Security Risk Specialists (SRS) were delighted in their recent selection by St James’ private school in Hammersmith to provide a security workshop training day for its reception staff and caretakers. The workshop was requested as a consequence of an initial security assessment carried out by SRS following a small number of security concerns by the school in respect of tailgating and minor theft.
Having been approached by the school and with consideration of the budget available to them for security training, SRS tailored the training specifically to the needs and requirements of the staff members whose experience and knowledge varied throughout. With many industries and businesses occasionally having a blasé attitude towards security, the fact that St James’ had identified their desire to learn and improve their efficiency in security matters was pleasing and this positive attitude was the catalyst to help them achieve this goal.
What was so special about the day was the bespoke approach to the training needs. These had been identified through the initial security assessment but more specifically by effective and direct communication with the school as to what training they wished to receive.Consequently, power point presentations, practical scenarios and some basic self-defence training was produced that was tailored to the demands of the client and included basic awareness such as securing and monitoring external perimeters and CCTV, decision making under pressure, conflict resolution and dealing with bomb and terrorist threats.
Practical scenarios based upon real situations experienced at the school afforded those lacking in confidence or knowledge to experience controlled but realistic scenarios. Each scenario was concluded by detailed and constructive feedback during which all were free to express their feelings, views and emotions. SRS trainers were keen to make the training as realistic as possible as the introduction of unrealistic scenarios is ineffective and serves no purpose in overcoming confidence or realistic expectations. This aspect of the workshop provided the opportunity to implement some of the theoretical learning received earlier in the day.
St James’ staff were very receptive to this bespoke approach and were keen to involve themselves in open and honest discussions with the SRS trainers throughout the day during which skills and knowledge were delivered in a friendly, fun and safe learning environment. The ability to enhance skills to an organisation that is restricted by budgets, or perhaps is not of the mind to utilise the resources of on-site security guarding, which we know can be expensive, is fulfilling and rewarding for both those delivering and receiving the security training.
One of the advantages of security workshop training is that the skills, training and knowledge can be re-assessed at any point the client chooses by way of security assessments or refresher training and therefore keeping staff up to date with the most relevant risks in a creative and cost-effective manner. Additionally, making the training client-specific means time and effort is not wasted on topics the client has little or no interest in and is more likely to capture the attention and interaction of the audience with much greater fruition.
As security awareness training is a preventative effort,it is often seen as an immeasurable pursuit. Realistically, there are many ways to measure the impact of security awareness training and the behaviour change it incites. Security awareness training by a London security company does not have to be out of reach to those operating on restrictive budgets or feel that they are unable to address security concerns or be updated on relevant risks. The great thing is that St. James’ identified a concern and were able to address the issue in a way that was effective and affordable.
When there are so many projects and initiatives needing funding it can be difficult to decide how to allocate a budget to security issues. Consideration should therefore be given to the realisation that security awareness training reaches beyond the prevention of security breaches to that of improving an organisation’s overall security position. For example, a more security-aware receptionist is likely to mean fewer calls to colleagues for assistance or better communication between staff causes less interruption in each person’s primary tasks. A multitude of examples can be listed but they all conclude in the same way; being alert and knowing how to manage situations frees up others to work on their own objectives and reduces the amount of downtime accumulated, often unnecessarily.
Security in a facility can be improved in a one-off day of training that will still provide effective, relevant, specific training directed by the client and delivered in a professional and qualitative manner by a company with proven experience in security consultancy. With skills attained from relevant backgrounds workshops are built around the needs of your London establishment and can be tailor-made to address the specific context of each client and site.
For more information about our security training workshops, please contact us.
