Most children hear it from an early age: an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure. With the experience that comes with age, adults know that eating a balanced diet with the nutrients you need, getting regular exercise, and maintaining good sleep habits will keep you from falling sick most days of the year.
Yet, at the same time, many of us can be blind to the need for being proactive in other aspects of our lives. It’s been reported, for instance, that millennials are neglecting to buy insurance, which has always been considered a proactive method of financial planning. On the organizational level, businesses don’t think twice about paying for reliable SQL server database monitoring to prevent issues from arising and ensure stable performance but fail to apply the same proactive approach towards employee engagement – leading to lower productivity and retention rates.
Taking a proactive approach requires awareness to anticipate potential problems, and a certain level of empowerment and investment to address them. Here are some examples of proactive management in action which you can learn from.
Building maintenance
Buildings are meant to last for decades, but building managers know how costly it can be over the years to make sure everything is kept in good working order. Critical systems such as the building’s HVAC are essential to the well-being and productivity of the tenants. When you only address HVAC issues after a breakdown, repairs aren’t just more expensive; they greatly inconvenience and negatively impact the people and businesses inside the building. Proactive building maintenance is a small, regular investment in detecting and addressing potential degradation in such critical systems, reducing net costs, and avoiding any extended downtime.
Workforce health and safety
In occupational safety, employers are encouraged to provide the best care for the well-being of their workers. But often, reactive measures are emphasized – invoking discipline when accidents occur, or offering incentives for reporting to work without injury or health issues. Being proactive in occupational safety addresses the root cause to prevent accidents, recognizing potential hazards, and educating the workforce while also encouraging reporting of health and safety-related issues. This shifts the focus from blaming employees who get sick or suffer accidents, to caring for their well-being and finding ways to ensure safety at work; it also boosts employee morale and reduces the expenses in compensation and lost labor hours.
Customer service
While most businesses recognize the need for excellent customer service to establish relationships with their consumer base, the typical approach is reactive – waiting for the customer to call about problems they have encountered. Smart businesses use their customer service as a tool to identify and engage with key customers so that they can build a better profile, anticipate needs, and make improvements to their product line. When executed properly, this increases revenue by developing the products that the customer wants, growing leads, and increasing the pain tolerance of the existing customers who know that the finished product will be worth the price.
There will always be situations where you need to be prepared and take a reactive approach, but the main takeaway is that adding proactive management in any given situation will improve your process and results. Instead of resorting to increased multitasking, which spreads you too thin and leaves you juggling too many plates, invest in measures to anticipate and solve issues before they get out of hand.
