What is Robotic Process Automation?
When you hear the phrase “robotic process automation,” your mind might immediately become filled with images of robots taking over the world. But there’s no need to worry because that only happens in the movies. And well, this particular type of automation doesn’t actually involve any robots. Instead, it’s something that many organizations find beneficial for managing day-to-day tasks.
In this article, you’ll learn what robotic process automation is, what kind of tasks it can handle so you’ll see different ways you can use it, and the benefits it has to offer. Before you know it, you’ll be finding ways to implement this practice into your organization to improve efficiency for the entire team.
Key Takeaways:
- Automating tasks is about accomplishing tasks quickly and efficiently, not taking jobs away from human employees.
- Common examples of robotic process automation include chatbots that handle customer service inquiries and bots that source and screen job applications.
- By automating certain tasks, you can see increased efficiency, happier employees, and fewer mistakes made while on the job.
What is Robotic Process Automation?
While it may sound rather complicated and futuristic, robotic process automation is pretty straightforward when you break it down into simple terms. Essentially, it’s a software technology that allows you to automate and perform different repetitive tasks humans would previously do. This is done in part by machine learning and scripting or programming these tasks.
To make it clear, this isn’t meant to replace human employees entirely or to phase them out of the workforce. Instead, it’s more about using these robotic processes to handle the mundane tasks of an organization so employees have additional time to focus on higher-value projects.
This works because, much like humans, robots can perform a wide array of tasks. They’re able to complete keystrokes, analyze data, navigate computer systems, and more. Through the use of robotic process automation, repetitive and rule-based tasks can now be partially or fully automated, basically replicating the work humans can do.
It’s become a growing trend in many industries, with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. In fact, the global market revenue for robotic process automation is predicted to reach $10.4 billion in 2023. For that reason, it makes sense to jump on board now and find ways you can implement it.
What Kind of Tasks Can Robotic Process Automation Handle?
To get started with robotic process automation, it helps to understand some ways in which you can use it. Then, you’ll gain a better understanding of how you can incorporate it into your organization’s daily routine to save time and money. Here are some ideas of the tasks it can assist with:
1. Customer Support Inquiries
Odds are, you’ve already encountered robotic process automation when visiting a company’s website or contacting their customer support team. Those chatbots that often pop up and prompt you to engage in a conversation are a form of this technology. And they’ve proven themselves to be quite useful. While only 23% of customer service companies have implemented chatbots, they’ve been shown to handle full conversations 69% of the time.
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But what does that mean for an organization? Well, it cuts down on the amount of time employees spend fielding customer service inquiries and speeds up customer service overall. You can use chatbots to answer the most commonly asked questions that customers have. This way, employees aren’t stuck addressing the same concerns over and over. Instead, they can focus on solving bigger, more complicated issues that chatbots can’t resolve.
2. Sales Automation
By leveraging robotic process automation, you can even boost sales at every stage of the customer journey. In the lead generation phase, employees may have made cold calls or sent direct messages via social media, but this can now be automated. The same goes for scheduling sales calls with potential clients, as well as generating and sending invoices. Automating sales is a sure-fire way to increase revenue.
3. Hiring and Onboarding New Employees
A team can essentially make or break an organization. They’re the ones who are showing up every day and putting in the work to propel you closer to your goals. That’s why it’s crucial to have the right people working alongside you every step of the way. However, the hiring process isn’t always easy. That’s why it could be a smart move to automate it.
With the help of robotic process automation, bots can source applications from potential job candidates and screen their resumes without the bias that humans sometimes have. From there, you can review the options and follow up to schedule interviews with those you’re interested in. This saves you the time and headache of having to sift through the applications manually.
4. Payroll Processing
Payroll is another one of those repetitive tasks that typically happen on a biweekly basis within an organization. Getting employees paid on time is crucial to keep everyone satisfied. However, when humans handle this task, it can be rather time-consuming. It can even result in an occasional error, which can create delays in getting paychecks to employees. That’s why it would be smart to automate it to eliminate inaccuracies and ensure the process always goes smoothly.
What Are the Benefits of Robotic Process Automation?
Before investing time and money into implementing robotic process automation into an organization’s day-to-day routines, you’ll likely want to know the benefits it has to offer. This way, you can be sure to use it to its full advantage. Here are some benefits your organization could see:
- A More Streamlined Workflow: A better workflow is going to result in a boost in productivity, meaning you can accomplish more tasks in a shorter period of time.
- Attention Directed to Higher Value Tasks: By removing mundane tasks from an employee’s to-do list, they can focus on completing more important projects that will directly generate leads and drive revenue. That could be content creation, social media marketing, product development, or anything else that’s going to require creativity and decision-making.
- Ensures Tasks Are Completed Quickly and Correctly: Humans make mistakes, there’s no way around it. However, organizations can eliminate on-the-job errors with robotic process automation. For example, there will be fewer inaccuracies with tasks such as reporting data when it comes to payroll and accounting tasks.
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