As the COVID-19 pandemic slowly recedes (albeit in fits and starts), organizations need to devise and implement plans to bring workers back to the office safely. Even though the health of employees is paramount for organizations, there will undoubtedly be confusion around how to manage all the new policies and requirements for workers. Many guidelines for returning to work are being rolled out and there will often be a mixture of different recommendations, whether it be from the CDC or from state and local governments. Managing the return to work process will require involvement from C-level executives, human resources departments, IT personnel, and operations/facilities staff.
To help make sense of it all, Konica Minolta’s Return to Work initiative enables companies to manage employees during their return to the office environment. The offering combines a range of the company’s technologies that provide a comprehensive step-by-step program:
The Return to Work program consists of Konica Minolta’s proprietary software and workflow solution as well as Mobotix Thermal Radiometry (TR) cameras. The software and workflow solution is supported through Konica Minolta’s Enterprise Content Management business, while use of the Mobotix camera system ensures that the software and technology are owned and implemented by Konica Minolta. During the press conference to announce the solution, Konica Minolta’s Sam Errigo, Executive Vice President of Sales and Business Development, mentioned that this would be primarily deployed by KM direct, however there were a handful of dealers that had expressed interest and will be trained to also deploy the solution. The main reason for this was the sensitive nature of understanding the security requirements that are necessary to implement this new program.
The first part of the program is a self-reporting of possible COVID-19 symptoms via a smartphone app. So even before employees come into the office, self-reporting forms can be filled out and submitted via text or email to provide that initial data input.
The second step is in-person screening. As employees arrive at the office, the Mobotix camera can capture the temperature of individuals; employees can then be prompted to enter or to move to a more direct level of screening if their temperature appears to be out of the specified range. Everybody can then be accounted for and, if an incident needs to be managed, the data can used to open a case with the COVID Employee Disease Control Management System and track an individual until they return to work.
As all the data is being collected, tracked and analyzed, it will be stored in an OnBase ECM repository system for convenient access and tracking by authorized personnel. For example, the ECM system can let HR and managers know which workers have been asked to work from home for three days (or the time period set by the company) for those who self-reported symptoms, and which employees will be out longer due to a high fever or positive test result (without divulging private health information). The system can even be used to alert coworkers that may have been exposed to a symptomatic individual, based on where they sit and the meetings they attended.
Keypoint Intelligence sees this approach from Konica Minolta as a very inventive, tactical method to manage the back to work experience. There will, no doubt, be countless hours spent by businesses to administer and comply with all the guidelines that are thrust upon them federally and state-wide, but the Konica Minolta program looks to address these concerns with concrete solutions.