Omnichannel

10 steps to plan successful business automation initiatives

In a world marked with constant economic uncertainty and changes, many people scare away from automation simply by fear of the unknown, initial capital investment, and the worry of changing their organization’s culture.
Many also believe this could lead the way to turning every position into a robot or computer. The reality is that automation is here to make employees’ lives better and alleviate their workflow so they can utilize this time towards finding new ways to innovate, ultimately leading to business growth.
This means less time entering and looking for information, writing reports, and much more.
The mundane activities that every employee dread because it usually keeps them away from doing what really matters in their role.

The benefit of automation lies in the execution of a task at a much higher speed. In addition to its velocity, its performance does not fluctuate based on a human body’s temperament or glucose levels, that could lead any employee to experience oversight.
Miscalculations or errors, when passed from one person to another, or worst from one department to another, can become very challenging to control in a matrixed environment. They can even become deadly in manual laboured environments.
In large organizations with worldwide operations, it becomes difficult for executives to manage their business unit at a micro level; instead, many functional managers lead different groups. Each team working to the best of their ability, given their department’s constraints.
However, if miscommunication happens or mistakes are made, then carried over to other departments, the result seen often leads to: continue business as usual.
From a bigger picture, the reality is: employees work longer hours to make things work. They constantly put out fires derived from an accumulation of mistakes, often losing sight of the real problem.

What automation brings is peace of mind. Information is entered as accurately as possible and completed at a much faster rate. Data can communicate in real time and be updated in no time.
If needed, this information can automatically be added to a business intelligence platform, helping leaders make even better business decisions.
The accuracy and transparency of information ultimately serves everyone involved in the process.

A significant approach in preparing the workforce to this inevitable shift, particularly for the roles that will be most affected by automation, is to support their development by teaching complimentary skills that will go hand in hand with these new tools.
A great effort in communication and support will be important in that transition to achieve higher results.

Automation can be utilized at many different touch points of a business:
Buying, demand planning & supply chain management.
Inventory, manufacturing, logistics, sales recommendations, CRM, Marketing, Payment processing, management, scheduling, workflow tools and much more.

If automation is being considered in an organization, its implementation needs to be well thought out.

Here are 10 steps to plan and adopt successful automation initiatives:

  1. Conduct root-cause analysis underlying your top business issues (internal or external)
  2. Start with the most repetitive tasks. Look for functions that are the most susceptible to errors with the highest business impact.
  3. Research the best solution based on your business objectives, capacity and budget (SaaS, sensors, IoT, Ai, ML, etc)
  4. If you have a strong tech team, consider doing a Build vs. Buy analysis
  5. Strengthen the business process with accurate order and information. This step improves the quality of your data in order to avoid deploying from a broken workflow.
  6. Set up a program for the roles most impacted by automation with employee training and development.
  7. Launch company-wide or department-wide communication explaining the steps towards automation, its impact on daily activities and business growth.
  8. Initiate Integration and Implementation
  9. Conduct Quality Control, Tests & anticipate potential improvements
  10. Sustain the process and reap the rewards!

It is essential to keep in mind that these steps are iterative and need to be examined regularly to truly benefit from their by-product.

The challenge is in proving that automation tools, machine learning and AI can coexist with human capital. That such a coalition can deliver excellence in products or services, in order to better serve customers and reach ultimate business competitiveness.
In parallel, it is equally important to learn how to balance automation tools and ML/AI objectives with the critical human touch needed when delivering exceptional customer service and staying in tune with employees’ well-being.

Based on market observations, tech companies are hiring at speeding pace in a large array of roles. In that sense, there is no reason why all business categories cannot benefit from the same type of performance and growth whether they have a more traditional business approach or were built on a digital-first mindset.

In the next few years, we will witness how companies will embrace these new technologies in order to adapt to their ever-evolving markets.
There will also be an interesting learning curve when it comes to balancing technology driven initiatives and human capital.

At the end, success will reside at that perfectly calculated intersection between human and machine, while never forgetting the purpose each embody for the development of a better society. Ethics, transparency, productivity, better products and services should be the end goal; enabling a transformation that will naturally lead to profitability.

Customer Experience

3 approaches to employee engagement and business innovation

Employee retention and turnover rates have been a heating topic over the last few years. Countless metrics have proven the high correlation between employee engagement and a company’s growing profits.
Unfortunately, these types of discussions are not consistently put forward in business strategy meetings or upon setting up KPIs.

Every large organization recognizes the importance of human capital by investing heavily into benefits, review processes and internal programs or committees, in order to take care of their employees. However, recent data shows that these approaches no longer seem to be sufficient for employees to stay.

Instead, organizations should address Employee Experience the same way they tackle Customer experience. It should constantly adapt with time and be personalized to stand apart.

The average employee’s tenure in a company is estimated to be at 4.1 years. This number is lower amongst the Millennial and Gen Z generations, averaging at 2 years.
It ordinarily takes 3 to 6 months for an employee to get acclimated to a company’s processes and culture, to fit in with colleagues and become more comfortable with the day-to-day work. Within this time, if the employee has not been taken care of and received proper onboarding experience; they are likely already thinking of changing jobs.

We also need to acknowledge the weeks or months required to review and interview candidates. Valuable time taken away from managers that could focus this energy on advancing the business. Adding to this, the lengthy processes HR go through at the beginning of each hiring process.

With this in mind, we have studied 3 simple approaches that could help your organization capture your employees’ attention and see productivity rise:

Communication

  • Communication starts at the interview stage.
    It is not uncommon that HR and hiring managers tend to upsell a position during the interview process, resulting in altered expectations once a new hire embarks in their new role.
    This tends to create confusion when it is time to apply themselves to the actual job requirements.
    Providing transparency about the actual realities of the job at the interview stage, can help the candidate evaluate if the position aligns with their personal and professional goals.
    If it is, that candidate has more chances of being involved and engaged in his/her daily responsibilities, being fully aware of what they signed up for.
  • On the opposite side, it is equally essential for the hiring manager to recognize a candidate’s personal goals, through verbal and non-verbal cues. A hire that does not have a passion or objective that aligns with a position or company’s mission can only hurt the team’s productivity, morale and ultimately the business.
    On some occasions, candidates have not done the work to properly envision their personal goals before interviewing for a job; therefore, it is intrinsically important for a hiring manager to evaluate what is best for both, through active listening and empathy.
  • Once hired, many employees are not taken through what is expected of them, what their role encompasses and where they fit into the organization. We often see new hires wondering and figuring out what they will be required to do, until they make a mistake that will teach them about their limitations. These mistakes can easily be avoided if the right support is put in place with an effective onboarding process.
  • It is important to understand that every individual communicates differently. Detailed communication is the key to avoiding misunderstandings.
    A non-judgemental stage for open dialogue is critical for encouraging more transparent communication that will get to the root cause of problems and avoid confusion or misinterpretation.
    This is where personalization comes into play. A general way of communicating to all employees does not necessarily lead to better outcomes. Companies should consider altering their communication strategy to adapt to the different personas that englobe their diverse workforce.

Collaboration

  • At the heart of every start-up, lies collaboration. It often derives from limited resources, where roles are less defined, and employees are involved in multiple areas of the business. It is also cultivated through an agile mindset engrained in their methodology, to deliver instant value and inspire innovation.
  • As organizations grow, roles become more distinct and siloed in order to fulfill certain tasks. With this evolution, teamwork and collaboration naturally suffers. A line of command is formed, where results are based on the execution of top management strategies, taken without the input and expertise of those involved in the implementation process.
    A best practice for maintaining collaboration, as organizations grow, is to trust and empower employees by giving them the tools and information needed to make their own decisions as a team.
    Transparency of expectations, availability of data combined with the right tools and support can only nurture great results. It gives employees the confidence needed to develop their skills, encourage collaboration and evaluate winning strategies to reach higher performance in their department.
  • Leaders and managers also need the appropriate training and support to instill this collaborative ethos in the company’s culture, giving them the ability to provide strong direction to their teams.
    This type of organizational transformation often leads to increased opportunities for innovation in any business field.

Coaching

  • Coaching, mentorship and shadowing are crucial elements in the employee experience. When done consistently and not sporadically, it can bare great fruits and develop the talent and skills of many employees, leading to great personal growth.
    Providing guidance and support, pushing an individual’s capabilities, listening without judgment, recognizing effort and good work, and empathy are only part of the skill sets managers should aim to master, to inspire their teams to thrive beyond their department.
  • As we continue to explore more about Diversity and Inclusion, it is important to understand that inclusion is not limited to recognizing an employee’s background and racial descendance.
    It is equally significant to practice inclusion during decision processes. This feeling of inclusion will encourage employees to be increasingly involved in the company, rather than acting as outsiders awaiting fort their list of orders.
    When employees feel more included, they feel more valued.
    When they feel more valued, they are more confident in their potential.
    When they feel confident, their performance increases.
    As a result, they naturally commit to the company’s vision and goals with the desire of seeing their company prosper.
  • Personal development is at the core of every employee’s goal.
    When a company recognizes and supports each employee in their development stage, they are tapping into a limitless pool of opportunities for engagement, performance and ultimately profit.

To conclude, it is important to see a workforce as a group of diverse and unique individuals. To treat them all the same would be to devalue their assets, skills and talent. When doing so, companies only tap into a small percentage of their workforce’s actual potential.

At the root of every human being is the necessity to contribute and bring value to the world. If you take that away from them, you leave employees with poor mental health and indifference, which can ultimately hurt a business.

The same way personalization is a roaring trend in customer experience, so should employee experience and engagement be given the same care and approach.

At 8visio, we created a set of tools and techniques to monitor and cultivate successful employee experiences in order to help your company reach higher productivity rates and set the right stage for continuous business innovation.