Kate

The Californian 2019 Q3 – WORK OPPORTUNITY TAX CREDITS

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WORK OPPORTUNITY TAX CREDITS 

Kwantek Team

 

In the Security Industry, it’s common to hire employees that would qualify for Work Opportunity Tax Credits (WOTC). If your company has significant annual hiring volume, using these credits can help deduct tens of thousands of dollars from taxable income.

WOTC is a Federal Tax Credit available to most employers who hire and retain veterans and individuals from other groups with barriers to employment. Employers are eligible to reduce their federal income tax liability by an average of $1,000 per employee, with a credit potential up to $9,600 for some employees.

Who is Eligible for WOTC?

WOTC is available for employers that hire veterans and individuals from other groups with barriers to employment. This includes:

  • Veterans – unemployed and other qualified
  • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Recipients
  • SNAP (food stamps) Recipients
  • Ex-Felons
  • Supplemental Security Income Recipients

This represents a massive opportunity for contract security companies to reduce their taxable income by thousands – and even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Let’s take a look at an example of a Kwantek client:

  • 665 New Hires were WOTC Eligible
  • 309 Received WOTC Certifications
  • $904.22 average Tax Credit earned per certified employee
  • $279,404.09 real Tax Credit to Employer

If you’re hiring veterans, ex-felons, or low-income employees, you could stand to deduct thousands of dollars each year from your taxes!

Click here to download a full report detailing everything you need to know about WOTC.

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Kate

The Californian 2019 Q3 – THREE REASONS YOU SHOULD USE GUARD TOURING

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Three Reasons You Should Use Guard Touring

Team Software

Keeping track of your security guards with guard tour software is becoming a standard practice among contractors, mostly because of the importance of accountability in the security industry. But, one of the main reasons security companies choose not to use a guard tour system is the cost. However, if you do a quick cost-benefit analysis, you’ll quickly realize that it generally costs more to operate a site without a guard tour system than it does with one.

Let’s look at three reasons you should be using a guard touring system. The bottom line? The benefits outweigh the costs.

1. Improved business performance

If you ask most security company executives how their business is performing, they’ll have a good idea of top-line performance. But, if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that those who aren’t using guard touring don’t have visibility of more granular issues. And when those issues are left unaddressed, it can eventually lead to lost customers.

Guard tour software provides you with data that helps answer questions including:

  • Are we complying with post orders or standard operating procedures?
  • Which sites have the most issues?
  • What are the most common types of issues?
  • Which days do we have the most issues and what are they?
  • Which patrol runs do we miss the most?
  • Which guards are regularly underperforming?

Answering these questions allows you to identify where to focus your time to improve performance and reduce risk in your business. And, you can go back to your customers with data and evidence that you are continuously reviewing and improving your performance.

2. Reduced on-site supervision

Supervision is critical to ensure that guards are meeting the required standards outlined in your contracts. For example, are patrols being completed on time? Are vehicles being maintained? Are critical areas secured? Are officers dressed in full uniform? If you don’t invest enough in supervision, you’re increasing the risk of losing the contract because you’re not meeting your customer’s expectations.

But investing in supervision doesn’t necessarily mean you need to hire more staff. Guard touring allows you to reduce the amount of manual supervision required by using automated monitoring, workflows and alerts. A guard tour system alerts you if scheduled patrols are missed or an incident is logged. And, since you can log in from anywhere at any time, you can see if guards are on site whether you’re in the office or at another site.

Guard tour software allows you to manage more sites remotely, reducing supervisor labor costs and increasing the profit margin on your contracts.

3. Time savings through automated reporting

Customers expect to receive reports that demonstrate they’re getting the services they’ve paid for. In many cases, this involves supervisors or managers pulling together multiple data sources and manually compiling into a daily or weekly report that can result in an hour or more per week spent on reporting for each customer they service. Across 10 customers, that’s 10 hours per week of time that could be invested in more important activities.

What if there was a way to eliminate the time spent on reporting completely? That’s exactly what guard touring does. A guard tour system automatically logs all security activity for each site in real-time and packages the information into a client-friendly report that lands in their inbox on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Not only have you saved your supervisors time, but you’ve also delivered a better customer experience.

These are just some of the benefits that a modern guard tour system can deliver for your security business. Investing in a guard tour system leads to better performance, faster growth and less customer churn. Want to see how it could help you? Check out this ROI calculator to see the potential savings from using guard touring as part of your end-to-end workforce management. Want to learn more about what guard touring can do for your security business? Contact TEAM Software or Lighthouse.

TEAM Software recently acquired Lighthouse, a mobile workforce management platform for service contractors with field-based teams. Lighthouse adds time-saving capabilities that complement TEAM’s existing financial, operations and workforce management solutions to help view, manage and automate operations in the field. These capabilities include compliance tools, incident reporting, and guard touring. 

 

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Kate

The Californian 2019 Q3 – HOW TO GET THAT BETTER JOB

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HOW TO GET THAT BETTER JOB

Mark Folmer, TrackTik

Security means different things for different people.  Ultimately, all definitions are correct because the sense of security is personal: where I feel secure, someone else may not and vice versa. As many definitions as there are for security there are different roles in frontline security.

You are reading this because you are part of the security community. Below is some food for thought as you consider your spot in the security world. If you have decided to be a part of it, it is important to understand where you fit, what you do, and how that contributes to the overall security plan of where you are assigned. The function that you are filling means that people or other assets will be secure, but you are not alone: you have tools and you contribute value.

  1. Persona consideration: comprehending what your “persona” is looking for in a role in security both if you’re looking to move on to the next role within the profession or outside of it is an essential first step. Answering the following questions will help point you in the direction of a role that makes sense for you:
    • What sort of training do you want/need?
    • What does risk mean for you?
    • What is your tolerance to risk?
    • Do you like interacting with people?
    • Would you rather work alone?
    • Where do you want to go?
  1. Tech saavy: expectations in security are such so that the company that you work for delivers more than “just a person at a site”. A Deloitte study revealed that 47% of companies are currently going digital. This entails that frontline personnel, essential in delivering on services- reporting incidents in real-time, actioning on post orders, etc. – need to understand the “whats” and the “whys” behind technology. As you spot your next role, ask yourself and the recruiter what the technology stack will look like:
    • Will you have the tools you need to do the job properly?
    • How will you be scheduled?
    • How do you go about finding what work is available?
    • How can you match as closely as possible the desired hours that you want to work with your actual hours worked?
  1. Learning: knowing what role is a fit for you and what the tools of the trade are is important, but considering what new information you need to learn to secure or even progress in your current position is key too:
    • Are there technical abilities that you need (i.e. first aid, physical security information management systems)?
    • Where can you get that knowledge? Is the training offered “on the job”? If so, is it structured?
    • Will you get certification or acknowledgement of any sort once it’s complete?
    • Does the company value me having that knowledge?
    • Is the knowledge transferable? Are the skills that I am learning useable for other clients, sites, or sectors?

Earlier in my career, I decided to join ASIS International in order to learn the business of security more closely. There, it became obvious to me that in order to achieve my goals as a security professional, I would need to obtain certification. Nowadays, there are many more offered than “just” the CPP (Certified Protection Professional): the PSP (Physical Security Professional), the PCI (Professional Certified Investigator), and the APP (Association Protection Professional, the latest being brand new and perfect for novices to the field of security.

Takeaways:

  • As an industry there are numerous opportunities that can be tailored to fit your needs.
  • To come up with a professional roadmap, considering the question of whether you are in it for a limited time or a long time is crucial: the answer to that questions and how you optimise your time accordingly are up to you.

Be clear about what you want to do, understand the environment, what motivates you, and take the opportunities that come up.

 

Named to IFSEC’s Global Influencers list 2018 for Security Thought Leadership, Mark is a business school graduate, CPP and Member of The Security Institute (MSyI). Mark’s background is in security services, corporate security, consulting and workforce software. A graduate of Concordia University in HR Management and International Business, he progressed to several senior management roles responsible for security business units across Canada, including serving as the Senior Manager for Corporate Security at Canada’s largest telecommunications company. He launched a consulting business focused on physical security for corporate clients, and has been teaching part-time at the Université de Montréal since 2016. Currently, Mark is the Vice-President, Security and Industry, in the software scaleup TrackTik, and volunteers as SRVP Region 6, Chair of the Security Services Council, the Private Security Officer Standard Technical Committee, and the Private Security Company (PSC.1) working group.

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Kate

The Californian 2019 Q3 – WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU LOSE A BIG CLIENT?

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WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU LOSE A BIG CLIENT?

Chris Anderson, Silvertrac Software

Meta Description: Losing a big client in a security company is a huge blow. However, evaluating the loss can help to improve the services that the company provides and reinforce positive relationships with current clients.

Losing a big client is a nightmare for any business, let alone a security company. Unfortunately, client loss is inevitable, but through analysis and strategy, it can be a great learning tool for bettering client relationships and service satisfaction.

There are many reasons why clients terminate a contract. They may be unhappy with the services provided. They may have found a better price point, or they may just not need the services any longer. When a contract terminates, it is important to look at the source of the termination to determine the cause.

Once you determine the root cause of why a client left, you can use this information to update your playbook to maintain current client standards and satisfaction.

Step 1: Termination Analysis

The goal of running a termination analysis is to determine the root cause of why a client left. This will give management a foundation for creating preventative measures for future churn.

Before jumping into the termination analysis, remember to keep the emotions in check. Of course, it is reasonable to be upset about losing a client, but entering into the conversation heated and angry is much more likely to result in a full loss of the professional relationship.

Respect the client’s views (even if you don’t agree), and don’t try to bully the client into staying. Use the termination analysis as a learning experience. If you can maintain a friendly relationship and update your services based on their feedback, there may be an opportunity to win the client back in the future.

1a – Schedule an Interview

The first step in termination analysis is scheduling an exit interview with the client. Remember, not every client is going to want to participate in an exit interview. Don’t pressure the client to attend an exit interview, and don’t pressure them to answer questions they don’t want to answer. Pressure alone can damage what is left of the relationship, beyond repair.

If the client is not particularly upset, their account manager should conduct the interview. Account managers are likely the most well-informed about the client’s contract and experience with the company.

If the client is very upset, it may be in the best interest of the company to have a supervisor conduct the exit interview. Having someone in a managerial position conduct the interview is likely going to make an angry client feel more important and cause less tension.

When designing the questions for the exit interview, there are a few key things that you will want to cover:

  • Why did the client terminate the contract?
  • How did the company contribute to the termination and client dissatisfaction?
  • What could the company have done to prevent the termination?

There may be other questions that are pertinent to the analysis. However, it is important to keep the exit interview simple and to the point. Try not to ask any more than 5 questions. These questions will likely lead to a more open discussion as to what went wrong.

1b – Internal Audits and Quality Check

Once an exit interview has been conducted, all internal team members associated with the account should meet to discuss the exit interview and begin an internal audit and quality check. Team members may include security officers, supervisors, account managers, sales reps, and operations personnel.

Internal audits should focus on accountability, communication, and reporting protocols. Each team member should be able to provide a thorough account of their dealings with the client and any reports or documentation they have on the lost contract.

If they can’t provide this information, this is a big indicator of internal breakdown that likely played a big part in causing the termination.

Just like the exit interview, it is important that the internal-audit is an open discussion, not driven by emotion. It is important that all internal members feel heard and are given the space to communicate their interaction with the client.

Once the team has reviewed all of the exit interview questions and internal information, the audit should start to provide some insight into these types of questions:

  • Was this a one-time incident or part of a bigger pattern?
  • Were customer’s expectations understood?
  • Where did the internal and/or external breakdown occur?
  • What internal adjustments are required?

An organic termination roadmap of what/when things went wrong, what could have been done differently, what avenues of change are available moving forward, etc…will start to unveil itself as answers to these questions become clear.

Step 2: Post-Analysis Strategy Planning

As the termination roadmap becomes clear, the internal team should use this information to strategize what steps need to be taken to update company policy, process, services, and/or training to prevent future churn.

Both short and long term updates should be taken into consideration during this phase. Simple communication breakdowns and inaccurate reporting can be updated almost immediately, where process or policy updates that have cross-department effects may take longer to roll-out.

As necessary changes become clear, it is important to create a strategic plan to roll out each change with efficiency. Change can cause frustration and growing pains so the roll-out is equally as important as identifying necessary changes.

Once a plan is in place that the team feels will confidently diminish future client terminations, assigning a project manager is highly recommended, if they haven’t been assigned already. The project manager will maintain communication with the group, will ensure that all necessary deliverables are ready on-time, and will asses issues/challenges that need to be addressed as the roll-out is implemented.

As in any strategic planning, it is important to keep in mind that you will likely need to adjust the plan as it is rolled out. This is a normal and important part of strategizing. To account for these potential adjustments, it may be helpful to set-up check-in meetings with the appropriate team members.

Check-in meetings help to keep everyone up-to-date and allow the team to catch any issues as they happen. Without some sort of check-in plan, the team runs a much higher risk of missing critical things that may have longer-lasting effects. The company may just end up in a worse position than when they started the termination analysis.

Client Retention Reminders

Reminder 1: Appreciate Top Employees

Top employees help to enhance customer relationships and supplement great services. They are also the ones who often have the biggest influence over a client who is on the verge of terminating. Top employees are the backbone of successful companies.

Incentive programs are a great way to keep top-performers excited and engaged in the company. These programs can range from continued-education courses, leadership workshops, or even bonus incentives.

Performance goals and evaluations are also great ways to keep top-performers in the game. Hardworking employees are more often than not hungry for growth and promotions. Helping an employee to set KPIs confirms the company’s investment in the employee and makes the employee feel valued.

If you don’t acknowledge top-performing employees, they are likely going to leave for a company that will validate their skills and hard work. Don’t let the good employees getaway!

Reminder 2: Focus on Current Clients

Don’t get too lost in the termination-blues and forget about active clients. While it is important to run a thorough termination-analysis, if the team gets too bogged down in what has been lost, they are likely to forget about what they still have.

Utilize the termination-analysis to help foster better active-client relationships and increase their satisfaction. Using the termination-analysis as a guide is a great opportunity to set-up check-ins with active clients. Use these check-ins to make sure the client isn’t suffering from the same issues that caused the original churn.

It may be exactly what is needed to save another termination.

Reminder 3: Don’t get comfortable

There is always room for growth and improvement. Running one termination-analysis won’t solve all of the problems clients may be facing. Every client will have their own unique needs for contracting a company’s service and their own unique experience working with the company.

In addition to running a termination analysis on every churned contract, a company should also have reporting and business analysis exercises set-up so that they are consistently reviewing company progress and maintaining a pulse on client satisfaction.

The moment a company stops looking on where they can improve is the moment they start failing.

Losing a client is never fun, but it’s not the end of the world. Through termination-analysis and strategic planning, churn can be a great learning experience to help a company grow, foster better client relationships, and increase service satisfaction.

Chris is the Founder of Silvertrac Software and has been working in the security industry for more than 25 years. He enjoys working with our clients everyday to help them grow their businesses and really enjoy what they are doing. Chris currently lives and works in Seal Beach, CA.

 

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Kate

The Californian 2019 Q3 – EARTHQUAKE! ARE YOU PREPARED?

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EARTHQUAKE! ARE YOU PREPARED?

Shaun Kelly, Tolman & Wiker, CALSAGA Preferred Broker

When the recent earthquake hit in Ridgecrest, approximately 1 hour northeast of Bakersfield, I was out of town and I was not near my family. When I received message of the quake, the first thing I thought was “Is everyone ok?”. This was a 7.1 earthquake, Northridge was only 6.7 on the Richter Scale.

Then, a few other things came to mind:

  1. Are the dogs freaking out and are they ok?
  2. Does my wife know how to shut-off the gas and water to the house?
  3. How do I reach the rest of my family?
  4. Do I have batteries in the flashlights?
  5. Did I have the contact information on the refrigerator for emergency services and neighbors updated?
  6. Did I show my wife how to open the garage door when the electricity was out?
  7. Do I drive home right now from Colorado? (It would normally take me 14 hours, but I could make it in 10 hours, I only need to stop for gas)

Needless to say, my mind was racing.  Then, I said to myself, “I am sure glad this did not happen during business hours.” We do have an Emergency Action Plan, but we have not trained and executed the plan in over a year. And, if the quake did happen during business hours, I believe all of our team members would follow the direction of our leadership team and our Emergency Action Plan. However, after a few minutes, I believe they would think about the stuff I mentioned above and panic would soon appear and then what would we do?

This brought me back to our article in a prior CALSAGA Newsletter issued over a year ago regarding the implementation of an Emergency Action Plan. (Repetition is the best method for learning) This was after the wildfires and our Ventura office was closed for over a week and we had to execute our Emergency Action Plan, even though it was not updated with the most current technology for communicating to our team members and clients to protect them and their families.

In your role as Security Professionals and First Responders, your family, team members, clients and the public look to us for protection and we must be prepared to respond to critical situations and events. We play a significant role in the safety of others and we can make a difference in their lives, if we are prepared!

I thought it is relevant to provide you with a sample Emergency Action Plan again. If you or your clients do not have an Emergency Action Plan, this will help to guide you in the development and implementation. No plan is the same and should include critical information regarding the site location and contacts.

Please take the time to review and envision how a well-executed plan can make a difference in the lives of others. Click here to download a sample Emergency Action Plan.

Thank you and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

 

Shaun Kelly joined Tolman & Wiker Insurance Services in 2005.  He specializes in all lines of property and casualty insurance for industries including contract security firms, agriculture, construction, oil and gas. Shaun received a BS in Business Administration with a major in Finance from California State University in Fresno, California. He is an active member of several industry associations, including the Association CALSAGA, the Kern County Builders Exchange and the Independent Insurance Agents of Kern County. Shaun can be reached at 661-616-4700 or skelly@tolmanandwiker.com.

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nate klauer

The Californian 2019 Q2 – SECURITY GUARD VS. SECURITY OFFICER

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SECURITY GUARD VS. SECURITY OFFICER

Kwantek, CALSAGA Network Partner

So, you have a position opening up in your contract security firm. Now is the time to post the job in various places using your standard job description and other boilerplate materials you use when hiring.

You know you need systems in place for this, so you arm yourself with tools like an applicant tracking software or detailed hiring spreadsheets.

The question now becomes, what should your job title be?

Security Guard or Security Officer?

Many people in the industry will tell you there is no difference in the two.

Some say an Officer is armed and a Guard is not.

Some say the Officer has greater training and/or responsibility.

As we look at today’s hiring and retention landscape, there are two main reasons you should prefer the term “Security Officer” rather than “Security Guard.”

1) “Security Officer” is Searched More Often on Indeed

Thanks to data made available by Indeed, we are able to know exactly how people are searching for security jobs.

In September of 2018, “Security Officer” was searched 725,027 times.

“Security Guard” was only searched 392,036 times, nearly half that of “Officer.”

If you want your job to be seen, the first logical step is to make the title what people search the most.

But it goes deeper than just what the candidate is searching. While it might help you edge out “Guard” in the search results, Indeed is smart enough to show jobs with both titles.

Making sure you get good placement is one thing, but how many people actually click your job?

In September of 2018, jobs titled “Security Officer” received 3,688,632 clicks.

Jobs titled “Security Guard” received only 975,338 clicks.

Not only does “Officer” get nearly twice as many searches as guard, it gets nearly FOUR TIMES as many clicks.

At Kwantek, we like to let the data speak for itself. This is one of those cases.

2) Appeal to Your Audience

The first rule of copywriting is to appeal to your audience.

Your audience (your current and prospective employees) wants to feel respected and important.

Put simply, “Officer” has an implication of greater responsibility than “Guard.”

Implications aside, perhaps you actually believe there to be a fundamental difference between  the two titles.

Here’s the reality…

A good guard, officer, or watchman is alert and observant.

They are ready and able to defuse a situation with words rather than weapons.

They are helpful to others and they follow rules of the management and client.

All of these responsibilities are those of an officer, and labeling them as such works to enhance their sense of self-worth and pride in their job.

When making this decision, we ask ourselves: what’s the goal?

Is the goal to be “right” in a semantics discussion?

Or is our goal to attract the best and most talent and keep them employed on our teams?

At Kwantek, we much prefer the latter, therefore “Security Officer” is the title we recommend.

If you insist on there being a difference between the two, consider using “Senior Security Officer” and “Security Officer” job titles. The difference could mean greater retention and/or more applicants.

Is your job posting built to maximize applicant volume? Kwantek has processed over 1,000,000 security guard applicants in the last year, providing expertise in what definitively helps increase applicant volume. Click here to get a free evaluation of your job postings by one of our representatives.

Whether you only wish to improve your grades or are a graduate, choosing essay help may be a terrific assistance. Assistance can enable you to focus on your essay subjects and provide you pointers on the essay writing services best way best to approach the essay topic and complete it in a timely fashion.

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Kate

The Californian 2019 Q2 – TAKING A LONG TERM VIEW

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TAKING A LONG TERM VIEW

Mark Folmer, TrackTik

The security sector is growing – nobody can argue that. With estimates pushing the 290 Billion USD mark by 2025, it is difficult to argue that opportunities do not exist. With frontline security guarding/services estimated at more than two-thirds of that figure, the question that security business owners should be reflecting on is: how do I position myself to take advantage of that market, that growth, in short, that opportunity.

The reality is that today much of the market is being served by business focused on supplying guards to fill a schedule. There is an opportunity for businesses to get beyond HPW – hours per week. Security shifting in the direction whereby guards are deployed in advanced security markets and are performing more higher value-added security measures. Not only having guards show up as a schedule requires, but also bringing with them measurable data.

Security service companies are not solely to blame for this restricted view of their potential. Clients contribute to the issue as well. Consider where “lowest technically acceptable bid” (LTAB) reign, often under the guidance of strict purchasing rules. It is very obvious that this encourages doing as little as possible as opposed to exploring potential. In markets where qualified staff are hard to source, this pressure is exponential when security officers are being viewed as a commodity, with price being the key factor distinguishing providers. This becomes a problem that spirals out of control and spills over into other areas such as not developing talent, retaining qualified officers.

Solutions can be found in getting clients to understand that there is a need to have a strategic understanding of security. Forward thinking companies understand that security has to bring value to their organisation. For instance, Microsoft has Global Security Strategy and Diplomacy Team focused on driving strategic change to advance security and resilience in a way that addresses challenges such as risk management, incident response, emergency comms & information sharing.

The transition from the bad of today to the potential of tomorrow happens when businesses truly grasp the understanding that they are offering a “peace of mind” service to their clients. In other words: if something happens we are there and we can respond, escalate and manage a situation.

For an interesting down the road view of the future of security services consider the idea of return on data (ROD). The data in question is the information that security teams can generate and act upon to provide for secure environments.

Security companies need to develop a data strategy if they wish to run intelligently. This is evidenced by the Microsoft Accenture survey which revealed that 83% of the top investments that security leaders are looking to make within the next 3-5 years are on big data and analytics.

What are the benefits they are looking to gain? A recent survey by Brivo revealed that among the top-2 benefits are ways to improve policies and procedures at 62%, investigate suspicious behaviour at 37% and seeking compliance support at 27%. The challenge in this area remains companies using decentralised security platforms (which limit efficiency and scalability).

Delivering more is the goal. The idea of using technology that drives an impact (not just tech for tech’s sake) is key. This entails using technology that solves everyday issues: i.e. that gets the right staff to a client’s site, runs operations smoothly while being fully equipped to drive value to the client organisation (and in turn drive your client retention numbers!).

Consider the pain-point of the lack of understanding of current solutions in the market. The aforementioned Microsoft Accenture report revealed that more than half of the respondents believe that there is both clear ROI and non-financial benefits to the digital transformation. Digitization and automation can improve operational efficiency up to 30-50% (contingent on rollout and organisation size).

In a study that TrackTik did in 2016, it was concluded that 93% of end-user clients want their service providers to provide concrete statistics relating to completion of Service Level Agreements (SLAs). This will support retention and will also support differentiation and the professionalisation of your security services.

There is some low hanging fruit in the quest for digital transformation as a clear way to improve efficiencies. Current security business models will probably become obsolete within the next couple of years. This means that adopting technology and varying service models is a matter of survival at this point with 35% of C-level executives indicating that it is important and urgent in security.

We see industry leaders growing- whether that be by acquisition or by organic growth or a mixture of both. The certainty is that those poised for long-term success are doing so by embracing technology and the opportunities presented by digitisation. They are able to offer the peace of mind that their clients are asking for.

Transforming Physical Security – 3 Trends

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Kate

The Californian 2019 Q2 – HIRING, TRAINING, & EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

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HIRING, TRAINING, & EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Chris Anderson, Silvertrac Software  

Business owners in the security industry all have one major problem in common: hiring good employees. The traditional way of hiring through speed and convenience often leads to trouble. Resulting in uninspired employees who quit, get fired, or hurt your company’s reputation.

Companies today separate hiring, training, and employee management. Then spend endless days, weeks, months — not to mention resources — trying to figure out why they can’t find good officers.

This focus is understandable. Owners wear many hats, are strapped for time, and struggle to find balance in their day-to-day work. But what we’ve found over the past 10 years in the security industry is clear.

To see success, you need to look at your business as one well-rounded, well-oiled machine.

This may come as a shock, but it’s important to have good hiring techniques. Good techniques lead to more motivated employees who commit to better training programs. They empower employees to go above and beyond their job roles. And how can you forget the time (and money) you save with a strong process in place.

The result? A successful, well-oiled operation with happier clients, more bids, and more secure contracts.

Below we’ll talk about past lessons we’ve learned, and how they’ve helped security companies like yours build long-term success.

First, what’s your current hiring process? If you’re like most small-to-midsize security companies, you constantly spin your wheels to hire officers. Time is never on your side. You need to fill posts fast and as painless as possible, because every other part of your business demands attention. So how can you put any thought into who you hire?

Remember, these officers represent you and your company. You need to trust and depend on them. That’s why we promote one way to hire officers: Slow Down!

One big reason we say “Slow Down” is because you need more loyal employees. Slowing down your hiring process helps assure candidates are a good fit for your company. You want to know if this person agrees with your work ethic and values. If they are reliable and trustworthy.

A framework like this puts the right people on your team. Which in turn creates a hard-working and motivating environment new hires want to be a part of. Companies who slow down see less hirer’s remorse, lower turnover, and better employee performance.

Second, supervisors play a key role in maintaining this environment, as well as keeping your business running smooth. They are your trusted side-kick. The ones responsible for officers when you’re not around. The way you hire them is how they will hire and manage officers, too. Making our case for hiring slow even more evident to run a top-notch security operation.

Influential supervisors are the next step to building a well-rounded security operation. Officers look to supervisors as mentors, conflict managers, company-messenger, and coach. So when you hire a supervisor who sees eye-to-eye with your values and goals, you set an example for everyone else. It gives them the power to build a strong team, gain officers respect, and make officers more receptive to feedback and training.

Another big challenge you face as a security team is an officer’s lack of motivation and drive. Luckily, it’s something you can change. The steps we discuss will give your team the platform needed to build an empowering culture.

For example, you may have noticed we continue to use the term “officer” versus “guard”. We do this because “officer” gives off a level of professionalism for employees to fulfill. “Guard” is something of lesser status.

Combine solid hiring processes, influential supervisors, and the job title of “Officer”, and what do you get? A foundation where your employees feel they can grow professionally and personally. A place people actually want to work. And a new culture of learning and leadership.

This is something the security industry is notorious for not doing. But the results are undeniable, and it’s radically changing the way we hire and manage officers.

So once you create this new culture, it’s your responsibility to uphold it. Bringing us to your last step: to provide on-going training opportunities for your team.

Training is thought to be a one and done thing  —  it’s not. It’s an on-going program that includes workshops, on-the-job-training, classes, and more. This allows you to strengthen skills, reduce weak links in the company, and bring everyone to a higher level, so they all have the same knowledge.

Not all training programs are alike, however. We find that great training programs look at three things first: company needs, quality instructors and materials, and training metrics.

Then, the different points of training in the program. This includes basic onboarding, yearly training, self-education, OTJ training with field supervision, and testing. If you don’t test employees, how can you know if your training is effective or not? A complete program helps you determine employee strengths and weaknesses. So you can offer personalized and effective materials for them to be successful.

It’s important to use a variety of training techniques in your program. For example, we recommend the KISS method for onboarding — Keep It Simple Stupid. New hires know little about your procedures and expectations. KISS gives them a good introduction to your company, and the fundamentals they need to succeed. Since everything is laid out beforehand, supervisors don’t have to spend time on the same, avoidable conflicts over and over again.

Educated and happy employees make for a more productive and successful environment. Wouldn’t you agree?

Some security owners complain that hiring and training requirements force them to focus on quick results. But in most cases, it’s actually a failure of process, not the task itself. Owners who focus on slowing down and finding the right fit for their business stand the greatest chance of hiring good officers.

The ultimate goal is to take a step back and see how all these aspects of your business work together. Once you do that, the rest will fall into place. Your team will operate at levels you have never seen. Your clients will be happier than they have ever been, and more contracts will be coming your way. It’s a win-win-win.

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Kate

The Californian 2019 Q2 – ON-CALL AND CALL-IN SHIFTS REQUIRE PAYMENT OF WAGES

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ON-CALL AND CALL-IN SHIFTS REQUIRE PAYMENT OF WAGES

Jaimee K. Wellerstein, Esq., Bradley & Gmelich, CALSAGA Network Partner

A sales clerk brought a putative wage and hour class action against his employer, Tilly’s, alleging that store employees were due reporting time pay for on-call shifts or call-in shifts in which employees were required to contact the stores two hours before the start of their shift to determine whether they were needed.  The sales clerk argued that having to be on a tether to determine if he should have to report is the same as being under the employer’s control and should be compensated as reporting time.

The employer argued that on-call scheduling is not what triggers the Wage Order reporting time pay requirements, but rather when they actually report physically to work.  In Ward v. Tilly’s, Inc., 31 Cal. App. 5th 1167 (2/4/2019), the Court of Appeal sided with the employees and held that if an employer directs employees to present themselves for work by telephoning the store two hours prior to the start of a shift, then the Wage Order’s reporting time requirement is triggered by the telephonic contact.

Reporting time pay is one-half of the scheduled shift and, in any case, not less than 2-hours of pay at straight time. (See, IWC Wage Order No. 4, section 5.)

LESSON LEARNED:  Although the On-Call or the Call-In models are not typically used in the security industry, if you do, be aware that each employee is deemed to be under the employer’s control while they are waiting to see if they will be needed.  As such, reporting time wages are required to be paid.

Jaimee K. Wellerstein is a Partner at Bradley & Gmelich LLP, and the Head of the firm’s Employment Department. Jaimee concentrates her practice in representing employers in all aspects of employment law, including defense of wage and hour class actions, PAGA claims, discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful discharge, misclassification, and other employment related lawsuits. She also provides employment counseling and training in all of these areas. Jaimee routinely represents employers in federal and state courts and in arbitration proceedings throughout the state, as well as at administrative proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement, the United States Department of Labor, and other federal and state agencies. Jaimee assists as a Legal Advisor to CALSAGA, and is a member of ASIS International. She is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale Hubbel, the highest peer rating available. jwellerstein@bglawyers.com 818-243-5200.

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Kate

The Californian 2019 Q2 – IMPROVE YOUR RETENTION (AND YOUR BOTTOM LINE)

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IMPROVE YOUR RETENTION (AND YOUR BOTTOM LINE)

How security contractors can use data to impact this important metric

TEAM Software and Kwantek

In the security industry, it’s difficult to keep good people employed for any length of time. As strategic partners with end-to-end solutions specific to security contractors, Kwantek and TEAM Software know how important issues like retention and turnover are to your business. We hear it every day from our customers, prospects and industry partners. With so many things you can’t control — high labor costs, fierce competition and thin margins — taking control of something you can control, like retention, is a game-changer.

Many of the organizations we work with view turnover and retention challenges as a given, and in many ways, that’s true. Yes, turnover is going to happen. Instead of dwelling on that fact, the best thing you can do is take steps to manage it and reduce its impact on your business.

Calculate Your True Cost Per Hire

Do you know your true cost per hire? We’ve heard ranges of $20 to $5,000, but according to the Society for Human Resource Management  (SHRM), the average cost per hire across all industries is $4,129. The key to calculating your true cost per hire is to assume no costs are fixed. You must think of all the costs — both internal and external — associated with your hiring process including sourcing, recruiting and staffing.

The best way to do this is to ask yourself: What costs would you be able to eliminate if you didn’t have to hire anyone for an entire year? Then, ask yourself: What else could you eliminate if you didn’t have to hire anyone?

Evaluate Your Site Manager Bonuses Program

Site managers play critical roles in the contract security industry. They’re entrusted to deliver on your contracts and keep your customers happy. One way you can insure your site managers are helping drive your business forward is to reevaluate how you incentivize them so you’re rewarding based on a holistic picture of performance. Rather than focusing solely on job site profitability, look at employee retention costs by site as well. That will give you a more accurate view of who your best performers are, and it can help you avoid some bad manager practices that can hurt your retention, too.

Analyze the Effectiveness of Your Site Managers

Speaking of those site managers, take a deeper look at the retention-related metrics you should use to evaluate your site managers to grow your bottom line. If you’re evaluating your site managers solely on contract profitability (site revenue minus payroll costs), is that the best long-term strategy? When you’re looking to scale your business, you need to look beyond that one measure and we think you can boil it down to this one question: What’s the most effective way to retain your clients?

Client retention is about making sure you’re delivering on your customer contracts and keeping your customers (and employees) happy. Happy employees serve your customers better – and they tend to stay longer. So, retaining your workforce allows the site manager to place a greater focus on making sure your customers are satisfied because they can spend less time on onboarding and training new employees. And, your business can spend less time and money on hiring.

Use Retention Metrics to Land More Clients

Improving your employee retention can positively impact several aspects of your business including reducing your cost per hire, saving your HR department a lot of headaches and improving customer satisfaction, to name a few. But, the smartest companies leverage retention to improve their sales process, as well.

As a security company, your people are your product. Your clients want quality work from a reliable and trustworthy team. Focusing on retention and knowing your metrics helps differentiate you from the others in the field and you can explain to your prospects what that means for them as a potential customer.

Want to know how to calculate these numbers and use data to evaluate your retention? Read the complete eBook and watch the recorded webinar.

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