Automation: enabling human performance using RPA

As Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly sophisticated, many worry that it will be used to replace human workers. While this is true in certain cases, the overall picture is not at all bleak. Instead of? disruptive technology and humans competing for jobs, there’s the opportunity for a shared-values based future build on collaboration.?

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) refers to software that can be programmed to perform repetitive tasks across applications. For a typical use case, think about any data that is transferred, transcribed and transformed - like an invoice, downloaded from a portal and saved, captured in a spreadsheet, and uploaded to the cloud ERP.?

Commonly known as bots, RPA is a fast and efficient way for organisations to delegate mundane tasks to computers, so humans can use their unique human intelligence in more creative, innovative and empathetic ways. For example, senior finance leaders can focus on business critical tasks while the bots handle data collection and analysis that would usually take up hours of their time.

Bots also mitigate the risk of burnout. In 2019, shortly before Covid-19 sent half the world into lockdown, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recognised ‘burnout’ as a global pandemic in its own right. Burnout is an occupational phenomenon brought about by chronic work-related stress where employer expectations and employee workload exceed the employee’s capacity to cope. Research supports the link between burnout and lower engagement as well as decreased performance, which impacts both productivity and profits.?

As Solutioneers, we recommend embracing RPA as a way to augment the work experience of employees. In contrast to the job-eliminator narrative, we see bots as job-enhancers that, like anything, require a strategy to be successful. Since bots affect how responsibilities are divided in an organisation, it is crucial to start by defining, even refining, the processes involved. Many RPA pilot projects fail because organisations rush to automate and end up choosing the wrong processes to focus on or automating a poorly designed one.?

This can be avoided by consulting with an experienced service provider that can guide you through the automation process. Start by identifying the use cases that would put latent time back in highly skilled employees days, creating time that is necessary for high performance.