It goes without saying that whenever you’re measuring Robotic Process Automation (RPA) success, you must have a clear and concise initial problem statement. Teams lose valuable problem-solving time when they cannot focus on the real issue. Team members become disillusioned with the process because it appears that they are going around in circles without making any progress.
However, how do you know where to begin? And how do you track and analyze RPA’s tangible and intangible metrics?
The RPA performance metrics also allow for more realistic planning of your automation journey toward enterprise-wide use in the future. There are, however, metrics for evaluating qualitative benefits, such as employee job satisfaction. Let’s take a closer look at the various tangible and intangible Automation-related metrics-
Tangible RPA ROI metrics:
- Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) represents the number of work hours completed by a single employee in a month or a year. We can compare an RPA’s ROI by estimating how much time in FTEs will be saved by automating a previously manually performed process.
- Process Lead Time
The lead process time is from the beginning of the work to its conclusion. Many processes involve some form of waiting, which is wasted time; however, when you automate a process with RPA, it is perfectly possible to “burn” these inefficiencies. Reducing your process lead time can also allow for a higher volume of work, increasing productivity and potential revenue.
- Improved Accuracy
Improved Accuracy Automation eliminates unavoidable errors in manual performance caused by boredom, fatigue, lack of concentration, and other factors. This claim is supported by comparing the amount of work required to compensate for errors before and after RPA implementation. The interpretive principle is that if there is less need to redo work due to errors, the work will be processed more efficiently, in less time, and at an economical cost.
- Reduced risk
Upgrades to systems frequently go over budget and fall short of expectations. RPA projects are low-risk, non-invasive tasks that can be completed quickly without disrupting existing systems. Using RPA bots to automate error-prone processes, on the other hand, reduces the risk of manual errors (arising due to, e.g., duplicate or outdated data, unauthorized access to data).
- Break-Fix Cycles
Break-Fix Cycles are the number of times an automated process fails and needs to be repaired. Bot failure directly impacts RPA ROI; because the bot is out of production and not running, it isn’t saving money or contributing to increased operational efficiency.
- Improved Business Results
One of the top RPA benefits, according to 27% of managers, is increased productivity/performance. Depending on the business’s focus, these could impact the top or bottom line. Some jobs already serve as stepping stones to higher-paying positions.
- Average Uptime for Automation
The average automation uptime indicates how often your bots are available to do their jobs- this differs from utilization in that it assesses a bot’s ability to add value to the business.
- Downtime depletes the value of a company.
The business value lost due to downtime indicates how damaging your RPA program’s Break-Fix Cycles are. This metric is calculated by subtracting the annual expected business value from the quantified downtime.
- Person-Fixing Hours
Break-Fix Person Hours is a tool that helps automation teams figure out how long it takes to fix a broken bot. This automation metric indicates how many FTE hours are spent manually fixing the bot.
- Workload reduction
Data collection and cleaning tasks take up 80% of data science and analytics teams’ time. Data collection via RPA and data reporting via RPA can be especially beneficial to the data science and analytics department, allowing them to focus on more advanced, custom analysis and business model development.
- Remove the Root Causes
Understanding and tracking why bots break in the first place is the goal of this metric. It enables you to spot flaws in your automation process that prevent scaling and maximizing your RPA uptime for maximum ROI.
Intangible RPA ROI metrics:
- Increased Employee Satisfaction
According to a salesforce survey from 2021, using automation in the workplace has made 89 percent of employees happier with their jobs and 84 percent more satisfied with their company. Automation has also given employees more time to learn new skills, take on new challenges and projects, and strengthen relationships with customers and stakeholders, according to employees.
- Reduced employee job-hopping.
According to a 2020 EY survey, 20-30% of employees who perform repetitive tasks leave their jobs every year, requiring businesses to hire a new workforce. Employees will be able to focus on higher-value tasks due to using RPA to automate repetitive mundane tasks.
Employees are freed from the burden of monotonous, uninteresting tasks, allowing them to focus on higher-value, business-critical tasks, resulting in employees who are more fulfilled, satisfied, and less likely to leave the company. Over time, automation will slow down the rate you hire for expansion. You’ll be managing a smaller, more effective, and satisfied workforce due to this efficiency boost.
- Driving Customer Satisfaction
RPA enables businesses to deal with such situations without hiring additional staff (a process that also requires substantial investments of money and time). RPA programs can complete several customer-driven tasks in less time and fewer errors than human employees, resulting in faster transactions and resolutions and increased employee satisfaction.
Conclusion
RPA solutions are undeniably beneficial to businesses in more efficient processes and significant cost savings. To better consider and decide on the implementation of RPA+IA, it is necessary first to understand the key performance metrics to estimate and measure as accurately as possible. The ROI generated by the automation of each process quantifies the various costs, direct/indirect, tangible/intangible, associated with the process.
Organizations will be able to make more informed, conscious, and accurate decisions about future automation and justify and prove all necessary and effective investments if they fully understand and comprehend the expected ROI calculation when implementing each automation project.
Contact us at info@thediligentgroup.com if you’re interested in starting your organization’s RPA journey or upgrading your current automated processes to intelligent automation.
