How to Manage Work Equipment: From Onboarding to Offboarding

This article is for administrators.

Work Equipment Assignment to Employees  

All employees need to be equipped with work tools, various work devices, facilities or other work equipment for which they are responsible and need to perform the work during their employment. In Aptien, you can assign each piece of equipment to employees using assignment features or handover forms. This handles both permanent assignments and short-term assignments of assets. You can use this for:

• Employee onboarding, where you equip them with work-related assets such as a computer, phone, sim card, office keys, access card, etc.
• When an employee terminates and leaves (offboarding), you need to know what they have to return
• During the course of employment, you continuously assign or take away various work equipment and tools

When companies need to solve the equipment of workers

Each company deals with entrusting, handing over or taking over property, especially work equipment and aids. In small teams, there is no need for records, everything is on a personal basis, can be memorized, or maintained in paper or Excel records. However, for higher numbers of people, typically 20 to 40 people, this method becomes unsustainable and companies should start using digital records of issued items.

1. issuance and entrustment of work tools and equipment during employee onboarding
2. continuous change of work equipment during the employment relationship
3. handing over or returning work equipment during employee offboarding (termination of employment, retirement)

Issuance of work equipment to employees

• Issuing work equipment and tools is intensive and important, especially at the beginning of the work process or when changing jobs.
• Most often, work aids or other equipment for workers (for example, keys, access cards, computer or mobile phone) go to new employees

Transfer of property between employees

• One of the tasks of property management is transfers. Even transfers of property, typically office equipment or work tools, between employees. The system records the history of transfers of individual pieces of property between employees, so it is possible to trace back who worked with the given property in the past.

Returning issued work equipment

Examples of work equipment that typically need to be returned upon termination of employment or change of jobs :

• Tools and electronic devices: Laptops, computers, tablets, smartphones, and any other electronic equipment provided by the company.
• Identification and authorization elements: Keys, Access cards, security badges, and other forms of identification issued by the company.
• Company property: Tools, uniforms, or any other items owned by the company.
• Confidential documents: Any sensitive or proprietary information that the employee had access to during their employment.

How to set up the assignment and removal of employee equipment

You do the handing over and taking away using actions. Because not everyone can do the handing over and taking back of assets, you need to set up who can do the handing over and taking back of assigned assets. Whoever has the authority to transfer or take back assets will then see an extra button in the system. The setting is done for each asset separately.

Work Equipment Management: Issuance and Return

When managing work equipment, it's essential to track both individual items and bulk quantities.

Individually Issued Equipment:

• Unique Identification: Each item should have a unique identifier (e.g., serial number, inventory number) for tracking.
• Individual Assignment: Specific items are typically issued to individual employees.
• Return Policy: Establish clear guidelines for returning equipment upon project completion, contract expiration, or employment termination.

Bulk-Issued Equipment:

• Quantity Tracking: Monitor the number of items issued to each employee.
  
• Attribute Tracking: Record relevant attributes like size, color, or expiration dates.
• Replenishment Planning: Plan for regular replenishment of consumable items based on usage rates.

Key Considerations:

• Documentation: Maintain accurate records of all equipment issued, returned, and disposed of.
• Simple Inventory Management: Use simple availability management to track equipment availability and location.
• Employee Accountability: Implement procedures to ensure employees are responsible for the equipment issued to them.
• By following these guidelines, you can effectively manage your organization's work equipment and minimize losses or misuse.