In today’s increasingly competitive market, businesses should be looking at ways to keep employees engaged as well as maximise profit. One way of achieving both these goals is by investing in your employees learning automation. Not only does it upskill your staff but introducing automated processes makes the business more efficient, saves money, and increases profits. It’s a win-win!
According to a recent McKinsey report, “over the next ten to 15 years, the adoption of automation and AI technologies will transform the workplace…”. They also say that “these technologies will bring numerous benefits in the form of higher productivity, GDP growth, improved corporate performance and new prosperity…”. And finally, “to harness the new technologies to their full effect, companies will need to retool their corporate structures and their approaches to work. That change will require redesigned business processes and a new focus on the talent they have – and the talent they need…”.
So here are our top seven reasons why you should invest in your employees learning automation:
1. You don’t need a highly skilled IT team for automation
The first reason to invest in your employees learning automation is that it will save money as you won’t need to hire an expensive development team. Modern digital tools like Zapier are no-code applications that don’t require highly-skilled programmers to deliver streamlined, integrated systems. The employees who are doing the day-to-day tasks are the ones who are best placed to automate them. They will know better than anyone where efficiencies can be made, which systems are being used, and how to optimise their processes.
2. Increased productivity
If you invest in your employees learning automation then they will achieve higher productivity. Removing manual effort means they have more time to focus on being creative and supporting your business goals. This has many benefits, from lower costs and happier customers to increased profits.
3. Better data
If employees are fluent in automation then they will be able to spot opportunities for tracking data, and it won’t take any extra time to capture it once it has been set up. With Zapier it’s easy to configure triggers to count activities, sales, visitors, transactions, expenses, just about anything! Once you have the data then you can also use Zapier to help with analysis by triggering information to be sent to spreadsheets and databases, or even retrieving data from Google Analytics. Reports can be delivered seamlessly to the right people and monitored on an ongoing basis.
4. Scale your business
If employees are bogged down with manual tasks then it’s hard to scale without increasing the size of the team. Recruiting extra people is expensive and is not a great long-term strategy for growing a business unless the tasks can only be done by a human. A better idea is to invest in automation training, then systematise repetitive manual tasks so that staff can concentrate on business growth.
5. Improve efficiency
If your employees are confident automating processes then it makes everything run more smoothly, more efficiently. If you have invested in automation training then it will open their minds about new opportunities for streamlining the business. Things like work allocation, approvals, reviews, managing project tasks and marketing activities are just some of the day-to-day tasks which could benefit from automation. Zapier is so flexible and connects over 6,000 apps which are used in businesses every day, so the chances are there are many of the systems in your own business included. Automation will help you compete in a global marketplace and will help achieve an improvement in overall corporate performance.
6. Better culture
Investing in any training has the benefit of improving your overall business culture. Having an ongoing learning programme improves overall employee performance and job satisfaction as well as making staff more competent and confident.
Continuous training increases loyalty too as people can see that you’re investing in them, and also improves agility. Having a multiskilled, agile team will create a more flexible workforce.
7. Improve communication
Investing in your employees learning automation improves communication, both internal and external. Tools like Zapier integrate with many email, messaging, and other communication platforms that it is simple to automate notifications to anybody.
Internal apps such as Slack can be used to notify members of staff when key business milestones have been reached, when sales are made when a customer has contacted you – almost anything you can think of. If employees are aware of the power of Zapier then they will think of new ways of keeping everyone in the loop. External marketing activities can be automated, you can create a sales cadence for new business prospects, you can thank customers for paying invoices, and manage calendars and appointment setting.
Further reading
To find out more about how investing in your employees learning automation will produce opportunities for your business, Solvaa has created a series of demonstration videos for useful automations such as how to automate a 7 day sales cadence, how to send a daily digest of paid Xero invoices to Slack and how to automate thanking customers for paying their Xero invoices.
Here is a link to all the videos.
One of Solvaa’s customers, IQ Glass, have benefited from Zapier automations and their Group Operations Manager Hugo Cox listed the following business benefits:
- 45 hours per week saving, the equivalent of a full-time member of staff.
- Significant systems and process improvements.
- Better accuracy.
- No human entry errors.
- Fewer missed deadlines.
- Scalable and repeatable.
- Low maintenance.
You can read about the IQ Glass case study here.
Lastly, as we mentioned earlier in this article, McKinsey recently produced an interesting report about the skill shifts towards automation and the future of the workforce.
Check out our automation training programme
And finally, if you’re really keen to transform your business using automation, then visit the Solvaa Automation Academy. Our signature training programme, ‘Simple Automation Blueprint: Zero to Hero’ is aimed at anyone who wants to learn the fundamentals of business process automation from the experts – a sure-fire way to recession-proof your business.
It’s an 8-week blended learning course with on-demand videos, templates, resources and weekly group coaching sessions. And it’s more than just a Zapier course (although we do show you how to use Zapier like a pro) as you’ll learn about Process Mapping, Business Process Improvement and Business Process Management too – principles that can be applied to other areas of business too!
Whether you are a complete novice or have been using Zapier for a while, our programme is for you. It’s perfect for individuals and teams in micro, small and medium-sized businesses, including solopreneurs, consultants and freelancers. You’ll have access to our experts and can participate in live calls where you can ask all your burning questions, as well as hands-on workshops to keep you on track with implementing your new skills. We run regular cohorts so there will be an opportunity for everyone to participate.
Our head trainer, Kelly Goss, is a specialist in business systems, process improvement and automation, and one of less than 100 Zapier Certified Experts in the world. Kelly has many years’ experience in optimising systems and processes, and implementing automations for clients and is now passing on her knowledge to students through our trademarked ‘4-Step Solvaa Automation Methodology®‘.
Find out more via our dedicated Solvaa Automation Academy website.
Read more about how our certified experts use Zapier workflow automations to simplify processes and increase efficiency.
Solvaa is a process and automation consultancy specialising in improving sales, operations and financial administration workflows. We help you to simplify and streamline existing processes, integrate your business tools to make data transfer more efficient and automate manual tasks to increase productivity. We are Zapier Certified Experts, Pipedrive Certified Experts and Xero Certified Advisors.
Contact us today to discuss how Solvaa can help you simplify, improve and automate all aspects of your business with Zapier to save you time, reduce costs and keep you agile as you grow.
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