the autobots are here: using automation to streamline l&d · 2018-02-12 · 2018 brandon hall...

The Autobots are Here:Using Automation to Streamline L&D

January 2018

Brandon Hall

© 2018 Brandon Hall Group. Licensed for Distribution by Conduent. 2


Table of ContentsBetter Than Humans 3Robotic Process Automation (RPA) 4Automation of Processes 5Robotic Process Automation (RPA) 5Dynamic Solutions for Transportation 6Compliance Automation 6Great Progress Can Be Achieved By 7Improving The Way Work Is Accomplished 7Intelligent Automation Solution 8RPA + Business Processes 9Automation Advantages 10Empowering the Knowledge Worker 10Meet the Real Autobot 11Which Tasks Must A Human Perform? 13Re-Designed Automated Process 13Workflows 14Call Flow 14Workflows 15Solution Options 16Preparing for Invasion 16Automation Symptoms 17Potential Show Stoppers 17Author 18Contributors 18About Brandon Hall Group 18



When they hear the term Autobots, many people default to thoughts of robots they know from television or movies. Even though these machines are far off in the future, they represent a real future for automation, where people are trying to improve their lives through Robotic Process Automation. To put it into perspective, Rosie, the robot maid from The Jetsons cartoons from the 1960s, is supposed to exist in the year 2065. Current experts and thought leaders in the area of RPA have thoughts about what the world will look like with the influence of this technology around the same time period.

Researchers at the University of Oxford surveyed the world’s best artificial intelligence experts to find out when exactly machines will be better at humans in various occupations. Katja Grace from Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute led the team that gathered responses from 352 academics and industry experts in machine learning. Then they calculated the median responses to come up with some predictions. Overall, AI should be better than humans at pretty much everything in about 45 years.

Folding LaundryWriting Top 40 Songs

Writing New York Time Bestsellers

Translating Languages Writing High School Level

Essays

Performing Surgeries

2022 20262024 2028 2049 2053

Better Than Humans

Source: 2017 Conduent



RPA is all around us. For many of us, a trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles provides a perfect example. RPA now manages the ticketing system and auto-assignment to service windows. You can walk in and get in line, or make an advance appointment. The queue can be managed through a cellphone, or you can take a ticket. The wait time is given to you, along with notifications about how you are advancing in line, and when you are next in queue. Before this system it could take upwards of two hours to get a license renewed. With RPA, people can get in and out in less than 10 minutes. That is about 91% improvement in processing time.

Another example is ATM or online banking functionality. We have gone from having to drive to the bank to see a teller, to ATM, to depositing checks from our phone. Now we can even send money to pay our friends through an email.

RPA has also taken the guesswork out of parking. Places like Downtown Disney use automation to help guests find parking spots. Visitors can now see signs above each parking row that tells you them how many spaces are open.

We are only beginning to experience RPA in our daily lives.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)We interact with RPA on an almost daily basis



Time & Attendance

Payroll Administration

Talent Acquisition & Applicant Tracking

Employee Data Administration

Compensation & Benefits AdministrationPerformance Management

Management Reports

RPA is also increasing within organizations. Research from Brandon Hall Group found that many companies are implementing automation across a number of human capital management processes. Nearly 70% use it for time and attendance tracking, and even more complex processes such as career management and organizational development are also seeing some automation.

This indicates great potential for RPA in the area of Business Process Outsourcing.

Robotic Process Automation in the Business Process Outsourcing business can take automation a step further in answering the question, “How can we make this process work better?” What distinguishes this from traditional automation is going the next step with the ability to integrate multiple systems and enabling them to adapt to changing circumstances.

Until now, it has been easy to solve the very linear problem of taking input from A (e.g. a workflow tool) and entering that data into B (e.g. an LMS). But what happens in the situations where there are decision trees that could put the process down path A, B, or C? Or if you need to sign into another system and reference a piece of data from that system to continue? With automation, even these complex challenges can be outsourced. BPO can take all of those different types of common exceptions or decisions and turn them into an automated processes. As long as there is routine to the exception, automation will work.

Automation of Processes

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)Business Process Outsourcing

Learning Content Delivery

HR & Talent Analytics

Manager and Employee Inquiries

Learning Content Development

Talent Mobility

Career Management

Organizational Development and Effectiveness

69%

62%

58%

55%

45%

44%

34%

31%

24%

22%

18%

17%

16%

12%



Dynamic Solutions for TransportationThis is an example of a project Conduent worked on in a business unit outside learning that helped solve some everyday issues facing the city of Los Angeles.

There were some estimates that 50% of traffic in LA was due to people looking for a parking space. The city installed sensors in 400 square blocks in downtown LA to measure real time occupancy, and used proprietary prescriptive analytics in the form of mechanism design algorithms to set up new dynamic pricing on a block by block basis. This was not designed to increase revenue, but to improve traffic flow. Prices were reduced in most of the city, and utilization of spaces was increased.

The next piece was a mobility analytics platform. This integrates several data sources and for the first time, lets city operators see occupancy of buses, trams, city coverage and even moves to simulate what happens if a tram fails or a new bus lane is introduced.

Improving traffic flow using predictive analytics to set parking prices.

Seamless integrated services for the user; Holistic view for city operators

Integrating data streams and advanced analytics for public transport management

The third part was to help make LA a Smart City. The Go LA app integrates public transport, bike sharing, ride sharing and other aspects to provide services to consumers and insight for the city. In the future we’ll see tighter integration of all city services.

LA Express Park

Smart City Services

Mobility Analytics Platform

Compliance AutomationOrganizations with automated compliance functions are more likely to report that are facing little or no compliance risk.

Automation can also have a significant impact within organizations. According to Brandon Hall Group’s 2017 HR Compliance Study, companies that said at least some of their compliance processes were automated were more likely to say they faced little or no compliance risk than to say they faced moderate to high risk.

At least some functions are automated

Little/no risk Moderate/high risk

How does your organization currently manage compliance?

58.7% 38.7%



Great Progress Can Be Achieved By Improving The Way Work Is Accomplished We all know the world is changing rapidly and technology is at the heart of those changes. Advances in technology such as the cloud, big data and the internet of things, have created incredible breakthroughs in knowledge and personalization. Along with that, IT investment has steadily risen to a record high. The way we live, work and socialize is dramatically different.

But are we really seeing improvements based on the investments we are making in technology? The opportunities to transform how businesses operate seem to be plentiful, yet productivity is not improving in major economies and, often, accelerated change makes things more complicated and less productive.

Real value has to come from more than just technology advancements – it has to be about how the processes for using technology – adoption, work flow, connecting stakeholders – can best serve the system and the people who are part of it.

The next frontier of progress requires improving work itself.

• IT investment as a percent of GDP has risen steadily from less than 1% in the 1960s to nearly 7% today. Yet productivity growth is declining.1

• Only 18% of CEOs say they’re seeing their investments in innovation pay off.2

• 68% of CEOs agree: “True innovation isn’t about being cutting edge. It’s about being practical.”3

1Forrester Research and The Conference Board, Total Economy Database2Accenture: “Why Low Risk Innovation is Costly” (2013)3Y&R CEO Study (2014)

Social Media

Robotic Process Automation

Mobile Computing Technology

The Cloud

Internet of Things Big Data



In recent years, gains from labor arbitrage in business process outsourcing (BPO) have diminished. Cutting costs and finding cheaper geographies can only go so far. Pushed too far, this activity can have an adverse effect on process quality, operational efficiency, customer experience and the bottom line.

The next big leap will come from technology. But not just any technology. Intelligent Automation is becoming a growing force that will reshape how work gets done – perhaps even triggering a new industrial revolution.

It’s not just about deploying more of the same software to fix the problem. That won’t work, because today’s complex outsourced processes are beyond the capacity of conventional software and are still handled by people. But automating and accelerating those processes won’t happen easily, or come from quick-fix solutions, which have serious limitations:

• The solutions are not enterprise-class, and can’t be integrated into an enterprise strategy.• They could potentially interfere with other systems.• They don’t allow for data transfer throughout the organization. • Siloed solutions are narrowly applied and miss the bigger picture about the business at large.

Intelligent Automation Solution

Instead, change is coming from an exciting new front: Intelligent Automation – the technology that turbo-charges operations and delivers exponential gains.

Labor Arbitrage Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Machine Learning

Analytics

Cognitive Computing



RPA + Business ProcessesA standard BPO model looks like the diagram on left. In this model, processing heavily relies on manual, repeatable tasks currently performed by an expensive error-prone, geographically diverse human workforce.

The workers interact with disparate systems to perform a single process. There are multiple shifts to cover required hours, and those shifts come with associated breaks, time-off, holidays, etc.

This model takes weeks/months to scale to meet work demand, and onboarding new resources can be a long and tedious process

Business Processing

Business Processing

Automation Server

Workflow/Systems

Workflow/Systems

Trained Software Robot

Work to Process

Work to Process

Automated BPO Operation (on the right) leverages trained software robots to perform the same business processes as a human but at higher speeds, higher quality, reduced cost and agile scalability.

The software robots interact with the same disparate systems the same way humans do today, but at faster speeds. They also work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year with no challenges of working hours, time off, or holiday coverages. This virtual workforce can scale to meet work demand in minutes.



Simplified Process• Remove complex navigation • Eliminate redundant steps• Happier employees (less attrition)• Ramp quickly

Reduce Costs• More transactions / employee• Training significantly reduced• Avoid costs of building new systems• Fewer SLA penalties• De-couple location from cost

Improve Quality• Consistent results • ‘Harden’ business rules• Improved customer satisfaction

Expanded Capabilities• Scale beyond headcount• Complexity beyond speed/quality

Automation Advantages

Empowering the Knowledge WorkerIntelligent automation is not about eliminating workers, it is about allowing them to focus on more strategic elements. Intelligent automation brings significant benefits for knowledge workers throughout organizations.

Currently, knowledge workers typically interact with many different systems displayed across multiple windows (and even multiple monitors). They’re challenged with lots of manual processes, and often find themselves performing low-value, repetitive, routine tasks. They can’t improve their performance, as they’re constrained by the limits of the system.

Intelligent automation brings all of these systems together in one aggregated solution. It simplifies and streamlines processes, with all the heavy lifting, tedious tasks being done by the bots.

• Intelligent Automation helps knowledge workers take a quantum leap.

• Combine a human with a bot and you get incredible performance.

• Intelligent automation helps them be more effective and increase the range and level of what they do.

• They can be redeployed to higher-value tasks.



Meet the Real AutobotRobot Process Automation is the use of software with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities to handle high-volume, repeatable tasks that previously required a human to perform.

What distinguishes RPA from traditional IT automation is RPA software’s ability to be aware and adapt to changing circumstances, exceptions and new situations. Once RPA software has been trained to capture and interpret the actions of specific processes in existing software applications, it can then manipulate data, trigger responses, initiate new actions and communicate with other systems autonomously. Large and small companies will be able to reap the benefits of RPA by expediting back-office and middle-office tasks in a wide range of industries, including insurance, finance, procurement, supply chain management (SCM), accounting, customer relationship management (CRM) and human resource management (HRM) and of course learning administration.

• “Automated knowledge worker”• Interacts through User Interface

(low IT burden)• Reads and writes data• Makes complex decisions &

implements business rules• Drag ‘n’ drop configuration




Consider this example of how RPA can take over for a previously 100% human executed task that can take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes to complete. The worker:

• First locates a piece of data that needs to be corrected.• Uses that data to look up another piece of information.• Takes that information and updates another system.• Goes back and marks the original document complete.

This process is characterized by multiple sign-ins, copy and pasting data, and remembering to follow the proper steps in the correct order.

Internet / Web

Mark Document Corrected

Internet / Web

Locate Image # to be corrected

Mainframe

Use Doc # to search and find

document information

Internet / Web

Use image # to search and find image. Once

image is located, read number from

image

- Login- Significant Navigation- Write down or copy doc #

- Login- Significant Navigation- Enter or paste doc #- Write down or copy image #

- Login- Significant Navigation- Enter or paste image #

Mainframe/Web

Using additional data from image, use business rules to make changes to

mainframe data

- Login- Significant Navigation- Complex navigation rules based on data/feedback

- Business rules must be understood by operator

- Navigation- Write down or paste details from mainframe session

Meet the Real Autobot




Which Tasks Must A Human Perform?

Re-Designed Automated Process

• Mark document corrected• Finding document information

The redesigned process can now be streamlined. Processing time is now just minutes, quality goes up, and processes are always followed in the properly designed order.

Make changes to document data

• Locate image id• Search for image• Transcribe data from image

Man

Man

Machine

Machine




Workflows

Call Flow

Application Review1 hour

8 minutes

5 minutes

5 minutesCustomer Claim Status

These are examples of workflows that have been automated by Conduent for various client companies, showing the reduction in processing time.




WorkflowsPayroll Packaging

Enrollment and Welcome Letter for Training

45 minutes

30 minutes

2 minutes

2 minutes




Solution Options

Preparing for Invasion

Companies have several choices when it comes to introducing RPA into their own processes.

Buy an off-the-shelf intelligent automation solution and do it yourself.

Hire a systems integrator that deploys intelligent automation for you, then leaves you to manage it.

Use an intelligent automation solution that your BPO service provider has bought and customized.

Use an intelligent automation solution that your BPO service provider has developed using its unique IP.

Once an organization decides to move forward, it is critical to develop a strategy that includes these four key components:• SME Involvement Identify process SMEs and IT support personnel. Ensure proper technical solution development.• Stakeholder Approval Business case reviewed and approved by business owners and client. IT approval of technical solution and access required.• System Access CAS team remote access to hosting environment (Conduent or client hosted). Full access to systems including client systems, test environments, security approvals and credentials for both CAS resources and RPA.• Clarity of Goals and Requirements Clear requirements, technical specifications and success criteria approved by stakeholders. Test criteria signed by stakeholders, test data available for all scenarios.The most important aspect in preparing for RPA is engaging support and approval from the correct stakeholders in your company – IT, security, etc.

SME InvolvementStakeholder Approval

System AccessClarity of Goals and Requirements

1

2

3

4



Automation Symptoms

Potential Show Stoppers

Manual processes that can benefit from automation typically have one or more of these characteristics

As with anything technology-related, there are always going to be perceived challenges as to why the technology cannot be implemented. Some of the most common objections to RPA are not necessarily show stoppers, but do require additional considerations.• RPA preserves audit requirements so this is not stopper.• Inconsistent process or formats can be a challenge if you are not willing to streamline and

agree on common process.• There are no elevated access requirements; it is really the same as granting human credentials.• Low volumes really only challenge the cost effectiveness of a project.• Visual inspections and other approval can be part of the process.• Work already performed in very low-cost regions – this is something to consider in the larger

picture. What is the quality of work being done? Would there still be benefits as part of a longer-term solution? Improved processing time could still be factor.

Audit trail requirementsInconsistent process or formatsAccess requirement to system

Low volumesVisual inspections and other approvals

Work is already preformed in very low cost regions



About Brandon Hall GroupBrandon Hall Group is a HCM research and advisory services firm that provides insights around key performance areas, including Learning and Development, Talent Management, Leadership Development, Talent Acquisition, and HR/Workforce Management.

With more than 10,000 clients globally and almost 25 years of delivering world-class research and advisory services, Brandon Hall Group is focused on developing research that drives performance in emerging and large organizations, and provides strategic insights for executives and practitioners responsible for growth and business results.

Barbara Farley who wrote this report, is the Senior Director of Global Competency at Conduent with 20+ years of experience. She’s an expert in learning solutions design for Learning Administration and subject matter expert in stakeholder collaboration, turning around underperforming programs/accounts, and ensuring account success.

Author

ContributorsDavid Wentworth ([email protected]) contributed to this report. He is Principal Learning Analyst at Brandon Hall Group, focusing on all aspects of learning and the technology that supports it. David has been in the human capital field since 2005 and joined Brandon Hall Group as senior learning analyst in early 2012.

Emma Bui ([email protected]) is the Graphic Design Associate at Brandon Hall Group. She created the layout and graphics for this report.



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the autobots are here: using automation to streamline l&d · 2018-02-12 · 2018 brandon hall...

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