Making the most of automated tools isn’t just “plug and play.” Successful automation requires a more holistic approach.
最大化利用自动化工具并非通电后拔下即可,而是需要一些整体策略。

IT STARTS WITH THE JOB
选择好工作
Some technology is designed to replace headcount, while other technology is designed to remove repetitive or rote tasks from employees’ responsibilities, freeing up time to focus on tasks with higher returns, says David Poole, CEO of Boston-based Symphony Ventures, a consulting and managed services firm. So, if a call center is using interactive voice response (IVR) technology and is designed to automatically deliver customer data through an interface, the customer service representative can spend more time focusing on the customer and finding solutions based on the latest information, versus looking for historical data or typing information into a platform.
波士顿的Symphony Ventures是一家咨询和管理服务公司,该公司的首席执行官David Poole说,有些技术是为了取代员工,而其他的技术则是为了从员工的职责中去除重复或机械的任务,腾出时间专注于高回报的任务。所以,如果呼叫中心是使用交互式语音应答(IVR)技术,通过接口自动传送客户数据的话,客服人员可以花更多的时间基于最新的信息专注于客户本身和寻找问题解决方案、寻找历史数据或将信息输入平台。
 
The key to integrating these technologies successfully is to break down each role’s workflow and look for automation opportunities, says Kris Hauser, PhD, associate professor in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Jobs that have elements of retrieving information, scheduling, and calculating numbers lend themselves to being enhanced by automation. By taking those tasks out of the workday, employees can spend more time on activities that are harder to automate, such as interacting with people, thinking over long time scales, developing strategies, and managing complicated work scenarios such as construction.
北卡罗来纳州达勒姆杜克大学(Duke University)普莱特工程学院(Pratt School of Engineering)的副教授克里斯•豪泽(Kris Hauser)说,成功整合这些技术的关键在于打破每个角色的工作流程,寻找自动化的机会。具有检索信息、调度和计算数字的元素的作业可以通过自动化增强。通过将这些任务从工作日中剔除出去,员工可以花更多的时间在更难以自动化的活动上,比如与人交流、长时间思考、制定策略以及管理复杂的工作场景,比如建筑。
 
“So, if you’re looking for job security, this might get into more creative or adaptive sorts of fields,” he says.
“因此,如果你想保护好自己的金饭碗的话,就需要寻找一些需要创意或者适应性的岗位。”
 
RECONSTRUCTING WORK
调整工作
Once components of the job are automated, employees need to be trained or coached in how to reconstruct their jobs so their time is spent on high-value activities, Smith says.
Smith说,一旦工作的组成部分是自动化的,员工就需要接受培训,了解该如何调整工作,将更多时间放在高价值的任务上。
 
EisnerAmper is collaborating with IBM Watson to develop Smart Audit Tools. These tools use AI to analyze documentation, validate source data, and eliminate other routine, predictable tasks, says Charles Weinstein, CEO. With 1,500 employees, enacting a widespread shift in how work gets done is no small feat. But roughly a year and a half ago, he says the leadership team saw the potential—and the necessity—as AI, automation, and robotic process automation become more prevalent among their competitors.
首席执行官Charles Weinstein说,EisnerAmper正与IBM Watson合作开发智能审计工具。这些工具使用人工智能来分析文档、验证源数据,并取代其他常规的、可预测的任务。在1500名员工的帮助下,如何完成工作是一个不小的挑战。但大约一年半以前,领导团队看到了这一任务的潜力和必要性——人工智能、自动化和机器人过程自动化会越来越成为他们的竞争对手。
 
After a three-day offsite meeting with the company’s partners, the leadership team was convinced that integrating more automation was essential. While the firm used to have its people reading dozens and dozens of contracts and comparing them to accounting standards, today Watson does that.
在与该公司的合作伙伴进行了为期三天的非正式会议后,领导团队确信整合更多的自动化是必不可少的。尽管该公司过去常常让员工阅读几十份合同,并将其与会计准则进行比较,但如今可以利用人工智能来替代人力了。
 
“We spend our time analyzing the output from Watson now in helping clients maximize their revenue flows as opposed to reading contracts and comparing it to accounting literature,” he says. Of course, they still need to check that the analysis is accurate, but “the work for our staff is becoming less rote and more advisory, which is a good thing,” he adds.
“我们花时间分析Watson的产出,帮助客户实现收入最大化,而不是简单地阅读合同,并将其与会计文献进行比较,”他说。当然,他们仍然需要检查分析是否准确,但他补充说:“我们工作人员的工作越来越少,将更多时间放在咨询服务上,这是一件好事。”
 
Weinstein says that kind of refocusing strengthens clients’ relationship with the firm and makes employees more valuable. In addition, they have more flexibility. More work can be done remotely because they don’t need to be in the office, reading contracts and comparing numbers. HR teams, managers, company leaders, and the employees themselves must recognize that these changes will shift the fundamental assumptions about and requirements for how work gets done and respond to those shifts, Smith says.
Weinstein说,这种调整可以加强客户与公司的关系,使员工更有价值。此外,员工享有更大的灵活性。更多的工作可以远程完成,因为他们不需要在办公室阅读合同和比较数字了。Smith说,人力资源团队、经理、公司领导以及员工本身必须认识到,这些变化将改变人们对工作的基本假设和要求,并对这些变化做出反应。
 
USING THE TOOLS WISELY
灵活使用工具
However, the transformation of work is only as good as the tools that facilitate it–and the ability of people to use them. Many of today’s automation tools have significant limitations and require human input and management to be most effective, Hauser says. You can’t teach the system to do more than it’s designed to do, he says. However, by giving it feedback or making tweaks to its programming, a company and its workers could make it better. A very simple example of how humans can give feedback to help refine a system is spam filtering. As you mark certain email messages as spam or not, the platform begins to be more effective at filtering out what you don’t want and keeping what you do. Similarly, if an automation platform has feedback mechanisms, employees should be trained to use them to improve the system.
然而,调整工作与使用工作中的工具一样重要。Hauser说,当今的许多自动化工具都有很大的局限性,需要人工输入和管理才能最有效。他说,你不能教这个系统做的比它设计的要多。然而,通过给予反馈或对其编程进行微调,企业及其员工可以让它变得更好。一个非常简单的例子,说明了人类如何能够提供反馈来帮助完善系统,这就是垃圾邮件过滤。当你将某些电子邮件标记为垃圾邮件时,平台开始更有效地过滤掉你不想要的和保留你所做的事情。类似地,如果一个自动化平台有反馈机制,员工应该接受培训,以更好地使用系统并改进系统。
 
As new technologies emerge, new security concerns do, too. Employees need to be trained in how to keep such platforms safe from cyber criminals, to the extent that they can control, Poole says. And HR professionals are going to need to integrate these tools into their own work, as well as become part futurist, looking at the skills that will be needed for certain roles in the long-term and recruiting for those skills, Smith says.
随着新技术的出现,新的安全问题也会出现。Poole说,员工需要接受培训,让他们知道如何让这样的平台免受网络罪犯的伤害,达到他们能控制的程度。Smith说,人力资源专业人员将需要将这些工具整合到自己的工作中,结合未来发展来使用工具,着重学习长期需要、并且可以帮助他们获得工作的技能。
 
People are also going to have to accept new ways of getting things done, especially when they’re more efficient, and be forward-thinking about where technology will disrupt traditional jobs, Hauser says. For example, within the next two decades, autonomous vehicles will fundamentally change how goods and people are transported. Understanding how those shifts will affect your company and your employees’ roles will be essential for maximizing the potential for both through retraining and reconstructing their roles.
Hauser说,人们也将不得不接受新的方法来完成工作,特别是当它们更有效率时,并且要预测何时这些技术会取代传统工作。例如,在未来20年内,自动车辆将从根本上改变货物和人的运输方式。了解这些变化将如何影响你的公司和你的员工的角色,对于通过重新培训和重构他们的角色来最大限度地发挥员工潜力是至关重要的。
 
These changes also require a shift in culture where employers recognize the value of the employees’ new roles, while helping them make the most of their opportunities. Some workers may not be comfortable with the higher-level tasks or responsibilities of their new jobs. “You have to focus on being analytical and problem solving,” he says. “How do you get people comfortable with the uncomfortable? Change management,” he says.
这些变化还要求企业转变文化,让雇主认识到员工新角色的价值,同时帮助他们充分利用自身优势。有些员工可能不适应新工作要求的高级别任务或职责。“你必须专注于分析问题和解决问题。怎么才能让人们适应原来不能适应的环境? 那就是改变管理方式。”