Workplaces have undergone a myriad of changes to adapt to the challenges posed by COVID‐19, reforming what the workplace of the future will look like for years to come. But for frontline workers, performing essential duties and services with nearly no disruption since the pandemic began, the workplace has had to adapt immediately, making changes overnight to ensure their safety and security. Have these workplaces done enough to keep frontline workers protected?
Frontline workers are facing a unique set of challenges
According to a national poll conducted by Eagle Hill Consulting, 54% of US workers worry about being exposed to COVID‐19 at their workplace. For frontline workers, this is a valid concern, as carrying out their job responsibilities necessitates direct contact with others, with research confirming they are at an increased risk of contracting the virus. For these workers who haven’t been able to work remotely due to the nature of their job, it’s not surprising that these conditions have negatively affected both their ability to perform and their mental health. In fact, a McKinsey survey found that 70.5% of non‐remote workers reported negative work effectiveness, as well as 50.4% feeling disengaged from work and 57.6% saying they’re struggling.
It’s absolutely essential to safeguard the health of frontline workers in the workplace, and to institute solutions and procedures that instill confidence that they can perform their duties while staying protected, providing a boost to workplace morale. The employers of essential workers must also make sure to adhere to national and local guidelines, which mandate implementing comprehensive policies and procedures, including conducting daily health checks, frequent and thorough sanitation and disinfection of common spaces, reducing space occupancy, requiring PPE, maintaining traceability and transparency, and more. Knowing how to address all of these requirements, designed to keep employees safe, can seem an overwhelming task.
Employers need a simple solution for a complex problem
Designed as a holistic solution to address the challenges employers face in keeping their workforce safe and their business compliant, the Konica Minolta Return to Work solution is a comprehensive solve to a complex problem. By instituting a program that automates reporting and compliance activities while enabling employers to maintain strict control over access to the workplace, the end‐to‐end solution provides peace of mind to both employers and their frontline staff that the workplace is safe and secured.
The solution leverages advanced technologies that assure safety to streamline return-to-work procedures into an easy 4‐step process:
- Employees are notified to complete a Virtual Health Check before heading into the office.
- Mobotix Thermal Imaging Cameras measure employees’ temperatures upon arrival at work.
- Contactless Temperature Verification ensures records and stores employee health check data, logging any results out of compliance in a Content Management System.
- Incident Management Reporting & Contact Tracing allows for the easy access and review of employee health data, making internal and external COVID reporting and contact tracing easy,
Managed by a single vendor, employers can rest assured that providing a safe environment for their frontline staff need not be a process encumbered by complexity or come with high cost investments of time and money.
Enhanced automation can make it easier than ever to keep frontline workers safe
Konica Minolta has strategically partnered with UKG, a leading provider of workforce management and human capital management cloud solutions, to provide maximum value for employers operating essential businesses with no remote work options available. When jointly deploying the advanced technologies included in Konica Minolta’s Return to Work solution with UKG Dimensions, employers will see enhanced automation abilities that will help them in managing large workforces.
For example, by integrating access control software and workforce management, specific and scheduled employees can be targeted to completed self‐report daily health forms, so the most relevant data is reviewed and reported. Integration between the two offerings will enable automation of reported time off and rescheduling efforts within the UKG suite. When employed in tandem, these solutions reduce the administrative burden of managing in‐person operations in compliance with regulations and guidelines, enabling employers to focus on critical business issues with the surety that their employees are working in a safe environment.
Konica Minolta and UKG are dedicated to keeping frontline workers safe and healthy, and are here to help eliminate the complexities of ensuring workplace security. To learn more about the solutions that will ensure your critical essential workers are empowered with the confidence that they can perform their job functions in a secure setting, visit Konica Minolta Technology Partner Marketplace.
The content from this blog is courtesy of Aaron Mounts, RVP, Global Clients at at Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA. Rethink the Future of Work. Returning to work today and planning for tomorrow.
