Avoid Burnout in HR
I’ve heard a lot of HR professionals talking about burnout. About working in toxic cultures that simply make them want to leave their job without even having a job to go to. How did we get to this point?
There are a few things I’d like to cover in this article.
What is burnout?
What causes burnout?
Impact of burnout?
How can we avoid burnout from a personal perspective. There must be things we can put in place to prevent us from ever getting to crisis point
How can we support the people around us, to recognise the signs when maybe they don’t
And finally how can we influence organisations where we see a toxic culture. Do we have a part to play in addressing some of the issues?
What is burnout?
Let’s start with talking about what burnout actually is.
When an individual reaches a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. They have reached crisis point and something needs to change. Some people will resign from their jobs. Some people will be signed off by their GP, but either way they recognise that they can’t take anymore. Much like a candle, when the wick is burnt out, the candle won’t function anymore.
If you recognise these symptoms in yourself, firstly I’m sorry you’re in this space. I want you to know that you’re not alone and action can be taken to get yourself to a better place.
The World Health Organisation defines burnout as:
“A syndrome conceptualised as resulting from workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterised by three dimensions: feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job; and reduced professional efficacy”
I think the important piece for me is that is has not been successfully managed. Being able to recognise the early signs in both yourself and others is so important.
What causes burnout?
It normally happens as a result of having to endure extended periods of workplace stress, high work volumes, constantly feeling undervalued, not listened to and working long hours. All of these will also impact the quality of their sleep, the quality of life they are leading and will continue to snowball to the point that they can’t take anymore.
As HR professionals we deal with a lot of emotional issues. Employees come to us with the concerns ranging from divorce, miscarriage, bereavement, domestic abuse, critical illness, depression, the list goes on. We are human beings too and talking about these issues can be emotionally exhausting. If this is not managed then it can most certainly contribute to the feelings mentioned above.
Impact of burnout
I’ve heard about many people leaving their jobs because they can’t take anymore and they decide to focus on their wellbeing. As a profession this is impacting huge amounts of people. So companies are facing retention issues in their HR department. As we all know, recruitment is expensive, and finding skilled HR people is not always easy.
The impact on an individual’s health is significant. It can lead to excessive stress, fatigue, high blood pressure, respiratory issues, anxiety, depression. The list goes on.
A company will have been impacted by an employee descending into burnout as this doesn’t happen overnight. Over weeks and months it is likely that productivity would have dipped and they would have been less effective.
How can we avoid burnout from a personal perspective?
It is very easy to get caught in the trap of thinking…
“I’ll just work a few extra hours this week and then I’ll be able to get on top of things”
“I’m just feeling a bit low because I’ve had some late nights, I’ll catch up on my sleep next week”
“Things will change in a few weeks time, this won’t be forever”
So what do we need to do?
Prioritise yourself. Just do this as a matter of cause in your life. As soon as your physical, mental or emotional health is being impacted you need to take action. If work is stopping you do your normal exercise, or it’s stopping you from getting a good night’s sleep then take action. I realised this way later than I should have. As I approach my 40’s I will no longer let work dictate what my life looks like. It may sound selfish, but honestly, I’m over that. We only get one shot at life so make sure you prioritise yours.
Boundaries. They are a good thing. Our children need them. We need them. Our boss needs them. Be clear on what you are happy to accept or tolerate and be clear on what you are not. This may mean having some difficult conversations but as long as your boundaries are reasonable then it’s all good.
Communicate. Tell your team or your manager or whoever needs to know what your boundaries are. Let them know what you will do and what you won’ do.
“I’ve worked til 8pm for the last few and I really need to get some normality back into my life before I head into burnout territory. I’m going to take a look and what work we can push back a bit, what is urgent and how best to use my time in working hours”
STOP, START, CONTINUE. Take a look at your activities across your working life and your personal life. There are only so many hours in the day and we decide how we use them. Write down STOP, START, CONTINUE and start to write all your daily and weekly activities next to them. A really small example but when I started getting my food shopping delivered instead of going to the supermarket I realised just how much time I had been wasting (and I really didn’t enjoy shopping) so for me it was a no brainer. My close friend still does her food shopping in-store and it blows my mind. What are your non-negotiables, what don’t you want to give up, what can’t be compromised. When you look at your working day are there things that you can put on hold and pick them up in a few weeks time. It may initially sound counter intuitive to spend time writing lists and planning when you could be getting on and doing some work, but honestly, taking the time to do this and plan will save you time in the long run.
SLEEP. The benefits of good quality sleep are widely known. It is a key part of living a healthy life. Sleep restores the body and brain, allowing you to wake feeling refreshed and with a positive attitude. If you do not get enough sleep, the brain cannot function properly which means you are less able to deal with the trials and tribulations of work and life.
PROTECT YOURSELF. If you are starting to think that where you are working is impacting your quality of life then I hate to be the person to be so blunt, but you should probably leave. We all sit and think it will get better. We hope it will get better. We convince ourselves that we can handle it because we love the people we work with, you can see the business has the potential to be amazing, and there are lots of good things. But the thing is, our brains won’t let us ignore those ‘horrible’ bits. They will eat you up and overtime it will really have a negative impact on you. If you start to look for a new role before you reach crisis point, you will be in a much better position mentally to find a new role. Change is scary, I know! The unknown is scary, but I bet every time you’ve changed jobs you’ve settled into a new one within the first few weeks. The worse thing you can do is wait until you feel like you can’t take anymore. Chances are, you will need a period of ‘recovery’ before feeling like you have the physical and mental strength to go out and find a new role.
SPEAK UP. SPEAK OUT. If you feel like you aren’t being valued or you’re not being listened and it is starting to negatively impact you then speak up. It’s easy for me to sit here and write this, I get it, and if your natural style is to sit back and avoid confrontation then this will be a difficult thing for you. But let me remind you that everything can be said in a non-confrontational and respectful way. You don’t need to go into your next 1:1 all guns blazing. So in your next 1:1 think about what you’d like to say…
“Can we talk about wellbeing for a few minutes? A few things have been going round in my head that are starting to take over my thoughts so wanted to ask for support if that’s ok? I’ve been here for 8 months now and I wanted to be clear on how you see this role adding value. I know we all get caught up in the day to day but being valued and really contributing to a business is important to me”.
If you find yourself in this position why not head over to the LinkedIn Group and ask how others how they might approach your specific situation.
How can we support the people around us, to recognise the signs when maybe they don’t?
Whether you work remotely, in an office, or in a hybrid environment there will always be signs that people are struggling. We all have a responsibility as human beings, a HR professionals, as colleagues to support the people around us. The British culture may mean that we don’t want to interfere, to keep our heads down and only offer support when asked, but we really need to step up if we think things aren’t right. If you are a manager I think the responsibility increases somewhat, but we have more access to people to speak to them about their wellbeing.
Absence - is someone taking more days off than usual? Are the absences sporadic (as opposed to having a week off to deal with tonsillitis)
Video - Is there camera off in meetings? Is this normal for them?
Lateness - They have been late to the morning standup a few times
Not their usual selves - We all have off days, but keep a track of how many days they don’t seem their usual happy selves
Comments - are they dropping subtle hints or signs about how they’re feeling. What may seem like a throwaway comment may start to build a picture when brought together with other things
Emotions - does it look like they have been crying?
Longer lunch breaks / not taking a lunch break - anything that is different from their normal routine? We are all creatures of habit so if that person is doing something different it might suggest that they have too much work on their plate
Do you recognise any of these signs in yourself?
One of the best things we can do to support people is ask them “How are you? Really, how are you?”. Give people the opportunity and space to talk about anything that is on their mind. So many times when we ask someone “How are you?” the response we get is, “Good thanks, how are you”. Ask them again, no really how are you? What’s going on with you?
I am not a healthcare professional. The content of this article are my own thoughts and I hope you feel empowered to take control.