Automating Office Efficiencies [infographic]

Roxanne Abercrombie — November 2, 2016 Follow @parkersoftware

Automation isn’t coming for your job. It’s coming to make it better.

As robotic technology becomes increasingly sophisticated — and increasingly affordable — fear is growing that humans will soon meet with mass unemployment. Every day, the business world hears fresh warnings that automation is claiming jobs across the board. With so much fuel added to the fire, automation anxiety is sweeping the professional landscape.

In truth, automation should be welcomed rather than feared. It won’t replace human roles – it will better support them. A McKinsey study highlighted that less than 5% of jobs could be fully automated — meaning that supporting employees, not swapping them with machines, is what’s needed. In offering this level of support, automation can actually open opportunities.

For example, research has shown that the average office employee only spends 45% of their time on primary job duties. The other 55% of the time, they’re tied up with secondary tasks like emails, meetings, admin and general ‘interruptions.’ The plain truth is that we’re all wasting our working days on lesser chores, without any other alternatives.

That’s where automation software becomes invaluable. Where once office workers would spend extended periods of time occupied by administrative processes, such as updating central databases or answering customer queries, these time-consuming activities can now be automated with software to streamline the working day.

By removing the need for business professionals to perform repetitive, frustrating tasks, business process automation technology can support the workforce – freeing up time to focus on the bigger picture. In doing so, company, customer, and employee alike benefit.

To demonstrate this, we’ve created the infographic below. Highlighting various ways to automate office efficiencies, the infographic demonstrates the cost benefits of staying close to customers via smarter technology applications.

In a world where the average business wastes a total of four weeks a year on slow technology — costing around £2,100 per employee —these cost benefits cannot be emphasised enough.

Full-size infographic available for download here: http://www.thinkautomation.com/cost-benefits.aspx

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