5 Benefits of software automation for employees

It’s no secret that software automation benefits businesses. Using software to automate workflows benefits nearly every sector. That’s a fact. A lot of attention is paid to the fact that employee productivity increases, errors and costs decline, and employees have more time to work on higher-value tasks. 

This is excellent news for corporations and businesses. But what about the employees themselves? What should they think of automation technologies, including robotic process automation (RPA) and intelligent document processing (IDP)?

Can automation increase employee satisfaction?

Yes. Automation has the potential to make employees happier and feel more satisfied. According to recent “Automation in the Workplace” reports, 69% of information workers said automation could help reduce time wasted on manual, repetitive tasks that decrease employee happiness and satisfaction. For example, 59% of the respondents estimated up to six or more hours per week could be saved if the repetitive aspects of their job were automated. 

Employees working on “menial tasks” reported they were “wasting time;” however, those same employees also reported eagerness to put that time to better use. 72% of respondents also said they could use the time saved to focus on more meaningful, “higher-value work.”

In comparison, 78% said automation could help them focus on the more interesting and rewarding aspects of their jobs. However, it also depends on how you implement and manage the automation. More on this later.

What are the costs of not choosing automation?

Businesses that choose not to automate are likely to feel some pain. Before we dive into all the benefits of automation for employees, let’s quickly examine the opportunity costs to consider when organizations do not implement an automation strategy.

Here are some critical opportunity costs and risks to consider:

1. Increased workload: Without automation, employees may have to manually perform repetitive and time-consuming tasks, leading to increased workload, stress, and burnout. 

2. Reduced efficiency: Manual processes are slower and more prone to errors, which leads to longer delays, decreased productivity levels, and lower customer satisfaction. This is especially true for remote workers who may handle manual processes that are harder to manage from a distance.

3. Limited growth: Without automation, less efficient companies will struggle to keep up with their competitors who are using innovative technology to improve their business processes.

4. Higher costs: Manual processes can be more expensive to maintain in terms of time, labor, and resources, cutting into an organization’s profitability.

5. Risks to data quality: Whenever employees are not engaged with their work due to manual tasks, there’s a risk of bad data quality entering your system. Bad data quality introduces risks in areas where high accuracy is needed.

6. Employee dissatisfaction: Bottlenecks and inefficiencies within any company may cause employees to feel frustrated and demotivated. Productivity could suffer if employees do not have the tools and resources to work efficiently and effectively.

7. Attracting and retaining talent: When top performers become disillusioned with their work experience, they may seek opportunities for more meaningful work with the tools and resources they need. Companies should consider implementing software automation to attract and retain top-performing talent.

What are the risks of employee burnout?

While there is controversy over the causes of employee burnout, the consequences and risks are real. 

Burned-out employees who are less happy and unproductive can lead to risks with significant costs. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, enterprises lose over $500 billion annually solely to low productivity levels. 

Companies know the risks of disaffected employees. Keeping employees satisfied with their work reduces the risks.

How do companies deal with this problem?

Contrary to popular belief, working too much does not lead to employee burnout. 

Recently, employee burnout statistics revealed that it’s how people experience their workload that significantly impacts burnout, not the hours worked. This should come as good news to leaders concerned about productivity. However, the reality is this: employees who are engaged with their work may work longer hours, but they are also far less likely to experience burnout. 

If your team performs repetitive and mundane tasks, it’s time to consider automation. 

5 Benefits of software automation for employees

One area of software automation that has gained significant attention is a new type of AI-supported business workflow automation called intelligent document processing (IDP). 

IDP is a next-gen automation technology that evolved from the need to surpass the limits of traditional rules-based approaches. Instead, IDP uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to read documents like humans.

IDP can read, extract, categorize, and organize data streams (usually from unstructured documents) and convert them into immediately accessible structured data formats that different departments or employees can use.  

The prime function of intelligent document processing is to distill every organization’s treasure trove of unstructured data into valuable, usable structured data. IDP can collect data from every document and provide data teams with the vehicle to analyze it. 

In this section, we will explore five benefits of IDP automation software for employees:

1. IDP boosts productivity and employee morale

One of the most significant benefits of IDP is productivity improvement. Employees can spend substantial amounts of time just manually processing and analyzing documents. The capability to extract raw information from any document significantly cuts down on the workload of manual data entry tasks. Since these processes can be automated with IDP, employees can work more efficiently and spend more time on higher-value tasks that generate revenue and more meaningful work that adds real value to the business.

2. IDP improves data quality, trust, and teamwork

Any time manual processes and human touchpoints are cut back or removed, it doesn’t just increase speed and productivity; it helps with accuracy and instills trust. Let’s face it: human errors are common in document processing. IDP protects against these errors, so there’s less chance of costly mistakes or lost hours due to audits that went wrong. Some IDP solutions offer an easy-to-use HitL interface that enables multi-party reviews and approvals — turning randomized audits, compliance procedures, and quality assurance processes into streamlined collaborations between people and departments.

3. Faster turnarounds enrich the employee experience

With manual document processing, employees may need to wait for other departments to process business-critical documents before proceeding. IDP can streamline this process, allowing employees to receive documents and data in near real-time and make faster, more informed decisions. Automation Hero’s IDP platform uses a classification AI model that detects intent in incoming emails and intelligently sorts them. Using the extracted data, Hero Platform_ can look up information in another system, verify it, and automatically send replies to common inquiries or route them to the correct department. — saving employees time and effort.

4. Automation makes employees better at their jobs

When employees are more engaged with their work, productivity skyrockets. Still, many processes require decision-makers to be in the loop. Some automation solutions offer a human-in-the-loop skill-builder that’s easy to manage and interact with. You can free critical decision-makers to take the enterprise to new heights with an intelligent automation platform that offers HitL automation workflows. Automation Hero’s no-code environment provides a unique “human-in-the-loop” component that’s easy to set up.

5. Reduced workload alleviates employee burnout

Finally, IDP can improve job satisfaction. Manual, repetitive tasks add little value to the organization and do not contribute to the sense of purpose employees crave from their work. Employees who spend significant time on manual document processing can experience frustration and burnout. Automating this process allows employees to focus on more fulfilling and challenging tasks, which ultimately helps improve job satisfaction.

How you can help employees embrace automation

Since automation software automates many repetitive tasks that lead to burnout, this will come as good news for business leaders looking to increase productivity, job satisfaction, and employee engagement.

Here are five ways automation software can help you achieve your automation goals:

1. Start by getting rid of the mundane stuff

Start by identifying and eliminating the mundane, easily automated busywork. This is a crucial step for increasing employee satisfaction and decreasing turnover. 

2. Ask employees to look for automation opportunities

Your people are your greatest asset. They have institutional knowledge about your business that can help you identify critical processes that need automation. Getting your team on board is the best way to involve them from the beginning. When engaged, your team will become “automation evangelists” as soon as they understand the potential.

3. Make automation a no-code process

Make change a positive experience for your employees. Learning how to use automation software is a skill. Upskilling is a lifelong journey and a goal many millennial employees value. When you give employees the tools to succeed, they will get excited about the opportunity to learn and grow. Therefore, choosing an automation platform that offers a no-code environment for your team is essential to kickstart the process without friction.

4. Keep employees in the loop

If you want to leverage automation software to improve operations but still need to handle exceptions and maintain oversight of the process, do you give up on automation? No. You keep humans “in the loop.” Automation Hero offers a human-in-the-loop skill builder for that extra layer of security. Be the Hero. Correct errors before they occur and close the gap between people and your automation.

5. Help employees understand the benefits of automation

Be a positive change agent within your org. Software automation is a powerful tool with the potential to alleviate employee burnout and enable a higher sense of purpose. Share this blog with your employees and help them understand the powerful benefits of automation software. You’ll need their help along the way!  

Start improving the employee experience with Automation Hero

When Allianz Italy decided to scale the use of AI, they quickly discovered that the best path to reach this goal was to keep business experts involved in the process. Learn how we helped Allianz create synergies between humans and artificial intelligence to reduce total claim processing time by 80% — cutting down manual tasks from 10 minutes to just two minutes per claim. 

• Watch the webinar — Allianz: Keep the Human in the Automation loop
• Speak with an expert — tell us about your specific use case.
• Get a personalized demo — schedule a demo, and our Heroes will get in touch!