Why a new document automation system makes going back to work more appealing

Discover benefits for both employer and employees

COVID-19 has changed the world of work as we knew it and none of us can predict how the future will end up.

But what we can predict is that staff won’t be looking forward to the many repetitive manual tasks which make up a large part of office administration.

In this blog post, we explain why now is a great time to consider document automation software.

The kind of document automation software provided by Zetadocs, that has been designed and engineered with the aim of making those long-laboured tasks a thing of the past.

Common issues

Anyone who’s worked in an office for an extended period will find it easy to think of anecdotal instances of the chilling impact of repetitive tasks, but statistics back up this impression.

According to a range of surveys and studies from around the world:

• 21% of daily productivity loss can be traced back to issues with documents
• 65% of staff report challenges when checking and approving office documents
• A worrying 86% of employees find it difficult to search for and find specific office files
• 64% of employees find it difficult to find office documents using mobile devices
• 74% can’t sign documents using their devices

It’s also reported that knowledge workers lose 50% of their time preparing documents and 45% of companies report that even something as relatively simple as having a contract signed can take as long as a week to do.

Statistics like these make it clear: that any business which utilizes documentation on a significant scale would benefit from switching to document automation software.

In addition to the positive impact on the bottom line and the wider environment – through a reduction in the storage space needed and the amounts of paper required – the software will free up members of staff to concentrate on activities which add value to the business.

At the same time, these staff members will experience enhanced levels of job satisfaction leading to better retention and a reduction in the money spent on employing and training replacements.

Employee benefits

The benefits enjoyed by members of your team will include the following:

Simplified processes

The dashboard around which an automated process operates will be designed to work on a step-by-step basis, guiding employees of varying technical know-how through processes such as consolidating emails, creating contracts and working with client data bases.

Reduced human error

The automation of standard processes removes the risk of human error. No matter how well trained and professional your employees are, there’s always going to be a chance that errors can creep into the work they do.

This is particularly the case when employees have to deal with boring, repetitive processes which don’t fully engage the intellect.

Even something as simple as getting a single reference number wrong or entering the name of a client in the wrong field can cause chaos which ripples much wider than the single document in question.

Speed

The speed of automation means that employees will be free to spend much more of their time working on tasks which add genuine value to your business.

Simple tasks such as emailing sales invoices and notifications can be handled in seconds, with the invoice being delivered and archived automatically.

Customer enquiries can be dealt with at speed thanks to automated storage systems which capture and keep the relevant documents in the cloud for quick and easy retrieval.

Collaboration

Ease of collaboration is often the key to delivering projects which involve multiple team members.

Automated document management systems are equipped with built-in collaboration tools which enable team members to work side by side on documents in real time via the cloud, removing the need for all members of the team to be in the same geographical location.

Members of your team adopting agile working processes will appreciate the speed with which multiple iterations of a project can be worked through.

Job satisfaction

If you’re paying employees to undertake tasks such as inputting data into a spread sheet you face two main problems.

The first is that you’re wasting your money paying wages for a process which could be automated to cost much less.

The second is that the employee in question is likely to be counting down to the moment at which they can find another job which better makes use of their skills and offers genuine job satisfaction.

If you’re employing a human being, then it’s better for both your business and the person in question for them to be handling tasks which actually call for the complexity of human involvement.

Predictability

The speed with which any process can be completed is much simpler to predict when that process has been automated. When this is applied to document management, it makes it easier for your employees to plan their working days and the progress of longer-term projects, without having to factor in wriggle room for the unpredictability of manual workflows.

Applied across the board, this will once again free up time which your employees can spend delivering core business outcomes or tackling areas of expertise and interest.

Make life easier

When your employees return to work, one thing they won’t be looking forward to is the drudgery of repetitive, mindless work that is so often involved in running a paper-based documents system.

You can solve this problem quickly by accessing the document management solutions offered by Zetadocs.

For a happier, more productive workforce, using systems which save on both time and money, contact us today.