Home » Knowledge Hub » HR Strategy » Nearly half of HR managers have considered quitting
Nearly half of HR managers have considered quitting
02 February 2022 HR Strategy
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.