While automation may not eliminate as many jobs as people fear, it will have an impact on nearly every kind of role in the near future. With automation, repetitive and monotonous tasks can be handled by technology, allowing the system to use a set process to accomplish activities that use the same, precise approach. Then, professionals will be able to focus their energy on duties that genuinely require human touch, potentially making their overall workload more engaging.
When automation is viewed in that manner, most envision the systems being created with management’s oversight. However, there are situations where artificial intelligence (AI) is giving professionals the ability to automate jobs on their own.
Self-Automating Tasks
When a professional decides to take matters into their own hands and automate jobs, or at least a portion of their work, they are self-automating. These employees or contractors aren’t getting clearance from management in some cases, essentially making a choice to automate jobs on their own and using their own skills or experience to make it happen.
While the self-automating movement may be most prevalent in tech fields, such as programming, it could be used in nearly any role. Technologies that can automatically schedule meetings or send a follow-up after a meeting are relevant to almost every industry.
The Case for Self-Automation
Self-automation accomplishes the same goal as company-sponsored automation; it allows professionals to use technology for the handling of repetitive and tedious tasks, like data entry or inventory monitoring. Once the activity is automated, the worker can then focus their energies on duties that can’t be placed solely in the hands of a tech solution, such as those that require creative thinking or problem-solving.
Automation is designed to complement the human employee, functioning as a tool that can perform in a specific manner reliably. This can increase overall productivity as well as morale, particularly if the repetitive work isn’t very engaging.
In that way, self-automation can create a win-win for the employee and the company. The tasks are handled quickly, properly, and with a high degree of accuracy while the worker gets to focus their time on duties that may be more interesting or challenging.
Self-Automation Risks
The primary risk, when it comes to self-automation, is the employer’s lack of awareness that a task has been automated. This could cause a company or manager to misjudge a professional’s workload or offer compensation that doesn’t align with the time being spent handling their duties.
Additionally, if a business doesn’t know an employee is using self-automation, some may consider this dishonest or deceptive. The employer may believe the worker is handling the duties “by hand,” when they are actually relying on a technology to do the heavy lifting.
In order to prevent this potential issue, companies need to promote an open dialogue regarding self-automation in the workplace. By initiating the conversation and welcoming input, employers could learn about the technologies employees have discovered or developed, potentially creating an opportunity to put effective automation tools in place in other areas and reward the workers for their innovative thinking.
Ultimately, self-automation is going to become more common, so it is wise to initiate these discussions as quickly as possible. If you’d like to know more about how employees can automate jobs or finding the best talent in Jackson MS, the staff at TempStaff can help. Contact us to speak with a member of our experienced team today and see how our tech trends knowledge can benefit you.
