Managing employee stress is nothing new for HR leaders, particularly in the last few years, as the pandemic, social unrest, economic uncertainties, new ways of working and more have catapulted employee mental health to the forefront of HR discussions. A recent report from Indeed found that more than half of American workers surveyed reported they’re burnt out. And it’s up to HR to mitigate the effect on the workplace.
In many organizations, that responsibility—coupled with other emerging stressors—could be driving up HR burnout. HR Executive’s recent What’s Keeping HR Up at Night? survey of HR professionals found that 48% of respondents said their level of stress increased somewhat during 2024, while more than one-quarter said it shot up “dramatically.” Just 4% reported stress levels dropped last year.
With stress and burnout correlated to lower productivity and engagement, and higher turnover, the business case for tackling HR burnout is clear, especially since the wellbeing of people professionals is so critical to the health and wellbeing of the entire workforce.
“You can’t pour from an empty cup,” says Frank Giampietro, chief wellbeing officer for EY.
Why is HR burnout on the rise?
However, many HR professionals do have an empty cup at the moment, in part because they may be suffering “compassion fatigue,” Giampietro says.
Workforces today are stressed over everything from politics to finances to organizational uncertainty, and HR is the first line of support for employees, managers and leaders.
“They’re all showing up stressed and anxious, and who do they turn to for help in the workplace? HR,” Giampietro says.
HR professionals are “absorbing” all of that stress as they work to support the workforce, often ignoring the fact that they have their own stress, he says.
On top of that, HR’s particular responsibilities—and the elevating impact they’re having on the organization, as HR becomes an increasingly strategic business partner—may also be contributing to HR burnout, says Keith Spencer, a career expert at Resume Now.
HR ‘caught in the middle’
For instance, HR professionals are often tasked with handling emotionally charged situations like layoffs and disciplinary actions. At the same time, they are managing quickly changing environments like compliance and tech integration, while working to keep employee and business interests balanced.
“HR professionals are caught in the middle between employees and leadership, and they’re expected to serve both sides,” Spencer says. “That can be really challenging.”
Ongoing economic uncertainty could heighten the risk for HR burnout, as organizations ask workforces, including HR teams, to do more with less. In HR Executive’s recent study, when asked why stress levels had risen, respondents’ answers included:
- “Too many things on my plate at one time”;
- “The amount of projects to be implemented”;
- “Too many projects besides regular work”; and
- “Lack of ample support in terms of manpower and funding.”
A recent Resume Now study found that, while 65% of workers surveyed said they feel empowered to decline extra work—a sentiment that is more common among younger workers—those who take on added responsibilities are feeling the effects. Forty-two percent of workers said they have difficulty managing workload expectations, and 59% report frequent burnout due to difficulty saying “no” to extra work.
“It’s hard to predict the future, but this is not the first time employers have tried to ask their teams to do more with less,” Spencer says. “It’s certainly reasonable to assume this could continue into the future.”
Stress strategies: measure, respond, remind
Besides workload, one of the biggest drivers of burnout is a perceived lack of control, says Giampietro.
That’s why tech use is among the areas EY studies in its Vitality Index, which includes 12 measurements of wellbeing that he says are directly tied to business outcomes like retention and revenue growth.
“When these drivers are in a good place, it’s good for our people and it’s good for the business. And when they’re declining, it’s bad for our people and also bad for business,” he says.
When it comes to technology, leadership is invested in helping employees interact with tech in a positive way, minimizing overconsumption and incessant “Teams pings,” which he says can reinforce a feeling of lack of control.
The Index also looks at factors like boundaries between work and home, whether employees are taking time off, how inclusive the environment is, whether employees feel rewarded and recognized, and the quality of relationships among teams.
Relationships are especially key to confronting HR burnout, as HR professionals face stressors unique to their function, Spencer says.
“You have to create an environment where you can rely on one another and seek peer support,” he says, noting mentorship relationships between senior and junior HR professionals can help both populations build understanding and support systems.
‘It’s about walking the walk’
At EY, Giampietro’s team is using a multi-pronged education strategy focused on helping workers understand how to pivot from practices that drain them to those that help them thrive. Layered on top of education is an effort to enable teams to set their own norms for healthy ways of working—from intentionally setting boundaries to creating environments where people can be their authentic selves, he says.
Sustainable efforts to reduce HR burnout, he adds, empower HR professionals to prioritize self-care, personally and for their teams.
“We have to be sure we’re not just caring for our talent folks but that they’re caring for themselves and reinforcing that,” he says, noting that HR leaders should consider their teams caregivers for the company and, as such, continuously connect them with the resources, benefits and tools to tend to their own wellbeing.
Last year, EY pioneered Talent Lifting Talent—an internal HR program designed to remind talent professionals of the organization’s employee wellbeing programs and resources.
“This is a team sport,” Giampietro says about mitigating the risks for HR burnout, noting it’s essential HR leaders create norms for their teams that emphasize wellbeing—which may be contrary to how many HR professionals operate. “It’s a natural thing for HR to go take care of everybody else’s team without really reflecting on how they and their own team are supported. It’s like healthcare providers who spend so much time caregiving for others that they forget about their own health. We have to remind HR folks of that too.”
“It’s about walking the walk,” adds Spencer. “HR professionals are the ones helping get the benefits, the supports, the resources for the entire organization. We have to make sure they’re also using those resources themselves.”
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