HUMAN RESOURCES, ENTERPRISE SECURITY

Human Resources is a vital component of any organization, large or small. Historically, HR professionals have handled their business such as onboarding new employees face to face. But in the age of remote work, employees aren’t always able to come into a physical office or meet their coworkers in person, making the requirements of the typical Human Resources professional more difficult to accomplish and increasing the likelihood of employee impersonation and identity fraud.

So with remote work more and more commonplace, how can HR confirm the identities of the people within the organization confidently? The answer lies with biometrics.

Managing Company Workforces

Whether bringing on new employees or managing existing ones, confidently knowing the identities of the people within an organization is of extreme importance. Employees of all types are provided access to different levels of company information, much of which is sensitive in nature. If an employee’s identity is not 100% confirmed, a company’s proprietary information is put at risk, potentially costing the company severely.

Historically HR professionals have onboarded new employees face to face. During this process the new hire typically meets the HR associate in person, provides identity documents, takes a photo, fills out paperwork, and undergoes a background check. These steps help companies be confident that the person being brought on is who they say they are and is unlikely to be a risk. With the advent of remote work, however, face to face onboarding is less common, making these steps more difficult to perform and introducing unwanted risk.

The simple fact is that contemporary digital onboarding—performed face to face only via computer screen—introduces a level of risk not experienced prior. Should a fraudulent person be onboarded in error, that person is typically then authorized to access databases and physical offices, allowing them to steal sensitive information. Thankfully, biometric technology is available to aid HR professionals in onboarding new remote employees confidently.

How Biometrics Can Help HR

Today’s biometrics are mobile, easy to use, and best of all, highly accurate; offering HR a great deal of benefits previously unavailable to them. Face and voice recognition can now be performed successfully using the cameras and microphones found on today’s smartphones, tablets and computers, putting this technology in anyone’s hand. When combined with mobile document verification, onboarding remote employees becomes much more simple and trustworthy, giving Human Resources the ability to match the person on the screen in front of them with their identity documents with much greater confidence.

It doesn’t stop there, either. Once an employee’s face or voice is known, biometrics can be used in place of passwords and access cards to grant employees access to sensitive locations and data. All an employee would need to do is perform a selfie or voice prompt via their device to gain access, improving employee satisfaction while reducing company risk.

Biometrics Don’t Only Serve Large Companies

Biometric technology often comes with the assumption that it requires large, expensive, proprietary hardware and a great deal of technical expertise to perform. With large companies typically only able to absorb these expenses, biometrics have long been assumed to be out of reach for small companies.

Thankfully, this is not the case anymore. With biometrics now available via everyday devices—with processes as simple as taking a selfie or speaking a phrase—smaller companies can take advantage of its benefits. Additionally, biometric capabilities are increasingly available via plug and play subscription models, allowing companies of all sizes to get up and running quickly and only paying for what they need. Companies with smaller workforces no longer need to pay the same as companies with much larger workforces. Thanks to these advancements, the playing field has been leveled.

Regardless of your company’s size, remote capabilities or HR need, Aware can help. Thanks to products like AwareID and Knomi, HR professionals can find a solution that works for them, keeping costs down and enabling them to bring on new employees, and manage existing ones with confidence.