The Surprising Way You Can Retain Talent During the Great Resignation: Business Process Automation

by Member Guest Author, posted in Member Guest Blog

Blog written by Eide Bailly, a Greater Mankato Growth Bronze Investor

From flexible schedules to compensation and benefit packages, the Great Resignation has forced organizations to rethink the way they foster employee satisfaction and maximize staff. One of the simplest answers to talent retention is making sure your employees are satisfied with their jobs. Are they able to focus on higher-value tasks or are they spending hours (or even days) on repetitive or complicated manual processes?

Business Process Automation, or BPA, can help free your employees from manual, time consuming processes they hate and allow them to focus on work that is more enjoyable and adds higher value to your organization. This investment in making the day-to-day lives of your employees better is incredibly valuable. Whether it’s a process that takes 10 minutes every Monday morning or one that eats up three days, lightening the emotional load for your employees can drastically change the way that they perceive their employment experience.

What is Business Process Automation?

Business Process Automation (BPA) is the method in which you utilize technology to automate or optimize processes within your organization. One of the most important things to remember about BPA is that it focuses on process optimization. You can automate any process, but first you need to consider whether the process is worth automating in the first place.

It’s also important to remember that you shouldn’t select a technology and see what problems it can solve; you will be better served by deciding which problems you need to solve and then finding a technology that provides a solution.

How Does Business Process Automation Work?

From admin and finance to HR and marketing, the benefits of process optimization and automation are far-reaching. You will be able to find opportunities for process improvement throughout your entire organization. Take, for example, the hiring process.

Hiring a new employee is a process that involves many people. For the typical organization, hiring a new position starts with the hiring manager and flows through human resources for approval and salary research. From there, the process moves to the recruiting team to post, screen, interview, and conduct background checks. Once an offer is extended and a candidate accepts, it circles back to HR to close the position and transitions to IT to procure equipment and appropriate licenses. The process then ends with onboarding and training that needs to be coordinated to ensure a successful start. It’s a complicated process with timelines and multiple dependencies.

For one client, our team was able to orchestrate this entire process to flow seamlessly between departments using the software they already used daily. Their new automation functions as a “digital project manager” that is programmed to enhance the process and reduce inefficiencies. When someone is ready to hire a new role, they simply enter the required information in Microsoft Teams, which is then immediately transmitted to the HR department who receives a notification of what their next step. After those steps are complete, a notification is sent to the IT department signaling their upcoming tasks. This is all done by leveraging the software that the team already uses, so there’s no switching back and forth between systems.

What is Robotic Process Automation?

Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, is a subset of Business Process Automation created through enterprise innovation. As companies grow, they inevitably create technical debt— older, legacy systems that don’t make sense to replace, yet still need to interact with the new, cloud-based tools organizations are implementing.

RPA started as a (very expensive) solution that helped automate many of the repetitive, manual processes required to tie these systems together through the use of “digital workers” (also known as “bots”) and artificial intelligence. Recently, however, the technology has become more attainable for everyday organizations who suffer from the same problems as enterprise businesses, just on a smaller scale.

RPA is a stopgap solution for organizations who are stuck in the middle of where they started and where they’re trying to go. When it doesn’t make sense for the organization to spend two days on a manual process, but it also doesn’t make sense for them to invest tens of thousands of dollars on new systems or integrations, RPA can be the perfect solution.

How Does Robotic Process Automation Work?

RPA allows for a more hands-off, user-friendly experience. We recently worked with a construction company to automate their invoice approval process. Starting with a PDF invoice from their subcontractor, the automation we built scans the invoice, pulls out the needed information and sends the approver a message in Microsoft Teams. The approver is then able to see the invoice details, modify them if necessary, save the invoice in SharePoint, and then approve or reject the invoice.

Once the invoice is approved, the automation launches the invoicing application, uploads the data and saves the record. When finished, it closes the application and sends an alert that the invoice was created. The invoice is added to an Excel spreadsheet that logs every transaction.

How to Know When It’s Time to Invest in Automation

The traditional way of determining whether it’s time to invest in a technology has focused on numbers—by evaluating the balance sheet and seeing how long it will take to realize the ROI of your solution. But the Great Resignation has introduced a new metric into the equation: how does this affect employee satisfaction and improve the efficiency of your current staff? The ROI may not be as black and white, but the investment in your employees will go a long way.

2022 Legislative Session Recap: What could have been

by Greater Mankato Growth, posted in Public Affairs

The 2022 legislative session could be characterized in one word: disappointing. There was so much opportunity to do good work and help Minnesotans. Very little of that opportunity was seized. This may not be entirely surprising, given Minnesota is one of only two states with divided control of the legislature (Republicans have the majority in the Senate, and the Democrats have the majority in the House). But Minnesota has a tradition of compromise and it is also something that is structurally required by our state’s constitution: the state must pass a balanced budget every two years, bonding bills (borrowing money) requires a super majority of both the House and the Senate, and, of course, all legislation must be signed by the Governor. There have been hiccups along the way, but Minnesotans expect elected officials to work together and get their work done, even if a little late.

Continue reading “2022 Legislative Session Recap: What could have been” →

April 2022 Employment Figures – Unemployment Hits All-Time Low

by Greater Mankato Growth, posted in Business Development, Talent Development

According to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) there were fewer unemployed job seekers in April 2022 than in any other month since data became available in January 1990. With only 766 unemployed, this was the first time that unemployment in Greater Mankato dropped below 1000 since November 1999 when unemployment was at 924. Due to a smaller labor force in 1999, that reflected an unemployment rate of 2.5% while the April 2022 unemployment rate fell to an all-time low of 1.3%.

Since January, the region has added 1,600 jobs and increased employment by 1,060. Between March and April, 600 jobs were added and employment increased by 268. This is shrinking the gap that exists from employment, where numbers have returned to pre-pandemic levels and jobs, where numbers have lagged behind. This shrinking gap could be caused by more people from outside the region taking jobs locally, individuals working remotely for a company outside of our region deciding to work for a local business, and individuals deciding to work multiple jobs.

Note that the difference between these two statistics is that jobs record the number of paychecks being issued by companies in Blue Earth & Nicollet County regardless of where employees live. Employment records the number of people living in Blue Earth & Nicollet County who work, regardless of where they work. A deeper explanation of this difference can be found at the end of the January employment figure report.

Continue reading “April 2022 Employment Figures – Unemployment Hits All-Time Low” →

March 2022 Employment Figures – Jobs & Employment Hold Mostly Steady

by Greater Mankato Growth, posted in Business Development, Talent Development

Preliminary figures for March were released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and showed minor changes to both jobs and employment numbers in the Greater Mankato Area. The region saw job (nonfarm payroll) growth of 200 increasing to 56,400. This follows adjustments to the February numbers that added an additional 200 jobs to what was reported in February.

Conversely, the region saw employment fall by 193 to 60,114. While this sets a historic record for the highest employment seen in March, seeing a reduction in employment between February and March is unusual for our region. The 193 person decrease reflected a reduction of 3 tenths of one percent.  A deeper explanation of the difference between these two statistics and why the number of jobs is less than employment can be found at the end of the January employment figure report.

The total labor force saw a similar decrease as 146 people exited the labor force bringing the March labor force to 61,478.

Unemployment remained at a historic March low of 1,364. Traditionally, our region only sees unemployment numbers this low between September and December. The 2.2% unemployment rate remains much lower than the state unemployment rate of 2.8% and the federal unemployment rate of 3.8%.

Continue reading “March 2022 Employment Figures – Jobs & Employment Hold Mostly Steady” →

Teen Connect & Mankato Job Fair – Two Opportunities in May

by Greater Mankato Growth, posted in Business Development, Community Events, GMG Events, Talent Development

There are two upcoming opportunities for employers to reach potential candidates in May. On Wednesday, May 11, Mankato Area Public Schools is hosting their first-ever job fair, volunteer fair, and enrichment fair aimed at high school students. On Saturday, May 14, Greater Mankato Growth is partnering with Radio Mankato to host the third Mankato Job Fair.

Teen Connect

On Wednesday, May 11 from 9-11:30, Mankato Area Public Schools is hosting Teen Connect. This event will be an opportunity for an expected 200+ students to learn about work opportunities, volunteer opportunities, and enrichment programs like camps and clubs that are available to students.

Employers with paid summer work opportunities can register for the event for $25/table and can sign up to do onsite interviews from 11:30-12:30. More details and a signup link are available in this flyer.

Organizations with volunteer opportunities can register for $10/table.

Mankato Job Fair

Greater Mankato Growth is partnering with Radio Mankato to host another Mankato Job Fair on Saturday, May 14 from 9-1 at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center. This job fair is held on a Saturday to make it accessible to those looking to advance their careers and for those who live in communities outside of the region, but who may commute or move for a new opportunity. When we first held this job fair one year ago, it was the most successful job fair in the state at that time.

Employers interested in participating in the job fair can see who else is attending at MankatoJobFair.com and can register by calling Radio Mankato at 507-345-4537.

Legislative Update: Mid-Session – April 2022

by Andy Wilke, posted in Public Affairs

We are already into the second half of the 2022 legislative session. Unfortunately there has not been a lot accomplished yet, despite the legislature setting a record for the number of bills introduced with more than 4,700 in the Senate and 4,300 in the House. It seems that legislators have a lot ideas, but have taken very little action. We have passed all the committee deadlines and the House and Senate have started to move on their omnibus bills: taxes, transportation, environment, etc. Not surprisingly, the House and Senate omnibus bills are vastly different on both policy and fiscal impact. Much work will have to be done to come together in conference committee or with leadership.

Budget Surplus

The Senate passed the first omnibus tax bill off the Senate floor in bipartisan fashion. Among other things, it permanently reduces the first tier individual income tax rate from 5.3% to 2.8% and eliminates income tax on social security income. The Senate Republicans touted this as the “largest tax cut ever,” totaling $3.38 billion this biennium and $5 billion in the FY 24/25 biennium.

Continue reading “Legislative Update: Mid-Session – April 2022” →

February 2022 Employment Figures – Employment & Jobs Rise

by Greater Mankato Growth, posted in Business Development, Talent Development

Preliminary figures for February were released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Between January & February, Greater Mankato saw employment growth of 900 to a post-pandemic high of 60,194. Jobs (total nonfarm payroll) increased by 700 to 56,000. In short, the difference between jobs and employment is that the jobs number counts the number of paychecks being issued in Greater Mankato and employment counts the number of people who live in Mankato who work. A deeper explanation of the difference between these two statistics and why the number of jobs is less than employment can be found at the end of the January employment figure report.

Unemployment decreased by 342 and the labor force grew by 558. The growth in employment and labor force comes on top of January numbers that have been adjusted up by 200 since they were released last month.

The employment numbers in our region and the jobs numbers in our region paint two very different pictures of the talent shortage. Employment is at its highest point since the beginning of the pandemic and is down by less than 400 compared to February 2020. This tells us that the vast majority of people in our region have returned to work in some form. In contrast, jobs are down by 2,800 compared to February 2020. This helps explain why there are so many businesses short workers despite the labor force return in Greater Mankato. There are a number of possible reasons for this difference:

Continue reading “February 2022 Employment Figures – Employment & Jobs Rise” →

January 2022 Employment Figures – Employment Rises While Total Jobs Worked Falls

by Greater Mankato Growth, posted in Business Development, Talent Development

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released preliminary January data for their Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) and Current Employment Statistics (CES) reports. In these reports, we saw that the number of employed individuals living in the Mankato-North Mankato MSA rose by 366 while the number of jobs being worked (total nonfarm payroll) in our region dropped by 900 (information on the difference between employed individuals & jobs data can be found at the end of this blog post).

The number of non-farm jobs being worked in our region dropped from 56,300 in December 2021 to 55,400 in January 2022, a 1.6% decrease. In contrast, the number of employed individuals rose from 58,716 to 59,082 over the same period, a 0.6% increase. Individuals entering the labor force rose by an even higher 1.1% (688) people. Between December 2021 and January 2022, the labor force rose from 60,050 to 60,638 – its highest point since November 2020.

Continue reading “January 2022 Employment Figures – Employment Rises While Total Jobs Worked Falls” →

Legislative Update – March 2022

by Andy Wilke, posted in Public Affairs

The legislature is off and running full steam ahead! This the second year of the 2-year (biennial) legislative session. There are several themes that have been consuming the discussion early on: budget surplus, bonding, unemployment insurance trust fund, redistricting, and COVID closures. Here is a brief update on each area.

Budget Surplus

In 2021, the state passed a 2-year budget of $52 billion, a record level of spending. A key part of our budget is revenue, how much the state collects in taxes, fees, federal funds, etc. The state uses a forecasting model to try and make an educated guess of how much money will be collected (and spent) during the biennium. The state then updates their projections throughout the year with periodic “budget forecasts,” which update the revenue and expense projections. In November 2021, the state projected a budget surplus of $7.7 billion. As of Monday February 28th (the “February forecast”), that budget surplus jumped to $9.3 billion. The legislature does not technically need to do anything, they already passed a budget in 2021. However, ideas range from giving it back in the form of rebate checks, reducing taxes, or spending on new or existing programs. Governor Walz has proposed nearly tripling proposed rebate checks (“Walz Checks”) to $500 and $1,000 for qualifying individuals and couples. Senate Republicans have proposed permanently reducing the first tier individual income tax rate from 5.3% to 2.8% and eliminating income tax on social security income. House Speaker Melissa Hortman and DFL leaders have been cautious and suggested putting more in reserves while also providing unspecified support for families who continue to struggle through the pandemic.

Continue reading “Legislative Update – March 2022” →

Feeling Anxious?

by Member Guest Author, posted in Business Development

If you answered “Yes!” to that question, you are not alone. In fact, you are part of the majority.

Rates of anxiety and depression among U.S. adults were about 4 times higher between April 2020 and August 2021 than they were in 2019. Some of the sharpest increases were among males, Asian Americans, young adults, and parents with children in the home, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even without a pandemic, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million of adults in the United States age 18 and older. Although anxiety disorders are highly treatable, only 36.9% of those suffering receive treatment.

Anxiety, in short, is a disconnect between your mind and body. Your mind is worrying about something in the past or future (like an exam). Your body, however, does not have the capability to recognize past or future; it can only live in the here and now. This causes your body to have a set of physical reactions as it is preparing to fight, run, or freeze.

Experiencing occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. It is healthy for the mind and body to experience some anxiety. However, anxiety becomes a more serious issue when it begins to interfere with your daily life, becomes excessive, is unmanageable, or leads to panic attacks. Professionally speaking, you could be diagnosed with anxiety if you experience symptoms for six consecutive weeks. Instead of waiting for those weeks to pass, you can take steps to reduce your anxiety now.

Here are some useful (and maybe even a little goofy) scientifically supported techniques you can use when you’re experiencing anxiety.

1. Give your mind a name. If you give your mind a name, it makes it easier to disagree with and move on to a more helpful thought. The average human has 60,000-80,000 thoughts every day. That’s a ton! How many of those thoughts are actually useful for you? Maybe a small handful each day? Do yourself a favor and name your mind. Mine is named Jeff. We are friends. Jeff gives me quite a few strange thoughts, but I can respectfully disagree with him.

2. Go to your “one-stop” shopping store. Well, you don’t have to physically go there, but imagine that your mind is like that store where there are tons of items. (Your items are your thoughts.)  Some items in the store are useful. Some are worthless to you. Some you never even knew existed! Do you go into the store planning to buy everything in the store? No way! Your mind works the same way. As you are shopping around the aisles of your thoughts, you get to choose what you buy and what you leave on the shelf!

3. Repeat it. Created by psychologist Edward Titchener, this little trick shows people how a word loses its meaning when repeated over and over and over. If you want to give it a try, take the word “milk.” Take a moment and think of a nice, cold glass of milk. Then repeat the word “milk” out loud for 30 seconds. You’ll notice that it starts to lose meaning and just becomes a weird sound that’s hard to say. Try doing 30 seconds of “failure” or “loser” or “ugly” the next time a thought like that causes you anxiety or pain.

4. Sing the thought or say it in a funny voice. I suggest using “Happy Birthday” as the melody to that anxious thought you’re experiencing, and maybe your favorite cartoon character’s voice. I know, I know, it sounds strange. I promise you, though, this is based on hundreds of scientific studies!

These are just a handful of skills that are a portion of Cognitive Defusion. Defusion is part of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which was created and researched by Dr. Steven Hayes. I hope they are helpful for you!

To learn more about Cognitive Defusion, you can watch Dr. Hayes speak about it during his TedTalk.