As a security provider, managing your guard team is one of your biggest priorities. Managing security guard hours can be quite tricky and time consuming, especially when it comes to avoiding overtime expenses or ensuring that the right guards are assigned to the right shifts.

The challenges don’t end after assignments have been handed out, either. How can you have confidence that your guards are showing up on time and conducting an efficient patrol?

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the right tech tools can go a long way in improving shift efficiency both before and during a shift. Indeed, the proper use of these tools can make all the difference in whether or not you are able to retain clients and make a profit. Here’s a closer look at how today’s technology can make a difference.

Shift Scheduling

Getting the right guards to the right shifts is a key foundation for success for any security provider. Yet all too often, companies find themselves paying costly overtime expenses and struggling to retain guards due to inefficiencies and inequalities in overtime scheduling. They may be able to fill their shifts, but they do so in a way that hurts the company’s bottom line.

Security Guard Hours: Improve Efficiency Before and During ShiftsWorse yet, attempting to coordinate client shift needs, guard time off requests, and other scheduling concerns can be an intensely time-consuming process. Back office staff often devotes several hours each week to completing guard assignments.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Modern shift scheduling tools bring a more streamlined approach to this essential part of security services. Rather than storing client and guard information in separate programs or files, all data is consolidated in one easy-to-use platform. This allows back office staff to quickly see which shifts need to be filled, as well as which guards are available to take a shift. Many scheduling tasks, such as notifying guards of a scheduling change, can even be fully automated.

Even more importantly, these programs can use customized settings to better equalize guard schedules and reduce or eliminate overtime scheduling. By improving the efficiency of your back office staff, your company will save money and enjoy greater productivity.

Shift Monitoring

It’s one thing to get guard shifts properly organized and scheduled. But another essential consideration is guard performance. After all, your clients won’t care very much about your efficient scheduling if your guards aren’t adequately fulfilling their responsibilities when they show up for their shifts.

Because of this, today’s integrated security solutions take things a step further by also enabling guard monitoring during shifts. These systems make use of GPS tracking, electronic checkpoints, and geo-zones to automatically record the position of your guards. As a result, there is no risk of receiving inaccurate check-in reports. Better yet, these systems can display location data in real time so that office staff is always aware of what guards are doing while on shift.

Security Guard Hours: Improve Efficiency Before and During Shifts
A live dashboard and push notifications instantly alert back office staff

This increased level of accountability ensures that guards will perform their duties as expected. A live dashboard and push notifications instantly alert back office staff when a problem arises, while top guards will feel more motivated knowing that their quality performance is being seen.

Smartphone integration also streamlines the incident reporting process, another vital aspect of improving shift efficiency. Customized reporting features ensure that guards fill in all required fields, while also providing the opportunity to upload photos or video footage.

This eliminates human error and allows office staff and the client to provide a faster response when additional instructions are needed, improving your ability to mitigate security threats.

Improving Efficiency

When it comes to managing security guard hours, every step you take to improve efficiency both before and during shifts will make a significant difference to your company’s success. By improving performance and reducing operating expenses, you’ll be able to deliver better results to your clients, making it that much easier to grow your business.