As organizations evolve from traditional work structures to digital workplaces, the need to digitize business processes becomes more apparent. Whether it’s payroll processing, onboarding, or responding to customer queries – every business relies on core processes being completed smoothly and efficiently. Yet too many businesses are still relying on old-fashioned, analog processes. Whether due to cost constraints or an aversion to new technology, it’s time to ditch emailed documents and spreadsheets and automate the processes as much as possible.

The digitization and automation of business processes, like with the use of business process automation software from Fortra, can help reduce costs and improve efficiency. It can also help companies establish new relationships with prospects and clients, redefine business activities, partnerships, and resources, and create opportunities for business growth. Here are some of the main processes that can and must be digitized to reach success.

1. Customer relationship management

The onset of digital tools has fueled customer expectations and raised the bar for how companies interact with them. These same high standards now apply to internal business processes, as well. Taking the time to digitize your core business processes can save you time and money and allow you to better respond to customer needs.

The first step to digitizing your workflows is understanding the processes you currently have in place. This can be accomplished through process mapping, a technique that allows you to create visual depictions of your current business processes. This is a great starting point because it helps you see where your company can make improvements and streamline its processes to create a more efficient workflow. And what’s more important, it is just as simple as choosing a paper helper for your friends and family after reading this paperhelp org review!

Depending on the type of process, you will need to determine what kind of workflow automation technology is best suited for your business. For example, if you need to automate your sales process, a system with flexible workflow automation features is important, as it will enable you to implement preconfigured kickoff triggers, decision points, and notification alerts. In addition, the ability to integrate with existing systems quickly breaks down data silos that have been hampering your ability to automate and improve processes.

Regardless of the process, you must communicate clearly with your teams about the change and its benefits. Changing fundamental business processes may cause some uncertainty, especially for employees who have been used to working with traditional methods. Ensure that team members understand that any disruption is in the name of providing them with a better work experience and delivering better service to your customers. This will help them get on board with the digital transition and embrace it as the future of their careers.

2. Finance and accounting

The finance business process is one of the most crucial and must be digitized for any company to keep pace with competitors. Sticking to traditional paper processes can result in high costs, slow response times, and poor customer service. Investing in digitization is the only way for businesses to ensure they are providing a seamless customer experience.

A key reason to make this switch is that it saves time and money by automating services such as documentation, invoice generation, and remittances. It also helps free up employees’ time to focus on other, more important tasks such as data analysis and customer service. In addition, converting to digital practices can reduce paper usage, which is good for the environment and reduces the risk of information being lost or destroyed by accident.

Ultimately, the main benefit is that it makes organizations more agile and able to respond quickly to market changes and customer demand. For example, during the pandemic, businesses that had a digitized back-end finance process were able to adjust their production and shipping schedules faster than those that didn’t. This flexibility also allows businesses to more quickly and easily capitalize on consumption opportunities that arise during emergencies, such as offering face masks for sale online when demand spiked.

To successfully implement a new process, you need to take a holistic approach that goes beyond just digitizing paper-based documents. The goal is to reimagine, reinvent and streamline these processes by leveraging digital information technology to create a more efficient organization. This is called digitalization, and it involves re-examining, reengineering, and reimagining every aspect of a business process to see how it can be improved.

3. Human resources management

When it comes to human resources, process digitization can free up a large number of monotonous tasks from manual handling and allow employees to focus on more strategic activities. Traditionally, human resource departments are responsible for a wide variety of tasks, from employee management to worker satisfaction and safety programs. To optimize their company’s performance, these departments must be able to access and update information quickly. However, many of these administrative tasks are handled manually by paper-based processes resulting in high error rates and a lack of transparency.

Using specialized digital tools, employees can easily track the status of their assigned tasks and receive updates as needed. They can also communicate with each other on the go and avoid roadblocks that occur when relying on emailed chains of documents or trying to keep track of the many forms, inspection reports, approvals, and the like.

4. Operations

Operations are the business processes that keep a company running, from production to shipping and warehousing. They are essential to every business, no matter its size or sector, and they often involve complex work that requires many employees to work together to complete tasks efficiently.

Digitizing operational processes helps to save time, reduce costs and increase efficiency. This can be done by converting paper-based systems to digital ones or using different tools that make the processes easier for employees to carry out. It also allows companies to track the performance of those processes over time, helping them identify issues and take corrective action more quickly.

Businesses that digitize their business processes can make more informed decisions about using staff, materials, and resources. They can use data from digitized processes to understand the vector of their improvements or to forecast the impact of changes in market conditions. In addition, they can automate a wide range of tasks that would previously have required the involvement of employees. This frees up workers to focus on real priorities and customer needs rather than on administrative or routine processes.

However, it is important to differentiate between increased digitization and a full digital transformation. As SAP News notes, the latter goes beyond digitizing a process and takes advantage of the power of digital technology to collect data and establish trends. This helps to improve the effectiveness of a process or even to develop a new one. To do this, businesses must rethink their operating models, skills, and roles. They must also be prepared to invest in training to develop a new generation of leaders, managers, and technicians to support the digital transformation effort.

Final words

Digitizing marketing processes is not only a way to streamline internal operations but also to provide customers with the best possible experience. It can lower customer costs by making information and documents accessible online, as well as make the purchasing process easier. It can also boost employees’ productivity and reduce overall labor costs by reducing paper use and manual data entry.

The key to successful digitization is to look at the overall process and identify any elements that could be improved, automated, or eliminated. Instead of simply converting an existing analog process to a digital one, companies should be looking to reinvent and streamline business processes in ways that boost operational efficiency, improve data gathering, or accelerate decision-making.

The first step to digitizing your business processes is developing a framework for identifying the objectives and related success measures. This can be called a strategy, a roadmap, or whatever other term you choose. The goal is to develop a high-level yet specific objective and define the quantitative metrics (like time savings, cost savings, or increased customer satisfaction) that will help you reach your desired outcome.

Once you have a clear framework, it is important to determine the type of process that needs digitization. The type of process can be either managerial or supportive, and the objective can be to reduce operating costs, improve employee experience or enhance the company’s value proposition. The next step is to select the appropriate technology for implementing the digital process. For example, a document management system can store and manage business documents in a centralized location that is easy to access for anyone in the organization.

Regardless of whether your business has a small or large team, automating your processes can save you time, money, and space. It can also help to improve employee work experiences and morale. Changing fundamental operational procedures can be disruptive to staff, but leaders must still take the time to educate their teams about the benefits and the reasons behind any changes.

Harper Harrison

Harper Harrison is a reporter for The Hear UP. Harper got an internship at the NPR and worked as a reporter and producer. harper has also worked as a reporter for the Medium. Harper covers health and science for The Hear UP.