Hiring and onboarding - two essential components industry leaders in physical security are considering in full force as the economy optimistically reopens. As the light at the end of the tunnel becomes brighter, rethinking the hiring and onboarding process can be the difference between recovering out of work employees, getting them up to speed, and enduring unnecessary difficulties.

In getting back to a semblance of normality, industry leaders in physical security are choosing to make this process seamless, efficient and reliable. Here are three key areas where leaders have rethought the way they can hire and onboard their security workforce.

Digital recruitment to search and hire security talent remotely

As physical security leaders prepare for what will most likely be a remote hiring process for the time being, many have found solutions to hiring talent while maintaining physical distance. Reliance on traditional methods of recruitment have shifted to include supplemental ways of interviewing potential hires.

When it comes to hiring talent remotely, managers have taken to using “intelligent filtering” and “knockout questions” to filter out unfit candidates for the job - all before the resume is even looked at. When managers have selected appropriate candidates, traditional methods like a phone screening or video interviews are supplemented with the aid of automation.

With automation, hiring managers can automatically schedule any interview to fit their busy schedules - this means no more calendar tag by email or otherwise. Even better, the ability to include non-conventional means of reviewing candidates, such as the option of a video introduction has advanced the dynamic further. With a video introduction, hiring managers can experience a sense of each potential hire despite being unable to meet in person. These innovations have allowed hiring managers to continue overseeing their duties while having these systems help coordinate the heavy lifting.

Paperless onboarding reduces unnecessary exposure

Overcoming health risks to in-person recruitment had brought on a whole new set of challenges that physical security leaders had to endure. Beyond this challenge, managers still had to perform the process of a full hire. Performing background checks, references, and identification verifications required a complete overhaul to save more time, reduce costs, and maintain health and safety standards.

Paperless onboarding has lifted administrative burdens by becoming the tool hiring managers have used to ramp up their security personnel. Unlike the use of email and other traditional means in-person documentation, paperless onboarding, like that found with an applicant tracking program, uses a step-by-step process to ensure all the paperwork is filled out before they step foot in your doors.  They can even complete the process on a mobile phone. 

The use of remote onboarding eliminates the continual back-and-forth with documentation, removes the administrative burden that usually wastes the first day on the job, and ensures that the first time the officer steps foot on the post, they are already in the system and ready to work.

Partnering with compliance experts for wage and labor regulations

Getting up to speed quickly and hiring the best candidates for the job is one thing - the other is ensuring additional elements, like officer pay rates, overtime rates and more are in compliance.  We’ve seen security leaders gain compliance success thanks to advanced payroll systems and expert partnerships with wage and labor solution providers.

Advanced payroll systems have the capability to automatically upload new hire information, track payroll abnormalities and errors, and automatically calculate essential variables like tax and benefit deductions, zero-hour reports, and overtime.

When running tax anything, it’s essential that managers not only provide the appropriate tax rate for their officer earnings, but that they also apply the appropriate tax benefits for the company. This information is tailored to a specific business and is best available through an expert wage and labor partner.

Generally, there are two types of credits security leaders can take advantage of: Employee Retention Credits and Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC). Because of COVID-19, Employee Retention Credits are offered through the revised CARES Act and allow employers a tax credit against employment taxes equal to 50% of qualified wages. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is used for when businesses hire individuals from targeted groups who have significantly faced barriers to employment.

The road back is closer than we know

From hiring and onboarding all the way to that first paycheck, security leaders are preparing for a comeback like no other. In finding the right people remotely and in creating a streamlined automated approach, managers can ease the burden by screening, hiring, and onboarding officers so that they’re ready to start their post on day one.