Process Mining Won’t Take Jobs. It Will Improve Them. Here Are 4 Examples

So the daunting monster called automation is here to eat jobs alive, right? Well, not so fast.

With the current buzz around AI and automation, many employees are getting stressed out about losing their jobs. At first sight, rightly so because, as McKinsey stated in 2016, automation won’t eliminate a lot of jobs entirely, but “almost all” jobs will be affected by it.

As you already know, Process Mining (PM) and its buddy, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) have a hand in it too.

Though no one truly knows what’s going to happen in the future, one thing is almost certain. PM is only a tool that will enhance the performance of many jobs currently in the market, not replace the people who execute it.

What jobs are we talking about?

Process Managers

Process and operations managers are those employees which — upon the first inspection — might potentially get worried when their bosses start considering PM.

But, let’s get some historical perspective here. The traditional way of process discovery and mapping used to be “manual” — the process of people analyzing other processes (fasten your seatbelts, we’re going meta here!) by interviewing employees and managers, while jotting down notes and trying to put the puzzle together.

Such an approach often led to human error, because it took into account neither subjectivity, nor incompleteness and inaccuracy of human beings. Well, the ROI of time and money invested wasn’t that great either.

Keeping these downsides in mind, process and operations managers who discover PM might be just as happy as a kid with a new toy. With it, they can focus on the more insights-oriented activities, including learning about the root causes of inefficiencies and finding new ways to process optimization.

Auditors and Compliance Officers

Among other professions usually in touch with PM at the current level of adoption, one should specifically highlight auditors and compliance officers. Right, those people that assure everything’s running according to the rules.

With a lack of compliance in place, “the damage to brand reputation can often cost even more than those (FCPA) fines,” as shared in Forbes, and you know it’s true.

Since process discovery and mapping adds a great deal of transparency to everyday operations of organizations, it helps auditors a ton in doing their jobs on another level, providing them with space to go into details of every compliance issue they spot.

Data Scientists

Of course, data science.

PM is on the crossroads of business process management and data mining.

As such, the connection with data science is essential, with PM sometimes being referred to as “data science in action”. Data scientists are embracing the new field of PM because it helps them meet the differences between event data and process models.

Our product visionary, Michal Rosik, best depicts the picture.

“Using full-strength data mining on your process analysis would entail hiring PhDs in computer science and turning them loose on all your company’s data. Then waiting for them to design algorithms to sort through just the specific pieces needed to craft a map of your business processes,” he says.

“Contrast that with Process Mining, and you’ll see that with a simple export of event logs from your IT systems, anyone can craft the same map in far less time and with a far lower expense.”

Got it?

Analysts/Consultants

From where we’re standing, we not only see what’s currently out there, but also what can come next. According to the The Future of Jobs Report 2018 by World Economic Forum, though 75 million jobs are endangered by machines, 133 million new ones may occur by the year 2022.

With regards to the PM industry, there is a pretty good chance that companies will need to hire or train in-house consultants. Why?

Process efficiency and optimization will become a crucial part of every business, and close cooperation between process managers and PM consultants will be a question of the day.

Process Mining Will Act As Your Enabler

Technology and automation are not the bad guys on the horizon. If you find a way to adopt them and embrace them within your processes, it can bring a great deal of support to your employees.

They won’t have to spend their time on manual and repetitive tasks or so-called swivel work. All of a sudden, they can direct the focus on value-added and creative tasks that, in the end, provide value to your customers.

If you don’t take our word for it, maybe Harvard Business Review’s will do: “While it is likely that some human functions will be taken over by RPA, in most companies that have implemented the technology, job losses have been relatively minor.” And you know, PM is the necessary prerequisite of RPA.

And until you find your own PM consultant, we’ll gladly show you how to get the most out of your processes.