Given the grim economic climate, rise in resenteeism, and changing attitudes towards work post-pandemic, it may come as no surprise to find that over 88% of UK employees have experienced burnout in the past two years.
Take a glance at the stats for HR professionals, however, and that number skyrockets even further to 98%; an astounding – and deeply concerning – statistic.
Why is HR burnout such a problem?
There’s no denying that it’s been a tough few years for the entire workforce; from having to rapidly adapt to new (often remote) working practices, to tackling the personal impact of a cost-of-living crisis, to processing wavering job security amid the current economic downturn.
For HR professionals, though, it’s safe to say the pressure has been laid on harder than ever. Not only have HR had to personally adapt to changing circumstances, as with everybody else, but in many cases have been tasked with responding to and reassuring entire workforces, too.
To make matters worse, only 29% of HR workers feel that their work is valued by their company. Between the increased pressure and a lack of recognition, it’s perhaps no shock that many HR professionals are finding themselves struggling with overwhelm, compassion fatigue, and severe cases of burnout.
How can technology help tackle HR burnout?
When HR struggles, so does everybody else. Apart from the obvious importance of prioritising employee wellbeing, it’s also essential that businesses take note of what could be driving staff to leave – particularly as financial uncertainty heightens.
Digital tools are becoming increasingly prevalent in the HR space; from supporting effective training and development to improving retention more broadly. And, thanks to HR software’s ability to lighten the workload for hardworking HR teams, it can play an important role in preventing and remedying HR burnout, too.
So, if you’re exploring ways to tackle HR burnout in your business, a good HR system could be the perfect solution. Here’s why…
1. It automates key processes
Perhaps one of the top benefits of HR software is its ability to automate admin tasks, reducing administrative burden and freeing up time for more strategic, value-added tasks and responsibilities.
If you’re one of the thousands of businesses hiring this quarter, for example, an in-depth onboarding module could free up considerable time for you and your HR team by:
- Automating notifications and reminders (for example, for uploading new starter documents)
- Allowing for task list templates that can be copied across for new hires
- Making outstanding and completed tasks easily visible both to the new starter and to line managers and HR teams
What’s more, a modern HR system will allow for more intuitive form building and document management processes. Apart from reducing the amount time your team spends on administrative tasks, this frees up time for more gratifying projects – an important factor in staving off disengagement and burnout.
2. It puts employees in control of their own data
The nature of HR roles is such that they easily become the go-to for employee questions and concerns; particularly when it comes to managing data, updating personal documents, and organising working hours or absences.
Whilst questions are certainly a good sign that your employees trust HR to help out, too many unplanned distractions can cut into your team’s focused working time, making it difficult to keep pace with their existing workload and tasks.
HR software with self service capability can be particularly helpful here. It puts employees in control of their own data and allows them to independently log absences (which line managers can then approve) and check timesheets – rather than going through HR.
In fact, with the ability to trigger automatic reminders for specific tasks or document uploads, an HR system can help disperse and delegate responsibility more evenly, meaning the pressure doesn’t sit on HR’s shoulders alone. When employees have easy access to the answers they need, your HR team takes on fewer unexpected interruptions – making it easier to focus on the tasks that matter most.
3. It makes data protection easier
In a similar vein, a good HR system can relieve some of the mental load when it comes to data privacy and protection.
For all businesses, there’s high pressure to remain GDPR -compliant and keep employee data safe. If an organisation fails to do so, there can be severe legal, financial, and reputational consequences as a result – and often, this pressure falls on HR’s shoulders.
ISO27001-certified HR software, thankfully, can take care of several data protection concerns; from ensuring private data is effectively encrypted, to filtering which data can be seen by which employees. With the basics of data protection taken care of, HR teams have one less stressor to worry about.
You can find out more about ISO27001-certified HR software here.
4. It makes resources more accessible
Finally, one of the key benefits of an HR system is the ability to upload important documents to a workspace feed. Key documents and resources can be shared with all employees to be accessed independently, reducing the strain on your HR team to keep referring to – and sharing – the same files.
You could use a workspace feed to share:
- Key policies and procedures
- Mental health resources, sites, and helplines
- Training and development tools
- Employee handbooks
To learn more about how automation can create more efficient HR processes, just follow this link to download our free guide.
Chloe Turner
Graduating from the University of South Wales, Chloe is an experienced content marketing manager who's worked across the HR and legal business sectors.
