Recruitment giant Hays has launched its latest ‘What Workers Want’ report titled ‘Mindset Key for Digital Change’. As the name suggests, this is focusing on automation and digital transformation in the workplace. So, how are Executive and Personal Assistants responding to change? PA Life provides exclusive insights…
Personal and Executive Assistants are enthusiastic about using the latest technology in the workplace. However, there is a lack of awareness as to the specific benefits offered by automation, and the current deployment of automation technology has not been in line with the areas that would most benefit their day-to-day roles.
Key findings
Majority of employers investing in automation
- Over a third (35%) of PA and EA respondents say that digital transformation is a primary focus for their organisation, and 40% say it is a secondary focus
- Two-thirds (66%) of PA and EA employers state that they are currently, or will be, investing in automation
- Despite this, 26% of employers are not sure if they are investing in automation. This lack of awareness is higher than the UK average of 16% and amongst the highest across all the industries and functions we surveyed
Productivity and process efficiencies driving automation investment
- PA and EA respondents deem the main benefits of automation in the workplace to be improved productivity (34%), process efficiencies (24%) and cost savings (16%)
- In terms of specific job areas or tasks, 42% of employers say that paying invoices has already benefited from an investment in automation, or will soon. 39% said the same for expense claims, 37% for word processing and document design and 34% for data entry
- According to employers, the job areas or tasks with the lowest investment in automation are virtual assistance and proposal/bid writing, with only 16% and 21% of employers investing in these areas respectively
Automation resulting in an increase of administrative tasks for PAs and EAs
- A fifth (20%) of PA and EA employees say that automation has increased the administrative tasks that they carry out, and only 15% have seen a decrease
- This contrasts with the UK overall where more respondents agree that administrative tasks have decreased (23%) than increased (17%)
- Employers must ensure they are being strategic with their deployment of automation technology, so not to inadvertently increase the administrative workload of their PAs and EAs, distracting them from more analytical tasks
For more information and to request your own copy of the full report, click here.
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