The COVID-19 pandemic has fast-tracked the pace of digital transformation for enterprises in practically every industry. As per a McKinsey report from October 2021, companies have been pushed over the technological tipping point which has transformed businesses and the way we work forever. Organizations are moving towards automation not just to deal with their external customers but also their internal ones i.e., their workforce. Automation is being used to enhance the employee experience and job satisfaction.
What can Automation Achieve?
The word automation may bring to mind images of robots working on assembly lines but for an enterprise, that isn’t the case. Automation can be used to streamline critical business processes like organizing and filing paperwork, sending standard notices, maintaining and validating data entered by customers, tracking orders and filling out routine paperwork. All of this and more is achieved without the risk of human error.
There is little debate over the fact that when done right, automation increases the speed, efficiency and accuracy of an organization’s internal processes. By automating routine and mundane tasks, the human capital can focus on strategic thinking and intellectual pursuits. Employees can be free to execute tasks that are creative in nature which leads to greater employee engagement and increased productivity.
Other Benefits
Automation has other benefits as well. By digitizing the manual paper pushing tasks, it increases the options for remote work for employees, without any significant impact on business. It can also provide increased visibility and accountability into work processes. With automation, people may not need to spend hours chasing information and approvals that they need to do their jobs.
Automation can enable massive economies of scale by lowering the cost of production, especially for industries that require high capital investments. It can also enable economies of scope by allowing for greater product differentiation and customization.
Opportunities for Enterprises
Once focus intensive, mechanical tasks are automated, employees can spend their time addressing the mission-critical tasks rather than administrative work. Increased productivity and efficiency of the employees will have a direct bearing on creating better results for the business. Automation can also provide scalable solutions to engender a business that is agile and resilient. The business will be able to achieve more with less and have greater return on investments.
Automating will allow organizations to analyse their business processes and effectiveness. By tracking and collecting relevant data organization can discern patterns within the data and create reports and action items. Such data driven decision making can be used to create best practices for the organization and lead to better resource allocation.
Automating training processes can give organizations additional options to customize their employee growth journeys. It can ease the process of managing enrolment and selecting the right courses and to track key metrics and goals, both for the management and the trainees. The learning journeys can also be integrated with other business systems to create a seamless experience for the trainees
The Challenges
While automation provides multiple benefits to an organization, there are also challenges that must be addressed. In certain cases, requiring emotional intelligence and soft skills, use of automation may be limited. But many a times, organizations and people are simply unaware that such solutions exist and can be applied effectively for greater profitability. There is need for effective communication that demonstrates what automation can achieve.
Further, in order to be successful, automation needs to be more than just identifying a process and applying technology to execute it. The human angle must always be factored in by creating a platform with engaging content. Humans are creatures of habit and getting people to adopt new methods of working can be difficult. The key is to be consistent and for leadership to be supportive of such endeavours.
Final Thoughts
Automation is going to be a major trend in the coming years across all industries. It will lead to newer opportunities and has the potential to revitalize industries going through a downturn. It can be a means to achieve your business goals faster as long as there is clarity on where it works and where it does not.
About Courseplay
Courseplay is quickly becoming the preferred toll for enterprises to automate their learning workflows. Courseplay is an employee experience platform that focuses on on-the-job, social and formal learning in the workplace. Companies like Amazon, SpiceJet, Hyundai and Emami are managing their entire skill and talent development lifecycle on our unified talent experience platform and mobile apps. We recently closed our seed round with Inflection Point Ventures and are looking for aggressive growth in the enterprise market this year.
Features Offered
Career Planning, Learning Management, Performance, Leaderboards, Levels, Badges, Rewards and Recognition, Mentorship, Coaching, Training Needs Analysis, Onboarding, Training Recommendations, Task Management, Chatbot, and more!
Business Problems Solved
- Get better recommendations for training program assignment
- Provide employees with the ability to chart their growth plan
- Drive training outcomes with zero-touch across distributed geographies
- Ensure employee safety in post-COVID workplace
- Save cost and effort of training operations
- Make better decisions to retain, promote and nurture talent
- Automate the learning journey for all employees