Research by HR, payroll and benefits software provider Ciphr has found that the challenges of employee retention are the third highest source of stress for the profession. Recruitment and skills shortages are also a source of stress for 23 per cent of HR workers surveyed.
The results from a survey of over 270 UK HR decision-makers suggests that most HR professionals (94 per cent) are affected by work stress and find at least one aspect of their job stressful.
Workloads topped the list of things causing them the most stress and anxiety (cited by 29 per cent of respondents), followed by rising costs (26 per cent), the challenges of employee retention (24 per cent), and managing budgets (24 per cent).
Worryingly, nearly one in four (23 per cent) HR professionals reported feeling stressed to the point of burnout and exhaustion. This rises to over a third (35 per cent) of those working at organisations with more than 1,500 employees, indicating a potential link between workforce size and the occurrence of chronic stress.
Workload stress also appears more likely to impact those at larger organisations – with a third (34 per cent) of HR professionals who manage workforces of over 1,500 employees feeling under pressure by excessive or unnecessary workloads, compared to around a quarter (27 per cent) of those at organisations with 50 to 1,499 employees.
Employee case management was also found to be among one of the more stressful parts of working in HR by a sizeable (17 per cent) share of respondents.
Things that cause HR professionals the most stress or anxiety in their jobs:
- Their workload: 29 per cent
- Rising costs: 26 per cent
- Employee retention and staff turnover: 24 per cent
- Managing budgets: 24 per cent
- Exhaustion / burnout: 23 per cent
- Recruitment and skills shortages: 23 per cent
- Too many meetings: 20 per cent
- Conflicts at work: 18 per cent
- Misconceptions around their / HR’s role and responsibilities: 18 per cent
- Employee case management: 17 per cent
- Lack of resources and effective tools: 16 per cent
- ‘Always on and always there’ culture: 15 per cent
- Workforce / HR reporting (volume of reporting and deadlines etc): 14 per cent
- Preparing for (and complying with) new employment legislation and reforms: 13 per cent
- Job or company stability and security: 12 per cent
- Lack of clarity of organisational goals and strategy: 12 per cent
- Remote / hybrid working model: 11 per cent
- Supporting employees’ wellbeing: 11 per cent
- Travelling for work (including commuting): 10 per cent
- The people they work with: 7.4 per cent
“In recent years there’s been a lot of focus on what employers and HR can do to safeguard and support their employees’ mental health and alleviate workplace stress. And rightly so,” says Claire Williams, chief people and operations officer at Ciphr. “But conversations rarely talk about the huge pressures that people in HR roles feel and how stress can impact them, and even fewer organisations offer tailored support to their HR teams. HR professionals often spend so much time focusing on the rest of the business that their needs aren’t always prioritised. There may also be an assumption that, because they work in HR, they know how to deal with work stresses better than other employees.
“Organisations need to work proactively with their HR teams to help relieve stress, where possible, and give them resources and strategies to cope with prolonged or negative stress in a more targeted and positive way,” says Williams. “Embracing new technologies and harnessing efficiency gains from advances in AI, automation, and employee self-service across integrated HR systems, payroll, benefits platforms, recruitment, engagement, and workforce management tools, for example, will also help reduce a raft of workload pressures for HR professionals.”