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Know your employees – the increased use of biometric technology

Good staff management often requires the services of a hard-working human resources (HR) team. But the world is changing fast and biometric technology can help HR teams to streamline the way they recruit and manage people, and even create a more engaged workforce. Contributor Grant Crow, CEO – SmilePass.
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Good staff management often requires the services of a hard-working human resources (HR) team. But the world is changing fast and biometric technology can help HR teams to streamline the way they recruit and manage people, and even create a more engaged workforce. Contributor Grant Crow, CEO – SmilePass.

We’re fully-aware of the painful process that is collecting and checking potential employee’s documentation. Almost all organisations, especially those that are people-oriented, will have the task of registering large numbers of people and make sure that everything – from the dreaded right-to-work documents to fiscal calculations is all in check – which can be a time-consuming and costly endeavour.

But this could all be about to change as biometrics, from fingerprint scanning to facial recognition to voice-printing find use in the workplace. Biometric technology services can be used quickly and easily in the screening process, making it simple for both the employer and the employee. The technology also enables remote on-boarding. If a new employee is relocating from another city, they will no longer be required to make an expensive and time-consuming trip to their new employer’s office merely for the purposes of bringing in documents to prove identity.

Although the benefits are set to improve people management processes in large companies that naturally require sizeable HR teams, even small companies can reap the benefits.

Creating more security at work. If biometric technology has been used in the hiring process and the employee is now in work, their saved biometric profile can be checked against throughout their employment, especially if they are undertaking any tasks associated with risk and potential fraud. Making a payment or accessing company IP are both good examples of a long list of such tasks.

Also, many companies and staff are still using passwords, which is proven to be a disastrously weak security measure unfit for the modern day Using a face-scan or fingerprint for verification, or even better – a multi-modal, combination of the two at all times – could stop fraud and important data being compromised. So, the stakes are high and worthy.

The incoming workforce are ready for biometrics
The world is digitising at break-neck speed and people are becoming savvy and less wary of biometrics. Recent research by IBM suggests 75 percent of millennials are now comfortable using biometric technology, so it feels as though the time is right to introduce biometric identification systems to the workplace.

Introducing biometrics now, in processes such as hiring and security management, will help employees be more comfortable in our tech driven future workplaces which could offer biometric monitoring for anything from ensuring people are walking around enough or taking long enough lunch breaks to even adjusting the temperature in accordance with their biometric readings. Technologically speaking, this is all possible to do, but the question is what are employers and employees comfortable with? In the initial stages of adopting biometrics, some employees may be cautious and distrusting, so being clear of what exactly its purpose is, could go a long way in busting any myths or resistance that could emerge.

A happy workforce is a strong workforce and the benefits of biometrics for both employers and employees are numerous. Employee satisfaction leads to better staff retention, key to the success of any people-driven company. The biometric identification technology exists to dramatically improve people management and HR systems in all sectors, and it won’t be long before it really takes hold – so how can you use it within your organisation today?


 

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