The Key to Wellbeing in the Office

A few years ago, all we saw in the news was the ‘great resignation.’ Now we have another ‘great’ to deal with. According to CBRE, 2023 was the start of the ‘great return’ as office workers returned to their normal offices after working from home. The data shows that two-thirds of all U.S office buildings were more than 90% leased as of Q2 2023.

Just as we heard a lot about the great resignation, the great return is prompting similar talking points as people are once again confronted with the downsides of office life. The knock-on effect of these downsides has been a demand for better initiatives and policies to support employees’ wellbeing. If they must return, many employees feel they need to be supported.

The forms of support vary from hybrid working to gym memberships or hot desking between office locations. Common to them all is the need for effortless access control and flexibility as people find their way back to shared spaces and open-plan offices. In many instances, the responsibility of making things run smoothly falls on facilities managers, office managers and installers. To ensure success, smart locking solutions are a necessity. As we will see, many organizations have used them with notable results.

Meeting in the Middle
The return to the office has not been welcomed by all. There are clear dividing lines between employees and management. Gartner research shows that 48% of office employees believe that return to office policies prioritize what leaders want over what employees need. The only solutions that avoid things like quiet quitting and plummeting wellbeing are ones where employees and leaders meet in the middle.

Hybrid working, where employees spend several days in the office and several days at home, is the perfect agreement. It boosts employee productivity while also allowing in-person collaboration.

To facilitate hybrid work policies and preserve employee wellbeing, offices need access control solutions suited to the task. They must be flexible, integrate smart technologies and be easy to use.

Faced with this challenge, companies can use ‘hot lockers’ for their hybrid employees that could be shared by different people on different days at varying times. Look for locks that allow facilities managers to give all employees unique, card-based access to each locker, saving the time and money needed to cut thousands of unique locks for individual lockers. Thanks to the RFID technology and central control system, facilities managers are also capable of overseeing employee access for all lockers simultaneously and remotely.

As for employees, the process of using the ‘hot lockers’ is frictionless. They simply use their card to access and lock the locker when they need to store their belongings. When they are not in the office, the locker is available for other employees to use. Some companies have multiple office locations and the added benefit of a system that uses card-based access is that it can be implemented across several office sites, giving employees the freedom to choose which office they want to work from without facilities staff or office managers having to coordinate new card access.

Wellbeing Benefits Beyond the Office
Employee wellbeing goes beyond the four glass walls of the shared office, which is why we are seeing many organizations offering gym facilities for their staff. An active lifestyle has many health and work benefits that cannot be overestimated. Regular exercisers are 129% more likely to report feeling more productive at work, and, on top of this, and 73% of employees who exercise in the morning say they are more satisfied at work. Having exercise facilities at work, therefore, improves employee performance and makes the office a more desirable location to work.

For office workers, keyless access is a massive bonus. Many gyms in office buildings require people to bring their own combination locks. When you forget it, they make you buy one at an inflated price. As well as being an unnecessary expense, this is also frustrating. For a workplace gym, this would not help with morale.

Due to the keyless access, facilities managers have saved a significant amount of time not having to manage locks. The locks largely take care of themselves, and the additional capacity has given them time to focus on other high-priority tasks. The same goes for gym staff, who, rather than dealing with locks, can focus on supporting gym users. If something does go wrong, such as an employee leaving their belongings behind or forgetting their temporary access code, the key override function means the problem can be swiftly resolved.

From hassle-free access to effortless key override, when it comes to employee wellbeing, the less friction, and more flexibility, the better. As things are made easier to use, and employees are given choice in how they use them, employee morale and productivity is likely to increase.

This article originally appeared in the November / December 2024 issue of Security Today.

Featured

  • Gaining a Competitive Edge

    Ask most companies about their future technology plans and the answers will most likely include AI. Then ask how they plan to deploy it, and that is where the responses may start to vary. Every company has unique surveillance requirements that are based on market focus, scale, scope, risk tolerance, geographic area and, of course, budget. Those factors all play a role in deciding how to configure a surveillance system, and how to effectively implement technologies like AI. Read Now

  • 6 Ways Security Awareness Training Empowers Human Risk Management

    Organizations are realizing that their greatest vulnerability often comes from within – their own people. Human error remains a significant factor in cybersecurity breaches, making it imperative for organizations to address human risk effectively. As a result, security awareness training (SAT) has emerged as a cornerstone in this endeavor because it offers a multifaceted approach to managing human risk. Read Now

  • The Stage is Set

    The security industry spans the entire globe, with manufacturers, developers and suppliers on every continent (well, almost—sorry, Antarctica). That means when regulations pop up in one area, they often have a ripple effect that impacts the entire supply chain. Recent data privacy regulations like GDPR in Europe and CPRA in California made waves when they first went into effect, forcing businesses to change the way they approach data collection and storage to continue operating in those markets. Even highly specific regulations like the U.S.’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) can have international reverberations – and this growing volume of legislation has continued to affect global supply chains in a variety of different ways. Read Now

  • Access Control Technology

    As we move swiftly toward the end of 2024, the security industry is looking at the trends in play, what might be on the horizon, and how they will impact business opportunities and projections. Read Now

Featured Cybersecurity

Webinars

New Products

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.” 3

  • Camden CM-221 Series Switches

    Camden CM-221 Series Switches

    Camden Door Controls is pleased to announce that, in response to soaring customer demand, it has expanded its range of ValueWave™ no-touch switches to include a narrow (slimline) version with manual override. This override button is designed to provide additional assurance that the request to exit switch will open a door, even if the no-touch sensor fails to operate. This new slimline switch also features a heavy gauge stainless steel faceplate, a red/green illuminated light ring, and is IP65 rated, making it ideal for indoor or outdoor use as part of an automatic door or access control system. ValueWave™ no-touch switches are designed for easy installation and trouble-free service in high traffic applications. In addition to this narrow version, the CM-221 & CM-222 Series switches are available in a range of other models with single and double gang heavy-gauge stainless steel faceplates and include illuminated light rings. 3

  • ResponderLink

    ResponderLink

    Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), an Alarm.com company and a global leader in gunshot detection solutions, has introduced ResponderLink, a groundbreaking new 911 notification service for gunshot events. ResponderLink completes the circle from detection to 911 notification to first responder awareness, giving law enforcement enhanced situational intelligence they urgently need to save lives. Integrating SDS’s proven gunshot detection system with Noonlight’s SendPolice platform, ResponderLink is the first solution to automatically deliver real-time gunshot detection data to 911 call centers and first responders. When shots are detected, the 911 dispatching center, also known as the Public Safety Answering Point or PSAP, is contacted based on the gunfire location, enabling faster initiation of life-saving emergency protocols. 3