Indeed, respondents at successful companies are more likely than others to say that coordination across business units or functions is one of the elements that will have the greatest influence on automation efforts’ outcomes in the coming years (Exhibit 6).
As operating models become more complex, the findings suggest it’s also important for leaders to have a full view of the costs of automation programs that may span across the organization. Forty-six percent of respondents who report automation success at larger companies say their leaders understand very well or completely the total cost of ownership for their automation efforts. Just 10 percent of respondents at other companies say the same.
The findings indicate that smaller companies are less likely than large companies to have automated any of their processes, 6 Among respondents at large companies, 41 percent say their organizations are using automation across the organization or have fully automated processes in at least one function or business unit. At smaller organizations, 26 percent of respondents say the same. but those that have done so are seeing a higher success rate than larger organizations. Sixty-five percent of respondents at smaller companies report success with automation, compared with 55 percent at large organizations. While the smaller companies meeting their automation targets exhibit several of the same success factors as successful large organizations, one additional factor appears to be a marker of success for smaller organizations.
As with large companies, respondents at smaller organizations are much more likely than others to consider the entire organization under the scope of automation efforts. Leaders’ understanding of automation programs’ costs also distinguishes smaller successful companies. Just over half of respondents at these companies say their leaders clearly understand the total costs, compared with one in five at other relatively small companies.
But at smaller companies, unlike large ones, another factor—taking a tactical approach and setting tangible objectives for automation initiatives—is also significant. Fifty-five percent of respondents at successful smaller companies say their organizations have established key performance indicators to track the impact of automation efforts, compared with 37 percent of respondents at other smaller companies.
The three imperatives for successful automation shouldn’t be looked at separately but rather as parts of the same automation mandate. As we look ahead, leaders can take the following steps to capitalize on the potential of automation.
Identify and focus on the most critical business processes. As organizations think about incorporating automation, they should identify the processes that, if automated, will best support their strategy. For example, in healthcare services, crucial processes can be found in customer journeys such as patient access and claims processing. Organizations can benefit from looking at these critical processes and taking a systematic approach to automating them, rather than focusing on solutions to specific pain points.
Companies should view automation as a way to enhance human productivity, rather than a way to replace manual labor.
Invest in people and new ways of working. Companies should view automation as a way to enhance human productivity, rather than a way to replace manual labor. For example, using bots in contact centers allows employees to trigger automated data retrieval from different systems, thereby allowing them to focus on building relationships with customers. But before employees can work effectively with automation technologies, they must be taught how to do so. Companies should promote a culture of continuous learning while incorporating new technologies and should determine what skills people will need to help the organization meet its automation goals. Implementing automation programs typically requires creation of new roles as well as modification of existing ones. That calls for a well-engineered talent-management and reskilling program.
Encourage cross-functional collaboration. Automating a process can require expertise in customer experience, digitization, analytics, and organizational design. These capabilities often exist in different parts of the organization, such as IT, finance, and analytics. Companies can therefore benefit from adopting an operating model that brings together capabilities from across the organization—in collaboration with third-party service providers and vendors, as needed—to reinvent critical processes with automation. Talent rotations, cross-functional automation labs, and other mechanisms can support such an operating model and thereby help organizations realize their goals for using automation technologies.
The contributors to the development and analysis of this survey include Gary Herzberg, a consultant in McKinsey’s New Jersey office; Rohit Panikkar and Rob Whiteman, both partners in the Chicago office; and Anand Sahu, a consultant in the Silicon Valley office.
This article was edited by Heather Hanselman, an associate editor in the Atlanta office.
