SECURITY
THE FOUNDATION OF OPERATIONAL RESILIENCE
Gary Harrold, CEO at Swiss Post Solutions UK & Ireland, explores the crucial role FMs have to play in championing technology and why they hold the keys to crisis-proof innovation.
With the Government’s ‘back to work’ campaign launched this month, some workers have been returning to swiftly re-engineered workspaces. In preparation, FMs have been focused on practical issues of hygiene, cleanliness, access and the needs of a disparate workforce. It is now clear that operational resilience is underpinned by the FM’s ability to support agile responses.
However, according to our recent research with NelsonHall, just 16% of organisations now perceive their operations as highly resilient to another crisis. A whole host of operational issues reared heads during lockdown; staff capacity and availability, increased demand for customer communications, challenges in working from home and security and compliance restrictions.
Where workers were forced off-site, our research showed that the lowest levels of resilience were found where manual transaction processing was still relied upon. This was keenly felt in physical mailroom operations, with just 14% of organisations believing them to offer resilience.
Access to mail, data and documents is essential, but during this crisis over 70% of organisations said remote workforces suffered from a lack of access to documents such as mail. In response 92% of organisations reported that they will increase automation and digitisation of their processes.
Revolution starts in the mailroom Digital initiatives are increasingly within the remit of facilities. This latest crisis has proven that the mailroom needs to be so much more than a sorting office. It needs to be the heart of a digital hub that ensures timely, easy access to information.
Leaders agree; four-fifths (80%) of organisations are now seeking to digitise their mailrooms. Similarly, more than 70% are looking to digitise their in and out-bound document processes. With the mailroom traditionally falling under the management of the FM, it is clear they have a significant role to play in successfully implementing digital transformation initiatives within it.
Accelerated innovation with long-
term impact In the first weeks and months of lockdown organisations that had been pondering digitisation of mailrooms and document services as part of a longer-term strategy moved lightning quick to make it happen.
For example, insurers in the UK have responded to the current crisis through the rapid implementation of digital
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mailrooms and automation to digitise document processing. One organisation saw us work alongside the FM team to transform their digital mailroom in just two weeks.
So, what does a successful mailroom revolution look like? There is no one answer to this question.
With an on-site digital mailroom, incoming mail can be scanned, classified and digitised. Employees can access their mail and other key documents, 24/7 from any location. Digital communications like email or SMS can be integrated into the solution, creating a flexible, omni- channel approach. In this way, mailroom operations are interconnected with several other office services, such as reprographics, archiving and document management.
Alternatively, a client might choose to have physical mail delivered to an offsite document processing centre where it’s opened, sorted, scanned and uploaded to a portal where remote workforces can securely access it.
An off-site mail hub is flexible and can support multiple locations and home-office workers, giving companies greater flexibility and resilience in the event of disruption. On top of this, rather than just ‘sending’ digital mail’ to workforces, you can implement technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and processes like as Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to analyse data and improve workflows.
The real takeaway is that working with the right partner, organisations can design and implement bespoke solutions that suit specific needs. Importantly, your partner should also understand where on the digital journey your organisation is and provide a navigable pathway that is mindful of the wider organisation’s strategic objectives and culture.
Digitising the mailroom is about making the data go further to make operations more efficient in terms of speed, quality and cost and there are many shapes a future- forward mailroom can take. The mailroom is an ideal place to start digital transformation and level up existing programs. Wherever you are on the digital spectrum, there are ways to layer a number of services; digitisation, RPA and AI technologies to deliver impactful solutions and technologies that deliver more for the business. A partner that understands the drivers for change will ensure innovation is delivered in the right form, at the right pace for each client.
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