According to business leaders surveyed in a new report, robotic process automation (RPA) will have significant impacts on digital transformation and cost mitigation, notably in the customer service area.
The Rise of RPA Will Drive Higher Levels of Business Efficiency, commissioned by RPA provider NICE and conducted by Forrester, found that 80 percent of those polled felt RPA is already important in making customer service teams more efficient. Nearly 90 percent consider the technology a cost-mitigation strategy and 72 percent said RPA will be an important enabler of customer self-service.
While the benefits of RPA are well documented and business leaders are clear, the report said, how it is implemented and communicated to current employees will bear on the ultimate success businesses derive from the technology.
“Organizations are just beginning to touch on the capabilities of RPA; however, both business leaders and employees are already concerned that RPA or, more commonly, bots will take over human jobs,” the authors wrote in the report. “This is partly true, but it will also create new roles that depend on RPA/bots and will ultimately boost employee productivity. RPA’s success within your organization depends on your change management capabilities; employees want to feel valued and safe, not fearing job security. They need to clearly see how RPA can assist them with tasks and improve quality of their work and their overall performance.”