Job unhappiness is at an all-time high, according to Gallup’s State of the Workplace. The same report found that working women in the United States are among the most stressed employees on the planet. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the “Great Resignation,” roughly 1 million women are missing from the workforce nationwide. In this tight labor market, companies are realizing it’s more important than ever to keep employees happy.
In addition to this data, supporting employees’ mental and physical health can improve worker satisfaction. Employees are more likely to stay with a company where they feel fulfilled. Organizations can improve employee satisfaction and well-being by supporting them side by side with digital workers.
More Impactful Work
There are still critical labor shortages in this country, with over 10 million job openings, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Work dissatisfaction doesn’t tend to stem from work hours or schedules but from the lack of empathy and the lack of necessary change to help employees accomplish work to meet necessary business needs. Employees want better work/life balance, as well as to achieve business and customer goals, and intelligent automation (IA) is helping organizations achieve more job satisfaction.
Envision a doctor who spends a third of her day poring through medical records, the police officer catching up on paperwork, or the insurance underwriting assistant stuck processing applications. Workers are overburdened with tedious, repetitive tasks. This environment doesn’t serve employees or employers well, and it affects the customers.
Digital workers powered by IA are replacing simple, repetitive workflows because these workers can do tasks more efficiently and accurately than humans. IA is also creating new job opportunities. As businesses adopt IA, they will need workers with the skills to manage and maintain their IA coworker teams.
IA can automatically generate reports or complete customer service transactions. This is possible because technologies like natural language processing (NLP) can be used to understand unstructured data like text and images—a challenge for traditional automated processes. IA is a combination of artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), business process management, and other complementary technologies that enable companies to advance workflows and streamline end-to-end processes.
With digital workers and employees working together, productivity levels improve. But more importantly, employees can focus on more satisfying, upskilled work and work/life balance.
The Future of Work with Better Opportunities
In a survey on managing work in 2023, most workers say they want tools that help them work smarter, not harder. IA and AI are greatly impacting the workforce, but one of the biggest misconceptions about automation is that it will replace jobs. Instead, these IA tools are transforming how we work, improving accuracy, efficiency, and speed. By connecting human workers and digital workers, companies are setting the stage to enhance the employee experience. Digital workers take on the more mundane tasks, enabling employees to concentrate on more meaningful work.
IA facilitates career growth, produces learning opportunities, and creates the space to do more intellectually stimulating and rewarding tasks. That, in turn, opens all sorts of opportunities that may not have been available before. Doctors, for instance, can spend more time with patients, and police officers can focus on helping citizens and progressing cases.
With IA, digital workers can perform menial work, and employees can focus on more challenging and exciting careers. The resulting business growth can foster other benefits like better salaries, reduced hours, and greater possibilities. This change in the office will improve existing employees’ satisfaction and draw in potential workers, helping address the global workforce shortage.
Steps to Implement IA the Smart Way
It sounds simple enough—adopt some digital workers, sit back, and enjoy the benefits of IA. But here’s where businesses can get it wrong. There are three steps your organization can take to ensure success.
Communicate clearly: Business leaders should inform and educate employees on digital transformation plans. Leaders need to develop a strategic plan in coordination with input from key stakeholders.
Employees should be consulted and guided on how digital workers will support them, how they will benefit, and their integral role on this journey.
Create a clear view of automation goals: Businesses should understand the value of the IA tools they’re adopting and how to best implement them. This can often include the support of other advanced automation tools, like process intelligence and task mining software, to uncover the best tasks and processes to automate. Senior business teams should sponsor the discovery process, advocating and driving IA at scale across the organization.
Integrate and operate at scale: A digital worker will be most helpful to employees if it’s fully utilized, maximizing IA capacity in the business process. Organizations should adopt digital solutions with intent—think about what will benefit your organization, learn how to employ it best, execute the plan, and check periodically for improvement.
A well-structured, -governed, -federated, and -interconnected IA platform strategy ensures each part of the business is supported by a reliable set of automation capabilities appropriate for its function and skill level. Workers will feel empowered by IA technologies and will seek out opportunities to be involved.
Bottom line: Let’s get to work, inclusive of a digital workforce. Digital workers improve efficiency, while human employees are allowed to do more impactful work. More satisfying work provides a more fulfilling experience for your employees. The more meaningful the work, the better the outcomes and the happier your customers will be. That, in turn, means a win for your organization.
Concetta Yates is V.P. of Customer Strategy & Industry Solutions at SS&C Blue Prism.