Kate

The Californian 2023 Q2: Discover How to Reduce Turnover, Increase Engagement, and Retain Your Security Officers

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Discover How to Reduce Turnover, Increase Engagement, and Retain Your Security Officers

Tavon Parris, Trackforce Valiant + TrackTik, CALSAGA Network Partner

Around $11 billion is lost annually due to overall employee turnover, according to the Bureau of National Affairs. This isn’t only representative of the physical security industry, and that number considers more than just lost hours. It factors in the cost associated with finding, training, and equipping replacement workers as well as reduced productivity. 

But nowhere is the issue of turnover more acute than in the physical security industry. High turnover rates, low retention, and low employee engagement have always been a challenge for security firms and corporate security departments alike. Today, the high turnover rate in the security guard industry is a key challenge almost all face. 

Security officer and security guard turnover rates are thought to be over 100% annually. That means that the average private security firm has a completely new workforce every 12 months. And that high turnover has potentially immense consequences.  

When short on personnel, the exposure to risk increases. This may lead to people getting hurt, businesses experiencing increased incidents of theft and vandalism, and an increase in stressful situations that quickly get out of hand, like a lost child, crowd control, or medical emergency. 

It’s why it’s so necessary for security companies to do things like offer competitive wages. This is one of many ways to help reduce churn in a role that can ask employees to risk their lives, as outlined in our guide.  

In addition to speaking about wages, we go over common reasons for employee turnover and offer 10 ideas that can effectively help reduce your turnover rates, increase employee engagement, and retain your best physical security personnel.  

Want to learn more? Grab your copy today. 

Trackforce Valiant + TrackTik combines over 45 years of total experience with the brightest and most influential minds to provide its customers with the industry’s most comprehensive security workforce management solution. Our cloud-based solutions help corporations and security guard service providers handle every aspect of security workforce management.

Tavon Parris
tavon.parris@tracktik.com
706-960-8158
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Kate

The Californian 2023 Q2: Top 3 Areas to Improve Your Hiring Funnel

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Top 3 Areas to Improve Your Hiring Funnel

Maddie Anders, TEAM Software by WorkWave, CALSAGA Network Partner

Consider the two different versions of the labor market.

First, there’s a candidate-driven market, where applicants have more power in determining where and what conditions they’ll accept working amongst. There are often more attempts at negotiations, especially with wages and benefits, and it can be harder to position yourself as an employer of choice as many markets are competing for the same pool of workers.

Second, there’s an employer’s market, where there is less flexibility for negotiations from the stance of an employer because the rate of unemployed persons per job opening is high.

Although economic factors may suggest the labor market is changing, the fact is we’re still operating in a candidate-driven market. To position yourself as an employer of choice and attract more quality candidates to your open roles, you have to do what you can to improve efficiency, enhance the customer experience and deliver measurable KPIs to your company’s bottom line.

Improved efficiency

In today’s highly competitive job market, organizations need to ensure that they have a streamlined recruitment process that can attract, hire and onboard top talent efficiently.

But what does efficiency really look like? In your hiring funnel, it should mean you’re able to get the right people in the right jobs at the right time and for the least amount of resources.

The first step in achieving this is to integrate applicant tracking, hiring and onboarding systems. With an integrated system, recruiters and hiring managers can manage the entire hiring funnel from a single platform. This includes posting job openings, reviewing resumes, scheduling interviews, checking references and onboarding new hires. It means removing paper-based documentation and filing systems for compliant and secure data storage and sharing. And, it means doing it all in a way that is repeatable.

Despite hiring significantly more than the national average, the net sum of workers in the security industry isn’t substantially increasing due to the amount of turnover. In proprietary data from TEAM Software by WorkWave and included in our recent data report, we’ve found that a security company must hire approximately 108 applicants a year, just to maintain an average

annual headcount of 100 employees. Knowing the demand for security guards is and will remain high, it’s critical to establish proven integrated recruitment processes that can be easily replicated again and again.

Enhanced candidate experience

Another key benefit of integrated recruitment systems is the enhanced candidate experience.

An integrated recruiting system can provide a seamless experience that enhances the employer brand and helps attract top talent. For example, you can streamline your recruitment requirements to only request critical criteria in the application process, instead of requiring page-long resumes and applications – and still capture the necessary information you need to begin screening. Even better, offer text-to-apply application formats, which reduce the barriers of application completion for prospective candidates in your industry. When a candidate applies for a job, they can receive automated responses acknowledging receipt of their application, including via text.

During the interview process, recruiters can use the system to schedule interviews, send reminders and follow up with candidates quickly. Once hired, you can collect necessary new-hire and onboarding documentation with easy digital methods, instead of sending supervisors to chase down employees at job sites.

Data-driven KPIs

Arguably the best benefit of an integrated recruiting system is the measurable results it contributes to your bottom line. TEAM Software’s own applicant tracking, hiring and onboarding system, for example, enables users to hire an average 42% faster than the national average. That equals 15 days of time savings gained back during the hiring process alone. This is a critical metric to consider when knowing that contract coverage depends on available employees to cover shifts.

It’s also important to look at your back-end processes and see where efficiencies can be gained. Ask yourself these questions: How much effort is going into tracking applications, reviewing work history and resumes, screening candidates, running background checks and moving new hires into onboarding? Of that time being spent, where could your back-office team’s efforts be redirected to contribute even more to the company’s bottom line? Could you be hiring even more applicants?

With TEAM Software’s ATS, hiring and onboarding software, clients report 60% savings of time spent on hiring activities.

Learn more about measurable results service contractors are achieving in their hiring process at teamsoftware.com.

Maddie started her career in the global banking industry as an Applications Programmer prior to joining TEAM Software by WorkWave. After working as a Quality Analyst, Maddie transitioned to Product Owner, where she combines her passion for problem solving with the guidance of product strategy to bring forward enhancements that add value to users while driving future innovations.

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Aley Moyer

The Californian Q1 2023 – 2023 Labor Trends: Retention and the First 90 Days

2023 Labor Trends: Retention and the First 90 Days

Andrea Willman, TEAM Software, CALSAGA Network Partner

The labor market has been, arguably, one of the biggest frustrations for security professionals over the past few years. The data proves it. 

National hiring rates during a six month period (industry agnostic) are trending up, although still slightly below pre-pandemic levels. As of September 2022, the labor participation rate across the country was an average .6% higher than the previous year, but 1.0% lower than pre-pandemic participation rates in December 2019 (63.3%).

When looking at sample data from TEAM Software by WorkWave, active employees within the security industry show a 2.2% average monthly increase for the 12-month period of October 2021 through September 2022.

Despite hiring significantly more than the national average, the net sum of workers in the security industry aren’t substantially increasing due to the amount of turnover. In order to maintain an average annual headcount of 100 employees, for example, a security company must hire 108 applicants a year. As such, retention remains a high priority.

The 90-day retention milestone

In the security industry, new hires are 53% more likely to retain for one year if they reach 90 days of employment. 

Some tactics industry leaders are including to increase retention, especially within the first 90 days, include: 

Job posting transparency

One of the biggest reasons new hires churn fast is because their job responsibilities don’t match expectations. Communicate responsibilities throughout the hiring process, from the job posting onward. Then, continue to reinforce expectations through accurate job instructions tied to your software solution. This should include digital resources on the job profile that can be easily shared or accessed, text fields for specific notes and job-specific documents, bulletins, events or links.

Flexible work

Flexibility is a growing demand in applicant pools. The nature of physical security means there will always be a need for on-site, shift-based work. However, introducing flexibility into your employees’ experience where you can – like self-scheduling, where employees can offer their shifts to others without needing to involve a schedule or supervisor – can improve employee engagement and retention while simultaneously reducing high-cost expenses, like overtime. Others can pick up open work and mark themselves as available if they want to pick up additional hours. This tactic can also alleviate some administrative scheduling tasks from your managers, while still ensuring contract coverage. 

Earned wage access

Earned wage access provides a way for employees to receive payment for hours worked, without having to wait for the next pay cycle to process. One of the biggest barriers employees face in succeeding at a field job is the reliability of their transportation. Sometimes, the gap between paychecks impacts a worker’s ability to afford transit, let alone living expenses.

This can make a big difference in employee financial wellness even during times of economic stability. In times of uncertainty that bring rising fuel prices, energy crises and more unrest, access to wages on demand can make a critical difference to employee wellbeing and workforce engagement.

Incentive programs

Employee referral programs exist as an incentive for an existing employee to refer a potential new employee to your hiring staff. If the candidate is hired, the existing employee receives a benefit, typically of monetary value. Many companies have programs like this in place, yet don’t see referrals as a leading hiring source. The reason why could be because the policy is out of sight, out of mind. Make sure your human resources staff are sharing incentive programs like employee referrals consistently and often. As you’re developing these programs, build them with retention in mind. Build in agreements that both the new hire and referring employee need to remain employed for a certain period of time – 90 days, at least – to qualify for the benefit. 

Any one of these tactics, or a combination of all, can help encourage retention to and past the 90-day mark, when the odds of longer-term retention increase. For more labor trend data you can use to help support your retention strategies, access TEAM Software by WorkWave’s recent data report, an analysis of recent trends and forecasts for the year ahead.  

For more information on technology-driven software solutions to help support your hiring, retention and other workforce needs, visit teamsoftware.com. 

Andrea has over 15 years of software-as-a-service (SaaS) marketing experience. In her role as Marketing Director at TEAM Software by WorkWave, she drives the company’s strategic marketing direction globally.  She is a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism.

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Aley Moyer

The Californian 2022 Q4 – A New Year for Recruitment: Leveraging Passive Candidates

A New Year for Recruitment: Leveraging Passive Candidates

Jeff Davis,  TEAM Software, CALSAGA Network Partner

It’s not an overstatement to say many service contractors approach hiring with one pillar in their strategy: job boards. Job boards are an effective tool in gaining a lot of visibility for your open positions amongst active job seekers. Where this tactic falls short is in reaching passive candidates. 

Passive job candidates are defined as individuals who aren’t necessarily looking for new employment, but are open if an opportunity becomes available. Studies estimate that 70% of the labor market is passively interested in employment.

As we continue to experience fluctuations and shortages in the labor market, it’s important to effectively reach and appeal to those individuals who are passively open to new opportunities. 

The first step towards this venture is to identify your company’s ideal employee. In hiring, there are typically two clear sets of requirements: criteria required by the company or contract, and criteria required of the candidate themselves. To effectively hire (and retain post-hire) both criteria should be addressed.

Company and contract requirements are straightforward: things like geography, quantity or timeframe. If your company is a multi-state or multi-market company, it’s possible you’ll have job openings similar from state to state. Knowing there’s overlap, you could create a list of requirements that are needed from an open role to fulfill your contractual obligations.

When it comes to candidate requirements, the conditions might take a bit more work to pull together. Does the candidate need specific qualifications? Are there certain required attributes (e.g., an age minimum)? Is there behavioral criteria to consider? Once you know your ideal state (or, ideal candidate) you can budget dollars more appropriately on recruitment distribution strategies.

Next, budget time and resources on digital platform delivery. When looking to hire the right candidates from a passive market, posting on job boards and letting the application sit until filled isn’t the best approach. With digital advertising available on individual apps and platforms, companies of any size now have a multitude of ways to reach their ideal employment audience. Facebook, Google, Tik Tok…each platform has their own advantages in traffic generation for open roles and strengthening your employer brand. If you’re just getting started in recruitment marketing, know there are many platforms where you can build free accounts that help introduce you to paid advertising tactics, keyword trends and analytics. 

While digital advertising is effective and a means to market directly to your ideal candidate, it can be expensive. Traditional marketing efforts should not be overlooked. Print, mass media, and direct mailings have all started to make a comeback as digital prices have increased. For example, creating a direct mail campaign to ex-employees that would be welcome back to your organization.  

Finally, analyze your data. Recruitment marketing needs to be actively managed and flexibly approached. Depending on your analytic platform of choice, you can see how much traffic is coming from each source, what that traffic is doing on your website and if they’re performing the action you want to see (like an application form fill). Digging deeper, you’ll be able to see which efforts are leading to qualified interviews and hires. As you actively manage the effort, you can make adjustments based on this information to keep your recruitment funnel high-performing. 

Learn more about hiring, onboarding and more at teamsoftware.com. 

For the last 20 years, Jeff has focused on technology, working in sales and marketing to executive leadership, with five years specializing in human resources technology. Within his leadership role at WorkWave, which acquired TEAM Software in 2021, Jeff serves as a subject matter expert delivering marketing and service solutions to service contractors worldwide.

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