Proactive HR Case Management Vs Reactive HR Case Management

There are different ways of approaching HR case management, in particular, the proactive or the reactive approach, but the digital landscape of 21^st century HR management is swiftly rendering the reactive stance all but obsolete. It is becoming clear that HR case management is vital to the efficiency of organisations as a whole, and there is increasing evidence that there is a significant cost involved with not dealing with the people who work for a business as proactively as possible.

The Cost Of HR Failure

In some cases this cost is literally counted in pounds and pence. According to figures published in HR Magazine in May 2023, conflict in the workplace has a massive economic impact:

•  An estimated 9.7 million employees experience conflict at work in the UK each year
•  This workplace conflict costs an estimated £120 million in informal resolution and £140 million spent on mediation
•  9% of employees take time off work because of stress, anxiety and depression linked to conflict, leading to the loss of 15 million work days per year
•  The drop in productivity caused by workplace conflict causes £589 million to be lost
485,800 employees resign each year as a result of workplace conflict
•  The cost of recruitment, training and lost productivity resulting from these resignations is more than £30,000 per employee

In all the total costs of conflict in the workplace (just one of the many aspects of work life that HR case management is likely to have to deal with) is given as £28.5 billion per year in the UK.

Another more recent survey published on the HR News site focused on workers in technology and professional services industries, and found that 45% of the workforce is highly stressed, defined as experiencing stress at work frequently or always, and that high levels of employee stress is costing UK businesses more than £4 million a year.

The Traditional Reactive Approach

The importance of HR case management isn’t really up for debate then, since the well-being of employees impacts so clearly and directly on the bottom line of every business. What we can discuss, however, is the fact that the default response to HR issues – the issues that cost many millions year in and year out – has often tended to be just that – a response. 

The HR department, in other words, has traditionally been regarded as being primarily, if not wholly, reactive in nature. Issues have been dealt with as they arise, which – in most workplaces – means when a minor problem has festered to the point at which it becomes an all-out crisis. This often also means the point at which the solutions required involve drastic measures like disciplinary hearings or having to manage the kind of stress or conflict-related absences mentioned in the surveys quoted above. The HR team have been regarded as a type of emergency service – break the glass or dial 999 and send them in to clear up a mess which has been allowed to happen.

A More Positive Approach

The frustration of this reactive approach lies in the simple truth that the skills, data and solutions the HR team are tasked with utilising when it comes to fire-fighting are the exact same tools that could have much more of a positive impact if wielded to prevent problems rather than to deal with them. The same proactive approach to HR case management can also foster a working culture which is focused on the long term and strategic goals of preventing cases occurring in the first place rather than simply fixing them when they inevitably arise.

Workplace Dynamics

The dynamics between individual members of a workforce, and between the different teams and departments they work in, can be improved immeasurably by the culture of trust and collaboration that proactive HR case management creates.

By analysing data, following trends and gathering feedback, the proactive approach anticipates the needs of employees and mitigates potential issues before they have a chance to escalate and cause problems. By its very nature, proactive work of this kind runs smoothly in the background of a workplace, with employees only aware of it in as much as they are aware that they feel supported and valued. Reactive HR teams, on the other hand, tend to be regarded as a kind of last resort, to be consulted only when the structures that should provide for a healthy working environment have broken down.

Engagement and Retention

A positive workplace dynamic means happier workers, which in turn drives higher productivity and better employee retention. Proactive HR, as part of this approach, means that feedback is gathered from employees as par for the course, and engagement of this kind opens up a two-way street between an organisation and the people working for it. As well as feeling valued and listened to, employees who enjoy clear two-way lines of communication with the people in charge will find it easier to understand and buy into the wider mission of an organisation. Indeed, through regular communication employees can help to shape that mission, something which is the very best guarantee of buy-in and a shared sense of achievement, and the subsequent reduction in grievances and other difficult situations.

Organisation Efficiency

Increased efficiency comes as a built-in feature of a more proactive approach to HR case management, thanks to the fact that the earlier a potential problem is identified and dealt with, the less disruption, downtime and conflict it is able to cause.

Above and beyond the preventative impact of the proactive ethos there is the fact that an understanding of trends in the workforce and a holistic view of the organisation as a whole can mean that issues are turned around before they escalate. Once spotted, issues of this kind can be dealt with through targeted training and development – HR switching from simply being there to deal with employees who have fallen down in some way, to HR being there to actively lift employees higher. Reactive HR case management, if it influences wider policy at all, can sometimes do so in the form of knee-jerk and somewhat panicked responses to issues which have been allowed to get out of control. 

Proactive Systems For HR Case Management

A generally proactive approach to HR management throughout an organisation means, almost by default, that the systems enabling proactive management of individual HR cases will be in place. These processes tend to empower staff who deal with cases, and focus on spotting issues and dealing with the causes rather than the symptoms.

Consistent Workflows

The process involved in handling each HR case – irrespective of the individual details of that case or the areas of working life it intersects with – should be clearly defined from the point at which an issue is identified through to the resolution of the case. Every detail, from the channels through which issues or complaints can be raised through the systems for logging and tracking those complaints or issues and on to the tools used to deal with specific types of case, should be part of a guided and transparent workflow delivering consistency and fairness to every employee interacting with the HR department. 

The consistent routing of cases and the firm foundation of processes should also ensure that when issues arise they are sent to the right person, team or department to be handled. This sure-handled routing will be based on an understanding of the complexity and nature of the issue, allied to working knowledge of the strengths of the various members of the HR team and/or the level of seniority needed to deal with an issue.  

Centralisation

All HR cases should be stored, tracked and accessed across a secure central platform. Building a system of this kind and a repository for the data relating to each and every case means that data doesn’t get lost or fragmented in a way that makes it impossible to discern wider patterns. Having all of the pertinent information pulled together in one place also makes it simpler to handle investigations and clear cases at a much faster rate.

A centralised dashboard which can be accessed and tracked in real time will also enable employees to stay fully informed of the progress of their case. This is an important facet of proactive case management, since the ability to respond proactively should expand beyond the HR team itself and to the employees they interact with.

Insights

Proactive case management involves tapping into real time alerts or tracking trends as they become apparent and looking for the root cause of the issue. By spotting risks and potentially divisive issues before they emerge (or after they emerge but before they have a chance to have a major impact) HR management will be able to step in with solutions or modifications to prevent escalation. 

A proactive approach to HR management in general should, when done properly, reduce the overall number of cases which need to be managed at all. For those cases which do arise, however, the proactive approach will mean that an understanding of the issues and of possible solutions is already in place, as is the framework for fast tracking those solutions and for reassuring employees that their grievances, disputes or problems are being dealt with effectively and sensitively.  

The Financial Benefits

Given the strength of the argument for a proactive approach to HR case management, it may seem puzzling that not all businesses have already taken this route. Some of this can probably be put down to simple corporate inertia – HR has always been a reactive sticking plaster of a department and that seems to work (more or less) so why tamper?

The other factor which often persuades business that it isn’t quite time to adopt proactive techniques is – perhaps predictably – finances. The switch to a proactive approach could come with upfront costs on things like training, strategic planning, internal communications, data gathering and analysis. There are two ways to counter this argument.

The first is to point out that any initial outlay on proactive HR case management will be recouped many times over in the form of multiple costs savings – less employee turnover, fewer days off, higher levels of productivity, more efficient ways of working, a drastic cut in workplace conflict, disputes and legal expenses such as tribunals.

The second argument against the idea that proactive HR case management is prohibitively expensive comes in the form of a single word – Workpro.

How Workpro Can Drive Proactive HR

Workpro HR Case Management software is designed to automate and streamline the grind and admin of HR case management, saving time and money at a stroke and freeing HR managers up to use their talent and insight to deliver far-reaching and impactful change, rather than simple crisis management.

For a proactive approach to be effective it has to be built on a solid foundation of granular detail – data on performance across every aspect of an organisation not only pulled together in one place but also used to produce reports and analysis. Workpro delivers this level of analysis, empowering HR managers to take a top down, longer-term view of an organisation, spotting negative and positive trends and benefitting from the visibility of important insights, and being able to act on them.

Freedom from the admin tasks automated by Workpro, allied to a shift to the more positive approach of delivering proactive HR case management, will also have the added bonus of reducing the prevalence of HR burnout, a topic we’ve examined in a previous post.  

Proactive HR case management isn’t merely a more positive alternative to reactive methods,  it’s the digital, data driven future of HR, and Workpro is right at the forefront of that switch.