Security
Guard Management:
It would be safe to say that pencil and
paper scheduling is about as dead as the old Dodo bird, or would it?
Supervisors at small sites still do security officer scheduling on a printed
template. Dispatchers take calls from employees and record hours on and off
duty on a call log. Even companies that use electronic payroll processing often
work from handwritten sign-in sheets. It’s all messy, time consuming and
involves numerous points where errors creep in. Just ask any office manager how
much time is spent on payday correcting payroll checks.
Scheduling software today is much more than a fill-in the
blank spreadsheet. They are integrated programs that do everything. They can
manage huge numbers of workers while being as personal as the individual
security guard’s work schedule. While some of them are expensive there are
others that are very affordable for the small businessman.
To start with, a scheduling program can be stand alone on
one computer; or, they can work off a server that updates data from multiple
inputs. Most of them are integrated with other functions beyond scheduling
security guard shift. One popular function is to record on and off duty times
for later payroll processing. Another program actually works off the employee’s
smart phone. The phone’s GPS verifies the location where they call-in from.
Another popular function is to keep track of hours worked during the schedule
period. This makes it easy to spot when last minute changes start pushing
specific individuals toward that 40 hour mark. It also makes it easy to
bring-on part-timers who would like some extra hours. At least one security
guard management software package has a function that blocks assignments of a
specific individual to certain posts. The last thing you want to do is send a
fill-in to a post where the client has banned them from the property.
The next function integrated into a good scheduling
function is payroll. Using old processes these days is almost the same as doing
payroll manually. Good security guard management software allows you to review
your data; then transmit it to a payroll processing vendor. Some programs allow
for importing each security guard’s data into your in-house payroll processing
program. Still others are your in-house payroll processing system. Review the
data and you’re just a few keystrokes from printing the checks.