Advertisment

Advertisment

Home » Knowledge Hub » » Nearly half of HR managers have considered quitting

Nearly half of HR managers have considered quitting

02 February 2022

Half of HR managers have considered quitting

New research reveals that almost half of HR managers (45%) have considered leaving their current roles due to the pressure of dealing with employee mental health and burnout.

The research shows that 90% of HR managers are currently noticing signs of burnout in their workforces.

The survey of 200 UK HR managers by Wellbeing Partners, reveals that when handling rising burnout and mental health concerns, HR is struggling to set boundaries for their own psychological safety.

Thirty-eight percent of HR managers admit to having conversations with employees about their mental health outside of working hours and nearly a third (31%) look at emails outside of work.

Over a quarter (27%) regularly have to complete tasks outside of working hours due to the volume of mental health issues they’re facing.

More than 1 in 4 (26%) feel they can become overly involved in employees’ personal lives and/or mental health issues and 23% have compassion fatigue from supporting struggling employees.

A lack of boundaries surrounding mental health support is contributing to high numbers of HR professionals contemplating leaving their organisations, according to an expert.

Lou Campbell, programmes director at Wellbeing Partners, said:

While HR has a duty of care to support employees suffering with their mental health, they often neglect to look after themselves.

“For people in supporting roles, it’s useful to know what the appropriate boundaries are when discussing mental health issues with colleagues, to avoid becoming enmeshed or overly involved.

“Appropriate boundaries ensure that the conversation stays psychologically safe for the employee, and avoids compassion fatigue for HR.

“Knowing the skills around setting boundaries and signposting to appropriate support is even more vital in a time when attracting and retaining staff is highly competitive; organisations must support HR to reduce the risk of key HR talent leaving their organisation as they deal with surging levels of employee burnout”.

The study supports wider research revealing increasing symptoms of burnout HR needs to respond to.

In the Wellbeing Partners survey nearly half of HR (49%) say their employees are struggling to find motivation and stay focused, over 4 in 10 (42%) agree that employees appear regularly tired or drained, a third (33%) say that employees seem to care less about work and over a quarter (28%) feel that employees are finding tasks overwhelming or uninteresting.

As well as this, 26% state that employees appear resentful or cynical towards work or their own colleagues.

According to Dr Lynne Green, chief clinical officer at Kooth, exhausted HR teams need to prioritise their own wellbeing to best help others.

She said:

It’s not uncommon for those who work in helping professions to put other people’s needs before their own. It’s common among parents, too. But, really, if you’re not looking after yourself adequately, you are less likely to do a good job of looking after others.

“This can sometimes be difficult to achieve.

“Looking after yourself could be as simple as recognising when you’re ill and need time off – and actually taking that time, rather than limping along. It’s also sharing stresses and your emotional burden with your line manager, colleagues, or friends and family so that you aren’t coping alone.

“It also means creating a firmer line between work and home, so that you’re not checking work emails outside working hours or working on your days off.

“For some, it will be about self-care, so they will take a walk in their lunch hour, do some yoga, or read a book.

“As HR teams will know only too well, behaviour modelled by senior leaders trickles down across an organisation.

“So, hearing and seeing your managers take time off, take a break, and discuss their own wellbeing can be the best way to encourage others to do the same.

“Feeling safe to do so in a way that won’t be negatively judged is critical. In this way, issues can be discussed as they emerge and not left to escalate only to be dealt with as a more serious issue or mental health crisis later down the line.

Topics

Share

Advertisment

Latest Events

Mar 2024 – Leveraging Digital Learning Tools: Empowering HR Teams for Success

In today's fast-paced business landscape, the role of HR teams is evolving rapidly. To stay competitive and foster organisational growth, companies must leverage effective learning programs strategically.

Mar 2024 – The Efficiency Programme: How HR can maximise technology benefits

There are huge promises and potential for the use of AI and technology in HR and in this session we discuss the best way ahead for HR for technology and AI use.

Effective Resourcing Models & How We Guarantee the Integrity of Inclusive Recruitment Regardless of Approach

A opportunity to debate how can we adopt a cohesive inclusive approach that enhances the candidate experience without creating barriers between us and the talent essential to your organisational success.

Feb 2024 – It’s All HR’s Fault

Despite being a trusted voice in the C-suite, HR is still viewed with distrust and outright disdain by many employees – the very people HR is there to support.
Its all HRs Fault On demand Webinar

Jan 2024 – Health and Wellbeing: Making it Personal

If you’re investing in a health and wellbeing strategy, you want to make sure it meets the needs of your workforce.

Dec 2023 – Year in Review 2023

In this webinar we brought back some of our previous 2023 webinar speakers who gave their view on the past 12 months.

Nov 2023 – Reward and Recognition for the International Workforce

In this webinar we explored the dispersed workplace and asked what it means to support employees all over the world.
Reward and Recognition for the International Workforce

Streamlining Year-End HR Operations

Providing seasonal support, ideas and inspiration, this webinar covered the challenges and opportunities presented to HR professionals at this time of year.
Streamlining year-end HR operations

Compensation Planning – The key to a motivated and satisfied workforce

Compensation and reward strategies have changed radically over the past few years with the impact of the pandemic and the trends that followed.
Compensation Planning - The key to a motivated and satisfied workforce

Oct 2023 – Talent Acquisition: Why your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is more important than ever

This webinar addressing talent acquisition majored on the Employee Value Proposition (EVP).
Talent Acquisition – Why your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is more important than ever

Resourcing Models, Insource, Outsource or Hybrid what are the best solutions?

Discussions on the evening were led by two invited experts Jim Richardson, with spells at Santander and Royal Bank of Scotland as Global Head of Talent, Jim now advises corporate businesses on their TA models, and, Ross Crook, Managing Director at Sanderson Solutions.
Resourcing models round table

Sep 2023 – Retention: Holding on to The Talent You Need

The post-pandemic workforce now presents more of a challenge in terms of feeling satisfied and content in the workplace. This webinar on retention also provided a masterclass on employee engagement.
Retention holding on to the talent you need

Aug 2023 – Professional Development: Making the Step Up

What does it take to be an HR Director, or to take a position at Board level? This webinar looked at professional development for HR leaders.
What does it take to be an HR Director?

Jul 2023 – Employee Benefits: Then, now and next

The importance and value of giving employees choice on rewards and recognition.
Employee benefits, then now and next.

Jun 2023 – HR Data: The Key To Delivering Real Value

This webinar on HR Data brought home the importance of understanding the value of people data not just to HR but to the business as a whole.
HR on demand event - HR data: the key to delivering real value

RPO Market – Insource, Outsource or Hybrid: What are the best solutions?

The HR World and Sanderson Managed Services Ltd held an exclusive Round Table dinner to explore and debate the current RPO arena.

AI as part of the hiring, on-boarding and retention processes

The HR World and Sanderson Managed Services Ltd held an exclusive Round Table dinner to further the discussion of AI among Senior HR Leaders.

May 2023 – AI in HR: The Perfect Balance

AI is hitting the headlines right now as experts forecast a future that’s powered by tech. But what will this mean for HR?
On demand hr webinar - Ai in HR

Apr 2023 – HR Tech: Ensuring your technology delivers for all your people

Technology continues to throw challenges at the HR function as the speed of change increases and new technology (anyone noticed something called AI?) enters the arena.
HR tech on demand webinar with Sympa

Mar 2023 – Equality, diversity, and inclusion: Reshaping thinking for action

In this webinar we explored how ED&I can have a real impact for businesses. At the centre of the discussion was the idea of changing thinking in order to make things happen.
Equality, diversity, and inclusion: Reshaping thinking for action

Feb 2023 – Leading With Agility: How to give your business the behaviours and mindsets it needs for volatile times

This webinar took as its focus agility and how businesses can develop and maintain these skills among its workforce.
This webinar took as its focus agility and how businesses can develop and maintain these skills among its workforce.

Jan 2023 – How can you create a culture of health and wellbeing in the workplace?

This webinar tackled the important and timely issue of creating a health and wellbeing culture in the workplace.
How can you create a culture of health and wellbeing in the workplace?

Hiring Gen Z – what can employers learn about emerging talent in 2023?

Join us at this cross-learning, in-person event as part of The HR World Culture Clash series at RSA House in London on 20 Oct 2022.
Hiring Gen Z: Culture Clash Panellists

Bridging the gap: what can employers learn about emerging talent to drive better hiring strategies?

Join us at this cross-learning, in-person event as part of The HR World Culture Clash series, bringing HRDs, founders and emerging talent together to build a better workforce for the future.
Bridging the gap: what can employers learn about emerging talent to drive better hiring strategies?
HRW Membership@2x@2x

Are you a senior HR professional?

Join our membership to shape the future of work, get exclusive access to events, white papers and research content, profile your work, gain access to support from HR experts and celebrate your successes.

Become a Partner

Please get in touch to talk about how we can help your business make an impact in the world of work through our content marketing, partnership plans and advertising.