Photo ID Badges

Effective employee identification has always been critically important to workflows, communication and security, but as the time changes, so do the needs of employee identification. That isn’t to suggest, at all, that employee ID is less important than it has ever been - if anything, it is more important than ever.

Specifically, photo ID badges and other forms of identification bearing photographic images of the employee to which they are assigned, have become increasingly important over the course of the last year or so. This is due, in large part to the spread of COVID-19 and the public measures that have been implemented.

Promoting a Sense of Belonging and Employee Accountability

Employee identification in general, and photo ID badges in particular, still play a central role in creating a sense of community or belonging amongst employees. All forms of branded badges can be boosters for employee morale, it’s just that photo ID badges can offer some added benefits.

For one thing, as a portion of the uniform and an extension of your company image, ID badges serve to create a sense of continuity across your organization and its different departments. The consistency in branding, messaging and capabilities created by your ID badges, photo or otherwise, gives your employees particularly and your organization generally a more refined, sophisticated impression.

They also streamline communications between your employees, especially those from different departments that might not work with each other regularly or even at all. Let’s just be honest - knowing someone’s name, and being able to associate a name with a face just encourages communication. People are more comfortable with each other when they know whose company they’re in, and who they’re speaking with.

If your employees are customer facing, then the same holds true. It encourages better communication and enhancing customer service when your employees bear branded photo IDs. Customers are more comfortable knowing who they’re talking to and what the titles of your employees are. Plus, employees that wear their names and faces “on their sleeves” so to speak, are more likely to take pride in their work!

Photo ID Badges Have Always Been Vital to Security

It’s also true that photo ID badges have always been vital to security, notwithstanding the fact that their central role in supporting security measures has become even more pronounced. With the proper fleet of employee ID badges, you can allow access, or even prevent it, to certain arms of your facility. You can also potentially track employee time and workflows, depending on the technology and nature of your identification systems.

But even without technology, there is the good, old-fashioned value of face to face interaction. If you don’t recognize someone, you can tell at a glance who they are, what their title is, and at the very least, notice if the photo in the ID matches the face of the person with whom you’re communicating. Even on a very basic level, high quality photo ID badges promote a high level of security.

In the modern age, however, that role has become even more important.

Photo ID Badges in the Age of COVID-19: Keeping Everyone Safe

With the spread of COVID-19 across the country, there have been countless public measures enacted to help slow the spread and flatten the curve, in order to protect citizens and prevent infection rates from becoming an unconquerable burden to healthcare professionals and medical facilities.

Increasingly, people around the country (and the world) have been encouraged to observe better practices with respect to handwashing, social distancing, and more. Businesses have enacted restricted maximum occupancy policies, heightened disinfection protocols, and erected protective barriers at physical locations.

However, far and away, one of the most widely promoted public safety measures which has been observed (and encouraged by the CDC) is the wearing of protective facemasks.

Nearly overnight, it has become not only acceptable to cover up one’s face, but encouraged. While the use of face coverings may prove instrumental to decreasing the incidence of transmission of infectious disease, it certainly can present roadblocks to standing security measures.

Notably, a face covering makes it hard to identify an individual. In the company of a pair of sunglasses and a hat, a person can become completely unrecognizable. This is one of the reasons that photo ID badges have taken on a more central role in enforcing security measures.

Since it’s difficult to identify someone whose face is covered, photo ID badges can help streamline identification and enforce standing security measures. The other great thing about the use of photo ID badges in this new age is that it personalizes what might otherwise be called an impersonal situation, restoring the human element.

Customize Your Photo ID Badges Here at Imprint Plus!

In short, if you have been waiting for the right time to invest in a new set of photo ID cards for your employees, now is the time. We’ll even help you create full-color custom ID cards if you so choose - just call us at 800-563-2464 to get started!