Will intelligent automation help us do less, or be more?

How automation can amplify the human touch in aged care

Intelligent automation is streamlining Uniting’s back office, freeing its people to focus on delivering exceptional care.

It’s one of Australia’s fastest growing sectors and one that just about all of us will come into contact with. But aged care is also an industry facing some big challenges. Increased scrutiny around standards, tight margins and a growing regulatory burden mean that delivering quality care experiences for some of our most vulnerable people is becoming more difficult.

The problem: Back office administration distracting from frontline care

Uniting is the largest not-for-profit aged care provider in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, with 9,500 staff members who care for about 100,000 clients. Established for more than 100 years, Uniting is well respected and frequently awarded for its service, but its leaders still recognized room for improvement. A heavy reliance on paper-based processes and manual systems was becoming a distraction from providing quality care.

Processes within HR and Payroll were particularly challenging. The complexity of Uniting’s business, multiple systems and a multitude of industrial awards, meant there were different processes for various parts of the business that required manual entry work for Payroll and HR services.

For Emma Lademann, Uniting’s Head of Shared Services, Customer People & Systems , the challenges that the team experienced was just out of step with the organization’s quest to run a lean, high-performing back office and provide an exceptional experience for employees. “We had people spending too much time on things that should have been simple – 25 minutes on a task that should have taken five. And even having to manually run reports on a weekend.

“We just wanted to get things done right and get them done once, so our people could be free to focus on what mattered – enhancing our support for the people in our care.”

The solution: People-centred automation and enablement powers productivity boost

The solution proposed by an EY team led by Peter Fox, a People Advisory Services Partner and Ean Evans, EY’s Oceania Intelligent Automation Leader was one that centred around the selective and strategic use of Service management technologies and intelligent automation.

Intelligent automation can be thought of as a digital workforce. It combines machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots, cognitive analytics, service management tools and robotic process automation (RPA) to perform routine, tedious tasks – far faster and with more efficiency and accuracy.

The plan was to use automation to transform non-core but critical processes but, as Ean points out, the EY solution brought to Uniting was “not an IT project.”

“Successful automation is never about technology alone,” he explains. “It’s about the combined power of people working with technology that will deliver the greatest value.”

The project took a people-centred approach, focused on giving employees the tools and capabilities to drive a better experience for themselves and for the clients in their care. With this in mind, nine key processes were identified across the organisation’s Payroll and HR functions where workloads, delays and potential risks were particularly acute. Drawing on EY’s deep experience in deploying complex automation projects around the world and within just 16 weeks, the team replaced these with one simple automated solution built upon the UiPath platform and designed for flexibility and scalability. At the same time EY automated a number of core employee user ‘journey’s’ using the Service Management tool ServiceNow.

“This was the start of an ongoing journey of automation and enablement for Uniting,” explains Ean. “It was important we created solutions that delivered results immediately but also laid the foundation to expand automation across the organisation and realize the potential of emerging technologies.”

The solution is operated by EY in a managed services arrangement, giving Uniting fast access to the world’s leading cognitive automation tools without the upfront investment in technology or talent. The collaboration means Uniting has the freedom and confidence to focus on its strategy to grow at scale, without adding cost, and add more value to its people and clients.

Intelligent automation made an impact almost immediately. Within weeks, processes that had once tied up Emma’s teams for hours were completed by bots in minutes. By the end of the first year:

• Automation of processes in HR/Payroll alone saved over 6,000 hours in productivity had been saved
• Freed up capacity and added capability back into the business. 
• Reduction of administrative burden on managers allowing them more time to focus on service delivery. 
• Benefits resulting from the expansion of the automation capability will drive significant productivity and future savings for Uniting
• The combination of automation capabilities and the implementation of Service Now created abilities to effectively manage support & automations in production
• Elimination of overtime work conducted on weekends significantly improved employee satisfaction
• Onboarding new team members took place in hours, not days, allowing staff to get to work quickly

Empowering teams to elevate performance

For Uniting’s people, the solution transformed their work life, freeing them from the burden of manual processes and driving a better employee experience.

“There was some initial trepidation around the concept of automation – some people thought it would take away their jobs,” said Emma.

“They soon realised that it just removed the boring parts, giving them time to focus on more enjoyable work.”

Chris Kandalaft, Uniting’s HR Business Process Lead, agrees, saying the project made a significant impact in the performance and productivity of the team.

“It’s given them time back in their day that allows them to add real value to more important priorities,” he said.

For Emma, the feeling of genuine collaboration with the EY team made a huge difference.
“I never felt like I was doing it alone,” she explains.

“The team worked alongside ours in a way that was respectful and understanding of the challenges we faced. They were fully invested in solving our problems and in helping us grow and build along the way.”

And those weekend reports? Automation made them a thing of the past.

“It seems like a simple thing but it made a big difference to our people and that was important to us,” says Emma.

“Now team members come to me all the time suggesting other processes that could be automated and improved. The mindset has totally shifted – we have a team engaged and enthusiastic about the potential of intelligent automation. The only way is up. “

Platform for future transformation

The journey for Uniting is just beginning, with Emma keen to build upon the success of automation so far to progress with more digital transformation.

“By focusing on where it makes sense to streamline back office functions, EY has helped us give hours back to client care, where it matters most.

“We’re working with EY to identify future opportunities to deploy automation across the business. Our journey with EY has proved automation works – the opportunities are endless.”