In times of need to meet the demands, overtime can be a cost-effective way to flex your workforce and increase the capacity. Unplanned overtime, on the contrary, can turn into an ineffective and expensive way to fix problems. If further left undiscovered and unchecked by the security guard company, it can result in reducing active guard patrol system competitiveness.
Therefore, trying to eliminate it altogether may seem like an unrealistic dream. But, finding ways to reduce it and the expenses that come along can become the key to maintaining a profitable business. Here we have jotted down two of the best strategies to regain control over overtime with security patrol system.
1. Streamline Your Security Patrol System Scheduling
For almost every security guard company inefficient labor planning is among one of the main causes of unplanned overtime. Since manual scheduling can’t adjust quickly enough to the fluctuating work demands, it usually leaves some employees idle while others with too much work. Fortunately, the solution to this problem is quite simple & technological.
A security patrol system such as Guardso with an effective scheduling module that’s available on multiple platforms is making it possible to dramatically reduce overtime. And that’s being done by providing better visibility and control of labor utilization to every security guard company out there.
- Guardso’s open shift feature with the ability to make last minute changes can instantly tell for how many remaining shifts guards have scheduled for in a particular pay period.
- With the real-time status updates and attendance overview a click away allows seeing how many hours a guard has already worked.
- Vacant shift feature further allows creating shifts for clients in advance to ensure no shift by managers is ever missed or over scheduled.
As complex as it may seem, it certainly is not. On the contrary, it’s one of the finest ways to efficiently utilize active guard patrol system’s powerful scheduling module to avoid scheduling overtime.
2. Emphasize On Cross-training Your Security Guards
Hiring new staff may be an effective way to reduce overtime, but training them to perform the tasks for multiple positions can do wonders. Often, a lot of clients with specific needs require that the guards assigned to their facilities have particular skill sets. Even when Guardso effortlessly allows scheduling security guard based on their skill sets, having a limited number of highly trained guards you’ll end up eventually over scheduling the ones who are. Won’t you?
- Therefore, emphasizing on cross-training your employees can give you and your active guard patrol system the flexibility to easily re-allocate security guards when faced with an unexpected increase in demand or shortage of labor.
- Thus, instantly reducing the dependency on certain groups of employees, who would rather have been required to work overtime due to their expertise in their position.
So, along with streamlining your scheduling process with the help of Guardso’s scheduling module, providing additional cross training to the guards can be helpful in improving job satisfaction as well as increasing employee retention. For a security guard company, it’s almost like hitting two birds with a single stone.
Conclusion
With the right tools and strategies in place, there’s no problem that cannot be tackled effectively. So, when it comes to turning the clock back on overtime, Guardso’s scheduling module along with cross-training the employees can turn workaholics into well-balanced workers.
