Automation has been a part of the conversation for workplace operations for years. The COVID-19 pandemic only served to emphasize the need for it in the modern workplace. As organizations around the world continue to navigate the challenges brought by the virus and the changing workplace environment, automation presents an effective long-term solution.
Process automation company Nintex ran a survey of workers from the United States to see what workers from different age groups want for their workplace in 2021. The survey revealed that 51% of employees want to maintain a flexible work environment. 39% of respondents said that automation is the key to improving their work experience.
The Benefits of Automating Your Workplace
The transition to a highly automated workplace will inevitably involve its own challenges, but these hurdles are but a small part of its many benefits for your business in the long run.
1. It is a great help to the HR department
By going digital, you simplify a wide range of tasks that would usually require a lot of time and effort to accomplish. A great example of this is the tasks assigned to the HR department, which is one of the more paperwork-heavy departments of any organization. The need to manually keep track of employees’ progress and other information is time-consuming, so digitizing makes this process much quicker.
If your HR team outsources its payroll management services, you can consolidate information much better if everything is automated. The HR team can quickly green-light payday dues and manage leaves if everything is easily found in one place.
A centralized automated software allows your company’s HR team to put their focus on their core responsibilities, which is managing the life cycle of all employees. They won’t lose time anymore just having to keep things organized from behind a desk.
2. It helps you organize your data much better
Having to physically sort through files and placing them in folders and drawers does not only require coming up with a system that works for your workplace. It also involves quite a bit of legwork on your employees’ end.
When you migrate to the cloud, it does away with all the legwork. You can organize and reorganize data as needed with just a few clicks. It also helps to be able to see your files as tiny icons on the screen instead of having to sort physical documents.
Not to mention, you eliminate the trouble of losing files when you automate. There are no more worries about misplacing or damaging documents, as they are now safely stored in the cloud for your convenience.
3. It makes collaboration easier for all employees
As previously mentioned, more than half of employees in the United States hope to maintain a flexible work arrangement even after the world moves on from COVID-19. This brings up concerns about how to make sure remote and onsite employees can seamlessly pick up work wherever they are.
Communication is one of the biggest issues you have in a hybrid arrangement. By making your work tasks accessible online, employees can collaborate even when they are not together in the office. They can easily brainstorm ideas and work on projects through cloud services and video conferencing tools.
4. It saves costs in the long run
Automation is an investment, which involves some cost at the beginning of your transition. But automating is ultimately a great cost-saving measure for your organization.
An apparent way automation saves money is in how it makes daily operations much more efficient for everyone. When processes are streamlined, employees are more productive because it takes away the time usually spent just trying to get things in order. Your team accomplishes more together in a shorter amount of time.
5. It is more environmentally friendly
40% of the pollution that is produced in the United States is from paper material alone. In addition to this, the process of making paper in itself is wasteful due to its effect on trees and its greenhouse gas emissions.
When you go digital you use less paper, significantly lessening your environmental footprint as an organization. By adopting a hybrid work arrangement, employees also spend less time in the workplace, which reduces your electricity consumption due to shorter work hours and less energy required to accomplish work onsite.
Take It Step by Step
While many millennial and gen Z employees are inclined to automate for better work processes, there are other employees who may need more time to adjust. Ease into an automated workplace by slowly applying the changes you need. This way, everyone will be on the same page and will transition easier into a more efficient workplace.