The Trouble With Training

If only you could give every new hire who walked in the door a uniform, badge, and a radio and send them out into the field on Day One. It would solve a lot of problems in a high turnover industry. But you can't.

Being a security guard requires a license, and getting a license requires training. California, for example, requires security officers complete 8 hours of pre-license training and 32 hours of continuing education to obtain a state-issued Guard Card. And most states require re-certification every year or two to maintain active status.

So, security guard companies must offer state-approved training to enable candidates to get certified before they can begin to work as a security guard with the legal protections afforded by a license. That's not the problem.

The problem is that the quality, time, and expense of the current method of live instructor-led training employed by most firms underserves both the security guard company as well as the candidate.

Waiting until you have collected enough students to justify scheduling a class and paying an instructor causes staffing delays even before applicants get started. Once you have achieved critical mass for a class, it usually means students are packed in a windowless conference room for a few days passively watching outdated videos and lifeless PowerPoint-assisted lectures; the monotony broken only by coffee breaks. These classes take up a lot of time with inconsistent results and yield little useful knowledge transfer.

Indeed, the very nature of in-person training drives away candidates and shrinks hiring pools. Pre-requisite training is often unpaid, only offered at fixed dates and times, and can be extremely boring. Some applicants cannot afford to take time off from their current or primary job, or are unable to find a babysitter, for example. Others have difficulty getting transportation, or simply have a conflict with the class as scheduled.

Of those who do attend, a healthy percentage of students will be lost to attrition; some just won't make it, disappearing after a lunch break. For those who do complete the training, there's weeks of waiting for the documentation to submit to state authorities to issue a Guard Card, wasting more valuable time. And how many of those new hires will walk off the job after a few shifts when they realize being a security guard is not for them?

The Defencify Solution

There has to be a better way, and there is. Modernized training techniques and adult learning theory have been applied for decades when training technology, healthcare, insurance, finance, sales, and retail employees. But it seems this wave of digital transformation has yet to wash over the security guard industry.

Defencify has the solution: a growing series of online, interactive, self-paced training modules designed specifically for the security guard industry. The Defencify online security guard training platform is the answer to expanding and keeping the candidate pipeline full to produce a steady stream of qualified employees ready to get their Guard Cards and meet your staffing needs.

All Defencify training programs are designed to be self-paced. New applicants and guards up for license renewal can take any class wherever and whenever it is convenient for them using any device – computer, tablet, or smartphone. Students can start, pause, and resume modules as needed, eliminating challenges to location, schedule, and other obligations that deter attendance at live training events.

Defencify courses are constantly updated to reflect the latest trends, threats, and compliance laws. We ensure all programs adhere to regulatory training requirements for each state in which Defencify is certified.
Defencify courses are:

• Designed by professional instructional designers using modern eLearning standards.
• Customized for state-specific content for guaranteed licensing in each jurisdiction.
• Self-paced and easily accessible – take courses anywhere, any time, on any device.
• Extremely affordable with no class minimums, no delays; start immediately
• Built for consistency in information delivery, testing, and reinforcement.

Should an incident occur requiring proof of guard training and certification, the Defencify platform offers smart and powerful reporting tools to track employee compliance and supply the burden of proof.

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Step It Up with Customized Training

Not only can security guard companies implement modern, online self-paced training, Defencify modules can be customized to deliver fresh, exciting content expressly for your security guard firm in your brand.

All Defencify courses are designed in partnership with individual state authorities to ensure content meets state-specific licensing requirements and mandates for compliance, hours, and testing. Defencify currently offers a digital catalog of over 20 online courses covering a variety of security topics from New Security Officer Training to Use of Force, Power To Arrest, and Professional Conduct and Ethics Training that are certified across multiple states.

We also offer specialized training on supplementary subjects, using OSHA and CDC-approved guidelines to build state-certified courses on fire safety, sexual harassment prevention, COVID compliance, and others.

In addition to our growing library of branded online training modules, Defencify is also capable of creating customized courseware for individual security firms that can be remotely delivered to employees at the time, place, and pace of their choosing on their own devices. Collaborating with client subject matter experts, Defencify can:

• Modify existing courses to match company identity using the logos, color schemes, photographs, and uniforms of your firm's brand.
• Build vertical market courseware with original content to address the needs or threats of specific vertical markets or environments, like cannabis stores for example.
• Create customized online training for one-time events or unique environments. Defencify can develop employee orientation modules or courseware for single events, like an awards ceremony, concert, or the Super Bowl.

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LMS Integration: Take Training to the Next Level

Many security guard companies handle their training needs internally and have implemented a learning management system (LMS) to present courseware remotely to employees through the company network. Security officers and candidates can then complete necessary training at their convenience to satisfy state licensing requirements for a Guard Card or license renewal.

An effective LMS is a virtual platform to curate, control, and ensure consistent training content and delivery across populations of remote employees. More than a digital training library, an LMS integrates mechanisms to track individual employee progress and performance through an entire curriculum.

There are hundreds of commercially available LMS platforms to choose from. Almost all support portal customization capabilities to reflect a company's brand, allowing the business to offer online training as a seamless extension of its web presence. Another thing common to the best LMS platforms is that they are built on Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) technology. SCORM compliance means interactive multi-media training content built into modules can be accurately displayed using any device connected to a SCORM-compliant LMS platform.

For security guard businesses large enough to support its own LMS, Defencify can share its courseware through the cloud, integrating with a company's existing LMS platform. Defencify's certified training content is first customized to take on the brand and culture of the customer, and then exported in a SCORM-compliant format to the target LMS.

For those security guard firms without the resources to implement their own LMS, Defencify offers a turn-key, SCORM-compliant LMS solution complete with customizable, certified content that can be scaled for any security firm, large or small. This option presents certified training content using the Defencify brand and web portal.

Finally, Defencify can authorize partners to be white-label resellers of security guard training services. This allows security guard firms to capture new revenues and add value by offering state-certified security guard training services to local candidates through their own brand. Defencify supplies the content, partners supply the students, and the firm gets a cut of every seat license.

Let Defencify serve as an extension of your training department, from hosting or branded LMS integration to for-profit reselling of state-certified security guard training services.

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The Advantages of Online Security Guard Training

With the Defencify online training platform, candidates can take any class wherever and whenever it is convenient for them using any device – computer, tablet, or smartphone. Students can start, pause, and resume modules as needed. Defencify removes all obstacles and excuses for completing certification.

• Defencify reduces attrition in the hiring process by removing the need for in-person attendance at live training events. Students are more likely to complete training when it is done on their terms on a familiar device.
• Online training attracts a better class of candidate and graduates a better class of security officer. New hires must be moderately computer literate and have access to a smart device to engage in and complete online training. Plus, students can retake courses as needed to ensure sufficient knowledge of laws, compliance, and limits of responsibility.
• Online training is consistent for all students. The same information is presented identically to all participants, and all are tested to the same standards for effective measurement of understanding.
• Defencify reduces days to hire. Not only does self-paced online training eliminate any delays to beginning training – no more weeks waiting to fill a class – candidates can begin the online courseware immediately and apply for a provisional Guard Card via email in a matter of hours. Defencify gets guards into the field and billing faster!
• Defencify streamlines new hire orientation. Apply the same eLearning principles to onboarding as Use of Force training. Free up executives' time from reiterating the same orientation speech to every class of new hires. Deliver the same welcome message every time, to every employee, tailored to your organization's values and brand.

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10 Tips to Maximize Guard Retention

In the security guard industry, the key to profitability and growth is not just finding and training a better class of candidate but keeping them on the payroll longer. The results are lower stress levels on HR staff for talent acquisition, less resources spent coaching underperforming guards, a core of happier and more reliable security officers, and ultimately more satisfied customers.

Defencify can help with the first part; quality training goes a long way toward employee retention. Here is a list of ten tips you can use to foster loyalty after the hiring and training process is complete:

1. Provide clear post orders. Ensure guards have a complete understanding of their duties, the limits of their authority, and any nuances of the assignment before arriving at the site.
2. Offer competitive pay. Don't let the best employees slip away for the sake of a dollar or two per hour.
3. Provide healthcare benefits to guards working 40 per week. This is a major draw and an incentive to stay at a job longer.
4. Offer free uniforms and equipment. Make sure your workforce is fully, properly equipped.
5. Offer incentive bonuses for hitting shift targets or referring a new employee.
6. Conduct periodic performance/assignment evaluations. Get feedback and allow employees to feel valued with input into responsibilities and ideas for improvement.
7. Visits guards at the job site. It can get lonely and cold out there. How nice when your boss unexpectedly shows up with coffee and doughnuts to check on you during a late shift.
8. Offer a career path/growth to a supervisor or management role. Give qualified employees the chance to move up the company ladder.
9. Match personality traits and interests to assignments. Post car buffs to auto dealerships, music fans to concerts, and sports fans to stadium security details, for example. Be aware of any physical limitations.
10. Ensure access to basic amenities. Make sure the environment is comfortable with access to facilities. Respect the dignity of your guards in the field, especially in extreme conditions.

In an industry notorious for high turnover, taking these extra steps to ensure employees feel valued and trusted is far less costly than supporting a constant stream of new hires, and rewards your firm with a more tenured, experienced staff.

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