Increasing employee engagement with RPA is inevitable

Robots can be adept at doing repetitive tasks without whining.  RPA is accelerating the emergence of a new culture within business organizations. Thanks to human-machine cooperation, we think more about the concept of “valuable work”

In the first years of the industrial revolution, workers destroy machines to believe that they will take their jobs. However, in the following years, technology created more and more jobs and employed much larger masses. Although information technologies initially caused concern in many occupational groups, the refined jobs that emerged over time led people to more skilled jobs to improve their skills. While automation ensures that employee productivity increases, fails, and thus costs decrease in enterprises, qualified employees now have opportunities to turn to more valuable jobs. What do employees think about this? According to the Future of Work Survey 2020, more than two-thirds (67%) of Americans view automation positively and agree with the statement, ‘I believe it can help me with tasks and make my job more efficient.’

According to the 2019 Forbes Insights research, 92% of companies experience significant employee satisfaction after RPA technology is applied. More than half (52%) of employees responding to this survey say satisfaction has increased by 15 percent or more.

Within the scope of the research, employees were also asked in which areas they would like to get support from RPA technology.

Answering phone calls; make phone calls to get approval; sending customer follow-up emails; editing spreadsheets; to keep track of incoming data; filling out forms in which similar information is repeated; sending reminder notifications for payments; tracking payment and work orders were at the top of the employees’ expectation list from RPA.

Human qualities contribute more to work

Machines can be adept at doing repetitive tasks. But within business organizations, RPA is accelerating the formation of a new culture. Human-machine collaboration makes us think more about the concept of “high-value work.” People have abilities such as creativity, care, empathy, intuition. So, it can perform logic jumps that programmed algorithms cannot. Software algorithms and bots are unlikely to acquire such skills, at least in the foreseeable future.

Almost a third (27%) of employees surveyed in the Future of Work say automation will allow them to be more creative. Again, the same percentage of employees responding to the survey believe that they can focus on longer-term strategic planning thanks to automation.

This picture seen by employees tells something else. While more than two-thirds of American workers choose their workplace, they say they are more likely to apply for a job at a company that invests in new automation technologies.

The main goal of lifelong learning

Today’s jobs often require a four-year college degree. Graduates of such programs do not want to do the kind of work that bots can do. Many workers spend hours of their day doing jobs well below their education and skill level. That’s why, according to the 2019 Deloitte Global Millennium Survey, only 40% of millennials are ‘highly satisfied’ with their jobs. Companies are rethinking employment to satisfy and retain employees.

One of the best ways to add value to an employee work-life is to invest in that person’s career development through reskilling. Millennials value learning new skills. For this reason, you must first ensure that your employees learn how to work with your bots.

In a recent Deloitte survey, 61% of executives say they actively redesign existing positions around artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. New types of jobs are emerging that do not exist today. A remarkable study by the World Economic Forum in 2016 shows that 65% of children starting primary school today will be employed for jobs that do not yet exist.

If the employee is happy, the company should be happy too

With RPA technology, you can increase your company’s productivity, eliminate process failures, reduce costs and work. But do not forget that one of the company’s most valuable assets today is trained and qualified employees. By using RPA to increase employee satisfaction, you can do yourself and your employees a huge favor.

Robotic process automation may seem like a mechanical way of doing business. It consists of using software robots to mimic repetitive human actions, performing tasks faster, more accurately, and more safely. Although it is increasingly turning to more complex works with the support of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, robots cannot replace human beings’ innovative and creative potential. At this point, it is possible to eliminate routine work with RPA in almost every work process that touches the employee. For example, your employees no longer need to perform routine and monotonous tasks such as moving raw data between Excel files.

A brand has a nice slogan for its employees: “We make robots, so people don’t have to be robots.” Therefore, the more robotic process automation there is in the workplace, the less drudgery there will be. When your employees don’t have to spend long hours copying and pasting data or managing payroll, they’re more likely to spend time with customers more carefully and contribute to the customer experience.

In summary, by removing the burden of tedious, worthless work from employees’ shoulders, you open the way to retain your valuable employees and support them more added value to the business.