Why automation can help your business
In 2020 the business landscape has changed significantly. As remote work became the new normal, businesses had to adapt, implement more digital tools and rely on automation.
Automation is especially important during the pandemic because it leads to more productivity and efficiency and allows employees to work from home safely.
Although it might initially seem like a significant investment, it can drive long-term savings on labour costs. You’ll quickly begin to see a return on the investment as labour costs start to decrease and the time becomes efficiently used.
Additionally, automation can also help you reduce the risk of human error, as automation software is more reliable than its human counterparts.
Let’s go through the most important automation trends and see what they can offer to your business.
What is hyper-automation?
The term hyper-automation was coined by Gartner and defined as a process that can help businesses “streamline and orchestrate as many tasks, activities, and processes as possible”.
Hyper-automation combines artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, intelligent business process management (IBMP), and robotic process automation (RPA) to process information much quicker than before. In order to successfully utilize hyper-automation, each of these components has to be carefully designed.
It is an excellent technique to help companies determine which tasks can be eliminated from the business process. It eliminates human input in many different areas, reducing or even eradicating human errors and reducing operating costs.
Automated Communication and Collaboration
Remote work during the pandemic brought some new challenges to businesses all around the world. Luckily many technological solutions can help you streamline and automate communication and collaboration even if your teams are spread across different locations.
Although automation is taking the workplace by storm, employee engagement and human interaction still play a vital role in every business. Especially during these trying times, it’s crucial to maintain a connection with your employees.
Many employee engagement solutions can help you seamlessly keep your employees connected and engaged while allowing you to automate things like employee schedules, notifications about shift changes, and collecting feedback from your teams.
Letting your staff interact and listening to their concerns is essential to keep them motivated and engaged. Automation technology can help you efficiently nurture these connections without wasting time.
Replacement of Repetitive Tasks
The world of automation might seem like a dystopian future where machines will replace humans. However, the goal of automation is not to completely eradicate humans from the workforce but to allow employees to fill higher-value positions, leaving the mundane work to be done by automated technology.
Repetitive tasks are not only boring and disengaging, but the cost of this work can also quickly add up and represent a significant expense, even at minimum wage.
Implementing automation to eliminate repetitive tasks will leave your employees with positions requiring more of a hands-on approach. Those are positions such as marketing and human resources that need forward-thinking to be done successfully. They are also typically better paid than typical jobs.
This means that you’ll be able to relocate your resources for higher-value positions. This will not only improve employee satisfaction, but it will also help you spend your money more productively.
ASA: Highly efficient solutions
As-a-Service automation refers to the cloud-based automation that’s been dominating web platforms lately. ASA uses cloud technology to offer cutting-edge solutions that are not only extremely efficient but also cost-effective.
For example, Zoom’s now-famous video platform has seen a major influx of business due to its cloud-based software. With quick download speed and limited restrictions, this software met the high demand of its users and offered ease of access from anywhere.
The power of the Artificial Intelligence
During the last few decades, scientists and investors have been working on perfecting artificial intelligence, making AI one of the most complex and sought-after technologies in the market.
AI offers consistency and increased productivity in the workplace, and eliminates the risk of human errors while successfully imitating human thoughts and behaviour. With data and analytics, AI can easily spot connections and provide a detailed analysis to evaluate human behaviour correctly.
At the same time, machines are now learning sophisticated solutions and algorithms. Robotics, including drones and vehicle automation, can be used to simplify transportation and services.
Together, AI and robotic processes will certainly change the business landscape as we know it and will only continue developing in 2021 and beyond.
The perfect time for automation
There are many areas of business that can be automated and simplified with the help of technology (for example, invoicing, expense management, staffing, and so on). This is an excellent way to improve business efficiency and productivity and boost employee satisfaction and motivation.
Although it’s still a new technology that hasn’t been fully explored and can cause some concern, especially to old school business owners, the benefits undoubtedly outweigh these concerns.
The year 2020 has shown us that we can’t always count on old systems and that businesses should be more flexible to adapt to the new normal, so 2021 is the perfect time to jump to some of these automation trends and boost your business.
Emma Worden, Marketing Specialist, has collaborated in this post.
