It is no secret that within the security industry there are deficiencies on the part of professionals and one of the causes is the lack of training. In this article we analyze the main failures and propose some solutions to improve the quality of our professionals.By: Duván Chaverra Agudelo
During the security fairs that are held in Latin America and the United States where SECURITY SALES has been present, one of the topics that are most discussed in the gatherings between engineers or managers is that of training. It is these talks between colleagues that it is usually concluded that for many reasons our professionals show failures in some aspects, whether technical or administrative, which directly affect the performance of a company.
The lack of knowledge or updating often induces professionals to make mistakes during a process of sales advice, marketing, technical service among other problems that if they do not have the appropriate skills to overcome cause affect the image and service of a company.
That is why this time we invite three experts in the field, who due to their extensive experience within our industry will analyze the reasons why some of the professionals are not trained, and in addition, they will talk about possible solutions to improve this situation. They are Aldo Flores, Managing Director of NGS Group; Germán Cortés, manager of technical consultants at Insetrón, and Ricardo Abréu, director of the Latin American and Caribbean market at Future Fibre Technologies.
The reasons
The guests presented several points of view that reach the same conclusion: the lack of widespread interest in companies in the segment to keep their professionals trained, in addition to the fact that, according to the sources, the programs to train are still deficient.
"There is no formalism on these issues. On the one hand, there are no serious and ongoing training programs. On the other hand, the professional became accustomed to learning in the progress of the projects and in a self-taught way reading the manuals of manufacturers. He considers that daily practice is enough and the obligations and eagerness of the day to day means that the theoretical or practical knowledge received in a formal way is not valued, "said Germán Cortés.
On this same issue, Ricardo Abréu said that "I think it is mostly due to the lack of initiative on the part of entrepreneurs. At the time of a training, those favored to do it are the managers instead of the technicians, who in the end are the ones who directly invest their time in the field."
Aldo Flores assures that many companies went from offering products for private security to selling a complete package that includes the electronic sector without having sufficient knowledge or adequate training, which results in poor advice and failures in the provision of the service. "
The guest adds that the lack of regulations and the saving of resources in companies also influence deficiencies in training.
"We know that there are not enough international standards to regulate the performance of different technologies, depositing in the use and efficiency of the performance of some brands that certain 'de facto' standards are established, which is a false path to try to achieve a certain homogeneity both in the design and in the implementation of the solutions. This, coupled with the fact that in the face of the current problem of maximizing the resources of companies, training is not considered a basic need for survival, which is why formal or constant training programs are not carried out for personnel. "
What are the professionals failing at?
Both in the managerial area and in the technical area, companies and their professionals present failures that could be minimized thanks to good training. For example, Germán Cortés highlights the errors in both positions.
Management area: Our medium believes that selling electronic security is selling boxes or equipment and the reality is that we sell solutions. So when some detail does not go as expected, the client always looks for his supplier and that is where the lack of planning becomes unforeseen events that are never taken into account. Excellent administrative and financial managers are needed to make rational use of companies' staff and resources. But we definitely need project managers who have in their heads the necessary methodology to properly plan a work, follow it up and conclude it satisfactorily, without deviating in resources or time.
Technical area: Engineers and technicians are also making big mistakes, forgetting the traditional practices of electrical regulations (NFPA 70 or NEC) and installing the different elements without the necessary minimum conditions. They prefer to install more quantity and forget the quality. Obviously there is management pressure that is only interested in billing in the short term, but forgets that in the long term the business must also be profitable. As there is no installation methodology, nor a minimum requirement base, the systems end up being installed to ensure that they work on the day of final delivery, but not in the long term. Living in a doctrine of informality leads to practices that are the result of painful and numerous trial and error activities, mistreating the end user and leaving the name of our industry quite beaten.
Aldo Flores, from NGS Mexico also gave his point of view on this issue, dividing it into several categories where he has found more failures: Poor planning, failures in project logistics, errors in management, service and quality control, in addition to deficiencies in the design of engineering and facilities.
Consequences for the industry
The guests showed their concern regarding how the industry is doing and how it can look if these failures in training continue to occur repeatedly; everyone agrees that the image of security is now not the most ideal.
"We continue to be backward and out of the technological field of this century and therefore we will continue to impoverish ourselves more and more, the proof is very eloquent everything is progressing: more education, more progress, more industry, more technology, among others," said Ricardo Abréu.
For his part, Aldo Flores emphasizes that if there is no change, security professionals will continue to offer products that in the end will not be the most suitable: "This affects that untrained professionals generally present solutions at a lower cost, incomplete, inefficient or outdated, but that in the long run result in a greater investment to correct the deficiencies, which affects the industry, since it offers an image of low quality or unreliability of the professionals who work there, in addition to disqualifying more qualified companies. "
Germán Cortés has a similar perception about it and also assures that visitors should get much more out of fairs and congresses: "What is heard, seen and rumored is not a lie. We are still an informal industry and although in some companies in the sector they begin to have sensitivity to do things well, in the vast majority the subject is not understood simply because it is not known. If the engineers, technicians and salespeople of our industry are not constantly trained, they are simply left by the technology that runs by leaps and bounds. That is, we have been making the same mistakes for decades and no one is doing anything to improve it. On the other hand, academic events are an excellent space to create a guild, so that we all recognize ourselves as colleagues and to share precisely the knowledge that leads us to be updated in every way. However, that requires will, time and culture."
Training offer
While it is true that some companies worry about training their employees and distributors and therefore during the year they make their own calls, it is also true that the offer in the region is not very wide, so say the guests.
Germán Cortés answered the following when asked if he considers that there is a sufficient offer of training: "Definitely not. Many more offers are needed. It requires technical, commercial and managerial training institutes of a formal nature, which accept the challenge in each nation and that continuously and constantly offer the different programs for the electronic security sector."
Aldo Flores assures in this regard that "although in recent dates the offer of training has increased, it is insufficient, since it is not available to all companies. Some courses are organized by manufacturers or wholesalers for the commercial and technical areas, but in general there is no recognized institution or training center where the bases of the main topics of the area are concentrated. "
While Ricardo Abréu affirms that the problem is not the lack of calls to attend the courses but the initiative of the professionals to train: "The courses exist, what does not exist, according to my criteria, is the desire to advance and motivation, for example, several times I have summoned 40 people for a course or training of products with a duration of between 4 and 5 hours and only four or five attendees, when most have confirmed. Of those four or five there are three who are watching the clock or falling asleep during the presentation with the great desire to leave as soon as possible. Each employee must be evaluated in order to identify their potential, their strengths and weaknesses and thus be able to channel them into the best possible educational channel."
Topics where training is lacking
The guests listed a number of topics they would like them to address at upcoming conferences or trainings. Below is a summary with some topics that should be taken into account to offer our security professionals.
- Fundamentals of infrastructure for security systems. Importance of networks for the operation of the system in general, requirements for analog, IP and wireless systems.
- Video fundamentals. Principles of optics, recording protocols, principles of compression and image processing, design of solutions.
- Fundamentals of security solutions. CCTV, video platforms, access systems, alarms, location, biometrics, fire detection, voice systems.
- Labor and personnel relationship at all levels, improvement of internal communication.
Knowledge of equipment and products.
- Methodology in planning. Engineering calculations in the purchase, installation and configuration process. Compliance with the electrical and electronic regulations of the site. Failures in the connection and infrastructure of all systems. Failures in the electrical protection systems of the systems.
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Training and education
Germán Cortés, manager of Technical Consultants Insetrón made a differentiation between training and training, although both are basic in the exercise of learning a security professional.
- Training: it is to know the theoretical and practical principles that give us the bases to understand the situations that arise in the different subsystems and devices. It is to go to the technical and commercial detail, it is to understand the concepts that the physical, electrical, digital, commercial, market and other laws give us to become little by little knowledgeable about the technologies with which we work. When we are formed, we are giving data to our brain so that in an organized, structured and logical way they settle forever and create the neural relationships that we call intelligence. Once our knowledge is well grounded, then we proceed to understand more easily some ideas of each brand or each technique.
- To be trained: it is to know and understand in detail the procedures and methodologies to carry out a specific and very punctual task. Training is specific to a product, brand, or device. There must be deep bases in our brain that relate these specific and detailed concepts with the general principles that allow a fast, safe and effective understanding. It is what we do when we take a course of some equipment, in some factory or distributor. It is achieved in a short time with conferences or workshops. However, if you do not have the general bases, many times greater confusion is created or the work is lost, because it was simply not understood or misunderstood.
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