HR professionals have never been more stressed out. Over the past 3 years, the HR department has had to lead through uncertain times with little to no break in the ever-changing work environment. Before 2020, HR pros were expected to mediate conflict between employees and employers and spearhead all hiring efforts, all while handling miscellaneous people-related concerns that arose. Since then, their jobs have retained their previous responsibilities and added the following:
- Keeping up to date with new COVID-19 regulations
- Updating technology to fit remote/hybrid work
- Reskilling employees during hiring freezes
- Answering difficult questions about the future of jobs
HR professionals are expected to handle these new tasks gracefully, and their status as people leaders requires them to do so with smiles on their faces. But members of the HR department are employees and humans first, with similar concerns to the rest of their fellow employees. As such, high expectations have caused 98% of HR professionals to feel burnt out at work. In fact, the HR department has the highest turnover rate of any department.
Although HR leaders and professionals who place their coworkers’ well-being first are admirable, this isn’t always the healthiest way to live. While there is no quick fix to the chaos the past 3 years have caused, here are a few tools HR professionals can use to improve the quality of their lives.
Identify Stressors
According to the American Psychological Association, the best way to start controlling stress is to identify its source. Everyone has a few tasks at work that cause stress, but there are likely strong stressors HR professionals are unaware of in their day-to-day life. To root those stressors out, HR professionals should keep a journal detailing their workday and personal life, particularly focusing on moments that caused distress or other strong emotional reactions.
After a few weeks, analyze the results. Look for tasks that can be shared or passed to someone else or responsibilities that can be forgone altogether. Once that’s done, review your schedule, and determine if any standing meetings would be just as productive as an e-mail update. Fewer meetings allow for more autonomy within the workday, allowing you to focus on your job priorities.
After decluttering your workload and calendar, resolve to be more open with colleagues about your boundaries and schedule. While there may be a few nights when something comes up and needs to be completed at home, it shouldn’t be every night.
Manage Your Time Efficiently
Once you’ve dealt with daily stressors and removed unnecessary meetings from the calendar, it’s time to work on time management. Similar to identifying stressors, making a list of priorities is the best place to start with managing time. When using a physical list or digital list, start by ordering items from most to least important. Tackle the most important tasks first, and work down the list from there. This will help you visualize what you’ve completed, what still needs to be done, and what’s to come. If creating a list for yourself does not work, try giving work tools a try. There are software tools that allow teams to plan, track, and organize their workflows within the same interface.
If the list method doesn’t help, blocking off time on the calendar to focus on specific tasks could be a good alternative. Use the day’s first and last 15 minutes to catch up on your inbox. This will help ensure you don’t miss anything when entering and exiting the office. Next, find a time of day when you feel the most productive, and block out 30 minutes to an hour on the calendar so you can focus on the tasks at the top of your priority list.
Finding extra time during the day is next to impossible, but blocking out time can help keep you on top of priorities and ahead of deadlines. Plus, it signals to colleagues that you’re online but busy, creating additional boundaries for your crucial time.
Take a Breath
It’s easy for HR professionals to place their needs on the back burner. This will ultimately lead to burnout, as no amount of overworking oneself is sustainable. Clinical psychologist Kaylee Crockett, PhD, says that “self-care is important because it enhances our well-being by keeping us connected to ourselves and what matters most to us.” What everyone uses for self-care will look different, but a few good places to start include the following:
- Go on a 10-minute walk in the middle of the workday.
- Stop by a coffee shop or bakery in the morning.
- Sign up for a workout class during your free time.
- Journal at lunch.
- Read a book.
Depending on the person, or even the day, what helps clear the mental fog may be different. Taking a little time for yourself is essential for your mental health, even if it’s only 10 minutes per day. As an HR professional, your job is focused on taking care of an entire organization, so giving the same care to yourself is essential.
HR departments have taken a beating in the past few years. Now more than ever, HR professionals must practice boundaries and self-kindness to compensate for new responsibilities and expectations. That’s why finding the stressors at work, prioritizing tasks by level of importance, and setting a few minutes aside for yourself are incredibly important for addressing burnout within the HR department. Take time today, tomorrow, or this week to implement one of these solutions in your daily work life. Although mental relief may not be immediate, a regimen of self-care and discipline will do wonders for your work/life balance in the long run.
Matt Thomas is President of WorkSmart Systems.