As healthcare organizations begin to emerge from the shock associated with COVID -19; we are struggling to respond to the crisis of financial recovery as the losses take their toll on organizations. This certainly impacts healthcare security departments and their teams. In many cases, we see organizations cutting back on employee hours as well as cutting employee altogether. This leaves many security leaders tying to respond to increasing levels of violence handicapped by staffing restrictions and diminishing resources. The answer to this dilemma is training…the answer is always training.
Training is the key to building a successful violence response whether your organization is in crisis mode or not. There are many places to cut costs and reduce overhead in an organization, but security training must be preserved. Fewer staff facing a growing problem requires that security leaders focus on building the capacity of officers left to bear the brunt. Focusing your remaining resources on building the cognitive and behavioral skills that your officers carry into every shift will pay dividends as they continue to face more volatile issues without the support of others due to cutbacks.
In my blog post titled The Strategic Security Officer, I discussed the concept of building officers who can apply training, experience, and an understanding of the organization’s mission and vision to an evolving situation, and make crucial, timely, and ethical decisions that will reduce violence incidence rates. The fewer officers you have available to response proactively or reactively, the more important this concept becomes. Each officer must be trained to a level with confidence to make decisions in the moment that will provide positive outcomes in every escalating situation.
A well-trained officer is a force multiplier. One well trained officer can be worth ten poorly trained officers. Managing violence requires active thinkers. Officers that can make the difference in the moment, not merely by the tools on their belts – but rather by their ability to thoughtfully execute. Archilochus, the ancient Greek poet, made this point many millennia ago when he said: “We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.” Our training should allow us to not only rise to our own expectations but even surpass them.
What are your thoughts on training? How much time do you invest in training for your officers? Join the conversation in the comments below. Do not forget to like, follow, and share to support the Proactive Security Blog
