You look at your employee identification card and it looks simple. It has a square piece of plastic with your name on it, the name of the company, sometimes a barcode, and usually an awful picture of yourself. In reality, more goes into
swipe cards used for identification than you’d think.
If you’ve ever lost your work identification badge, and wondered why it costs so much to replace, here are the 10 steps that go into an ID card.
- Design
A company’s work identification card design is to be functional, yet more and more attractive in design. The design of your organization’s identification card should meet your company’s security, branding, and human resource needs.
- Data Encoding
Looking for a way to save money on security personnel? Your company can use identification cards that include encoded information (such as employee ID number) about the employee by using barcodes, magnetic stripes, RFID tags, or smart chips. This technology allows a company to sync their identification with a building access system or timekeeping programs.
- Security
A badge in itself is a form of security. As a company, you can add additional features for enhanced security to your work ID cards. Enhanced security features that can be added include fingerprints or holographic overlays. These will make the ID cards more secure and less prone to be fraudulently duplicated.
- Durability
When you consider what the ID cards should be made of, consider durable materials that can last several years like PVC or plastic HID smart cards. ID cards made of these materials can’t be easily forged, and you don’t have to deal with the “wear and tear” that comes with a paper ID.
- Single or Dual-sided
ID cards can be single or dual-sided. In order to determine if the card needs to be single or dual, the company must decide what ID card functions are the priority for the organization, then factor in how much space will be needed to execute those priorities. A dual-sided card can include a lot of important information and security features, while still being easy on the eye.
- Card Orientation
Whether an ID card is displayed horizontally or vertically, is based upon how the ID will be used. If it’s to be used as a name badge for customers and visitors to read, then the horizontal will probably be a better choice. If the card is to be swiped by a reader for time and attendance, or access control, the vertical may be best.
- Company’s Logo
Branding is always an important message that a company wants and needs to keep consistent, so adding your company’s logo to the work ID cards is important. A corporate logo isn’t only recognizable for employees, but also for the visitors of your company. In addition, by including the company logo onto the ID card design, it will be harder for an outside individual to make a forged copy.
- Employee’s Personal Information
As a part of an individual’s work identification badge, their personal information should be included. The personal information should include their first name (the last name can be optional), employee ID number, and their department information. Besides acknowledging the identity of the individual for security purposes, this will also help to identify who the badge belongs to if lost.
- Employee’s Picture
Having a photo for identification on an ID is a normal practice. Think of any identification documents that are used such as a driver's license, passport, or state ID card. They all have a photo on them. A picture of the ID holder is to provide authenticity of the document. Therefore, a workplace ID should have the same and is standard with the majority of companies. By having an individual’s photo on an ID card, it makes it unique to the individual employee.
- Employee’s Signature
The last thing to add to a work identification card is the authorized user’s signature. This will assist in any situation when someone's identity is in question. The person can be asked to duplicate the signature on the card. Like a thumbprint, each person’s signature is unique.
Image: Work ID Card from Pixome/Shutterstock
