3 New Year’s resolutions for the savvy HR professional

As the people behind the people (the workforce), it’s easy as an HR professional to get so caught up in others’ goals and resolutions that you forget to set your own.

So, as you begin 2023, now is a good time to consider what you’d like to achieve professionally this year. Resolutions don’t have to be big, grand projects, they can simply be small changes that have an impact on your working day.

Walking one on ones

No HR professional needs to be told about the value of one on ones between employees and their line managers. But when was the last time you were part of a one on one while walking? And is it something you regularly encourage your line managers to do?

If not, this is the year to make the shift. It won’t work for every catch up as sometimes a table and PC are necessary, but for general chats, why not walk while connecting with each other?

In Harvard Business Review’s (HBR) How to Do Walking Meetings Right, they reference research supporting a link between ‘creativity’ and walking.

Off the back of their own small study (150 US respondents), HBR noted: “In short, we find that those who participate in walking meetings are 5.25 per cent more likely to report being creative at their jobs than those who do not. Additionally, the responses suggest that walking meetings support cognitive engagement, or focus, on the job. Those who participate in walking meetings are 8.5 per cent more likely to report high levels of engagement.”

HR Leader recently wrote about the value of team sports and work: How team sports can enhance your workplace.

Champion flexibility in new ways

Flexible working has been a hot topic for HR for some time now, but has your business really taken it as far as it can go? Make flexibility a mindset for 2023, and you may just discover new ways to be inclusive and agile as a business.

For example, at the end of 2022, HR Leader talked about approaching Christmas parties with flexibility in mind: Hybrid, remote and homeworking-friendly end-of-year celebration ideas. Take this a step further and look at all the ways your employees will interact with each other this year. Are there opportunities for your business to stand out more as a truly flexible workplace?

Flexibility in how work and interactions are undertaken is not the only way to champion this mindset, there is also an opportunity for the savvy HR person to encourage more flexible thinking – both for themselves and for others. Could problems and challenges be solved in different ways? Make this the year you banish the phrase, ‘because that’s how it’s always been done’.

Be curious

HR Leader’s recent podcast with Adam Hill, AUSPAC manager, HR business partner for Orica highlights just how valuable a different perspective can be when you work in HR. You can listen to the conversation here: Why an aircraft maintenance engineering background is an asset for this HR professional.

You don’t need to quit your job and start a whole new career to get a new perspective if you’ve been in HR your whole working life.

Does your organisation offer sabbaticals so you or others can take time out to learn about something new? If not, perhaps campaigning for them could be part of your resolution around flexibility. UK-based CIPD, in their Sabbaticals guide define them as: “Sabbaticals are periods of paid or unpaid time away from work which are agreed between the employer and employee.”

Another way to immerse yourself in a new experience that offers a different perspective is to take a secondment within your organisation. Indeed says that: “A secondment is an arrangement where a company temporarily assigns an employee to a new position. The new position may be within the organization or with a separate business, such as a client or supplier.”

What are your top professional resolutions or goals for the year ahead?