Digital mailroom services for flexible working

When everyone can choose a workplace in the office spontaneously, and so many people are working from home or out on the road, how exactly is mail delivered? This is where the digitization concepts provided by Swiss Post Solutions come into play. Location-independent back office processes will be crucial to the companies’ success in the working environment of tomorrow.

Working from home: for millions of people around the world, the coronavirus crisis has made this a reality. “This global experiment, forced upon us reluctantly, will have profound, lasting effects,” says Joerg Vollmer, Head of Swiss Post Solutions. “Now is the time for organizations to push forward with digital innovation, and the crucial change has to happen in companies’ back office processes.”

Digitizing incoming mail

How this can work is illustrated by the example of a large German company that provides desks for only 70 percent of its 35,000 employees in its new administrative building. After all, more and more employees are working from home or on the road. Employees from consulting and sales are almost never to be found in the office, and on top of that, many workplaces are unoccupied because of holidays or illness. To ensure that all employees still receive their mail without delay, Swiss Post Solutions developed a comprehensive approach to digitization that has been implemented gradually since 2020. The core element is the digital delivery of mail by Swiss Post Solutions. Letters are opened, scanned and sent to employees by e-mail. Physical mail such as magazines and parcels can be collected securely from so-called smart lockers in the building using an access code.

The critical digital transformation must now take place in companies’ back office processes.

Time-saving on-demand services

The digital post office offers additional services: for outgoing mail, for example, solutions from Swiss Post Solutions can be used to directly control where printing, enveloping and mailing take place. These more efficient processes lead to faster response times and a better customer experience. “The post office is evolving into a service center for a very wide range of services,” says Jörg Vollmer. “And the decoupling of back office processes from the company’s location allows companies to respond dynamically to disruptions, ensuring business continuity.” Another benefit is savings in costs for office space and technical infrastructure. “In addition, digital processes can be precisely tracked, checked and controlled,” says Jörg Vollmer. “This gives companies far more insight into and control over their business without the need for rigid centralization.”

Trend towards decentralized work

Various recent studies show that many people would like to continue working from home in the future – and will do so. The management consultancy firm McKinsey advises using the great “working from home experiment” during the pandemic to do some creative new thinking about how work should be done in the future – and what role the office will play. Companies with “hybrid-virtual” work practices and business processes that function independently of location are not only more crisis- resistant. For futurologist Tom Cheesewright, flexible working options are also a must when it comes to attracting and retaining motivated employees.