By Tim Hood, vice president – EMEA and APAC of Hyland. www.hyland.com

For many businesses, robotics is the natural next step in their evolution, not just in terms of enriching the customer experience (CX) but also optimising back-office processes.

Using technology to automate tasks and replicate human behaviours has the potential to bring about productivity gains in areas from finance and customer services through to purchasing and logistics. In human resources, for instance, tasks like the labour-intensive recording and administration of attendance and absences or the deduction of payroll taxes can all be streamlined. Similarly, electronic personnel files which, though commonplace, are often managed manually, can be made more efficient, by using robotic process automation (RPA) to check for necessary documents such as ID and references, send requests for further information or schedule appraisals without human involvement.

Consequently, RPA, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are fast becoming a regular feature of companies’ digital automation toolbox and are destined to play an increasingly significant role in business growth and development. In fact, they are essential elements in any digital transformation because they remove time-consuming, repetitive tasks from employees’ workload, allowing them to focus on higher-value, more rewarding and engaging activities. This in turn has a positive impact on employee wellbeing, as well as work quality and productivity.

From standalone to integrated systems

While automation software can be used as standalone systems in their own right, they are much more effective when combined. A content services platform, for instance, could be twinned with RPA as part of a highly effective productivity automation strategy. Add AI and ML to the mix and you are well on the way to intelligent process automation (IPA), which has the capacity to capture, analyse and organise large quantities of both structured and unstructured data that can be integrated with existing line-of-business systems to drive better decisions and customer services.

By providing relevant data directly to your RPA solution, a content services platform will simplify and improve how you interact with information at every stage of the content journey to create true, end-to-end automation.

Unfortunately, robots don’t come with magic wands that makes everything perfect. While RPA, for instance, can reduce compliance-related risks, there can still be significant issues because of implementation errors and execution inconsistencies introduced by humans.

And, of course, with any digital system, the old adage of ‘rubbish in, rubbish out’ still applies, which means that if you want efficient, error-free business automation, you need to start from the cleanest place possible.

Long-established ‘flexible’ practices, for instance, can be a bear-trap because of the way they inadvertently create process gaps. And since robots are programmed to perform in a prescribed fashion, if such omissions and oversights are allowed to enter the system, problems are still going to arise. So, planning, diligence and attention to detail must become watchwords.

How to start ‘robotising’?

If you are looking to completely robotise your back-office operations, you must first decide which time-consuming processes can be automated. Potentially, nearly every process could, but you won’t know which of them should until you have completed an extensive mapping and analysis exercise.

That will give you a much greater sense of what needs to be done and how this can be shaped into an overarching strategy that fits into the wider digitalisation of the business.

Next, companies must consider how they are going to communicate their intentions to employees, who may be concerned about the implications for them and their job. Many organisations struggle to actually implement change because they fail to involve their staff sufficiently in planning and rolling out the transformation. Running ‘information surgeries’, for instance, would provide an opportunity to improve understanding and show that RPA and other technologies are a way to make someone’s job better, not take it away from them.

Choose the right provider

Robots are already bringing significant automation capabilities to the workplace, but whatever the headlines say, robots aren’t a replacement for the human workforce, which has far more flexible, comprehensive and transferable skills than any intelligent technology platform.

Of course, if you are to successfully ‘robotise’ back-office processes, you need a robust governance framework in place, preferably overseen by an experienced solutions provider who can carefully plan and test all the elements within it. This will help you avoid having software robots left idle and underperforming.

A true digital transformation strategy can’t be considered complete without the automation of back-office operations. However, as yet, these aren’t pulling their weight in the digital world, which is a wasted opportunity for any far-sighted, innovative business.

One unexpected consequence of the pandemic is that it has become a catalyst to digital transformation. The growing adoption of software robots has provided the opportunity to automate a wide range of time-consuming tasks, giving people more time to focus on higher priority initiatives.

It’s time for those back-office bots to take a big step forward.