The workplace has changed. This will be news to no one.
When we think about the workplace, we tend to focus on our personal lives and how we interact with the office. The office itself has also changed, specifically what information is needed from everyone who enters. Security, health, and safety have taken center-stage through Covid, and in this piece, we’ll distill how it’s made the old way of managing people in the office redundant.
Prior to Covid, management of the workplace and the flow of employees was relatively simple. You would create a profile on a system, and loaded this profile onto an access card, which the employee used to sign in each day through the access control system. This profile never changed, remaining static through time. This meant the access control system that read the card had no need to facilitate any updates to the profile in real-time.
Hello Covid...
Then Covid came around and suddenly companies were needing employees to fill in a health questionnaire each day before coming to the workplace and most recently needing to confirm if they are vaccinated or not. This system, for most companies, is of the utmost importance to keep the workspace safe and secure. The answers to these questions need to be checked regularly and could change over time, making them non-static.
Goodbye Access Card...
As such, an access card is no longer appropriate as it can’t be updated in real-time. New tools are needed to effectively and efficiently read employees' profiles in real-time, as well as update them.
Enter Kenai...
Companies like Kenai, software providers that help companies manage the flow of people through their buildings, have been working on this exact problem for a number of years, specifically that of creating and maintaining real-time profiles for people entering offices. We have been able to supply businesses with a workplace management platform that addresses their needs in this flexible workplace era.
What about visitors and contractors?
Visitors and contractors have always had non-static profiles and this is where Kenai started with this solution. Despite being one category, visitors present varied requirements for a business. Are they pre-invited or walk-in? Do they have to do induction? Do they need parking booked? Do they need a disclaimer signed? Do they need to sign in to the access control? Do they need to sign their laptop in on arrival? All these pieces of information form part of a broader profile of a visitor.
Companies that tried to do this by creating profiles through their access control found long lines outside their reception and very annoyed visitors that had to go through the entire sign-in process every time. Those that couldn’t stand this tended to have a paper book, which is fast but has no security.
Kenai solved this by integrating it into the meeting invite process. When invites are created on Outlook, all visitors receive an invite, which they can complete before they arrive. During this process, they can book parking, complete induction, sign disclaimers, and complete any health questionnaires. When they get on-site, they simply use the QR code they received after completing their pre-registration and they sign in. Their profile was created off-site, stored in a QR code (much like the old access card), and then read on site. This created a seamless and secure journey for visitors.
As you can imagine, the same process was adapted for contractors, and when Covid hit, ported straight over to employees. Importantly, being a software solution, Kenai can integrate into access control providers, meaning employees can still use their access cards but simply complete any additional information through Kenai before getting to work.
The ultimate Workplace Management Platform...
Companies no longer need to worry about their health and safety, or security at the office when using Kenai. Every type of person (employee or visitor) signs in through their own unique flow, capturing whatever information is needed before and when arriving on-site, and this information is tied to their profile in real-time.
Finally, companies no longer need a multitude of systems to manage parking, employees, contractors, and visitors. It’s all done on one system!
The modern office needs modern tools, and Kenai is building the tools to transform the way companies interact with people.