What Are You Going to Do With the Extra Time Hybrid Automation Will Give You?

If you’re like me, then 2020 has probably given you some extra time to reflect on a number of things, big and small. You might have been dwelling on why it has taken you so long to bake sourdough bread, or perhaps you’ve asked yourself if remote working is all it’s cracked up to be. And maybe, just maybe, you’ve started to really think about automation and what it means for our collective future.

Frankly, the term “automation” can sometimes feel as nebulous as it is specific, and often this leaves us with more questions than answers. Even today, the prospect of a fully automated economy often conjures dystopian thoughts of robots performing rote tasks in manufacturing plants, or streets lined with self-driving vehicles, and little else—pretty grim, I think you’d agree!

But you see, the fallacy that automation will lead to some type of sci-fi displacement of humans for robots is just that: a fallacy. In reality, what makes Hybrid Automation platforms like Wrk so valuable and innovative has nothing to do with removing human workforces. On the contrary, it is an empowerment tool that frees up one of your most precious commodities—time. Doing so means you can focus on the things that are more deserving of it.

Today, automation is used in many business processes, from talent acquisition and human resource management to email marketing and lead nurturing. And its far-reaching benefits are enjoyed by professionals in teams of all shapes and sizes around the globe.

With the help of Hybrid Automation, here’s a list of priorities you can shift your attention to:

Enhance customer satisfaction

The quality of your customer experiences can make or break your business. In fact, a Hubspot report found that roughly 80% of consumers polled have ceased ties with a business following a poor customer experience. Whether you’re leading your customer success department or running an eCommerce business, ensuring consistently positive customer experiences is a challenge, given how much users value speed, ease of navigation, and direct communication.

“On the contrary, it is an empowerment tool that frees up one of your most precious commodities—time.”

By automating repetitive steps within your customer lifecycle (a primary objective for Wrk), you can shift your attention to mapping out strategies that maximize customer acquisition and satisfaction. This is a stage where you’ll have the occasion to delve deep into your customer behaviour data and understand them with enhanced clarity so you can serve them better.

Maximize your efforts

The intricacies of improving your business don’t just revolve around efficiency and profitability—there’s so much more than that. People seek out your product or service as a solution for their needs, and employees are drawn to your workplace to put their skills and ideas into practice. Put the extra capacity at your disposal to good use by learning how to enhance your organization holistically.

Obtaining honest feedback is a natural first step in the right direction: Lead focus groups, pore over customer reviews and chat transcripts, conduct thorough customer personas, and solicit candid employee feedback.

Create and innovate

People understand other people better than machines do. So when it comes to unpacking the emotional and psychological motivations fueling your customers’ buying decisions, your most creative teams—be it product development, user experience or marketing—can devote more time analyzing behavioural data, customer feedback and shifting trends in order to produce a better-tailored product, experience or message.

Creative-minded professionals are skilled at thinking outside of the box, so liberating their limited time from completing mundane work that can easily be automated will allow them to focus on what makes them thrive: disruptive ideas that lead to tangible breakthroughs for your business.

Encourage continuous learning

Happier employees make for more successful organizations, and promoting growth and development is key to ensuring ongoing employee satisfaction and retention. However, adequate learning and development (L&D) initiatives often lag behind as a priority, particularly during busy peaks when project completion takes precedence over training and upskilling.

Invariably, Hybrid Automation platforms like Wrk curb human intervention for automatable tasks which makes it all the more important for workplaces to be people-centric—so not just outward-facing to please customers, but inward-facing to accommodate staff as well. As such, instilling a culture of continuous learning is essential. Use the newly-available time that automation would allow to upskill and reskill your employees to be better versions of themselves.

Forge meaningful long-term connections

Young consumers are increasingly conscious of their buying power and have shifted their attitudes from “buying cheap” to “buying ethical.” That’s why it’s no surprise that 87% of consumers are willing to make a purchase from a company that advocates for a cause they also support.

“Use the newly-available time that automation would allow to upskill and reskill your employees to be better versions of themselves.”

To respond to this pattern of “ethical consumption,” honing in on your brand’s social responsibility is critical. Value-driven consumers are drawn to value-driven companies, so carve out some time to brainstorm on how to make your company’s ethics and values resonate with your audience. However, it must be authentic. Bandwagoning on a social justice cause to improve your brand’s ethical targets is a real no-no.

Plan for the future

Envisioning the future of your business is the type of strategic planning that requires renewed focus, especially given that Hybrid Automation is poised to enhance performance and productivity across many fronts of your organization as it scales. With more time on your hands, you’ll have the freedom to plan ahead and develop foresight for future recruitment needs and growth opportunities.

As you plan for the future of your organization, these pressing questions will likely come to the fore: How much will we be investing in human capital to solve current and future problems? How can we adapt our business processes to the growing data economy? How will our base clientele change due to shifting demographics in the near future?

Hybrid Automation can be a net-gain for your business

When the prospects of automation were first discussed, the topic was often framed as a sinister game-changer that would take away more than we bargained for including jobs, livelihoods, professional agency, etc. However, the reality is the polar opposite, and businesses that have tapped into the potential of automation can attest that what you stand to gain from it is so much more valuable than what you lose.

By letting a Hybrid Automation platform like Wrk complete repetitive and time-consuming tasks, more and more businesses are rediscovering the time to learn, create, and connect.

What would you do with that kind of time?

If you want to learn more about how Wrk’s Hybrid Automation platform can empower your organization during these uncertain times, then visit our Redefining Work page today!

Featured Image Photo Credit: Brad Neathery