Reactive HR doesn’t need to be seen as negative,
and when managed professionally, can actually be regarded as a positive
solution. This is because the staff
within your business can see things being taken seriously straight away and
issues being addressed before they become unwieldy.
When implementing a reactive HR culture you are
literally reacting to events and dealing with them as they occur rather than
planning for them before they happen.
This type of ‘fire-fighting’ is an aspect of all HR Management but one
that is prominent in some companies more than others. Unfortunately if it is the only strategy for
HR it can be a constant and tiring uphill struggle to keep on top of day to day
HR Management.
We will never remove the need for occasional ‘reactive HR’ management, but we believe this should be secondary to the benefits of a proactive HR approach.
Proactive HR management requires planning and
forethought to reduce risk to the business and encourage sustainability and
growth.
Having a clearly defined and positive HR culture
within your business can significantly increase employee engagement, morale and
motivation, whilst substantially reducing absence and staff turnover. A positive HR culture graduates from good
communication throughout the organisation, a people and performance management
strategy that links to the overall business plan, providing the means to
implement efficiencies that drive high performing teams.
The clearly defined strategy sets out your
expectations as an organisation from ground roots up to Board level. A company that embraces a proactive HR
approach will have policies and procedures in place that address all areas of
HR as well as how to deal with emergency or crisis situations. They will have spent time educating their
managers and staff about their values and culture.
Being proactive with HR allows you the time (and
money) you would have spent ‘fire-fighting’ to make improvements to your
overall HR strategy and branding, terms and conditions. In this economic climate, anything that makes
your business positively stand out from the crowd has to be good for attracting
new staff and retaining the ones you have.
www.hrresponse.co.uk
