Although it may seem dramatic to say, there isn’t a single profession that isn’t experiencing at least some degree of burn out at this point. However, certain professions have borne the brunt of the Covid-19 fall out and your HR professional certainly falls into that category. Their job, which is stressful at the best of times, has ramped up significantly as they navigate the burden of ushering a group of stressed out, burned out folks through what we hope is the dredges of this pandemic while also addressing their own thoughts and feelings about the pandemic. And in the HR role, staff are so accustomed to looking after others that they may not recognize burn out in themselves until it is too late.
In this blog, we’ll discuss just some of the tasks that may be weighing down your HR folks and some tips to help address these issues (HINT: most of them can be at least alleviated if not solved altogether by partnering with a PEO).
Master of none
The great thing about the field of Human Resources is that it is vast and encompasses an array of skills. However, in covering such a huge spread, it’s easy for HR reps to feel like they are a jack of all trades, but a master of none. As a business owner, you can address this by streamlining the skills you most want your HR person to focus on, be it hiring or talent development and really allow them to hone their skills in the areas that you mutually decide are most important. But what happens to those tasks that your HR rep can’t take on? In this case, a PEO may be the solution. They can take care of the jobs that your HR rep is unable to take on such as providing training to employees, conducting a search for new talent for your firm, or even just managing keeping up with industry changes. Where PEOs, and Abel HR in particular, really shine is in benefits administration. This arduous process, which comes around every year, can be a real time trap as your HR rep researches, compares, negotiates, and ultimately purchases a new plan each year. However, a PEO can take over that entire process including snagging you a lower price and more benefits than even the savviest negotiator could score on the open market, and can even go the extra step and help roll it out to your staff.
Maintain balance
A unique facet of being in Human Resources is that you must learn how to balance human interests with business interests. You must work to please both the people in your company, while also keeping the best interests of your company front of mind. However, the interests of your staff do not always align with the interests of your business (for example, folks thinking that they deserve a raise for struggling through the global pandemic when, as a business, you’re just thankful to have scraped by!) or your HR reps may not be in a position where they can enact change, leaving both parties dissatisfied with the outcome. This constant push and pull between needing to please everyone and always being the monkey in the middle can very quickly lead to conflict, confusion, and ultimately burnout and while this is somewhat part of the job, a PEO can help. Specifically, you can lean on a PEO to help guide you in making decisions about your business, to be a presence to help bounce ideas off (especially when it comes to the tricky task of layoffs or firings), and even provide your HR rep with training on how to best deliver bad news and support staff.
Bearer of bad news
If you ask any HR rep, they’ll likely tell you that the worst part of their job is having to deliver tough news. Whether its cutbacks, layoffs, unfavorable changes to the benefits package, or a host of other “bad news,” it usually falls on your HR person to not only deliver the news, but also bear the brunt of your employee’s frustrations with the decision. Giving your HR rep coaching in how to deliver bad news is key to helping with this issue – both in terms of making them more comfortable approaching tough conversations and using wording that will not land you on the receiving end of a lawsuit. Further, as a business owner, you can help tremendously if you are transparent with your HR reps about the business rationale behind the decision so that they can package this reasoning appropriately for your workers and make it less personal and more about the betterment of the business.
Constant cutbacks
Even prior to the pandemic, the swan song of the HR department was the notion of doing more with less. Whether it’s stretching a budget or adding more tasks to an already lengthy to-do list, your HR rep often becomes the dumping ground for the extra meetings, emails, or phone calls that you, as a business owner, don’t have the time or inclination to take on. This feeling of not having control over your own workload can quickly become cumbersome and frustrating to even the most seasoned pro, but there is a solution (and it will take a bit of finagling on your end!) As we touched on above, one of the keyways to prevent burnout is to streamline the tasks of your HR pro, so where possible, be sure that you are delegating your own personal to-do’s appropriately. In addition, empowering your HR rep to carve out time each day to hand the inevitable interruptions and mini crises that crop up can also reduce the risk that their whole day (or week!) will be completely derailed.
Information overload
The world of HR is one that is constantly changing and evolving. New rules and regulations are ushered in, seemingly in the blink of an eye, and failure to comply can cost your company big bucks. However, it falls to the HR rep to keep apprised of all the rules, a feat that can prove gargantuan if you are a company that operates in several cities or states, each of which may have their own, often divergent, rules. Once again, this is where partnering with a PEO can prove crucial. You see, it is the job of the PEO to keep apprised of regulatory changes at the federal, state, and even local level, as well as keep an eye on industry regulations, and update its members accordingly so that you are always in compliance. Taking this one task off the plate of your HR rep can go MILES to making them feel more in control of their job and even how they choose to spend their time and focus.
If you live in fear that your HR person is getting burned out and would like to know more about how a PEO can help lighten the load, give us a call at 609.860.0400
