Security is a field that is constantly changing. Sure, the major principle of keeping your business safe stays the same, but the strategies you use to do so need to advance quickly as quickly as technology does. It can be difficult for training professionals to keep their staff and security teams up-to-date with new security principles and engaged with the ever-changing threat landscape. However, using principles of continuous and situational training, it is possible to not only keep your team engaged but also act at a high level for any threat that could potentially occur.
The Need For Continuous Training
Continuous training in physical wellness simply means that athletes don’t take rest periods; they continue with high-intensity workouts regularly with the aim of increasing cardiovascular function, stamina, and muscle endurance. Though this is specifically applicable to physical training, it has been extrapolated to professional training sectors. Pilots, for example, take part in continuous training in that they are mandated to complete a minimum number of takeoffs and landings monthly to ensure their skills remain sharp.
This continuous nature of employee training has immense benefits to the individual, as it helps keep their skills sharp and helps them further hone the areas they may not be as familiar with. For businesses, it can provide great cost-benefit savings, especially in security processes. By encouraging security employees to regularly take part in training courses and continuing training over a longer period of time, employers are ensuring that their security procedures are known and up to date with industry standards each month.
Bridging the Gap with Situational Training
Most training professionals understand the importance of hands-on situational training, but it is even more essential in security than in many other industries. While it is one thing to hold continuous training courses throughout the year, a classroom setting or virtual training session does not give security professionals the hands-on experience that is usually needed in a real threat situation.
Situational training goes beyond theoretical knowledge by immersing security personnel in realistic scenarios that they could potentially encounter. Some of the drills that training professionals can run on security staff are handcuffing self-defence, and non-violent crisis intervention. Running these procedures can help build a realistic picture of what the job could look like.
The same principle applies to other industries. Whether you’re building a training plan for your retain employees, educational staff, or cleaning crew, introducing situational training options helps them apply knowledge effectively in a real-world situation instead of just picking up on techniques in the classroom without getting to experience them. You wouldn’t send a hockey player into a game without first ensuring they can skate.
The Role of Practice in Skill Retention
Without regular practice, even the most well-learned techniques can diminish in accuracy and effectiveness. Practice and application have been proven to strongly impact individual performance, especially in industries like security, where one day can be very different from the next. For example, security professionals need to regularly practice handcuffing—even if it isn’t needed every day, consistent rehearsing means that when they are in that situation, they don’t freeze up.
Practice helps ingrained activities into your body’s muscle memory, ensuring skills can be pulled out at a moment’s notice. Regular practice intersects with continuous and situational training. It ensures that your team is simulating on-the-ground situations in a safe environment regularly, keeping up their skills and further cementing them in their practice.
Tailoring Training to Evolving Threats
Maintaining readiness is a big topic in security. Readiness is the art of being present and ready to react in any situation that arises, even if you haven’t personally experienced it before. Every organization needs security readiness to protect information and assets from damage and theft. To maintain that overall organizational readiness, it’s important to tailor training to evolving threats.
The threat landscape for businesses is always evolving and changing, so your training procedures need to update and change with it. Keep track of common security threats in your area and what similar competitors have dealt with in the past. Introduce ways of dealing with these threats in your training materials and situational drills. By keeping employees informed of updates across the organization and industry, they can be better prepared to help protect themselves and the organization’s priorities in the future.
This rings true for any training professional—you understand the value of information. Employees need to know what’s going on and, more importantly, why. Why are they learning this at this time? Why does it matter to the organization? Tracking industry changes and keeping employees informed through training programs is an effective way to keep your readiness level up.
The importance of continuous situational training for security professionals cannot be overstated. Just as pilots, surgeons, and other professionals maintain their proficiency through regular practice, security personnel must also engage in ongoing training to remain effective. By emphasizing situational training, security professionals can ensure their skills remain sharp, keeping themselves and the businesses they protect more secure. No matter who they are directed towards, keeping your training programs up-to-date, practical, and continuous is key to building up organizational readiness and skill enhancement.
