Struggling to get out of fire-fighting mode? These tips can help HR work in more proactive ways while also remaining responsive to business needs.

HR leaders are often burdened with the everyday. Fresh organisational demands and global crises mean they’re often forced into reactive mode. Rather than being able to focus on leading people through change, their attention is too often pulled into the here and now. 

This is especially the case following an ongoing four-year marathon that’s included the pandemic, talent shortages, rising cost-of-living challenges and widespread burnout. 

While it will always be part and parcel of HR’s job to be responsive to a business’s needs, it’s also possible for HR practitioners to pull themselves out of the detail and be enabled to focus on the future, when given the right tools and resources, says Amantha Imber, organisational psychologist and founder of behaviour change consultancy Inventium.

“It can often feel like a game of whack-a-mole and always being on the defence across schedules, workloads, emails, calendars and team chats,” says Imber, who is speaking at AHRI’s National Convention and Exhibition in August. 

“But we need to learn to play offence with our workdays, at both the individual and organisational level – and change behaviours and mindsets en masse.”

“It’s a hard process,” says Imber. “You need to be clear on where you’re going, where you hope to be, then figure out how to close that capability gap and what long-term success looks like to your organisation.”

Here, Imber and two HR leaders share their best tips to move HR professionals into forward-planning mode.

1. Set realistic benchmarks to map progress

Imber says introducing metrics enables HR professionals to establish their organisational strengths and weaknesses and track changes. 

“If you want to drive change, you first need a baseline: what’s going on right now in the organisation? A starting point allows you to measure progress.”

Key, though, is using metrics that are actionable.

“Many organisations come up with so many initiatives, yet struggle to put in place reliable metrics that measure impact,” says Imber. “For example, a client of ours established a goal around disability representation in the workforce. That’s great, but also almost impossible to track in that it’s not mandatory for employees to [disclose] a disability.”

Instead, metrics should be “diagnostic”, she says. They should flag areas for improvement, leading to a clear pathway in which people leaders have actionable recommendations based on results.

This is the approach Christina King FCPHR, Chief People Officer at Cornerstone Medical Recruitment, has adopted.

“We’ve created metrics that flow down and connect with teams, so we know what we need to focus on, while connecting back to the ultimate organisational goals,” she says. “Metrics are crucial – the data doesn’t lie. For people leaders, that means being able to demonstrate in a quantitative and qualitative sense, the bottom-line impact on the organisation.” 

“We need to learn to play offence with our workdays, at both the individual and organisational level – and change behaviours and mindsets en masse.” – Amantha Imber, organisational psychologist and founder, Inventium

2. Eliminate administrative burdens with AI to create more time for proactive HR

The advent of generative AI, and automation more broadly, may free up schedules so teams have more opportunities to look beyond tomorrow.

“We’re already seeing some organisations delegate some repetitive tasks to generative AI, automating the mundane tasks to free up time for more creative thinking,” says Imber. 

However, organisational pressures mean HR is sometimes left out when it comes to experimenting with new technology.

“HR teams often spend time trying to build capability across their organisation, but forget about themselves. The top people teams are able to invest in their own development, and improve their own productivity, so they can free up time for more strategic problem-solving. That’s where AI comes in: creating huge productivity gains for the repetitive, less valued work often given to HR.”

Some tech-savvy people leaders are using AI today – and already reaping the rewards. For example, Justine Cooper FCPHR, Vice President Human Resources, Pacific Zone at Schneider Electric, uses her company chatbot for content creation.

“Alongside automating processes, AI can be used to draft items such as strategy days and HR policies,” says Cooper. 

“It’s an exciting tool that frees up so much time. I’ve used chatbot suggestions as first drafts, then written prompts that incorporate organisational values and fine-tuned the language.” 

3. Segment your time by importance rather than urgency 

Cooper read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey, early in her career and still draws on its insights today.

“I apply the ‘Important vs Urgent’ time matrix in planning my daily list of activities. This tool helps you move from urgency to where the real importance lies, meaning you can become more intentional with your time,” she says.  

“Being proactive, and beginning with the end in mind, helps anchor me in terms of the impact I can make, which I think through on an annual and quarterly basis and sense-check on a weekly basis. Time isn’t just given to you – you have to find a way to free it up.”

Imber’s toolkit includes meeting clean-up templates (in which leaders sift through their calendars and identify which calls don’t meet short and long-term goals) and ‘recurring irritant lists’ for regular, tedious and often self-inflicted tasks.

There can also be ‘zombie hunts’, she says, where half-dead products, services and processes that drain time and resources are eliminated. This can enable leaders to work smarter, rather than harder.

4. Move with a rational, systems-driven approach 

Some of the best people leaders adopt a scientific attitude, says Imber.  They come up with a hypothesis, measure data against it, then iterate insights within frameworks supported by systems and processes. This helps HR teams become more strategic and forward-focused, rather than just tackling issues as they arrive in the in-tray.

“From my organisational psychologist background, I see everything through the lens of scientific method, such as using data to measure progress,” she says. “When HR professionals do that, they can measure behaviour – rather than just intentions – and take actions based on metrics.”

King’s team extract data from their HRIS and payroll, which automatically generates month-end reports. They also use a company calendar integrating upcoming events, such as budget planning and quarterly reviews, and established an innovation committee that focuses on finding marginal gains.

5. Get comfortable saying ‘no’

Imber says many of her clients include people leaders who are natural strategists, innovators and holistic thinkers. Where they often come unstuck, though, is taking on too much work.

“Before the pandemic, there were clearer boundaries around which sort of problems fell inside the organisation’s remit, and therefore HR. Today, many people leaders are unclear of their roles. Some are almost acting like therapists for direct reports when that’s not their job.”

If HR leaders want to focus on the future of work, they sometimes have to politely decline present-day challenges. King says this can be done in a way that protects workloads and time, without harming relationships. 

“It’s a learned skill. Many of us in HR feel guilty: carving out two hours for strategic planning while an employee has an issue can feel hard. I’ve learned to go with ‘yes, if’. That means you can say yes to a piece of work, but it will come at a cost to something else. That way, you won’t feel as conflicted and can still manage to demonstrate flexibility.”

Proactive HR leaders also find time in their schedules for deep thinking. 

Every Monday, Cooper blocks out the first hour of her morning to reflect on her organisation’s big-picture IMPACT values: inclusion, mastery, purpose, action, curiosity and teamwork.

“As people leaders building a directional vision, anchoring plans and goals to help inspire our teams and build momentum, making interventions that create time for us to reflect is critical,” she says. 

“Being proactive, and beginning with the end in mind, helps anchor me in terms of the impact I can make. Time isn’t just given to you – you have to find a way to free it up.” – Justine Cooper FCPHR, Vice President Human Resources, Pacific Zone at Schneider Electric

6. Think outside the box when planning for the future

The hope is that by slowly shifting towards a longer-term strategy, people leaders will be better equipped to deal with the challenges of tomorrow, today. 

“In the best organisations, HR teams are able to push boundaries and challenge norms and lean into innovation,” says Imber. 

“They’re able to look at the bigger picture, question what the future of work looks like and prepare for the trends shaping their industry, then build the workplace culture and skills for the next five years.”

The potential benefits stretch far beyond HR teams, though. They extend to the people they lead.

“The workplaces I’ve seen with forward-looking people leaders are often more exciting, inspirational and motivating places to work,” says Imber. 

“There’s just an energy about the place. People are excited to come to work, they’re engaged. They have a deeper sense of meaning in what they’re doing.” 

Hear more from Amantha Imber and Justine Cooper FCPHR at AHRI’s National Convention and Exhibition in Melbourne from 20-22 August. Secure your ticket today.