Stephen Devlin, Bidvest Noonan’s Senior Operations Manager in Retail, shares with us why training is crucial in security, the importance of continuous development, how Bidvest Noonan supports our security teams, and the benefits of investing in training for security colleagues.
Why is training crucial to providing a successful security service?
When it comes to training in security, never cut corners. To produce high-performing teams, it is essential that they are given the right tools. At Bidvest Noonan, we invest in our teams to make sure they are future-ready
The importance of this becomes evident when security officers first get deployed to a customer’s site. Having gone through initial training, they will have the awareness and understanding needed to hit the ground running, applying all their knowledge and expertise to the needs of our customers from day one.
How important is it to provide continuous training and development?
To truly build a strong and effective security team, there needs to be a clear path for officers to progress and develop their skills and expertise over time. This is where continuous training and careful management come into play.
By providing ongoing training there is an opportunity to make them better equipped to handle the ever-changing security environment. This not only benefits security professionals themselves but also ensures the best possible level of protection is provided to customers.
How is Bidvest Noonan ensuring consistency with this training?
In our business, we work hard to provide the best possible training and do so in many ways including in-person workshops, simulation exercises and drills, mentoring and coaching programmes, and online training courses and webinars.
We ensure our security teams get regular training on some key elements like first-aid, conflict management, and terrorism awareness. Each customer has unique requirements, and our colleagues need to know how to identify what are the potential risks for them.
I also believe it’s important that our security teams, especially those on site, have easy access to training programmes. We have made many of our modules available to colleagues through our online Learning Management System (LMS). Through e-learning platforms and mobile apps, we make it convenient for our security personnel to complete on-the-job training requirements.
Our security management teams do regular performance evaluations and skill assessments of our teams. This allows us to measure the effectiveness of what we do and identify areas where additional training may be needed. We also regularly review and update how we deliver our training to ensure that it stays current with the latest security threats and best practices
What are the long-term benefits of investment in this training?
I am a firm believer that investing in the growth of your security colleagues will reap the rewards of better employee engagement, retention, and ultimately, a better service to customers. That’s why it’s important to view training and development not as an expense, but as a valuable investment in the future of the business.
I am proud to work with many colleagues, who like myself, have benefited from strong mentorship and guidance from people inside the business and the training that has been made available. It has allowed me to progress to where I am today.