A key ingredient of almost any successful business is speed: The quicker a company captures and processes orders, the faster it can serve — and satisfy — its customers. And, of course, a satisfied customer is more likely to come back for more.
This need-for-speed mentality is prompting a growing number of companies to take stock of slow and repetitive business processes and identify tasks that might benefit from automation to quicken the pace of daily work. After all, by leveraging workflow automation solutions, businesses can lift mundane busy work off the shoulders of employees so they can spend more time on higher-value activities, including strategic planning and building customer loyalty.
Business leaders who have already embraced workflow automation say the time-saving technology has been a game changer. In a 2022 McKinsey survey, for example, two-thirds of respondents who had adopted automation said their companies experienced improvements in quality control, customer satisfaction and employee experience. The most common benefit businesses cited: reduced expenses.
This article examines the 13 most significant advantages of workflow automation — including lower costs, higher productivity and a more satisfied workforce — where technology takes on tedious tasks so employees can focus on meeting customer needs and supporting business innovation and growth.
Key Takeaways
- More and more companies are recognizing the cost-reduction benefits of workflow automation.
- Automation technology seamlessly integrates with a company’s existing internal software systems, allowing for the easy exchange of data among departments.
- Nearly a third of all automated workflows are focused on improving the employee or customer experience.
- Automation allows companies to more easily scale their operations and test their products and services in new markets.
13 Benefits of Automated Workflows
By lightening the load of time-consuming manual tasks, workflow automation provides businesses with a wide range of benefits, including enhanced operational efficiency, improved workforce satisfaction and increased opportunities for innovation and growth. Here’s a detailed look at the top 13 benefits of automated workflows.
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Enhanced Operational Efficiency
When an employee’s workday is tied up by a long list of repetitive chores — think manually entering data, regularly generating reports and continually updating inventory levels — daily progress on major projects can slow to a crawl. And many minor but important activities can get lost in the shuffle — for example, invitations to meetings might not get placed on calendars in a timely way, service requests may get delayed, document approvals could stall and customer inquiries might fail to get an immediate response. At the end of the day, all those postponed tasks negatively impact a company’s daily operations by pushing back project deadlines and causing costly delays.
That’s where technology can help turn things around. Workflow automation enhances a company’s operational efficiency by making sure small but critical day-to-day responsibilities get accomplished in an efficient, consistent manner, allowing employees to focus on business-centric work and saving companies both time and money. Automation software can improve operational efficiency in the following seven ways.
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Increased productivity and savings: Workflow automation solutions allow a company to make the most of its resources. With technology managing a wide variety of time-consuming activities, businesses can reallocate staff members to take charge of other, more critical responsibilities. The automation software acts almost like a super-productive digital staff member, quietly handling all the tedious work that employees would rather not worry about because they have more significant work to accomplish, all of which is a better use of their limited time. As a result, overall productivity increases, and businesses save money.
An increasing number of business leaders recognize the significant cost savings that workflow automation tools can provide. When asked about ways to lower expenses for finance departments, for instance, four out of five CFOs in a 2024 Deloitte survey said increasing the automation of lower-value and repetitive activities was the single most effective cost-reduction measure. And when considering potential strategies for reducing future costs for finance departments, 81% of those surveyed agreed that more automation was the best way to go.
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Greater precision with fewer errors: A hectic work environment where employees are constantly juggling too much minutia can lead to rushed, error-prone results. Workflow automation improves accuracy and reduces the possibility of mistakes through:
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Maintaining consistency: By following predefined rules, a business can make sure tasks are performed on time and will consistently meet the company’s precise standards. This means fewer errors due to employee oversight or fatigue.
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Validating information: Checking data against established criteria and triggering alerts when discrepancies are detected, such as missing or invalid information, allows staff to step in at the right time so a project based on incorrect data doesn’t continue to move forward.
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Auditing processes: By monitoring every step of a process, a business can identify and correct errors more quickly. And by analyzing error patterns and determining the root cause of issues, a company can take action to prevent future problems and avoid the need for costly rework.
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Improved time efficiency: Employees only have so many hours in a day to get work done — and only so much energy. With that in mind, business leaders should regularly ask themselves: Is the daily work my employees are doing worth their time? The answer is likely to be “no” if their workday is gobbled up by mind-numbing, duplicative procedures. For example, does it make sense to ask an employee to spend several hours manually entering information about multiple customers into a digital database when an automated system can complete the task in seconds? Probably not.
Additionally, humans can manage only so much multitasking at once and still do everything well, whereas technology can expertly handle several tasks in parallel. Rather than checking off items on the to-do list sequentially, automation can take care of multiple demands simultaneously. And unlike humans, who need rest, automated systems can run around the clock, even after a business closes, leading to faster project completion rates and reduced idle time.
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Streamlined communication and easier collaboration: By keeping everyone on the team in the loop and making sure all the necessary bases are covered on a particular workflow, automation technology paves the way for better communication and smoother collaboration.
If an employee submits an expense report through an automated platform, for example, the system will first determine which expenses are permitted under the company’s guidelines and which are not — so administrative staff won’t have to sift through the fine print in the rules to pinpoint allowed expenses. Then the software will notify a manager to approve certain costs, while perhaps flagging other expenses that the manager should review more closely.
Meanwhile, the system will send regular status updates to both the employee and the manager, including requests for additional documentation and alerts about approved payments, all while tracking reimbursement delivery times. In the end, automation allows for easier, more transparent communication, keeping everyone on the same page with regard to status and any next steps that need to be taken to push the expense report through quickly and accurately.
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Better workflow stability and systems integration: It’s not practical for employees to keep a watchful eye on the vast number of ongoing tasks in every department to look for potential kinks that could disrupt an important process. However, automation technology can do just that, making sure each step is carried out exactly as the company dictates. This leads to a more stable workflow with fewer interruptions. If the system detects an issue, such as a network anomaly that delays a payment to a supplier, it can automatically take action, rerouting traffic and alerting staff to address the problem.
In addition, seamless integration between automation technology and other internal software systems allows for the easy exchange of data across departments. An ecommerce retailer, for example, can connect its inventory management system with its sales platform, giving company officials real-time updates on supply levels to prevent the business from overstocking or understocking products.
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Enhanced compliance: Industry standards and regulatory compliance requirements differ, depending on the country a company is operating in — and the rules are also constantly evolving, making it tough for companies to keep up. Automated workflows can assist by enforcing all necessary regulatory protocols in every aspect of an organization, reducing the risk of noncompliance. In addition, an automated system generates comprehensive reports that document how the company is adhering to regulations, which can help the company prove compliance in the event of an audit. For example, doctors’ offices that must follow strict privacy regulations can rely on automated workflows to record who has access to patient data and to document when information gets modified or shared, allowing healthcare providers to demonstrate compliance with privacy laws.
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Heightened visibility and transparency: Workflow automation significantly improves business visibility and transparency by providing teams with real-time insights into every step of a workflow process. This eliminates guesswork, giving every department a holistic, up-to-the-minute view of the progress of individual tasks to determine whether a project is hitting its milestones and meeting its expected deadlines. The system will spot any slowdowns that might occur, allowing staff to take quick action to iron out issues and keep the workflow moving.
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Improved Employee and Customer Experiences
If employees arrive at work dreading another boring day and constantly sneak glances at the clock, business leaders should make it their mission to remove cumbersome roadblocks to make employees’ jobs more enjoyable and increase retention rates. By improving employee satisfaction, businesses are bound to boost the customer experience as well, since a happier, more productive employee is more likely to eagerly and quickly serve customer needs. In fact, improving both the employee and customer experience is a top objective for businesses that adopt automation software, with 30% of all automated processes focusing on the employee or customer experience, according to the 2024 Work Automation Index report by Workato.
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Greater job satisfaction: Allowing employees to hand off their most painful, repetitive tasks to technology gives people time and brain space for more thoughtful, strategic work. And employees who are engaged in more meaningful, gratifying work aren’t only happier, but they’re bound to perform at a higher level and are less likely to leave the company. Plus, eliminating manual tasks allows workers to take a step back, analyze which business processes are working well and which aren’t, strategize improvements and share important insights that can improve decision-making for the business. And when employees take on higher-level responsibilities, they’re given license to continue growing professionally, which boosts morale and leads to greater job satisfaction.
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Healthier company culture: By speeding processes and improving communication among departments, automation encourages a more positive culture of unity and shared purpose among employees. During its earliest applications, automation was typically used within a single department to streamline individual tasks. But the Workato report shows that 74% of teams are now leveraging automation to handle a series of tasks across more than one business team, and a whopping 52% are using it across four teams or more. As a result, automation processes are building greater connections among departments, fostering a healthier, more collaborative culture in which all business units work together to accomplish common goals.
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Better customer experience: A customer’s impression of a brand is shaped at every point in the buyer’s journey, from initially browsing a company’s website and contacting customer service with questions to making a purchase, receiving products in a reasonable timeframe and requesting post-sales support. Clearly, if customers encounter bumps at any stage along that journey, they aren’t likely to become repeat customers.
Workflow automation technology works hand in hand with employees to meet customer expectations, quickly responding to customers’ inquiries and following through on their requests. A basic, automated confirmation email that arrives seconds after a customer makes a purchase, followed by additional automated updates when the product ships and is delivered, puts the customer’s mind at ease that the company is on top of the order. This amounts to a smooth and enjoyable customer experience that entices consumers to return to the business again and again.
Businesses are increasingly recognizing the benefits of automation in serving customer needs. Customer retention is the No. 1 strategic priority for automation, with customer support and operations experiencing 226% growth in automation processes in 2023, according to the Workato report.
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Renewed Innovation and Growth
With employees devoting their workdays to more intense cognitive activities, such as brainstorming new strategies and solving complex problems, more creative, innovative ideas rise to the surface. And with automation accelerating the pace of project timelines, companies can bring those new ideas to market quickly, taking advantage of promising opportunities to expand the business. The global robotic process automation market, for instance, is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of nearly 40% between 2023 and 2030, according to Grand View Research. Here’s a more detailed look at how workflow automation supports innovation and growth.
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Improved strategy and accountability: When mapping out plans for automated workflows, a business may want to start by reviewing its broader strategic priorities, tying company goals to expected outcomes, establishing clear expectations, reducing ambiguity and raising the bar on accountability. Automation can help businesses execute new strategies and measure progress. For instance, if a company needs to up its game on content generation, software tools can assist with creating and distributing a wide variety of content, including marketing blogs, email promotions, social media posts, and product descriptions on websites. Additionally, companies can leverage artificial intelligence-powered tools to automate content generation for customer interactions, such as answering questions about products and offering technical support.
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Emergence of new products and services: With more staff time devoted to mission-critical activities and more results-oriented data flowing in about product performance and customer behavior, companies can make informed decisions and take advantage of new business opportunities quickly. Often, this allows staff to focus on developing new or improved products, services and processes that will ease pain points for customers and boost sales. And with automation simultaneously shrinking project turnaround times and shortening development cycles, companies have the bandwidth to regularly experiment with new ideas that may result in successful products and services.
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More opportunities for market expansion: Workflow automation supports the ability of companies to scale their operations and accelerate the testing of their products and services in new markets. And with automation tools keeping an eye on regulatory requirements in different regions of the world while simultaneously analyzing market research and consumer trends, companies can focus their efforts on tailoring their product and service offerings to meet the different preferences of diverse audience segments.
Plus, automation systems often feature advanced communication tools that help bring global teams together, regardless of their location, to more easily exchange ideas and best practices, which can spark new innovations that support business growth. For example, when developing a new product, automated workflows can facilitate interdepartmental collaboration among engineering, design, marketing and sales teams, keeping everyone moving toward shared goals. And automation can help these teams work constructively to personalize products and services to accommodate varied customer needs in different parts of the world.
An automated supply chain management workflow, for example, might track each order from the moment it’s submitted and provide updates about the precise movement of goods from suppliers to customers, all while keeping tabs on inventory levels, shipment status and any potential snags in the process that might cause delays.
Once the new content-generation strategy is in place, real-time performance analytics and feedback loops allow managers to monitor performance and identify where to adjust plans to support business growth. If a particular marketing approach isn’t generating sufficient engagement, for instance, the automation platform’s data-crunching capabilities will hold the business accountable. This allows the marketing department to shift more resources to a new strategy, with a renewed goal of attracting more customers.
Realize the Benefits of Workflow Automation With NetSuite
Work doesn’t always have to feel like a tiresome chore. If employees are wasting too much company time (and dollars) on mind-numbing, repetitive tasks, everyone loses — employees, customers and the business.
NetSuite SuiteCloud platform process automation eases the daily grind for employees by efficiently automating a long list of workflow-driven tasks, from sending a simple alert about an upcoming deadline to managing a complicated, multistep inventory management process. Meanwhile, the platform seamlessly integrates with other NetSuite business systems, such as customer relationship management, accounting, professional services and enterprise resource planning, allowing for easier cross-departmental collaboration.
In addition, SuiteCloud’s easy-to-use manager interface allows a business to visualize, manage and refine every step of an automated process. And the system is agile enough to accommodate the different customized workflow practices companies depend on. Meanwhile, its out-of-the-box application-performance monitoring tools let managers analyze the performance of a company’s customizations and identify any potential slowdowns that need to be corrected to improve efficiency.
Workflow automation has proven to be a powerful tool for driving business growth and success. By relieving employees of tedious, repetitive tasks, automation boosts productivity, reduces errors, fosters collaboration across teams and allows staff to focus on higher-value work, such as innovating, problem-solving and delivering exceptional customer experiences. Companies willing to embrace workflow automation technologies will be well positioned to outpace competitors thanks to optimized operations, an empowered and satisfied workforce that innovates and the capacity to consistently meet rising customer expectations.
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Workflow Automation Benefit FAQs
What is the purpose of workflow automation?
The purpose of workflow automation is to leverage software to streamline a predefined sequence of tasks, eliminating the need for manual human intervention. This expedites workflows, increases productivity, reduces errors and frees up staff resources to focus on higher-level strategic and creative work.
What is the value of workflow automation?
Business leaders who have implemented workflow automation say the tools provide great value for their companies by reducing operating expenses, enhancing the quality of products and services, increasing customer satisfaction and improving the employee experience. Ultimately, workflow automation can save companies countless manual work hours and unnecessary costs each year.
What are the benefits of process automation?
Companies can adopt business process automation to automate an entire sequence of functions that make up a specific business process from start to finish, rather than automating single tasks in isolation. Allowing technology to handle a whole process from end to end saves businesses time and money while generating analytics reports that track the success of completed tasks at every stage of a workflow process.
What are the benefits of a workflow engine?
A workflow engine provides several benefits for businesses, including automating time-consuming tasks, enforcing standardized procedures, maintaining a consistent level of performance and adhering to the regulatory requirements and best practices pertaining to a particular industry. Workflow engines are also flexible enough that companies can easily customize the technology to adapt to a company’s specific business needs.