Experiment 2 featured two different tasks that primed speed (negative priming: puzzle; positive priming: car race). The Frankfurter Aufmerksamkeitsinventar served as main task for obtaining speed and accuracy measures. The results show that pre-intervention goal setting can be used easily and effectively by supervisors to increase subordinates' team performance during short interventions. Goal setting for short time spans is effective even without providing feedback. However, negative priming by a previous task may undermine the beneficial effects of goal setting. Abstract This study investigated the effectiveness, efficiency, and robustness of simple goal setting in airport security control. As outcome, crew performance in terms of productivity (Experiment 1, field setting) was studied. Furthermore, the moderating role of negative and positive priming due to a previous task on the impact of goals (Experiment 2, laboratory setting) was analyzed. This research builds a bridge from goal setting theory to practice and prepares the grounds for its application in security or emergency organizations. In Experiment 1, supervisors of Security Officers at a large European airport communicated goals to their subordinates without any prior intervention or training. Goals were applied to a short "peak" time span (40 min). Dependent variables were objective team-level measures of productivity, namely passenger density and throughput. Experiment 2 featured two different tasks that primed speed (negative priming: puzzle; positive priming: car race). The Frankfurter Aufmerksamkeitsinventar served as main task for obtaining speed and accuracy measures. The results show that pre-intervention goal setting can be used easily and effectively by supervisors to increase subordinates' team performance during short interventions. Goal setting for short time spans is effective even without providing feedback. However, negative priming by a previous task may undermine the beneficial effects of goal setting.

Does training improve security decisions? A case study of airports

“…This rise in detection also appeared in cases when simply introducing to the baggage scanner work team pre-intervention goals by supervisors. Others found ways to increase detection in overall team performance but it only lasted during short interventions (Wetter et al, 2013). A rare longitudinal study of screeners over a 4-year period with repeated measures found that screener competency in detecting prohibited items in x-ray images of passenger bags can be greatly improved through routine XRT training (Halbherr et al, 2013).…”