One of the most frustrating things an Operational Manager must do is pull productive resources off the line for mandatory training events. In the highly regulated environment of aviation security, this happens all the time. It doesn’t matter if your aviation security training program was made to comply with the US TSA, UK DfT, EU, or any other government entities.
Anytime there’s a security incident, operational procedures at the local, regional, or international level are bound to change. These changes need to be communicated to employees quickly, effectively, and in a standardized way. The repetitive cycle of pulling off resources for training and recertification continues, fueling the conflict between mandatory security requirements and operational constraints.
Although there may be no end in sight for these disruptions, there are ways to mitigate their influence on your operational performance. Handle these stresses by incorporating these four key elements into your regulatory training program.
1. Compliance
This sounds simple and fairly obvious, but you might be surprised at how many organizations face training violations simply because their training materials were not compliant with regulations. Think about it. How do you know exactly what your trainers are saying or demonstrating during a training event? Without a direct transcript, you really don’t.
Introduce a process for tracking training requirements against regulatory requirements. Once you have this, you can make sure that each of your training elements contains the correct information.
To add more security, you can deliver most or in some cases, all of the training using a computer-based program. This provides iron-clad documentation on the training an employee has received and gives a visual account of the exact terminology, practical exercises, and exams.
2. Flexibility
Having a training program constrained by the availability of personnel, facilities, and assets is an outdated model from the 80s. Today’s organizations need flexibility in how, when, and where training is delivered.
Many top organizations are moving to Just-In-Time training models, allowing training events to happen only as needed, at a time and place convenient to the employer and employee. In the security industry, this means training during slow times of the day or when operational demands are at their lowest.
This is where self-paced training programs really begin to shine. Setup training in shorter modules so employees can complete them in a reasonable timeframe. For example, organizing a particular course in thirty-minute modules allow employees to complete their training over time instead of spending an entire day in the classroom.
3. Standardization
This has become a real issue for organizations with a large, globally diverse workforce. How do you ensure employees are trained to the same standard and deliver a consistent level of service or productivity?
Use of online learning tools and corporate-wide training materials are some of the best ways to establish standardization across the organization. Training can be created once and then delivered the same way to many which eliminates variations in training concepts from location to location. It also helps prevent open interpretations made by various instructors throughout the organization and certainly protects the employer’s investment.
4. Robustness
In any regulatory environment, the rules change quickly and are often event driven. A robust training and delivery system should not only include a process to send updates to employees, but also considers how updates will be made in the first place.
The ability to interpret updated regulations, identify key requirements, and integrate those into existing training programs in a timely fashion is critical. Many organizations forget to account for this step and often find themselves behind in delivering mandatory training updates to employees.
Organizations that do understand this element often outsource the development and maintenance of training materials to third parties that are well suited to flex sources up and down. These third parties often have an infrastructure that allows for a quick response that is difficult to obtain at a corporate level.
Summary
You can’t control the security requirements imposed on your organization, but you can control your training programs. Just by implementing these simple concepts of Compliance, Flexibility, Standardization, and Robustness, your training program will be able to meet all external security requirements while still bending enough to handle internal operational constraints.
