How robots can motivate employees?

The original article in Lithuanian language was published in news website LRT.LT

Businesses are facing a new challenge related to the reputation of the so-called millennials to switch jobs frequently, writes news website lrt.lt. According to Gallup, 60% of the millennials plan to spend no more than one year at their current workplace, the article reports.

That is why companies seek to optimize the time the new employees stay with their employers. According to Gintautas Jonutis, director of the Robotic Centre of Excellence at the Western Union Lithuania, for this purpose their company uses modern technologies and the employees are trained using robotisation of processes.

Every second millennial does not feel engaged

According to Gallup study, only a third (29%) of millennials are truly committed and love their work; 55% of them do not feel motivated to achieve good results at work. They insist that employers are unable to motivate them properly and fail to give compelling reasons to stay.

According to the survey, 21% of millennials have changed jobs within the past year. This is three times the number of all non-millennials of working age taken together. Therefore, the biggest companies in the country should adapt to such career attitudes of the young generation.

“Our company offers a lot of opportunities for growth. We pay much attention both to fair business initiatives and the well-being of employees. People are encouraged to join common activities, to carry out social projects, to take advantage of flexible working hours, and to use additional days for annual leave. Employee engagement builds loyalty,” said Ilona Lekavičiūtė, the Head of Communication and Administration.

Solution – process robotisation

According to Jonutis, it is not worth changing the behaviour of millennials, but it is possible to use the tools offered by modern technologies. Each new person employed at the company must be trained as soon as possible and robotics contributes to this effectively.

“Our aim is that the opportunities offered by robotics would help a person rather than replace him. Currently, we are running a pilot robot as an assistant, who is installed in the employee’s computer and, if necessary, interferes in the employee’s work,” Jonutis shared his experience.

According to Jonutis, such mechanism may correct an error, show visually what should be the next step of the process and, finally, execute that step. Thus, the employee may start working independently assisted by the robot, if needed, without extensive training.

“There is also an opportunity to transfer various tasks, so the only thing remains to know is what the employee wishes to do and the robot must figure out how to do it. Thus, the employee becomes the conductor of the robot,” Jonutis said.

The company started implementing robots in business processes back in 2016 when only 15% of the companies in the world invested in this area.

In the past year, robots performed over one million tasks in the branch of Western Union in Lithuania: refunded customers whose money transfers were suspended, searched for information on the Google search system and verified the prices of financial services.

Source: LRT.LT