Use automation to reduce
busywork and turnover.

The State of Optimized Organizations

66%
spend one hour or less on inefficient tasks
89%
track which systems require the most time from employees
33%
don’t find it challenging to retain talented employees
Repetitive, mindless tasks and busywork make employees feel stressed, unfulfilled, and overwhelmed. Optimized organizations focus on removing these inefficiencies through workflow automation, which produces better employee experiences and improves retention.

Identify inefficiencies that impact the employee experience.  

Our survey revealed that three out of four organizations find it challenging to retain talented employees. This isn’t surprising considering the impact of the Great Resignation and how competitive the job market is. But we found that the more digitally mature an organization is, the fewer challenges it has keeping employees on board. Only 25% of Optimized organizations report it’s very challenging to retain employees, compared to 26% of Refined, 33% of Invested, and 46% of Limited.

In fact, 33% of Optimized organizations report it’s not challenging at all to retain employees. We also found that employees at Optimized organizations are generally happier, less stressed, and more productive.

77%
of organizations report it’s challenging to retain talented employees.

Inefficiencies at Limited organizations lower employee morale

What impact, if any, do inefficient processes/workflows have on your day-to-day job?

What contributes to Optimized organizations' ability to not only retain employees, but keep them happier? A lot plays into this, from their culture and management practices to benefits and workday operations. Our research shows that one strategy at play is regularly tracking inefficiencies and improving processes. Optimized organizations focus on identifying and eliminating inefficiencies at a much higher rate than organizations with lower digital maturity.

80% of Optimized organizations report tracking manual processes that need to be automated. This percentage trends downward across lower stages of digital maturity, dropping all the way to 22% for the Limited group. 75% of Optimized and Refined organizations track which workflows need to be updated, compared to only 56% of Invested and 27% of Limited. 

This lack of information on which workflows and processes need to be updated and automated leads to massive inefficiencies within less digitally mature organizations. And, not surprisingly, inefficient tasks dampen the employee experience. We found that a large majority of employees in the lower stages of maturity—around 75% of the Limited and Invested groups—report that inefficient workflows and processes negatively impact their workday.

Use technology to improve the workday.

Optimized organizations not only track data on workflow inefficiencies, but they take action. In fact, 49% report their workday isn’t impacted by inefficient workflows. We found that the further along an organization is in its digital maturity, the more likely it is to use workflow automation to improve employees’ jobs.  

49%
of Optimized organizations report their workday isn’t impacted by inefficient workflows.

Optimized organizations improve the workday with automation

100%
look for ways to improve workflows
81%
collect all signatures digitally
79%
have completely automated all workflows
73%
have digitized all forms and documents

Thanks to these efforts, employees at Optimized organizations spend less time on inefficient tasks. Only 34% of employees at Optimized organizations spend two or more hours each day on inefficient tasks, compared to 50% of Limited. Just think about that—if the average annual wage in the U.S. is $53,383*, one employee wasting two hours per day on inefficient tasks costs your organization about $13,345 a year. For an organization of 100 employees, that adds up to more than $1.3 million.

*According to the U.S. Social Security Administration

One employee wasting two hours per day on inefficient tasks costs your organization about $13,345 a year.

Paper is a leading cause of concern for employees

54%
report paper forms and documents negatively impact their business
36%
say paper makes them less efficient and productive

When we asked survey respondents about their least favorite process at work, paper emerged as a popular theme. Here are a few samples of those responses:

Filing paperwork would be the least favorite process.
My least favorite process is having to print out the documents I create. I have to print out a document for each office, which ends up being around eight copies of a document. That often approaches 90-100 pages, and then I have to hand-deliver them. This entire process could just as easily be done via email and save a lot of time and money.
Passing along paperwork to be signed.
Paperwork takes up too much time, it's inefficient for healthcare, and it's not sustainable.
I don't like paperwork at all. It's time-consuming and annoying for customers too.
Going through paper forms, labs, and documents to assign them to the correct people and then having to scan each one into the correct chart.
I do not enjoy the administrative portion of my job where I have to do repetitive, mindless tasks.
The process of manually transferring paper documents to digital.
Having to manually write workup cards for every one of our patient samples. Most other places have gone paperless 10 years ago. It's very time-consuming and invites typos and other mistakes.

Key Takeaway

You can improve the employee experience at your organization by devoting time to tracking inefficiencies, improving workflows, and eliminating paper. If these efforts aren’t prioritized, the employee experience will suffer, and retention rates will likely fall. The most successful organizations use technology to remove repetitive tasks and inefficiencies, which helps employees become more productive and satisfied with their jobs.