Wufans, did you know that employers are investing in workflow automation technologies like mad?

No joke, between 2017 and 2023, the market for the technology is predicted to grow by an annual compound rate of roughly 24%.

So why are employers giddy about this type of technology? And why should you, as an employee, open your arms and figuratively embrace it as well?

Let’s dig into both of these questions. But first, let’s review what you’re probably asking yourself: “What in the world is workflow automation?”

Workflow automation overview

Workflow automation involves the use of technology to take tasks that previously required manual work and let them run automatically.

It can be used in all sorts of ways in the workplace, such as onboarding customers, hiring employees, and registering people for events.

Given its variety of applications, it’s likely relevant to you. Here are the top 5 reasons you and your organization should incorporate workflow automation.

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Benefits of using Workflow Automation

1) It saves employees time

Tasked with a bunch of manual work that prevents you from performing at your best?

To help you reflect, let’s work through a real-life example. Say you’re a marketer who’s trying to capture fresh leads and pass them on to your sales team. Problem is, you don’t know which lead is more qualified than the next.

Workflow automation—engage!

You launch an email to prospects that includes a link to an e-book—which they can only read once they fill out a form. Since you’ve integrated your form builder with your customer relationship management (CRM) platform, the form responses are automatically recorded in your CRM. Your CRM then auto-assigns these leads to your sales reps.

Looks like you’ve not only identified sales-qualified prospects, but also delivered them to your team, directly!

Want to automatically transfer form responses to your CRM? Learn about our CRM integrations.

Now imagine you work in human resources and you need to facilitate candidate interviews.

If you’ve got a bunch of candidates coming in and there are multiple interview rounds they need to go through, you’re in for a serious time suck.

Fear not, workflow automation can come to the rescue!

Integrate your email with a candidate relationship management tool. You can then automate your communications with applicants as soon as you move them to a different interview stage.

As you can tell, workflow automation saves employees heaps of time. But it also improves the experience for the people on the other end. Just think of the interviewee who, soon after their interview, knows what their next steps are.

Finally, remember that these examples are only the tip of the iceberg. Engineers, sales reps, marketers, and other departments have much to gain by automating their tasks.

2) It allows employees to think critically

With all the time you save from using workflow automation, what are you left to do?

Probably a lot, actually. And if your answer involves taking more time to think critically in your role, you aren’t alone.

Only 24% of millennial employees, for example, say that their organization supports their ability to think critically—a skill many of them go so far to say is essential to their job.

And with employers in agreement that employees (particularly those early in their career) need to improve on their ability to think critically, investing in workflow automation is a win-win for all involved!

3) It increases employee engagement

Completing the same task over and over again can wear out the best of ‘em.  

Employees need a variety of challenges that push them to learn and grow over time. Otherwise, they’re likely to disengage from their job.

And what happens when employee engagement stagnates or even worsens? Employees are more likely to leave, miss work, be less productive, and negatively influence coworkers.

Workflow automation limits the amount of repetitive, mind-numbing tasks, and opens employees up to different challenges. In other words, it can help prevent employee disengagement at your organization.

4) It creates a competitive advantage for your organization

Despite all the benefits workflow automation offers, a bunch of organizations still aren’t using it to its fullest capabilities. For example, only about half of organizations (53%) use an automation tool for marketing.

This means that adopting the technology can give you and your organization a chance to outperform countless rivals, right at the onset.

The biggest roadblock to adopting workflow automation tools might actually be getting access to them in the first place. We’ll help you out! Here are some stats you can share with colleagues to make your case for using them more convincing:

• Sales reps waste up to half of their time on unproductive prospecting.
• Switching between tasks reduces employee productivity by 40%.
• Organizations that perform marketing automation capture 80% more leads and increase conversions by 77%.
• Roughly 3 out of 4 customer support professionals cite time management as their biggest challenge.

There are a lot more proof points across all types workflow automation, so take the time to equip yourself before selling your applications of the technology to colleagues.

5) It’s used by the best

Automating your tasks can differentiate your work performance.

Just look at those who automate lead scoring and nurturing. They outperform peers who don’t use this type of automation by 23 percentage points. In addition, 48% of high performers automate social activities versus 29% of high performers who don’t.

Sometimes it’s best to follow the pack—especially when it consists of employees who’re excelling in their role.

Finally, remember to use forms in your workflow automation processes.

Forms are the perfect complement to automating any task. They’re easy for customers, prospects, job applicants, employees, and anyone else to fill out. Plus, our form builder offers a ton of integrations so you can automatically transfer the responses to a variety of platforms that your team already uses. Talk about powerful workflow automation!

Excited to fast track those boring day-to-day tasks? Use our form builder as part of your automation efforts today.