What happened? 

Lockdown highlighted the sheer volume of manual processes as well as how the information requirements of many business leaders have changed quite dramatically. While some data needed to remain static, management teams often wanted it more frequently and in greater detail. The versatility of their set up was tested fully when requests for new types of information were made – sometimes revealing significant deficiencies in the quality, consistency and timeliness of pre-existing data management practices.

Perhaps of greater importance was the need to anticipate and respond to fluctuations in supplier performance and customer behaviour as circumstances rapidly changed. This is where data management and predictive analytical capabilities come into their own.

Gone are the days where forecasts are accurate, we’re in an environment where we have learned what you really need to have a handle on are the metrics, insights, and what’s actually happening on the ground—the dashboard of daily life.  

Where workforce locations have dispersed, there is now a fundamental need for management to know how these measures have impacted on productivity, both what’s improved and what hasn’t. Studies suggest that in the last three months around 25% of large companies have bought new software to passively monitor the workflows of their remote employees, while 90% of survey respondents cited a desire to measure the productivity and effectiveness of remote working. It’s a trend that Blue Saffron are in a prime position to help with.

What is happening now? 

 

Investing in optimising and improving workflows and processes has never been so salient and can eliminate the time on manual tasks; ensuring employees access the right information and complete it at the right time. It can also improve business velocity, eliminate errors, minimise rework and reduce labour costs. At Blue Saffron our customer shared automation and knowledge base approach has had a very positive impact on efficiency when processing changes in service and employee circumstance.

Blue Saffron’s dexterity in supporting enterprises has seen a range of projects successfully implemented across a variety of differing budgets, demands and requirements.  

Our Zendesk powered customer support portal has been invaluable in collecting and sharing data on trends and helping to drive change in planning, remediation and strategy. One customer commented,

“we saw a 60% improvement in time taken to process changes to employee HR service requests”

Other key technologies that have helped to improve workforce productivity and access data more effectively, include the class defining collaborative features embedded in Microsoft 365 Power Automate, an important component of Microsoft’s Business Application “Power Platform”, which can help companies rapidly build workflows to connect data services and sources.

For the more complex and customised solutions, Blue Saffron has used Jitterbit , an award-winning technology that helps companies drive innovation by rapidly connecting disparate systems and infusing intelligence into business process, to huge impact. Typical applications include the connection of cloud-based customer relationship systems and premise based counterparts, or perhaps securely opening up, free or subscription based, data services for private or public consumption by your customer and supplier base

For one recruitment customer, struggling with the limitations of the native reporting capability within their Customer Relationship Management and accounting systems, we extracted and securely stored data in a faster more accessible format to take reporting to the next level. More

A finance departments’ workflow was enhanced through eradicating much of the manual process associated with supplier invoicing through the automation of workflow from email capture, archiving and reformatting of attachments and transferring of invoice data for their accounting system.

Many companies are questioning current levels of investment in data collection and analysis – is it sufficient to be able to adjust and make decisions? To increase agility we are going to have to work to access input on customers, input about the changing regulatory environments, our suppliers and partners. 

We have helped customers drive improved adoption of the Microsoft 365 product suite (Teams, On drive, Email) through actionable insights provided with Microsoft’s Power BI (sample here).

What happens next? 

 

There is undoubtedly a lot to think about here. Consultation and inclusion are a must and in these unorthodox times, we will all be looking for greater productivity and efficiency. It’s a delicate balance and our customers are clear that “trust” is incredibly important. Blue Saffron work with a number of key technologies that support companies in improving workforce productivity, while sharing and accessing data more effectively.   Let us know how we can help you.