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In parts one and two of our three-part breakdown of HR burnout, we’ve focused on many aspects of the additional work and logistical issues that COVID 19 has introduced into the workdays of HR teams internationally. However, the most pressing issue that has come into play in the last 19 months is how this additional workload, along with the daily stress of living through a world-wide pandemic, has affected the mental health of work teams as a whole, and specifically the emotional toll that it has taken on HR leaders. In this blog we’ll be exploring what we can do with this knowledge, how HR leaders can best support their employees and how employers can best support their HR teams through these unprecedented times. Caring for Others’ Mental Health – The Emotional Toll It became evident very quickly into 2020 that with all of the stress of the pandemic being introduced, organizations all over the world were going to need to re-evaluate and re-prioritize their company-wide mental health resources and support system. For many employers, this may have even been the first time that they had considered this element of their employee benefits. The first step in addressing this for …

In part two of our deep dive into HR burnout, we’re exploring the effects that the pandemic has had on working from home versus working from the office, layoffs, hiring and staffing concerns, and what this all meant for HR departments world-wide. Transitioning to Remote Working From the near-beginning of 2020, as workplaces began to close their office doors due to the start of COVID-19, HR departments became tasked with assisting in the transition of employees to work-from-home scenarios. This task has included everything from gathering information from the news about ever-changing pandemic safety protocol, collaborating with CEOs and managers to create work-from-home policies and procedures, to filtering down those messages to the employees and addressing their questions and concerns. Research | Leadership | Communication This massive shift in the way that the workplace operates and how work gets done has created obstacles for every member of work teams internationally, with HR departments at the forefront of it all. Many operational HR professionals had an opportunity to really step into strategic roles, where their voices not only mattered, but were critical to business success and continuity. Although the popular take is that companies should do everything in their power to …

  The term “burnout” is one that you may have heard around the office, especially in the past 19 months. But what does it mean exactly? According to the definition from mental health and wellness website HelpGuide.org, “burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands.” While it’s a fairly new term, it’s one that has become increasingly relevant in today’s work environments. In this 3-part series, Career Contacts is taking a deep dive into HR burnout to explore what it is, why it’s happening now more than ever, and how it’s effecting HR departments everywhere. Most importantly, we are deep diving into what we can do to combat it. Workplaces all over the world have been affected in countless ways by the pandemic. It’s changed everything from how we work, with new health and safety protocols updating day-to-day, to where we work, as many offices transition to working remotely part or even full time. It’s affected just about every aspect of the average workday and has left offices in a constant state of unrelenting change.   Greater Workload …