EDUCATION New Year’s Resolution Revolution Resolve to make education a priority for you and your employees in 2019. have made for the new year: lose weight, stop smoking, visit family more or get healthy. These and many more are all worthy resolutions to make and try to keep, but I would like to challenge all of our security professionals to add one more resolution to the list. While most resolutions involve changing something in our lifestyles to make us I healthier, what have you resolved to do to make your business and livelihood healthier? What steps are you taking to ensure that the business you have grown and the skills you have learned will stay around just as long and be just as healthy you? Whether you are an automotive specialist, electronics locksmith, institutional lock- smith or the foundation of this industry — the sole operator out there hustling a living — it is imperative to attend training to keep the skills sharp or learn new ones. Now, aſter the better part of six decades in this business, I can say without hesitation that most of us who do this daily have a bit of an ego. Let’s face it: To do some of the things we do, we have to. If we didn’t have the “I am the best and I can do this” attitude, ma- nipulating a safe, picking a lock, impressioning a key and many other skills would be much harder. The problem is that ego sometimes gets in the way of training. We feel like, as the boss, management or long-time technician, no one can teach us anything new. We let the attitude and ego get in the way of understanding that even someone new to the business may see things in a different way that could make our jobs easier. And, just so we are clear, I am not bad-mouthing anyone, because I assure you I have that same attitude when working. Invest in Your Employees One other curious trait we seem to have is that as business owners, we tend to be completely against sending employees to be trained. And we use a lot of excuses: can’t afford it, can’t afford to have them gone, we are busy, we train in-house on ev- erything they need, etc. But, if we are being honest, the truth is that we don’t want 56 KEYNOTES JANUARY 2019 hope that everyone had a great holiday season and made it through safely. I bought some stock in Dickies and Levi Strauss & Co. before Thanksgiv- ing, anticipating the increase in sales aſter all the food consumption that goes along with the season. Unfortunately, I think I may have made the stock go up a few points by myself. We all wake up on January 1 with a strong desire to keep whatever resolutions we to send our employees to classes because we are afraid they will learn enough to go out and be a competitor, or they will get hired by someone and leave. Again, I am not saying it’s every owner, but a majority. And yes, it has happened and probably will continue to happen as long as humans have that ambition and desire to better themselves. But here are a few points to ponder for you. Isn’t it possible that by holding your employee back on his or her learning you could be damaging your business by not having the most educated and skillful technician you could have to service your clients? Isn’t it possible that by not sending your employee to classes you are causing some alienation, and that is what drives the employee to leave or just simply not do their best? People will always look for that greener pasture or better position. That’s human nature — almost an employee right. It is your job as the business owner to do what you can to keep employees happy and not want to head to the other pasture. Invest in their future and yours by getting them trained. And, frankly, the new skills and perhaps a better attitude could lead to a few extra dollars on your bottom line. So, I challenge each and every one of you to keep your resolutions to lose weight, eat better, exercise or whatever else you have committed to do. But I’d also like to challenge you to resolve to help make your clients’ and potential customers’ security healthier by obtaining training for yourself and your employees. It’s a small price to pay to ensure the health of your business and your future. m Hancock, CML, CMST, s ALOA’s educat ion nager. You can reach m at [email protected] or 4) 819-9733. WWW.ALOA.ORG
