As a facilities manager, you’re probably fulfilling a variety of duties. One minute you’re a janitor, the next you’re an accountant, and another you’re a technician. In other words, you’re the corporate equivalent of a Swiss Army knife. That said, you can’t ignore your basic functions, such as keeping your building secure while employees and visitors come and go.
That’s why high employee turnover can pose a particularly stressful problem for facilities managers: How do you keep everyone safe and protect company assets when undergoing so much change?
If you’re worried about maintaining safe building spaces when you’re managing a facility in a high-turnover industry, try these proven ways to increase building security:
1. Identify the Risks
Consider this for a moment: Professional services is the industry with the highest turnover rate (about 13% annually). That means if your building is home to an accounting firm with 100 employees, then you will be seeing an average of 13 new faces each year. Nerve-wracking, right?
That’s why assessing the risks should be the first step. By knowing the origin of threats, you’ll be better placed to protect a building by making a detailed security plan. Even better, you will have a deeper understanding of your needs if you’re shopping for a building access control system.
2. Consider Technology Solutions
A receptionist serves as an extra layer to enhance a building’s security, but that’s not enough to ensure that the company isn’t hosting unwanted visitors. Because receptionists have other responsibilities beyond watching the door, they sometimes step away from their desks. The problem is that unmanned desks can be a risk to a building’s security.
With the right technology, though, you can eliminate the risk of an unauthorized person entering the building when there’s no staff at the desk. For instance, a building access control system can maintain time-stamped image records of everyone entering the building. Technology can also create audit trails or even generate a report should a security breach happen.
3. Invest in Cybersecurity Measures
If you think about it, an intruder isn’t just an unauthorized person gaining physical access to a building. An intrusion could be in the form of a cyberattack on your essential computer systems, including your building access control system.
To prevent hackers from infiltrating your systems, it’s important to have a detailed cybersecurity plan that includes firewalls and secure backups. Additionally, keep your software up-to-date and frequently audit your system for vulnerabilities.
4. Set Up Custom Access Levels
Not every employee needs access to all parts of your business, so consider setting up custom access levels that let you assign different levels of access to different individuals. For instance, you can grant contractors building access for a limited time while giving only specific employees access to high-risk areas such as server rooms.
5. Streamline Key Systems
In cases when an electronic building access control system is not applicable, it’s crucial to have an air-tight procedure for controlling and distributing keys to the building. In other words, a few individuals can have custody of specific keys and have the sole responsibility of locking and unlocking doors for the exits and entryways. Beyond that, it’s important to perform frequent audits of the keys so that people don’t retain keys beyond the period when they need them.
6. Prioritize Employee Training
High employee turnover resembles a revolving door. There will always be people leaving and new faces coming in. And when you consider that some security breaches are a result of carelessness, you’ll see an urgent need to train employees on best practices and policies around keeping company information safe.
A great example is the “clean desk policy.” This is a practice that stresses the importance of having all critical documents and equipment stored and secured away from the desk at the end of the workday to reduce the likelihood of theft.
Ultimately, enhancing building security in high-turnover industries doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Armed with the tips above, you’ll find the peace of mind that your people and company assets are in safe hands.
Josh Bray is the head of LobiBox, a complete visitor management system designed to help turn building access into a modern amenity. With years of experience in supporting small businesses and local brands, Josh and his team are eager to help people start saving money and protect their businesses or communities.