Here’s How Kenton Brothers Makes Sure Their Techs Keep Their Skills Up To Date.

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Author: Matt Edmunds

Training provides a great opportunity to expand on an employee’s understanding and knowledge, but some employers look at continued training as costly and inconvenient. A company may have to pay for an instructor or additional hours for employees to attend. Despite possible drawbacks, continued training and education provide the individual employees and the company as a whole with benefits that outweigh the cost and time involved.

Most employees have certain areas where they may not be knowledgeable, or may possess some skill but could use improvement in some area. A training program takes everyone, no matter what skill set, and elevates their level of knowledge. Whether they learn additional skills in a particular area, or learn ways to work well with others in a team environment, everyone can learn something.

Kenton Brothers TrainingAt Kenton Brothers, we get together every other week after the work day is complete to discuss different topics. We provide hands-on experience in areas that some technicians may not have had previous opportunities to learn. Whether they are a seasoned veteran working with mechanical components or a knowledgeable IT guru, we all try to meet and either learn or provide others with helpful advice from their own personal experiences. And of course, pizza is typically the snack of choice when rejuvenating our brains/bodies during these training sessions.

Our lead technician, Brandon Heath, leads our training program and is awesome at creating a fun and educational hands-on experience.  Brandon has been with Kenton Brothers for over ten years and has vast knowledge in many areas. He started out at Kenton Brothers as a locksmith and brought great knowledge of mechanical locks.

As Kenton Brothers has grown tremendously in areas of access control, surveillance systems, GSA (General Services Administration) Inspectors, safe work and mechanical systems, so too has Brandon. He brings his knowledge and training to the table, ready to help. And in some cases, Brandon himself becomes the student and picks up a few pointers.

I’m thrilled to be a part of a company who cares as much as Kenton Brothers does, and believes in not only the technical growth of its employees, but just as equally their personal growth.

“A winner knows how much he still has to learn, even when he is considered an expert by others; a loser wants to be considered an expert by others before he has learned enough to know how little he knows.” – Sydney J. Harris

A Man and a Horse are a Powerful Combination.

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Author: Gina Stuelke

A Man and a HorseOne of our hard working Kenton Brothers security technicians, Jeremy Shinneman, spends his free time with his good friend Jarrod every Wednesday night. Jeremy is a volunteer with The Northland Therapeutic Riding Center in Holt, Missouri. NTRC is a not-for-profit organization that was founded in 2000 in response to a strong community need for therapeutic riding. It truly is a special place for special people… the volunteers, the riders and the horses.

Jeremy and Jarrod are both 32 years old and love horses. Each week, they get together for Jarrod to get on one of a dozen or so horses to ride and experience a healing interaction between himself and his horse.

To hear Jeremy talk about his feelings when he’s helping Jarrod onto his horse…. he’s filled with a sense of pride and joy for Jarrod’s ability to feel free.

Therapeutic riding offers people with special needs a chance to learn confidence, leadership, companionship, and responsibility through equine related activities.

A Man and a HorseI was introduced to this great organization at their annual fundraising event, held at the downtown airport last Fall. I’m so proud of the man Jeremy has become and for his contribution of time and love to this organization.

If you have an interest in learning more about NTRC or donating your time or money, please visit their website or call (816) 808-1209.

A Man and a Horse

 

Safety in the Workplace… KB Style.

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KB SafetyFor ages and ages it seems we’ve heard the rules and regulations of being safe at work and how best to achieve that… but has anybody cracked down on the why? We’ve actually broken down the impact of injuries not only for an employee but for the company as a whole.

At Kenton Brothers, we’ve been spending a lot of time revamping our safety program and implementing regular training sessions for our technicians and team members. We want our employees not only to understand how to remain safe but why it’s important beyond the physical aspect of being hurt.

When someone gets hurt on the job, they might not be able to do their normal duties for a period of time. The incident is also documented and counted towards a company’s injury ratings. These injury ratings can prevent companies from obtaining certain work and can seriously impact insurance premiums. Therefore, it’s extremely important for companies to make sure that their employees are equipped with the knowledge and tools to be as safe as possible while doing their work.

Kenton Brothers has been holding weekly safety meetings and retraining on subjects such as ladder safety, personal protective wear, and tool safety. We’re also making sure that every technician and field management team member has a minimum of OSHA 10 certification. We want our employees to feel empowered to always do the right thing (a Kenton Brothers core value) and be safe in any situation. This is the best outcome for our staff and customers.

Hopefully this has helped put into perspective why companies write safety manuals and ask their employees to review them. I also hope it helped you to understand why there’s so much emphasis on safety training. Safety is so important for not only yourself but the many others that can be effected by the simplest of trips, slips or falls.

The Blocking and Tackling of Security Systems

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I’ve been blessed to be a part of several successful teams in my life, both on a sports field and in business. As a football player, I was a lineman. One of the guys in the trenches. I played both offense and defense, but in college I excelled primarily on the offensive side of the ball.

Blocking and TacklingFor those that have played football, it’s well known that the smartest people on the field are the offensive lineman (especially when you ask an offensive lineman). This reputation comes from the responsibility of not only knowing what your responsibilities are on any given play, but what every other player’s responsibility is too. As an offensive lineman you must study the play, several different scenarios that the defense may run, what audible your quarterback may go to, who the running back may need to pick up, what route the receiver is running so you can block your man out of the field of view for the quarterback, etc.

A lot goes into any given play for the offensive line. All of this compounds when the quarterback recognizes something in the defense that makes him change the play at the line of scrimmage with 3 seconds left on the play clock. The lineman must adapt and communicate the new plan with the 2 seconds left before the ball is snapped. Success or failure depends on how well this adjustment is made. They must adjust and execute knowing that they’ll receive none of the glory if it goes well and all of the blame if they fail.

Blocking and TacklingPart of my responsibilities at Kenton Brothers, Systems for Security is the operational team and the systems we manage to deliver our products and services as expected to both our internal and external customers. I’ve often observed that our operational team is like the offensive line of a football team. They must not only know their job, but the job of each person before and after they touch a job or service that passes through their hands. Many times, there are audibles or changes in jobs as they are running them through the system that require flexibility and adjustment for success.

During the sales process, a salesperson submits a quote for execution by the operations department. This relationship in most organizations is a tenuous one. The operations folks look at the sales people as prima donnas (quarterbacks) and the sales people look at the operations people as roadblocks (lineman). Organizations that can smooth out this relationship, like on the football field, become very successful.

Some of the same rules apply,

  1. Make sure there is really good two-way communication. Sales must be able to talk with ops and ops must be able to talk with sales – and they both must listen for solutions.
  2. Teams Win – Both parts of the organization must remember that we’re in this together. Even if we just got hit hard with reality, we must pull together to win.
  3. Lean on the smartest people in your organization, before the play even begins. Check with the operations team before committing to a promise that may be impossible to deliver. At Kenton Brothers, we have engineers sit in during the sales process with our salespeople because they hear with different ears. Try it! It helps!
  4. Remember, even if you have an awesome game plan, the best quarterback in the league and the best offensive line in the world, your competition or customer may hit you with a surprise you’ve never seen before. This is the time you regroup, collaborate and hit back with teamwork!

At Kenton Brothers, we’re blessed with an AWESOME offensive line! Our operations department is humble, selfless, hardworking and above all else – the smartest I’ve ever been around. Want to learn more? Give us a call!

Project Update: Salvation Army Centralized Management System

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Salvation ArmyWe’ve had a relationship with the Salvation Army for many years from a locksmith perspective. Over time, we began to do more of their technology based applications for access control and video at locations around the city.

About two years ago, we approached the Salvation Army about implementing our centralized management system. This system uses IP based technology that allows their headquarters to see all of their locations, while allowing autonomous administration at each location.

The cost savings would be substantial because of standardizing their systems and sharing the IT investment in servers and switches across their locations. We’ve helped them through many iterations of the design while facilitating meetings with decision makers and their board of directors. We’re excited to announce that we’ve won the business!

Their ultimate goal is to incorporate not just the IP video and IP intercom systems, but to also include access control.  There are approximately thirteen locations we’ve included in our project planning. The Linwood location is the first facility to get the upgrades.

Salvation ArmyOur installation crew began the project by pulling new CAT 6 cable for each new camera and intercom location. This was no easy task because it’s a four-story building. We installed eight exterior cameras ranging from Pan/Tilt/Zoom models to 270-degree and interior dome cameras. We also installed a 2N intercom system with three Grandstream desk stations. We installed PC based viewing stations that communicate with video servers at each location.

We’ve really enjoyed our experience working with Salvation Army and their staff. We’ve delivered a solution that makes their work for the community easier, safer and more productive!