Top 3 ways to overcome automation barriers

People can make or break any technology initiative and that includes automation efforts. To overcome staff-related barriers to automation, leadership must support goals with clear directives and meaningful compensation.

If leadership simply expects employees to add “automator” to their task list, staff are unlikely to pursue that directive energetically. If staff fear they will lose their jobs thanks to automation, reluctance and apathy can turn to downright resistance.

Management needs to start from the ground up to motivate employees’ automation efforts. Make it a part of annual goals for each position to develop and deploy, via whatever means, automation relevant to repetitive and manual tasks. In some organizations, that will involve first making automation a part of each job’s description, which is a longer and more difficult process.

Leadership should clearly communicate that employees should look for automation opportunities that can help free up any time spent on rote tasks for more sophisticated and potentially rewarding work. In most organizations, staff are likely to have more work than they can comfortably handle, even with regular rounds of automation. Management should reassure staff that the goal is moving the company forward, not moving staff out.

Leaders should also build in compensation for automating more work — for example, offering bonuses specifically for automating task work — to keep automation efforts moving forward or help unstick a stalled effort.

Automation barriers are a common reality, but with the right mix of tools, processes and support for staff, IT leaders can unstick or accelerate their automation strategies.

About the author
John Burke is CIO and principal research analyst with Nemertes Research. With nearly two decades of technology experience, he has worked at all levels of IT.