A workplace study conducted in 2016 revealed that employees in the US lose an average of 520 hours per year on tasks that could be automated.
That works out at roughly one working day per week lost, and an average of $13,000 a year per employee wasted on simple, repetitive tasks.
Across the whole of the US workforce – more than 140 million people – this amounts to a staggering cost of $1.8 trillion every year.
Technology plays a crucial role in helping us to achieve more.
Automating tasks gives employees more time to focus on what they were really hired to do.
The time won back can also be used for training and personal development, which will further their progression in their role and career.
Enabling and encouraging continual self-development also means they’re more likely to be satisfied in their role.
When employers invest in the right technology, employees lose less time to monotonous tasks.
This contributes to a better employee experience and a more positive working environment.
Employees’ lives can be changed overnight thanks to automation.
Hiring
Our survey of HR professionals showed that it takes over a month for 60% of vacancies to be filled.
This may not sound that long, but in the competitive world of recruitment it can be the difference between hiring the best person for a role and losing them to the competition.
The best candidates are off the market fast.
The longer a company takes to organize interviews and meet the candidate in person, the more likely they are to miss out.
A long hiring process is painful for everyone involved.
Recruiters spend hours on the phone or writing emails trying to find an interview time that works for everyone.
It also means weeks – maybe even months – with an open position. Team members have to bridge the gap, or projects come to a standstill.
Real-time calendar sync speeds up the hiring process. It allows for interview and call scheduling to be automated.
Dozens of interviews can be set up in one click and added to the calendars of all attendees.
Training
Training is a crucial part of an employee’s development during their time within a company.
But making sure that training fits seamlessly into their work life can be tricky – employees often need to reorganize their schedules so that they can attend sessions.
Blocking out a couple of hours or even days for a training session means coordinating the schedules of dozens of employees.
The more employees that are involved, the harder it is to find the right time, the right room, and the right equipment.
Instead of booking a training session then seeing how many people can attend, training sessions can be organized based on how many people are interested.
If there isn’t enough interest, it can be canceled before it’s even been arranged. There’s less time wasted for everyone involved.
Meeting organization
Organizing a meeting requires lots of small, simple tasks like sending emails or making phone calls.
These quickly add up. If it takes two minutes to send an email, and it takes 10 emails to find the right time for everyone, that’s 20 minutes lost to the first part of organizing the meeting.
They haven’t even begun to find a room or any required resources yet.
Adding calendar sync to meeting room booking software eradicates the need to book everything individually. Meeting organizers save hours, giving them more time to spend on meeting preparation.
Paid time off management
Booking paid time off may not seem like a big deal, but it often requires jumping through countless hoops just so that an employee can book a well-earned break.
This can lead to frustration, deterring them from using all of their holiday entitlement.
Not taking regular breaks damages employees’ mental health and leads to stagnation in their role. It’s therefore imperative that businesses encourage employees to use their holiday entitlement.
When paid time off management software is connected to an employee’s calendar, they can request leave straight from their calendar.
What was once a complicated process is simple and stress-free.
Employees also don’t need to learn how to use dozens of different tools – they can continue to manage their time from one place: their calendar.
Conclusion
These are just a handful of the ways automated scheduling and calendar sync can create better experiences for businesses and employees.
For more examples, check out our new white paper.
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