Automation makes your workforce more productive. And happier.
Many organizations view software and the advent of AI as a threat. When you ask individuals why they fear these new technologies, the answer is often a variant of the idea that “Employees fear their jobs will be eliminated by automation.”
This concern is a common phenomenon, and, in our experience, it is a complete misconception1. The data is clear, automation does not destroy jobs2. Quite the contrary phenomenon takes place when intelligent automation is adopted: individual employees become more valuable, organizations grow, and hiring increases. How is that possible? The truth is that existing employees become happier and more productive once mundane tasks are eliminated. Subsequently, they accomplish a greater volume of higher complexity tasks, with greater accuracy. Additionally, employees spend more time with patients! Patient satisfaction increases with more face time, which in turn increases patient retention. As we know, patient retention is the number one reason for stalled clinical trials. Improving this metric translates into more business from the additional studies that sponsors will want you to work on. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In his 1946 classic, Economics in One Lesson, Henry Hazlitt says it well:
“The belief that machines cause unemployment, when held with any logical consistency, leads to preposterous conclusions. Not only must we be causing unemployment with every technological improvement we make today, but primitive man must have started causing it with the first efforts he made to save himself from needless toil and sweat.”3
This fallacy can be traced back to the introduction of cotton-spinning machinery. When they were introduced in the late 1760s, England had 7,900 workers engaged in the production of textiles. However, 27 years after the invention, a parliament inquiry showed that number grew by 320,000, an increase of 4,400%!1
In more modern times, when ATM’s changed banking forever, everyone assumed bank tellers would be out of a job. Instead, the opposite happened. Not only have teller jobs increased, but they’ve been growing slightly faster than the labor force as a whole.4
While the fear that computers, automation and artificial intelligence will destroy jobs is an understandable one, the data does not support it. The more likely outcome is automation and software will make you and your staff more productive, resulting in greater profit, and eliminate wasted time, not your job. Ultimately, your team can focus on creative and collaborative tasks that are best tailored for the human mind and spirit. Leaving the mundane tasks to machines and the human tasks to a happier workforce.
If you are curious how Clinical.ly’s eReg solution can help you improve productivity, reduce mistakes and conduct more studies, please reach out to us at info@clinical.ly. We are looking forward to hearing from you.
In the news & links:
1. We’re presenting at SCRS – come see us
2. We’re presenting at MAGI – come see us
3. https://www.clinicalleader.com/doc/what-do-sponsors-and-cros-think-about-technology-use-in-trials-0001
4. https://www.clinicalleader.com/doc/the-keys-to-a-successful-training-change-management-support-program-0001
References
(1) https://fee.org/articles/the-curse-of-machinery/
(2) https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/6717/economics/the-luddite-fallacy/
(3) https://www.amazon.com/Economics-One-Lesson-Shortest-Understand/dp/0517548232
(4) http://www.aei.org/publication/what-atms-bank-tellers-rise-robots-and-jobs/