Seven Habits for HR Professionals

The type of talent an organization manages to attract, maintain, and successfully employ is one of the main reasons why some firms are profitable and others are not. 

All organizational members, including business executives, people managers, etc., are responsible for attracting and keeping talent, but the HR department is crucial in developing exceptional workplace practices that result in a great employee experience.

I chose to use the framework developed by Stephen Covey in his 1989 best-seller "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" when I started to consider the behaviors’ of highly productive HR practitioners. The book's topics are still relevant now as they were when it was first published, making it one of the stage of the business and self-help books ever produced. 

The beauty of this book is that it not only has universal applicability, but can also be used as a reference to illustrate what effectiveness might entail for other professions. Let's now discuss the seven practices of highly productive HR experts.

Be proactive:

When we can handle a crisis before it affects employees or leadership, HR experts take proactive action. Many capable workers quit their jobs not just in search of more pay or better positions outside the company, but also as a result of not getting timely feedback from their superiors or being unaware of potential internal promotions. You can keep your talent and provide them a better experience by performing stay interviews and updating the current policies and procedures based on the input you receive.

Begin with an end in mind:

HR workers are frequently overloaded with many jobs with little to no attention paid to the overall objective. Instead, actions that will aid in reaching the final objective should be carried out once the end goal has been clearly stated. Instead than just doing a number of unconnected activities, HR professionals may concentrate on important goals like reducing attrition by x%, raising employee satisfaction scores by y points, and increasing sales by z% via specific training of the sales people.

Put first things first:

As HR experts, we always come up with fresh ideas that we hope would encourage more employee engagement. Yet frequently, we don't spend enough time on the more significant and complex topics, like establishing company principles and a culture. Leading the charge in developing the culture that a firm wants to be renowned for are effective HR experts. 

Think Win-Win:

As Hr practitioners, we must continuously strike a balance between our responsibilities as an advocate for employees and a strategic partner to the company. Sometimes when an employee brings up issues or complaints with us, we become so preoccupied that we fail to consider the management's guiding principles in making certain judgments. Because he understands that this is the sole way to do business successfully and sustainably, a good Professional will always seek out a win-win solution.

Seek first to understand, then to be understood:

An HR professional's position requires him to wear several hats, including those of an investigator, interviewer, counselor, and management representative at employee meetings. All of these positions call for him to listen intently before responding, but frequently, because of his biases and preconceived assumptions, he responds right away without giving the questions a chance to completely sink in. The management and workers may stop trusting that HR professional as a result. Listen with the intent to comprehend rather than to reply if you want to be productive.

Synergize :

An HR professional seldom has success in an organization without the backing of both the company and his team. As a means of an organization's growth and goal-accomplishing, collaboration and cooperation are essential to an HR professional's effectiveness. Including the company in HR activities and programmes will increase the effectiveness of such initiatives while also increasing employee participation and acceptance.

Sharpen the Saw:

The job of an HR professional has seen a significant transformation over the years. Today's effective HR professionals are computer literate, data-driven, and fluent in business-speak. The key to success for any HR professional is to keep one's skills current and educate oneself on the most recent business trends.

Summary 

Stephen Covey's Seven Habits are a straightforward collection of guidelines for living that are interconnected and synergistic, yet each one is strong and deserving of adoption and adherence on its own. Reading Covey's writings or seeing him speak may truly transform someone's life. Covey's philosophy is quite potent and is strongly advised. This 7 Habits summary is only a synopsis of the intriguing, extensive, and profoundly inspiring complete work. Read the book or listen to the complete audio series, which is more striking because Covey is speaking to an audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFc08j9eorQ&t=195s

 Reference 

Covey, S.R., 1991. The seven habits of highly effective people. Provo, UT: Covey Leadership Center.

Covey’s, S., 1996. Seven habits of highly effective people” and “. This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the.

English, L., 2005. The 7 habits of highly effective information professionals; Habit 7: Sharpen the saw. Information Management, 15(1), p.28.

Haimes, Y.Y. and Schneiter, C., 1996. Covey's seven habits and the systems approach: a comparative analysis. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics-Part A: Systems and Humans, 26(4), pp.483-487.