Security operations depend on thousands of daily decisions involving staffing, scheduling, supervision, communication, training, reporting and client service. When those systems are not aligned, the symptoms often appear as overtime, open posts, service interruptions, employee turnover, client complaints and declining profitability.

Dunmire LLC evaluates how the operation is actually functioning, not simply how it is described in policies and organizational charts.

An assessment can examine performance at the site, branch, regional or portfolio level.

Engagements may include an evaluation of:

• Scheduling and workforce deployment
• Overtime and labor utilization
• Open posts and service interruptions
• Attendance, call-offs and absenteeism
• Timekeeping and payroll compliance
• Field supervision and management coverage
• Manager workloads and spans of control
• Post orders and site procedures
• Training and employee qualification processes
• Incident reporting and documentation
• Client communication and escalation procedures
• Service-level agreements and performance standards
• Operational KPIs and management reporting
• Branch or portfolio financial performance
• Quality-assurance and accountability systems

The review may include:

• Leadership and manager interviews
• Review of operational and financial reports
• Examination of policies, procedures and post orders
• Analysis of scheduling, overtime and workforce data
• Review of performance dashboards and scorecards
• Site-level observations
• Comparison of documented processes with actual practice
• Identification of control gaps and inconsistent execution

Depending on the scope of the engagement, deliverables may include:

• Executive summary of key findings
• Identification of operational risks and performance gaps
• Root-cause analysis
• Prioritized recommendations
• Short-term corrective actions
• Longer-term improvement opportunities
• Suggested KPIs and management controls
• Implementation roadmap
• Follow-up advisory support

The result is a practical view of what is working, what is creating unnecessary cost or risk and what management should address first.

A guard-force program must translate an organization’s security objectives into clear staffing requirements, responsibilities, procedures and performance expectations.

Problems often develop when the contract, staffing model, post orders, technology and management structure are not aligned. The provider may technically meet the staffing requirement while the client still experiences inconsistent performance and limited visibility.

Dunmire LLC helps security-service providers and corporate security leaders evaluate how guard-force programs are structured, managed and measured.

Advisory engagements may include:

• Guard-force program assessments
• Staffing-model reviews
• Scope-of-work development
• Post and shift structure
• Roles and responsibilities
• Site-supervision requirements
• Account-management structure
• Vendor and contractor oversight
• Service-level agreements
• Performance standards
• KPI and scorecard development
• Quality-assurance processes
• Client and provider governance
• Escalation and communication protocols
• Post-order review and development
• Training and qualification requirements
• Technology and reporting requirements
• Contract transition and mobilization planning

For security-service providers, the work may focus on:

• Improving service consistency across accounts
• Strengthening branch and account-management systems
• Reducing unbillable overtime and avoidable labor costs
• Developing more useful client-performance reporting
• Improving new-account transitions
• Standardizing operating procedures
• Clarifying accountability across field and branch management
• Identifying operating practices that affect client retention

For organizations purchasing contract security, the work may focus on:

• Evaluating whether the current staffing model reflects actual risk and operational needs
• Assessing provider performance
• Developing measurable performance expectations
• Reviewing contract requirements and service levels
• Improving oversight of the security provider
• Preparing for a request for proposal or provider transition
• Establishing governance and performance-review processes

The objective is to create a guard-force program in which strategy, staffing, supervision, procedures and performance measurement support one another.

Labor-intensive security operations are highly dependent on workforce stability. Recruiting is important, but persistent staffing problems cannot always be solved by hiring more people.

Turnover, absenteeism, overtime and open posts may be influenced by scheduling practices, compensation, supervision, manager capacity, communication, training, local labor conditions and the overall employment experience.

Dunmire LLC helps organizations examine those factors as an interconnected operating system.

Workforce-performance engagements may examine:

• Recruiting demand and staffing requirements
• Applicant flow and hiring processes
• Onboarding and initial training
• Employee retention and turnover
• Voluntary and involuntary separations
• Absenteeism and call-off patterns
• Overtime dependency
• Full-time and part-time workforce mix
• Schedule design and shift availability
• Employee utilization
• Supervisor and manager effectiveness
• Manager staffing and spans of control
• Employee communication
• Recognition and accountability
• Career progression
• Compensation and local market conditions
• Vendor and contractor workforce models
• Training compliance and skill development

• Is turnover concentrated at particular sites, shifts or managers?
• Is overtime caused by vacancies, scheduling practices or insufficient management controls?
• Are supervisors equipped to manage employee performance?
• Are recruiting efforts aligned with actual scheduling needs?
• Are managers responsible for more locations or employees than they can effectively oversee?
• Are employees leaving because of market conditions or because of internal operating practices?
• Are workforce problems being measured accurately?
• Are incentives encouraging the desired behaviors?
• Which issues require structural changes and which can be corrected through better management?

• Workforce-performance assessment
• Turnover and retention analysis
• Overtime and utilization analysis
• Manager or supervisor scorecards
• Workforce KPI framework
• Staffing-model recommendations
• Recruiting and onboarding process review
• Management-structure recommendations
• Prioritized workforce-improvement plan

The purpose is to move beyond assumptions and identify the workforce conditions that have the greatest effect on service stability and financial performance.

Security organizations often collect large amounts of information through scheduling systems, timekeeping platforms, incident reports, guard-tour systems, customer relationship management tools, financial systems and other technologies.

Collecting data is not the same as using it effectively.

Dunmire LLC helps organizations define what information matters, improve how it is presented and identify where analytics, artificial intelligence and automation can produce practical value.

Support may include:

• KPI development
• Management scorecards
• Branch and portfolio dashboards
• Site-performance reporting
• Overtime and labor analysis
• Turnover and staffing analytics
• Client-performance reporting
• Trend identification
• Exception reporting
• Operational and financial performance analysis
• Data-quality review
• Reporting-cadence development

Useful reporting should help leaders recognize problems, understand causes, assign accountability and track whether corrective actions are working.

Dunmire LLC can help organizations identify realistic uses for artificial intelligence and workflow automation, including:

• Report drafting and summarization
• Incident-report quality review
• Policy and post-order knowledge tools
• Training support
• Employee and manager self-service
• Recruiting and applicant communication
• Schedule and overtime analysis
• Client-report preparation
• Email and task management
• Document review
• Trend and exception detection
• Management briefings
• Knowledge management
• Administrative-process automation

Advisory support may also include:

• Guard-management and ERP-system reviews
• Workflow analysis
• Technology-use assessments
• Requirements development
• Vendor-evaluation support
• Implementation planning
• User-adoption planning
• Process redesign
• Technology-governance recommendations
• Identification of manual work that can be reduced or eliminated

The objective is not to adopt technology because it is new. The objective is to solve a defined operational problem, improve the quality or speed of decisions and make the organization more effective.

Investors, consulting firms, technology companies, research organizations and business leaders frequently need specialized knowledge about how the security-services industry operates.

Dunmire LLC provides advisory support grounded in direct experience with contract security, workforce management, multi-site operations, executive protection, investigations, vendor networks and operational technology.

Advisory services may be useful to:

• Security-service providers
• Corporate security departments
• Investors and private-equity firms
• Management-consulting firms
• Research organizations
• Expert networks
• Insurance and risk professionals
• Technology companies
• Guard-management software providers
• Workforce-technology providers
• Professional associations
• Organizations considering entry into the security market

Engagements may address:

• Security-services market structure
• Guard-force operating models
• Workforce economics
• Labor availability and utilization
• Recruiting and retention
• Pricing and labor markups
• Direct and indirect labor costs
• Branch operations
• Client and provider relationships
• Contract mobilization
• Vendor and subcontractor networks
• Performance metrics and service levels
• Industry technology
• Artificial-intelligence adoption
• Competitive positioning
• Operational scalability
• Management structure
• Due diligence
• Industry trends and emerging issues

Support may be provided through:

• Expert consultations
• Executive briefings
• Management interviews
• Market and competitor analysis
• Research projects
• Written assessments
• Operating-model reviews
• Due-diligence support
• Presentations
• Panel participation
• Webinars
• Ongoing advisory relationships

The value of the engagement comes from combining operating experience with a broader business, financial and analytical perspective.

Richard Dunmire is available for selected speaking engagements, webinars, panel discussions and professional-development programs.

Potential topics include:

• Security operations and workforce performance
• Contract-security economics
• Overtime and labor management
• Supervisor and manager effectiveness
• Operational KPIs
• Artificial intelligence in the security industry
• Technology adoption
• Analytics and business intelligence
• Recruiting and retention
• Guard-force management
• Executive protection careers
• Leadership in distributed operations
• The future of security-service delivery

Programs can be developed for security companies, corporate security teams, professional associations, educational institutions and industry events.

Every engagement begins with a conversation about the organization, its operating environment, the issue being addressed and the outcome leadership wants to achieve.

Relevant data, reports, policies, processes and stakeholder perspectives are reviewed to determine what is happening and where additional analysis is required.

The engagement distinguishes visible symptoms from the underlying operational, workforce, management or technology issues contributing to them.

Recommendations are prioritized according to impact, urgency, cost, feasibility and the organization’s ability to implement them.

When appropriate, Dunmire LLC can provide follow-up guidance, progress reviews, management support and refinement of the recommended approach.

Dunmire LLC can support organizations through:

• Focused expert consultations
• Short-term assessments
• Defined consulting projects
• Executive advisory sessions
• Workshops and leadership briefings
• Ongoing advisory support
• Research and due-diligence assignments
• Speaking and educational engagements

The scope is established before the work begins so that the organization understands the objective, deliverables, schedule and responsibilities.

Every engagement begins with a conversation about the organization, the challenge and the desired outcome.

For consulting, advisory, research, speaking or expert-consultation inquiries, contact Richard Dunmire.

Email: Richard@dunmirellc.com

Please include:

• Your name and organization
• A brief description of the issue
• The type of support you are seeking
• Any relevant timing requirements