'A lot of processes are maintained or handled as workarounds in the day-to-day business,' says expert
New Zealand has a saying: "You can fix anything with a piece of Number 8 wire."
The phrase is deeply rooted in New Zealand's culture, originating from the early days of farm fencing and eventually becoming a staple in the country's lexicon.
Mark Presnell, managing director of Convergence, said it captures the can-do attitude of New Zealanders. But this mindset, which has prevailed in the period of IT and e-commerce, can be a liability for employers in the age of digital transformation.
"It becomes a liability in that a lot of those processes are often maintained or handled as workarounds in the day-to-day business," Presnell said. "People learn about the shortcomings of the current systems that the company has, and they will find ways to work around those failings using a workaround of some sort that is often just stored in the individual's head."
As an example, he said that they have spoken to clients who claim that their systems are "integrated" despite still needing to manually export and import files.
"That's not integration, that's a workaround,” he said.
Such shortcomings may be resolved with automation, but reliance on workarounds prevents business leaders from seeing the system failings as problems.
"These [shortcomings] are things that individuals are finding at their level of operation or tasks where they really just need to get the work done," the managing director said. "So often the workarounds are not talked about, they're just done. And for senior management and then ultimately business owners… they don't even know that they're happening."
Presnell stressed the need for automation as he underscored a major consequence for employers who keep refusing it.
"I think it's pretty black and white. I think businesses who do not embrace automation will be left behind just because the trend of online business is unstoppable," he said.
"Therefore, it will be more and more important for businesses to be able to operate in a seamless and smooth fashion rather than having a whole lot of workarounds and people doing things manually behind the scenes."
Going automated in 2025 can lead to various benefits in terms of the valuation and the scalability of the business, according to Presnell.
"Once the business has automation in place, it can actually show work processes in terms of computer systems and say this is how we operate. It doesn't matter whether it's Fred or Sally or Joe who is carrying out the task, but our systems support a certain process that is set up and is vetted by the business," he said.
"The asset value of the business can be actually established through that systemisation and automation."
Taking the first step towards automation will require employers to identify the processes that are being carried out manually, or the bottlenecks in businesses.
"And when there is an automation opportunity, the owner of the business or senior management can then investigate further and see whether those individual workarounds would make sense to be replaced through automation," he said.
Presnell noted that not every little workaround may require automation, but they need to at least be documented as a work procedure.
"But if it is a workaround that is happening a lot, that is causing errors, and that is costing the company money potentially, then it may well be feasible for the business to invest in automation and systemisation of that particular step to improve profitability and customer service ultimately," he said.
But should automation mean that New Zealanders' can-do attitude needs to be left behind?
"I don't think it should be left behind," Presnell said. "I think in New Zealand it is definitely part of our culture and we wouldn't want to lose that ever."
