Improving the employee experience with workplace technology and physical security automation

Employees are the backbone of a strong business, which is why supporting, nurturing, and respecting them is vital. When your employees have a positive experience, you’ll see ripple effects through every aspect of your operations, from customer satisfaction to productivity to cost management.

The first step to optimizing your employee experience is recognizing exactly what it is and what contributes to it. With that in mind, you can set about creating the right policies and practices. Workplace technologies and physical security automation offer solutions you can easily implement to create a safer, more constructive environment for your team.

What is the employee experience? #

The term employee experience encompasses all an employee’s interactions with an organization, beginning with their initial application and ending when they leave the company. It describes how employees feel about everything they encounter along the way and can be positive or negative, depending on a business’s approach.

Employee vs. workplace experience #

To truly understand what the employee experience is, it’s important to address another question: What is the workplace or office experience? The office experience is closely related to employee experience, but it has a narrower focus.

The term employee experience is broad, referring to every aspect of an employee’s time with the company. Recruitment, onboarding, professional development, and the employee’s departure from the company all fall under this definition.

The office or workplace experience, on the other hand, specifically addresses the physical and digital environment where people work. This might include:

• Office layout
• Technology infrastructure
• Individual workspace design
• Digital and physical office tools

While workplace experience is only one piece of the employee experience puzzle, it’s a critical part with the power to sway your team’s perceptions in one direction or the other. A seemingly small aspect of your workplace setup, such as how comfortable the office chairs are and what technology employees use to unlock the front door, can have a major impact on their overall experience.

Why is the employee experience important? #

Organizations that give weight to the employee experience do so because they recognize how it can influence other areas of their operations. An employee-centric model, which appreciates the contributions and needs of its team members, will ultimately improve the organization in a variety of ways, including:

• Retention: Businesses with a good employee experience have lower turnover rates, which saves time and money. According to one study, employees with positive employee experiences are 68% less likely to consider leaving their current jobs.
• Productivity: A consistently positive experience generally translates to happier employees, and that leads to higher productivity levels for the company as a whole. One study shows organizations with happier employees saw a 12% increase in productivity.
• Brand: The internal and external perceptions of your company often rest on how your employees represent it. A great employee experience can help you attract and keep top talent, enhance employee-customer relationships, and naturally encourage employees to act as brand ambassadors.
• Company culture: The quality of the workplace experience in your organization can also foster a more collaborative, communicative, and engaging atmosphere. Recognizing and responding to employees’ needs inspires loyalty and boosts morale.

In each of these aspects, it’s crucial to remember that your organization doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Employees talk about their experiences with others, including friends, family, colleagues, job candidates, and current and prospective clients or customers. As a result, your sales, reputation, and long-term viability are reliant on your employees’ speaking highly of their experiences while working for your organization.

What a great employee experience looks like #

A strong workplace experience looks different from one organization to the next, but the essentials are usually the same: employees feel valued, respected, and empowered. Ensuring that happens requires careful attention to a few core areas and strategies.

Key components #

The specific details of a positive workplace experience differ based on your industry and the size of your organization. However, nearly every organization needs seamless access. It sets the right tone for the employee experience from the moment each worker reaches the front door. Accessibility shows you care about employee convenience, safety, and security, all of which are primary concerns for many workers.

Personalized environments are another essential part of a positive workplace experience, and customization doesn’t just mean letting employees put up photos of their loved ones. A personalized work space accommodates each worker’s unique needs, including the tools, technologies, and furniture they require to do their jobs well.

Finally, smart visitor flows are central to the workplace experience because they determine how traffic moves through the office and impacts employee activities. Properly managing visitors ensures your team faces minimal distractions and interruptions, while also keeping them secure and informed.

Best practices #

Molding the workplace experience in your organization means thinking ahead. With a carefully considered strategy, you can create a solid foundation for a positive experience now and in the office of the future.

Try following these employee experience best practices:

• Focus on human-centered design, putting employees at the center of your processes and meeting their needs in intuitive ways
• Encourage independence within your team, giving employees some degree of control over their experience, whether that means allowing them to arrange their workspace in a particular way or giving them easy building access so they can come and go freely
• Create collaborative environments where employees can trust and support one another, and design spaces that encourage them to work together
• Consider the psychological impact of different elements of your workspaces, including lighting, temperature, noise, and ergonomics
• Put employee wellbeing, including not only health but also safety and security, at the top of your list when designing your workplace and selecting technologies.

While these recommendations are an excellent starting point for your office experience, remember to regularly collect feedback from your employees. Their insights into what they enjoy and what’s lacking in your workplace can help you refine your methods and choose alternative tools as needed.

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Using physical security and automation tech to enhance the workplace experience #

Understanding your employees need and deserve a good experience is one thing, but knowing how to make that happen is much more challenging. Workplace experience solutions and physical security automation are some of the most impactful options available.

Mobile access control #

Access control is necessary to maintain workplace security, and it also contributes significantly to the employee experience. Solutions like Kisi’s access control system allow for convenient, streamlined entries and provide real-time monitoring of who is on the premises to keep employees safer.

With access control featuring mobile access, using apps, smartwatches, or digital wallets, employees don’t have to carry key fobs or cards to unlock the door. They only need their mobile devices, which they already have on hand in most cases. They’re less likely to lose these kinds of credentials or have them stolen, and touchless entry helps protect employee health.

Mobile access control is especially important for hybrid workers who have varied schedules and may come into the office outside regular operating hours. With this technology, they don’t have to worry whether a receptionist or security guard is on-site to give them access to the building. Instead, they can enter based on their schedules using their smartphone or wearable device.

Automated visitor check-ins #

Another vital office technology solution is a visitor check-in system, which allows guests to enter their information without help from a team member. Freeing employees from watching the front desk for visitors allows them to focus on more productive tasks, reducing their workload and helping prevent burnout.

Solutions like Kisi’s visitor management system are also more efficient and secure. Your team doesn’t have to keep up with producing, reviewing, and storing manual paperwork, and the system can keep logs for compliance and in case potential emergencies arise. Shorter wait times and automated arrival notifications also improve employee interactions with guests, an issue that affects the workplace experience on a daily basis.

Smart scheduling #

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are transforming many workplace technologies, including scheduling processes. A smart scheduling system uses automation technology and AI to arrange tasks, appointments, and meetings in a way that makes sense for the user. It helps prevent scheduling conflicts, prioritizes tasks by level of importance, and sends automated reminders.

In addition, organizations can use smart scheduling systems when setting up employee schedules. This helps maintain fairness in the scheduling process and accounts for employee preferences, skills, and availability.

Like visitor sign-ins, scheduling is a tedious job where accuracy and efficiency is paramount. Using technology to enhance the process reduces stress, saves time, and helps establish a better employee experience.

Real-time space management #

For many organizations, the days of designated desks and nameplates on the wall are over, replaced by flexible workplaces where employees can select the types of spaces they need when they need them. The average office occupancy rate in the United States is around 51%, which means maximizing the value of your space has never been more important.

Space management software plays a role in this aspect of the employee experience. When your team feels too cramped, doesn’t have enough privacy, or can’t find space to get their work done, they become less motivated and engaged. Comfortable spaces make employees happier, which in turn increases morale and productivity levels.

Your workspaces should be well-organized to decrease employee stress, improve communication, and support collaboration. A space management solution allows employees to reserve specific spaces for certain days and hours. They also allow management to better analyze how spaces are being used so they can adjust and create a more workable environment for everyone.

Choosing a space management system that can integrate with other solutions is another excellent way to improve the workplace experience. For example, Robin and Archie provide desk and meeting room booking and workplace analytics. They’re also fully compatible with Kisi, so you can get reliable space data and employees can manage their office access and bookings from a central place.

Enhance the employee experience in your workplace with Kisi #

A positive experience at work isn’t just important to each individual employee’s happiness and outlook. The collective experience in your organization will eventually affect other key metrics, including sales, turnover, and productivity rates. Being proactive about the employee experience means setting your team—and your business—up for success.

Physical security automation and workplace technology help you create the workplace experience your employees deserve. Whether you’re looking to improve your office environment with the latest security tips or want to explore new access control technologies, Kisi has you covered.

Schedule a demo to see how our access control and visitor management systems can reshape the employee experience in your business.