There’s a huge difference between proactive and reactive leaders. The latter ones are in a state of constant activity striving to do their best to achieve the goals of their company, while proactive leaders achieve goals more often and with ease. “A proactive leader anticipates events and creates plans accordingly, while a reactive leader deals with them as they come. There are many reasons to become proactive for your company,” says Mary James, a team leader at EssayMates.
Why be proactive instead of reactive
Being reactive forces HR professionals to take situations as they are and try to fix them with minimal resources and time. They tend to make important decisions without a sufficient understanding of relevant circumstances or facts, so reactive leaders often end up with the increased potential for more problems. They’re usually unprepared, unorganized, and frantic because they failed to consider all unexpected situations or implications. Unlike proactive HR leaders, they have only their limited control over the future. Being proactive is important because it:
- Simplifies leadership;
- Encourages a better workplace;
- Increases positive results.
Benefits of being proactive
Ric Johnson, a leadership coach for GoWritemyPaper, shares the following opinion on the benefits of being a proactive HR leader. He states that it enables you to do the following:
- Be more prepared for different situations because you think about what may happen and avoid possible problems by creating an insurance plan;
- Save more money and time because you’re ready for unexpected problems in the future;
- Alleviate issues before they happen because you uncover them and minimize your exposure to them;
- Recognize a need for change as you think ahead and understand that some things should be improved;
- Foster creativity because you step out of your comfort zone to achieve results, you see a bigger picture, and you aren’t afraid of trying something new;
- Get more flexibility and options as you analyze things before they happen;
- Understand long-term goals and be forward-looking;
- Increase your self-awareness and improvement;
- Get clearer directions for the future because sitting back and waiting for something to happen is not the best option;
- Have your peace of mind because you know what is coming.
These are only some of the benefits of being proactive. It can help you see and plan things easier while getting ready for unexpected situations that may arise at any moment.
Top essentials that all proactive HR leaders should have
To be a successful business leader, it’s necessary to understand all the processes and operations that create growth and drive commerce. However, to be an effective HR leader, it’s not only important to understand the main principles of the best business practices but it’s also critical to be proactive and develop the influence over a company strategically. There are certain skills that the resume of any HR leader should reflect. ResumeCVWriter suggests top traits that all influential and proactive human resource leaders must have:
- Communicate effectively;
- Never stop learning;
- Practice your ethical and values-based behavior;
- Think and act strategically;
- Mind your metrics.
Never stop learning
If you keep deepening your knowledge of human resources, you’ll better support, manage, and lead your team. Put this knowledge into practice to encourage the development and growth of your staff. You can keep learning through professional certifications or advanced degrees to refine your HR knowledge and become a proactive leader.
Stay connected to the latest trends in this field and understand the benefits of new research outcomes. Incorporate your knowledge of effective practices into your daily work to support company goals and direction more effectively.
Communicate effectively
Effective and clear messages are important for boosting morale, increasing loyalty, and saving money. The companies that are highly efficient in their communication strategies are more likely to outperform competitors. You get more opportunities as a proactive HR leader to demonstrate and develop your communication skills. For instance, strong writing skills result in easy-to-understand procedures and policies that bring excellent organizational outcomes. Your excellent verbal communication skills can help employees understand better their roles and motive them to increase productivity.
Practice your ethical and values-based behavior
In the modern competitive working environment, the pressure to succeed professionally and personally is quite a powerful force. It’s possible to demonstrate your commitment to creating a more ethical work environment in these ways:
- Lead others by example and keep adhering to HR professionals’ code of ethical behavior;
- Use it as your guide and lead the lead in advancing your company values to all of its employees.
As HR professionals lead the process of an equitable and fair treatment of every company member, they’re positioned to build a better community of the staff who will be eager to demonstrate and internalize ethical behaviors and values.
Think and act strategically
It’s tempting for many HR leaders to focus all of their efforts only on building the most productive functions in their organizations. This concentration may seem to make sense on the surface, but modern CEOs expect HR experts to demonstrate something more than only their expertise. They want human resources professionals to be important partners who help them drive their overall business strategies. To do that, it’s required to think strategically and connect HR functions with the in-depth knowledge of core company aspirations and problems.
Mind your metrics
Proactive HR leaders need to recognize the value of implementing the best practices that leverage, attract, and retain skillful and qualified employers for their companies. To determine the value of these strategies on the company’s bottom line, they need to comprehend and use metrics, just like crucial business statistics. Metrics matter a lot: from determining the turnover rates of employees to preparing an analysis of costs and benefits. This is what helps HR professionals to offer an efficient program to calculate the ROI of employees.
As you can see, deciding to be a proactive HR leader brings a number of benefits to the workplace. By planning ahead, you can create a goal-oriented work environment instead of running from one emergency to another.
