Robots are "Human's" too

Robots are “humans” too.

No mistakes.

100% accuracy.

100% attendance.

100% productivity.

Never goes home, never takes a break

Saved the company lots of money

Technology can be a double-edge sword, it brings many productivity and financial gains but can also threaten many livelihoods and enslave the active and creative mind. One man’s chaos is another man’s opportunity and leading companies are deploying advanced technologies to drive more value for their customers and consumers at large.

Taking a lesson from history, as technology or innovation progressed the world, be it the invention of the automobile, the computer or mobile phone. Each one of these disrupted the norm, yet spawned new and many different work disciplines. The world turned out ok, or more than ok to the point that we have become so dependent on them just to get by these days.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has been around a few years and has now gained critical mass in the majority of sectors. These “bots” as they are termed have been trained to do tasks that people used to do, either in part (digital assistants) or full (digital workers). Digital assistants aid people in alleviating mundane and repeatable tasks, while digital workers negate the need to have people fulfilling some job functions altogether.

Therein lies the dilemma and the moral questions that arise. Will jobs be replaced or made redundant? Will we need to employ people as robots will take over. Massive job losses etc. Fear, fear, fear! These disruptors will continue and we will have more of them and more often in the near future. Is it time to embrace or stick our heads in the sand and hope it will pass us by?

Looking at it simplistically the answers to both these questions will be in the affirmative. Then there is question of affordability as the technology can be costly, but over time the price of RPA will drop, with many different pricing options and the ROI driving investment, it will become a no brainer and much more affordable. Whether we like it or not, no person will be able to work non-stop and be able to maintain levels of accuracy and compliance like a robot. Is it a losing battle and should we just as well throw in the towel.

Let’s analyse this more deeply. While RPA surely will derive many benefits, we should see people and staff as the main benefactors. How does this make sense when people will lose their jobs? Are our people developed enough to perform more human tasks rather, and dare I say “pretend to be robots”. Do we get the most value out of our resource’s. Are our employees challenged enough that they can apply their minds, share idea’s experiences etc.

Are they motivated enough to come to work and do they make a difference everyday? We need to shift the paradigm on RPA, instead of people replacement demonisation, we should look at it as people enhancement and workload sharing. Are we really getting the most out of our staff? Are they happy to get up in the morning and go to do a monotonous and clerical job? Fear of making mistakes. In the current climate, companies have downsized, yet the workload has stayed the same putting more pressure on our existing staff compliment. The backlog has gone up, and the customer experience and service has deteriorated.

This is where RPA can add the most value and so can people. We should aim to utilise the gray matter of our staff as much as possible, get them to think, add value and improve customer service and experience where it matters. Not treating them like robots. No person enjoys doing monotonous tasks day in and day out, and no person will be free from making mistakes. Are people happy with what they do or they do it just to put food on the table

No company is successful by itself. It is successful because of its people. Take Formula 1 racing as an example. It is a team sport and not only down to the driver. Each team member has to do his job optimally and with the same shared vision to make all successful. Unleash and energise your staff and business with RPA, by making robots do robot work and people doing work that makes them think and apply their minds and not being robots. The increase in productivity and reduction in mistakes, improved compliance will allow more to get done in a shorter time, and allow your team to focus on what matters and that’s the customer and customer experience.

Resisting technology will not change the outcome as your competitors will become more agile and more productive with it, and if not now, surely in the short term some tech will disrupt your business and you will not see it coming. Look back at Netflix, Amazon or Uber. You should look at the best way to harness the technology and how you can harmonise it in your business. How existing employees can be re-skilled to value adding tasks or new jobs that will be unlocked as a consequence of RPA. Let robots do robot work and people do human work. Ironically it will be RPA that will increase morale, reduce overtime, backlog and make your workplace a much happier place. This will improve the quality of life for your employees by making them happier at work, and having a better work life balance thereby improving their of life will improve and mental health and physical wellbeing.

Bots are your “human” work companions that just never arrive to or leave the office when do, but your best mate in assisting you in getting it done faster, more accurately and cost effectively.