HR Professional Day: 6 great ways to celebrate your people pros

HR Professional Day: 6 great ways to celebrate your people pros in summary:

• Human Resource Professional Day (26th September) is the perfect excuse to celebrate the HR pros who keep businesses running smoothly—often while battling stress, burnout, and endless admin.
• HR isn’t just about compliance and payroll; it’s the backbone of company culture, wellbeing, and people strategy. With 64% of HR professionals reporting near-constant stress and 93% admitting to burnout, now’s the time to show some real appreciation.
• From public shout-outs and highlight reels to pausing non-urgent admin, sharing bite-sized learning, and future-proofing HR skills, there are plenty of ways to make the day meaningful (and not just a token balloon drop). Recognising and supporting HR isn’t just a nice gesture – it’s an investment in the health and success of your entire business.

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If you’re reading this and you sit at the top of your company’s org chart, be honest: when was the last time you recognised the hard work of your HR team?

After all, they’re the ones who keep your organisation legal, sane, engaged, and vaguely functional – not exactly a small remit! So, Human Resource Professional Day (which takes place on the 26^th September) is the moment you should take a moment to say a proper thank you – and to double down on what helps HR thrive on the other 364 days.

First things first: what is Human Resource Professional Day?

Human Resource Professional Day, held every year on the 26^th September, is all about recognising the incredible work HR teams do; from hiring and onboarding, to learning & development, benefits, culture, and fielding the million daily “can I just…?” messages on Teams and email. It’s different from International HR Day on the 20^th May… though, let’s be honest, that deserves a celebration too.

Why it matters

While every department’s hard work deserves recognition, HR arguably deserves a little extra credit. This is due to having to contend with complex employee relations, evolving compliance requirements, talent and skills shortages, change programmes that never end, and the unseen emotional labour of supporting people through illness, conflict and life… all without dropping the day-to-day workforce essentials.

But, perhaps where HR teams are being really stretched right now, is in getting to grips with managing the wellbeing of workforces AND not burning out themselves in the process. For example:

• Work-related ill health is still huge in Great Britain. The HSE’s latest snapshot shows 1.7m people with a work-related illness in 2023/24, including 776k with stress, depression or anxiety, and 33.7 million working days lost. That’s… a lot of Bradford factors and unplanned absences that need HR’s expertise.
• UK workplaces also rank among Europe’s most stressful, according to analysis highlighted last winter. In other words, HR are on the front line in supporting the people who support your people is a growth strategy, not a nice-to-have.
• And, sickness absence dynamics keep shifting. The ONS reports notable differences by health status and region in 2024 – context your HR team is juggling while keeping the wheels on and turning.

And all that – plus everything else that gets thrown the average HR teams’ way – is leading to horrendous levels of stress and burnout within the HR profession.

HR teams really are feeling the pressure

As our own research with the wonderful HR Ninjas community discovered, 64% of HR professionals are experiencing near-constant stress, with a shocking 93% admitting to having experienced burnout at some point in their careers. Worse still, burnout has become so severe for some that 83% of respondents revealed they had to take time off work in the last year due to stress-related conditions.

Of course, celebrating Human Resource Professional Day isn’t going to magically solve the profession’s stress epidemic. But it is a moment to stop, spotlight the essential work HR teams do, and – crucially – give them the tools, support, and recognition they need the rest of the year. Think of it less as a token “thanks HR” day, and more as a spotlight on the wellbeing of the people who hold your organisation together.

So, what can your business actually do? Beyond the odd office balloon and saccharin LinkedIn post, here are some high-impact, low-eye-roll ways to mark the day:

6 easy (yet impactful) Human Resource Professional Day celebration ideas

A proper “thank you” (from the top)

If you’re a CEO or MD reading this, send a short, specific note to your HR team that recognises their achievements over the past 12 months. For example: “You’ve successfully closed (however many) critical roles, implemented an enhanced parental leave policy, and navigated year-end payroll effortlessly. Your hard work, professionalism, and commitment don’t go unnoticed – we’re grateful for everything you do to keep this organisation thriving.”

Share the praise publicly on your Teams/Slack channels (or whatever company messaging service you might use), or even your own peer-to-peer recognition platform (if you have one, of course), not to mention privately in 1:1s.

Make a HR highlight reel

Make a simple one-pager that highlights the best HR-related initiatives over the past year. Or, you could perhaps shine a light on the metrics that matter to your business (time-to-hire, ER resolved, wellbeing uptake), and 3 things employees can do to help HR help them. Post on your company intranet, shared workspaces or HR portals, or even just a good old fashioned office noticeboard. When the good stuff your HR team becomes more visible, they get something rarer than donuts in the breakroom: credibility and breathing space

Pause the admin for a day

A modern HR platform with powerful automation and self-service functionality can remove a lot of the tiresome admin that HR teams deal with every day. But, if you don’t have one (although you really should), look to pause non-urgent requests for 24 hours and batch the rest. That way, HR gets time for projects that actually ‘move needles’, as they say.

Micro-learning drop

Ever feel like your employees are on repeat, going to HR with the same questions over and over again? Then pull together three bite-sized 10-minute sessions (either in-person or virtually) on the things your HR team wishes everyone knew; like how to raise issues early, the right way to report an absence, or what really makes a strong job spec. That way, you’re able to support a culture of HR excellence across the business, and help make your people department’s job that little bit easier in the process. In addition…

“How to help HR” starter kit for new employees

Put together a friendly, easy-to-digest PDF that tackles the common questions every employee has but doesn’t always ask out loud. Cover the essentials, such as how to raise an issue, how to log or request an absence, how performance is recorded, or how people can approach HR for help. Not only does it save time (for both HR and the wider business), but it also helps new starters find their feet faster and feel more confident from day one.

Make time for a future-proofing skills

Lastly, think about the skills that could really future proof your HR team. Are there areas where a short burst of focused learning could make a big difference? If so, consider booking a half-day session to help your team skill up in the areas your organisation needs most. That might mean practical know-how in mediation, sharpening workforce planning, building confidence with analytics, or even boosting AI literacy. The sky’s the limit! And, even a few hours of targeted training can pay back in spades when it comes to impact, confidence, and credibility across the business.

A toast to HR teams everywhere

Human Resource Professional Day might only come once a year, but believe me: the impact HR has on your organisation is felt every single day.

By taking the time to celebrate your people pros – and backing that up with the right support, tools and recognition – you’re not just giving thanks, you’re investing in the very heart of your business. So, on the 26^th of September, raise a glass (or at least a decent cup of coffee) to HR – the team that keeps everything, and everyone, moving forward.