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HR and Security: Work Together, Win Together

May 18, 2023

The HR and physical security industries have reached an inflection point. The COVID-19 pandemic first accelerated digital transformation and security convergence – and it’s only taken off since then. As we continue to navigate more flexible ways of working, corporations have realized that separate silos of operations between physical security, HR and IT simply won’t cut it any longer.

So, step into our (digital) office: let’s explore how securing total workforce management helps foster a more productive, streamlined workforce.

The Days of Working in Silos are Over

When HR and physical security work together, the results are amazing. There’s a newfound focus on health, safety and well-being – a human side that balances people, time and space – with identity and security at the center of it all. Whether they’re full-time employees, part-timers or external workers, the entire workforce feels engaged and in partnership with their employer. And thanks to platforms like Guardian by Alert Enterprise, all the right mechanisms are in place to make it happen. (Learn more about safer hire-to-retire journey here.)

Securing Digital Transformation

Collaboration between departments, especially HR, has always been a goal but rarely achieved. The move to the cloud and common operating platforms as part of the digital transformation has made it far easier to integrate security, HR and facilities technologies. (Read more about the digital transformation here.)

Shift Happens

HR is at the center of this much-needed seismic shift in security. It needs to keep people safe, manage work-related incidents and maintain business operations by having the right people at the right place at the right time. Real-time integration with HR software and physical security automates secure onboarding/offboarding, proactively enforces company policies and compliance while dramatically enhancing workforce productivity and experience. (See our integration with SAP SuccessFactors HCM here and SAP Fieldglass here.)

Today, managing people and the workspace through identity and security has become critical. Enterprises can now focus uniquely on the individual’s identity, characteristics, skills and requirements –and tie it all together in a single, automated process.

Leveraging Current Technology Investments

The majority, if not all, users already have an HR software system in place. What they may not know is that they can integrate it with their security and physical identity platforms — leveraging their current investment. HR systems readily integrate with Visitor Management platforms and Physical Access Control Systems (PACS) and can extend this connection to improve security and the hire-to-retire journey. Users can migrate simply thanks to Identity Management processes that bridge gaps to incorporate their on-premises access systems. With this approach, the results are a converged solution across the enterprise that effectively interfaces HR, IT, Operational Technology (OT) and physical security. (Learn more about PACS consolidation here.)

Next Steps

It’s no longer a matter of if an organization should digitally transform: it’s come down to how fast they can do it. HR and security collaboration is essential from a business and technology perspective. With it comes a new focus on the individual and their safety at the workplace — creating the human side that perhaps was long missing for some organizations.

By Willem Ryan
Alert Enterprise, Vice President of Marketing and Communications and originally published on Security Today Magazine