HR roles can vary and be challenging, this is one of the things that attracted me into the role and kept me here for over 20 years.
I’m a real people person and find it fascinating trying to understand what makes us tick, and how. During my HR career I’ve made it mission to find ways to help the UK workforce become happier, more collaborative, and more productive than ever. I have a deep understanding of psychology, NLP, and human behaviour, in fact if I had my time again, I’d love to step into the psychology world.
What I have noticed during my time in HR is that us HR folk are often so focused on taking care of everyone else that we neglect ourselves. It’s no surprise then that over 80% of us are stating that the last few years have been the most stressful in our careers.
This should be a huge signal to start shifting that focus to ourselves, right?
We’re used to working at a fast pace with sudden changes a regular challenge, we’re used to multitasking, often juggling several projects at one time, we’re used to managing an element of remote working.
When we throw all the above together at once, coupled with managing a workforce who are experiencing high levels of stress, Woking for less money, managing personal health issues, reaching burnout and all at once. This is certainly going to take it’s toll even on the most experienced HR professional.
So, how do you look after you when you have less time and undoubtedly more stress than ever before?
My top tip is to prioritise your working list/day – you can’t do it all. Assigning an order to tackle things allows it to feel more manageable.
Connect with other HR professionals – Expanding your network and joining HR only groups (like MPC Community) can help you relieve stress. Often, we think we are the only one going through the stress/ challenges, connecting with like-minded professionals allows you to bounce off ideas, support each other and understand at some point we’ve all felt the same.
Connect with your team – arrange in person meetings, walks at lunchtime or social events where time allows. There has been a lot of working solo for the last few months reconnecting in person can really help build relationships and relieve stress.
Learn to take regular breaks – Yes, easier said than done and I’m guilty of not always doing this but it’s time to do as we say not do.
HR can be challenging and often a very lonely role especially as you climb the ladder. If you’re struggling then do connect in our community on Facebook, we’re here to hep support you and champion your successes.
