Robotic process automation (RPA) is a software or robot that allows you to automate mundane office tasks, so that employees are able to focus their attention on tasks that require a human touch, such as interacting with customers, solving problems, or any task that requires reasoning, judgment, or emotional intelligence.
RPA can also streamline processes, saving your business time and money. Robots are able to work 24/7 – they don’t need to rest and they don’t get sick. An RPA tool can complete the same work much faster than a human, bringing you a healthy return on your investment while at the same time reducing or eliminating human error and improving security. You can improve compliance with regulatory guidelines, and even make your employees happier in their roles.
Automate Manual Tasks to Save Time and Money
Of course, the primary reason why most businesses implement robotic process automation is to automate tedious, repetitive, manual tasks, like data entry, scraping data for spreadsheets or visualizations, or verifying things like whether a Know Your Client (KYC) form has been filed for a particular loan application.
Any business that deals with large amounts of data or performs a lot of mundane filing tasks can benefit from RPA. The return on investment (ROI) for implementing RPA ranges from 30 to 200 percent in the first year of operations. This is often a matter of labor savings – a robot can perform manual tasks much faster and more accurately than a human – but that’s not the whole picture. RPA can also help your company tackle the problems associated with regulatory compliance, and free up your employees to give better customer service than they ever have before.
Free Up Employee Time for More Complex Tasks
Many of the tasks that go into running a business in the day-to-day can’t be automated. Things like solving a company problem or addressing a customer complaint require high-level executive function and emotional intelligence that software can’t replicate. When manual processes are automated, employees have more time to spend on the jobs that only they can do, and don’t feel rushed or burdened by an unmanageably heavy workload.
Eliminate Human Error and Boost Security
No matter how good a person is at their job, fatigue, distraction, and other emotions can set it, causing mistakes. It’s natural for a human being to make mistakes. However, a robot provides consistent accuracy. Robots do not get tired, even when they’re performing the same mundane manual task over and over again, hundreds or thousands of times.
Improve Compliance with Regulatory Guidelines
It’s not always easy to maintain compliance with regulatory guidelines, but RPA can make it a lot easier. RPA solutions can ensure that no detail is missed from a compliance standpoint. For example, in the mortgage industry, RPA can be used to ensure that credit scores have been checked for each application and that all applicable documentation has been provided and signed. When compliance is automated, necessary tasks are performed consistently and accurately. You can apply RPA to form updates, workflow, submissions, related notifications, and regulatory alerts.
Make Your Employees Happier
Can implementing an RPA solution in your business really make your employees happier in their jobs? Yes, it can. There’s a lot of overlap between employees’ most hated tasks and those tasks that an RPA solution can take over and automate. By implementing RPA in your company, you’re taking employees’ most detested daily tasks off their plates, which can relieve a lot of the stress and pressure your people may be feeling at work.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that your employees will be doing less work. Many organizations are reporting increases in workload. However, employees who are still bogged down with manual tasks are employees who probably don’t have the bandwidth to take on important tasks that require creativity, human judgment, compassion, and emotional intelligence. By implementing RPA at your institution, you’ll be freeing up employee time to deal with more complex tasks that can’t be automated. They’ll enjoy this work more and be less stressed out about it since they’ll have more time to focus on it.
RPA can do a lot for your business, especially if you have a lot of data to handle or expect your employees to perform a lot of repetitive manual tasks. Automate the boring stuff so your workers can be free to use their creativity, emotional intelligence, and passion on more complex tasks. It could be the best thing you ever do for your company.
Ingrid Maldine is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Ingrid’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Ingrid has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Ingrid has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.
