Security Problems: Top Challenges in the Security Industry and Solutions
In today’s rapidly evolving landscape, the security industry faces a multitude of challenges that threaten not only individual organizations but also societal stability as a whole. The rise of technology and lack of workforce personnel and security teams, coupled with increasing complexity in criminal behavior, has created an environment where traditional security measures are often inadequate. This article explores some of the top challenges in the commercial and private security industry and discusses potential solutions and potential risks to mitigate these issues.
1. Challenge One: Attracting and Retaining Top Talent
Hiring is always a rollercoaster. While there have been instances of a labor-heavy job market within the security industry over the past fifteen years, more often than not, the labor pool is scarce, with far more open positions than applicants willing to fill the gaps. Your competitors are offering up similar positions to security professionals with comparable pay and benefits packages, and job seekers have all the power.
We’ve got your back. We’ve got everything you need to turn your hiring process into a well-oiled machine. Source qualified applicants through an applicant tracking system (ATS) that can post to multiple job boards through a single click, filter applicants based on your criteria, and assess fit. Schedule interviews in bulk and complete criminal background checks easily through a simplified vendor process. Once hired, all prehire paperwork can be completed and stored before the employee’s first day, including company security policies, direct deposit information, and government-required forms. Digitalized processes mean less duplicate data entry and manual error for you, particularly when integrated with our back-office and workforce management solutions. And, we can automatically screen those new hires for Work Opportunity Tax Credit eligibility (which can save you up to $9,000 in taxable income per employee).
2. Challenge Two: Staying Profitable When You’re Up Against Tight Margins
With less than 4% profit margins, growth of competitors in the market, and predicted rising labor costs, it’s more important than ever to do what you can to stay profitable. And, in an industry where contracts are often won in the lowest price technically acceptable scenarios, you don’t have a lot of wiggle room to pad your profitability.
We’ve got your back. Our software solutions work to find ways to counteract cost-draining activities, like non-billable overtime, inaccurate billing and payroll systems, data errors, and time-consuming manual processes. We specialize in providing visibility into profits at the job level so you can determine which (if any) contracts are underperforming and which are showcasing profitability so you can better plan work, improve customer retention strategies, and overall security strategies, and determine what contracts may be best for your client portfolio going forward.
3. Challenge Three: Complex and Ever-Changing Regulations and Compliance
The rules are always changing. Between government regulations and compliance requirements, your back-office staff are constantly working to stay ahead of the changes coming your way, or else face steep fines and citations.
We’ve got your back. We have staff dedicated to keeping on top of compliance requirements coming down the pipeline for your industry. We deliver features that help you sort through all of the red tape. From legislative tax and payroll updates to state-specific requirements; filing deadlines and year-end needs, we tailor our workforce management solutions to fit what’s being demanded of your company.
4. Challenge Four: Proving Quality and Service Delivery on Your Contract SLAs
How can you improve on something if you can’t see it? When you lack visibility into your distributed workforce, it’s hard to certify where officers have patrolled, when routes were completed, and what was actioned on. These aren’t niceties — your clients are demanding proof of service. Without it, you risk liability on your company’s behalf if an incident occurs, security is compromised (security breaches), or a guard is faced with a hazardous work environment. Not to mention, your customers might just take their business elsewhere.
We’ve got your back. Through mobile workforce management tools and quality assurance features, our solutions prove the where/when/what of your distributed workforce, auditing completed patrols. Through rich media capture and checkpoints, we create a digital paper trail to support provable service delivery, including quality measurements to reinforce that the work you’re doing is up to SLA standards. Business intelligence tools run reports on key metrics, ensuring you can back up the business case of your services. And, with comprehensive time and attendance tools, you can eliminate fraudulent activities like unauthorized access or buddy punching that put you at risk of overbilling your customers and losing out on repeat business. In short, we help make your service delivery transparent, supporting the relationship you have with your customers.
Our Security Solutions
Our solutions for security contractors, private security services, or security guard companies in general satisfy the need for a holistic approach, a data-driven understanding of business performance, and cost-efficient automation for operations and workforce management activities. We’ve designed our solutions to seamlessly integrate, so your workforce management can be optimized from pre-hire, hiring, and onboarding (Kwantek) and then sync with mobile timekeeping and employee location tracking tools (Lighthouse) along with financial, operations, and job-level workforce management data (WinTeam).
In short, you get complete visibility over all workforce management systems, with the added bonus of having streamlined support services for all of your solutions within one software partner. It’s a win-win.
Want to learn more? Let’s take 15 minutes to talk it over.
Partnering with TEAM Software
Partnering with TEAM Software by WorkWave can significantly benefit your security company. This security software is designed to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and ultimately help you grow your client list. Here are some key benefits and key features of using TEAM Software by WorkWave as your security guard management system:
1. Efficient Employee Management: You can easily schedule shifts, assign tasks, and track employee performance, ensuring that your team is working effectively and efficiently.
2. Real-Time Communication: The software allows for real-time communication between you and your team, enabling quick responses to client requests or changes in scheduling.
3. Automated Invoicing and Billing: Fully automates the invoicing and billing process, making it easy to keep track of payments and ensure timely billing for your clients.
4. Reporting and Analytics: Offers robust, detailed reports and analytics tools that give you valuable insights into your security business performance, allowing you to make data-driven decisions to optimize operations and grow your client list using in-depth analytics functions.
Closing Thoughts
In an ever-evolving security landscape, the ability to maintain transparency and efficiency is paramount. The challenges faced by security contractors—ranging from lack of visibility into workforce activities to managing client expectations—can be daunting. However, with the right tools and a strategic partner like TEAM Software by WorkWave, these hurdles become manageable.
By leveraging advanced mobile workforce management solutions, you can not only improve your operational efficiency but also enhance the quality of service you provide to your clients. The transparency and data-driven insights available through TEAM Software empower security contractors to make informed decisions, streamline their processes, and ultimately build stronger relationships with clients.
In an industry where trust is crucial, maintaining clear communication and delivering on service level agreements (SLAs) can set you apart from competitors. With automated invoicing and real-time analytics, you can ensure that your clients are always informed and satisfied with your services. See it for yourself; request a demo today!
