Automation: How Not To Lose Your Job!
Business and process automation helps in many areas, from factory production to farming. It increases yield and lowers costs. It helps standardize quality. Automation in production has been around since 1946. Companies now use information processing and automation, including Artificial Intelligence, to enhance production and streamline different jobs. Automation can be a valuable part of your company’s digital transformation.
Vendors and advocates of automation position it as a cost saver. It increases production yield and theoretically decreases or redeploys the number of employees required to complete a certain task. With this knowledge, you can create ways to ensure your value within your organization. First, understand that automation targets processing typical actions and tasks.This saves human interaction for exception processing. Skills around exception handling are key to surviving and thriving.
How can you sharpen your skills to handle exceptions? I don’t have all the answers, but I’ve worked with enough employees at all levels to know you can mitigate losing your job to a machine. Properly honed, the following three factors can mitigate risk of being automated out of a job, with the added benefit of making you more valuable to your company.
Where Is The Information?
Most systems focus on task-based work and deliver items to knowledge workers. That said, when information isn’t sent automatically, someone must know where to find what’s needed to understand the whole picture? Are their additional clues in other systems? Can you access them? Do you know who can?
Understand The Full Process
The previous question is key. If you understand how the processes and systems work, you can more easily find answers. Is your customer management system different than your work distribution (task manager) system? Or accounting system? You might need to look in several places to get a clear understanding of the customer scenario. The ability to keep going when you aren’t getting the answers you need is a huge benefit to employers when it comes to customer satisfaction, and your value to the organization.
Make Decisions & Defend Them
This is hard. The purpose automation is to focus on exceptions. These are situations where judgement comes into play. Your job? Take necessary information about the customer and determine the next best step.
Once you have the information, you must use to it to create equitable solutions for both your customer and your employer. Depending on your work culture or seniority, you may have more leeway to handle exceptions. And ask for a documented decision making policy.
In a changing workplace, there’s little room for the “that’s not my job” attitude. If you’re in customer service, your job is to satisfy reasonable customer requests and inquiries by making the best decisions. When you are fully empowered with information, and willing to make decisions based on that, you stand a much better chance. Excuses won’t hold up. To make decisions even when the directions aren’t explicit will set you apart if your company faces the difficult decision to reduce workforce.
Changes are certain to come over the next few months. Hopefully, taking time now to cement your role as your company evolves will pay off for everyone. Until next time, be well. Get a cute mask, and stay safe.