To err is human. To automate is divine. While that isn’t the original saying, it certainly works here when talking about human errors in business and the ease of implementing business process automation.

According to the Harvard Business Review, human error in business or “bad data” costs the United States $3 trillion per year. Yes, trillion.

This bad data is a direct result of human errors. Now, these errors are not purposeful. They genuinely are errors. Human minds can do many things. The vast majority of employees are dedicated to doing their best work for your organization. However, continuously crunching numbers or simple data entry from growing data streams is far from the ideal use of your employees’ brainpower.

So, here are the key ways business process automation can help your organization reduce human errors:

Consistency

Humans have lives, and sometimes, regardless of the punctuality or intent, those lives get busy. Therefore, data and other aspects of business can be late, making the flow of information inconsistent. While not every delay is detrimental to a company, each delay chips away at the integrity of the business’ reputation.

Business process automation ensures absolute consistency. With many automation processes, you can set it once and completely forget it. Automation does not care about the day or time. It will give you results at the most opportune moment, every time.

Information Gathering and Sorting

Data collecting and data entry is one of the easiest ways for human error to affect incoming information. Whether the person mishears or incorrectly enters the data, human information gathering and sorting is, of no real fault of their own, a quagmire of issues waiting to happen.

Simply put, people get tired, and when they perform monotonous tasks, the possibility of a mistake gets compounded.

Fortunately, there are many ways to implement business process automation into information gathering and sorting. That way, you eliminate the main points of concern, such as fatigue, boredom, and misunderstanding.

Again, the time, day, or the number of hours worked is irrelevant to automation systems. Therefore, these systems work continuously. So, when you and your team are fresh and ready, you can use your talents to apply that information in the most productive ways.

Saving Time

Computers can process data much more quickly than most humans, so automation inherently saves organizations time. More than the automation’s speed, however, additional time is saved when human errors are reduced.

We’ve already established that workers are dedicated to doing their best work. Mistakes still occur, though. When caught, those mistakes need to be corrected. This approach costs organizations time that can be avoided by automating rote activities. Worse, suppose the error is large enough. In that case, workers may need to spend additional time providing customer service to assure customers – whether others within the organization, constituents, partner agencies, or members of the general public – that the mistakes have been corrected. Given today’s fast-paced work environment, this is time that some organizations cannot afford.

Start Today

Human error costs trillions of dollars and thousands of hours annually. While these mistakes are accidental – workers are dedicated and really do want to do their best – they are still costly. Fortunately, implementing business process automation can help. It’s hard to know where to start, though.

Our consultants have helped organizations like yours incorporate automation, reduce errors, and free staff time up for more challenging and creative tasks. Let us help you, too!

Contact Momentum today to discuss how you can reduce the impact of human errors on your organization through automation.