Avoid These 4 Mistakes When Adopting New Key Control Technology

Technology can make our lives, and our jobs, easier if we’re willing to understand and integrate it wisely. Over the last couple of decades, businesses have been digitizing and improving their operations, some more quickly and enthusiastically than others. 

When it comes to protecting your business, staying current with the latest key control technology is one of the smartest investments you can make. It not only provides peace of mind but also aligns you with modern security standards. To experience the full benefits of digitization, avoid these common mistakes: 

1. Not Getting Employee Buy-in

When adopting a new tool, it’s important to get your employees’ buy-in — especially Gen Z employees, who prefer a collaborative leadership style. Even if you weren’t involved in the decision, you can still help make a case for the technology and let them know what to expect when using the new system. 

Why is buy-in important? If you give end users the what and not the why behind a change, that’s like a parent feeding their child the age-old phrase “Because I said so.” In your conversations with employees, address how the solution solves common pain points: 

• Does it save your business money?
• Does it solve a problem?
• Does it put more time in employees’ days?  
• Does it make certain tasks easier?
• Does it improve customer satisfaction? 

Taking the time to explain how the solution will benefit not only the organization, but employees as well, will encourage staff to embrace it instead of resist it.

2. Not Providing Adequate Training

One of the first things you should do when introducing employees to a new system is provide training. To get the most out of training sessions: 

• Incorporate at least two different learning styles (e.g., visual and auditory) to engage participants and help them grasp and retain the information.
• Provide hands-on activities to help employees put the information they’ve learned into practice.  
• Tailor training for various job functions and even different generations (millennials, baby boomers, Gen Z, etc.).
• Schedule recurring training sessions, and consider how quickly technology and the business environment change.  
• Utilize training resources and encourage your employees to take full advantage of them. These resources can be written or video tutorials, best practices, phone training, and live video sessions.  
  
  

KeyTrak Video Library

Helping your team learn more about the new technology your organization has implemented is worth the time investment. They’ll improve their job performance and reap the full potential and benefits of the system. 

3. Not Designating a Point Person

Even hands-off technology (marketing automation, automatic cloud backup, etc.) needs someone to monitor it to make sure the tool is performing as expected. When implementing a new key control system, appoint an internal administrator who’s familiar with how the system works and understands the results it should deliver.

The person doesn’t necessarily have to be a member of management, but they should be a full-time, trustworthy employee who’s been with the organization at least a year. You’ll want to designate more than one administrator in the following situations:

• Your organization has high turnover. Having more than one person monitoring the system helps avoid interrupting business operations if one of those people leaves.
• You manage valuable assets. Checks and balances are essential if you handle valuable assets such as sensitive data or expensive equipment.
• Multiple departments use the system. Having multiple administrators allows employees to share the responsibility of overseeing the system, saving time and increasing accountability.

By designating one or more point people for your new key control system, you can be confident your investment is meeting your expectations.

4. Not Sharing Goals and Expectations

To gauge the success of new technology, you first need benchmarks. For example, when implementing an electronic key control system, you could:

• Set a goal of all keys being checked in by the end of the day.
• Aim to reduce the number of lost keys by 90% within the first six months.
• Cut down on key retrieval time by 50% within the first quarter. 

Once you’ve established goals: 

• Communicate With Employees — Explain why these goals matter (e.g., improving security or saving them time).
• Tie Goals to Job Roles — Help employees understand how their individual actions contribute to broader business objectives.
• Celebrate Milestones — Acknowledge improvements and recognize employees who contribute to success. This boosts morale and reinforces continued desired results.
• Reinforce Expectations — Describe procedures in onboarding, training sessions, and internal communications. 

When adopting a new electronic key control system, successful implementation depends on how well your team understands and uses it. By avoiding these common mistakes and setting clear expectations from the beginning, you’ll not only protect your keys and assets but also make the most of your investment.

This post was originally published in 2021 and updated in 2025.