Few things are more highly valued by the clients of security firms than accountability. After all, your clients spend a fair amount of their earnings on your security services, and as such, they like to see evidence that your team is actually fulfilling what they’ve been hired to do.
But accountability isn’t just important for your clients. For everyone involved in the security industry–clients, employers, and guards alike– a well-organized security guard schedule can prove to be just as valuable as consistent, well-written daily activity reports.
Employer Accountability
When managing a security firm, you hold your employees responsible for the work they perform, as it reflects directly on your business and could affect your ability to gain and retain clients in the future. At the same time, you are accountable to your employees–you need to provide consistent, reliable communication and other resources to ensure they can do their job properly.
So how does security guard schedule management improve accountability? It starts by having the right software in place to keep up with the demands of today’s working environment. Each client has their own unique scheduling preferences, which can affect which guards are assigned to which patrols. This is especially true of clients with specialized security needs, which may require additional clearances or skills that only certain team members can provide.
With the right software in place, it becomes significantly easier to make note of any special scheduling needs your clients may have and automate them accordingly. This allows you to avoid scheduling the wrong guard to a particular patrol, which could very easily upset a client. However, this software also keeps you accountable to your employees by ensuring that they are always provided with the information they need to fulfill any unique requirements of a particular shift.
Employee Accountability
A sophisticated security guard schedule also holds your employees responsible for their actions by efficiently and automatically sending out assignments. This doesn’t merely occur when the initial scheduling assignments are made, either. Modern software can notify employees of changes to their shift via email, text message, or a push notification to ensure that employees are fully aware of when they need to report to work–all of which is much more efficient and reliable than paper messaging.
Of course, today’s guard scheduling software does more than merely simplify the process of assigning shifts to your employees. It also makes significant strides in keeping your employees accountable to you. After all, paper timesheets and notebooks are notoriously easy to manipulate –an employee could show up ten minutes late for their shift and you’d be none the wiser.
Modern technology avoids this problem and increases employee accountability by using electronic scanners and GPS tracking for employees to check in or out of their shift. If a guard doesn’t check in for their shift, an electronic alert can help notify you of the situation immediately, allowing you to contact the employee, reassign the shift, or find another solution.
Accountability Benefits
The improved accountability provided by today’s security guard scheduling software can yield significant improvements for your company. Electronic tracking and alerts provide extra motivation for your employees to show up for their shift on time and remain actively engaged while on the job. Your top employees will be more than happy to have a new way to showcase their dependability, while others will be encouraged to improve their efforts.
With today’s scheduling technology, you can become more accountable to your employees by providing them with everything they need to have a successful shift, and they become more accountable to you and your clients thanks to an electronic tracking system. With this system of improved accountability, it will be easier to keep your clients happy, maintain a positive working relationship with your employees, and set a course for continued growth and success for your security firm.
