Definition of Business Process Automation (BPA)
A business process automation is the use of technology to execute repetitive tasks done by the employees. Automating business processes can reduce human intervention or manual efforts, which leads to the reduction of processing time, human errors, costs... It can also increase efficiency, customer satisfaction, employee morale…
An example of a Business Process that can be automated is Employee On-Boarding.
The manual process includes a lot of emails exchange to get the required documents, which means a lot of paperwork that can be missed or lost. There is also the time needed to get the right approvals due to a large number of information forms and documents. The solution could be to integrate software that would digitalize the process. All the documents and forms would be available online, and the approvals would be sent to the right authority, and be approved faster.
The benefits of Business Process Automation
The benefits of business automation are numerous:
· reduction of costs
· reduction of time
· reduction of delays
· reduction of errors
· increase of employee satisfaction
· increase of customer satisfaction
· increase of efficiency
· increase of productivity
The best practices of Business Process Automation
But to enjoy those benefits several steps should be taken to apply the best practices.
1. Define your business processes: it is vital to ensure that all your business processes are documented. You need to visualize each task, from start to end with the employees/departments involved. You need to see dependencies and the level of approval required.
2. Keep in mind the end goal of the automation: you should know why you need to automate.
3. Monitor and measure the effectiveness of automation: If the end goal is to improve the time of execution, you need to measure the time needed before the automation and after.
4. Implement continuous improvement: Your business processes should be monitored and reviewed frequently to ensure that they are streamlined and optimized. As your business is evolving, your business processes are evolving. You need to ensure that they are lean, streamlined and optimized, continuously.
The majority of the business processes can be automated but is it always the right decision? Stay tuned for our next blog post on how Business Process Automation can harm your business. To receive our latest blog post, subscribe to our newsletter now!