Training APEX Awards Best Practice: Allied Universal Institute Enrichment Training Program

APEX Awards

Allied Universal’s Training & Talent Development Team officially launched the Allied Universal Institute Enrichment Training Program on April 11, 2022. The program aims to provide new or newly promoted managers with the foundational information needed to properly operate a profitable book of business.

During the training program, there is an intensified focus on the proper scheduling and payroll reconciliation practices each manager should follow. The security services organization uses various internal systems, including a business intelligence tool, to track the performance of its managers and portfolios. Therefore, it’s important that new leaders understand these systems, the organization’s culture, and its commitment to what it calls “I Care Leaders.”

Program Details

This management training course is designed to prepare and develop Allied Universal (AU) account owners (AOWs) and account operators (AOPs). Participants are invited to join the assigned AU Enrichment cohort the week prior to the training.

Before new hire or newly promoted account managers and account operators start in their new role, they are required to attend the virtual instructor-led Enrichment Training. This is a mandatory five-day program that begins the Monday following their hire/promotion date.

The program consists of a blended learning approach that combines live instruction conducted by a team of Allied Universal subject matter experts with eLearning modules provided via the EDGE (AU’s online corporate university learning management system).

The overall objectives of the program are to:

  • Deliver a consistent onboarding program for all salaried/hourly employees.
  • Provide self-paced eLearning courses (EDGE) with both virtual instructor-led training (vILT) and instructor-led training (ILT) conducted by subject matter experts (SMEs).
  • Ensure retention of the material being covered by providing built-in knowledge checks.
  • Outline a career path for employees with directions on how to prepare to take the next step.

Participants are required to complete EDGE courses prior to day 1 of training (i.e., New Employee Orientation (NEO) for Administrative, three hours; WinTeam Overview, one hour; and Global Code of Ethics/Business Conduct, 1 hour).

Once attendees complete the training program, they are required to attend a monthly virtual training session with their regional training director. Additionally, the Corporate Training Team hosts quarterly cohort sessions for each graduating class.

Results

Since its inception, the Allied Universal Enrichment Program has trained 1,250 new or newly promoted managers in the skills and knowledge they need to lead their teams effectively. Out of these, 1,098 are still active in the company. The program has a 94 percent completion rate.

Other results include:

  • Payroll and/or invoice discrepancy decreased by .07 year over year from 2022 to 2023.
  • Weekly scheduling metrics (live scheduling measures the number of shifts worked that were scheduled correctly within 24 hours of the work date) improved 2 percent to 93.4 percent year over year from 2022 to 2023.
  • In the electronic timekeeping process, successful manager on-time approvals rose 2 percent to 95 percent from April 2022 to April 2023.

Edited by Lorri Freifeld
Lorri Freifeld is the editor/publisher of Training magazine, owned by Lakewood Media Group. She writes on a number of topics, including talent management, training technology, and leadership development. She spearheads two awards programs: the Training APEX Awards and Emerging Training Leaders. A writer/editor for the last 30 years, she has held editing positions at a variety of publications and holds a Master’s degree in journalism from New York University.