We recently attended Blue Prism World, hosted by the market leader in robotic process automation (RPA) Blue Prism, which was aimed at providing attendees with an opportunity to learn, share and connect with industry leaders and peers all in one space.
With countless speakers available, ranging from customers discussing their deployment experiences to Blue Prism offering product deep dive demos, we were spoilt for choice. Whichever talk we decided to attend, it soon became clear there was one key theme running throughout them all: engage your stakeholders as early as possible.
Not only that, consider the different stakeholder groups in your organisation and engage at all levels.
We’ve picked out the top three groups who need tailored communication and engagement:
1. Executives and Senior Management
Getting early, active and ongoing support from the executive and senior management teams is critical to the success of an implementation. One tip provided by Blue Prism was to leverage success stories. Using case studies from within your business (if applicable) or competitors will help senior leaders visualise the positive application of automation technology. You need to ensure they acknowledge automation as a key business priority and cascade this down to the operational level, creating a culture of change.
2. Information Technology (IT)
Blue Prism strongly encourage involving IT as early as possible. IT support with providing infrastructure for automation, assessing platforms and tools and ensuring the new technology has access to the core enterprise systems. When considering scalability, data continuity, security and compliance, IT teams are best placed to provide advice and guidance, so make sure to utilise this!
3. Operational Staff
Speaking to employees whose role will be impacted is also crucial. They know the processes inside and out and can provide valuable insight when assessing suitability for automation. These discussions can additionally provide an opportunity to start communicating the message that automation does not need to be viewed as a threat. Instead it should be seen as a tool to complement the existing workforce, helping them meet the increasing demands of customers and to stay competitive. Speaking with your employees on the ground and involving them in the process can help instil a sense of collaboration between people and technology.
Stakeholder engagement is crucial for any type of HR change project. To learn more about gaining buy-in, head over to our previous blog post where we discuss useful methods and how to approach resistance.
Veran is a technology agnostic back office transformation consultancy offering free workshops to HR and Finance teams to help you;
Identify processes and process steps that would bring the most benefit if automated
Quantify the likely costs and benefits of automating these for your organisation
Agree a high-level plan to get started
For more information on Automation in HR and Finance or to book a workshop, contact becky@veranperformance.com