Last Updated on Dec 19, 2019 by James W
Automation is the future of business. Rather than being something that will replace human workers’ jobs, it will act as a powerful tool to help them expand their reach and achieve the ultimate goal of working smarter, not harder.
How can you integrate business automation upgrades that will improve employee productivity, and show that improvement on your bottom line? Here are some of the best automation upgrades that your employees will thank you for.
Automated Scheduling
Scheduling is a task that can take up valuable hours in the course of a day. These hours add up over the course of the year, costing a business owner time and frustration, not to mention the opportunity cost of handling scheduling rather than focusing on other areas. Automated scheduling is one of the best technological advances that the improvements to AI has to offer in a business setting.
Automated scheduling can predict when you’ll need more people based on seasonality within your business, as well as follow patterns to populate schedules. Additionally, it gives a centralized system that can calculate an Overtime Pay Rate, let employees handle their vacation requests and shift swaps, and even integrate with payroll for a single, streamlined, systematic approach.
Employee Onboarding
Researchers are discovering that the employee onboarding process when a candidate applies for a job or is hired for a position has an overall impact on them starting their tenure on a positive note. One would think that automation would have no place in the Human Resources department, but it makes life a lot easier for HR employees.
Streamlining the employee onboarding process, giving them the information they need, the documents that need to be reviewed and signed, collecting payroll information, etc. can all be completed with an automated system. This allows HR professionals to juggle the million other things they handle in the run of a day, for which they will thank you profusely.
Customer Bookings and Meetings
Rather than having customers call your employees and go back and forth on potential scheduling dates, consider adding an automated system that walks customers through booking their appointments. If the system is sophisticated, it can even group appointments in a way that makes for a more efficient workday.
Use this approach to meeting scheduling within the business as well. Apps like Calendly allow employees to show their availability for easy meeting requests that integrate with other applications.
Social Media Management
Social media is a struggle for many small businesses who understand the importance of using these platforms to connect with customers but lack the resources to do so effectively. Even with someone on staff to manage the social media accounts, you’ll want an automated social media management platform in place.
Facebook is the only platform that you can schedule your posts in advance. So, unless you have the bandwidth to log into various social media platforms multiple times a day, having an automated posting app is a blessing. It also gives you one central area for managing your accounts rather than having to log into each individual.
Automation, when used effectively, can be beneficial for all involved. Your customer will appreciate the ease of service, your employees will appreciate having great tools with which to do their job, and you’ll appreciate the money in the bank!
