Is Your HR Department Overwhelmed?
Published: 20/02/2020
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This article is for business owners and managers, urging them to examine their HR teams more closely. The corporate world has grown accustomed to relying on human resources, causing us to often overlook the warning signs of burnt-out staff. Therefore, we will assist you in answering a crucial question: is your HR department overwhelmed?
Of all the departments within a company, HR certainly undertakes the lion’s share of administrative tasks. This ranges from greeting new employees to ensuring the safety and satisfaction of existing teams. They are viewed as the backbone of the organisation. However, as a business owner or manager, you must ensure their needs and limits are kept in check. With that said, it’s crucial to know when there is too much for your team to handle. After all, this could impact their morale and productivity, as well as their mental health. Furthermore, as they are responsible for maintaining the well-being of the rest of the staff, negligence can lead to disaster.
The issue is that we are heavily reliant on human resources and their contributions. Consequently, we don’t always recognise the work and effort they invest in ensuring everyone’s comfort. This can lead to burnout among HR workers and a general disinterest in their roles, which then becomes a root cause of negligence or even a decline in attendance. Today, we are sharing some telltale signs that HR is feeling overwhelmed, along with ways to ensure that workloads are manageable for your team.
From disciplinary talks to layoffs and the pressure of filling positions to addressing complaints, the HR department wears many hats each day, and their decisions carry significant consequences. It is therefore not surprising that the Perkbox survey recognised HR as the most stressful job, revealing that 79% of employees report unhealthy levels of work stress.
It primarily relates to the need to constantly balance multiple fronts. From a legal standpoint, HR must remain fair while also defending the company’s interests. When interacting with employees, it must be both supportive and disciplinary. HR must tackle uncomfortable topics that no one wants to address but that need to be discussed, such as poor hygiene, behavioural issues, and similar concerns. In other words, the HR department has a lot on its plate. Yet, we often fail to recognise this or appreciate its impact on them.
Here are the top 7 signs that your HR department may be overwhelmed. Check them out:
They aren’t as compliance-driven as before
They aren’t on top of their paperwork
Their attitude is increasingly negative
Their performance and productivity have declined
They show signs of stress such as irritability
They often surrender to cutting corners
They become hostile to other workers
The problem is that while these behavioural signs are easily spotted, they aren’t always linked to the source of the issue. This, naturally, attracts less attention and receives lower priority. From HR’s perspective, this may seem like negligence. So, are there any quicker ways to identify when something isn't going well?
Has your staff suddenly become extremely short-tempered? Are emotions running high? Are you noticing that people are complaining more than usual? All of these may result from asking too much of HR. Another sign is a sudden influx of HR employees calling in sick, with absences being much higher among HR than in other departments. But let’s focus on some of the easiest-to-see and most dangerous signs.
One of the loudest alarm bells is a decline in work accuracy. If you’ve noticed that your HR staff are making more mistakes, especially employees who are usually very precise, they may be swamped with work. While it’s true that everyone makes mistakes (we’re only human, after all), an increased frequency could have a detrimental impact on your business. Take a closer look at the tasks HR is dealing with. How do they manage their time in between them? Consider introducing time-tracking software to assess whether the department is struggling. While it may seem the volume of tasks isn’t that large, the issue may lie within their complexity.
If you’ve noticed no issues with the volume or difficulty of HR work, but the rate of mistakes is rising, your HR staff might simply be burnt out. This can lead to apathy and a lack of effort in addressing day-to-day tasks, which in turn increases the likelihood of errors. Check when your workers last had time off. If possible, encourage them to take a few days to rest and rejuvenate.
HR should be involved in many positive aspects of employee management, such as training, onboarding, and benefits. If you primarily rely on them to take care of the ‘dirty work,’ like reinforcing company policies or issuing disciplines, it may create tensions among departments. This situation could negatively impact the well-being and morale of HR employees. After all, they are people too, and their role puts them in a position where they face hostility.
In the popular show ‘The Office’, there is an HR representative, Toby Flenderson. At first, he always tries to do his best to follow the rules. However, because he constantly faces hostility for doing his job, he, as Oscar remarks, mid-series ‘checks out’. In other words, if you see your HR team being gradually cast out or even openly ostracised by the rest of the team, you have a problem. If you don’t want them to ‘check out’, you need to take action. Help them engage in more positive, experience-focused employee management activities instead of those that make them appear villainous.
Helping your staff manage stress goes beyond just giving a TED talk. In fact, you can take steps to ensure they don’t become overwhelmed in the first place. Generally, it’s easier to prevent issues than to handle their consequences. Therefore, let’s explore ways to support the HR department before they find themselves in urgent need.
As we discussed in one of our previous articles, HR often lags behind in digital transformation. While other departments adopt automation and digital tools, human resources remain tied to spreadsheets and manual labour. This isn’t a matter of lacking designated tools either.
Most companies are hesitant to introduce innovation in the HR department, primarily because it is one of the pillars on which the business stands. Since most HR operations are core processes, many proceed with caution when implementing changes. This, however, subjects human resources to work under increased pressure, as they face higher demands while maintaining the same old approach. It is clear at this point that companies need to undergo a complete digital transformation to remain competitive in the future. The longer you hesitate, the more traction your competitors gain. In summary, digitising your HR will make workers' lives easier and streamline the processes.
It is easy to forget to rest when you are constantly working at high intensity. This is what the HR department experiences. As mentioned earlier, their role has been recognised as the most stressful due to a combination of never-ending tasks and their diversity. In other words, HR personnel are particularly prone to neglecting their off time because of the seemingly infinite workload. It may not appear problematic at first glance; however, working without cooldown periods is the primary cause of employee burnout.
As an employer or manager, it is your responsibility to identify employees who may be displaying signs of workaholism. Ultimately, this condition is as detrimental to them personally as it is to your business. It is advisable to gently encourage an HR employee who has worked for several months without a break to take annual leave. Ensure that you explain the reasoning behind your thought process. Occasionally, the employee may refuse to follow your advice. In this situation, if necessary, you have the right to impose time off work on them, albeit with reasonable notice.
Let’s revisit the key advice presented in this piece. One of the best ways to save time (and avoid unnecessary headaches) for your HR team is to automate as many manual, time-consuming processes as possible. The market for solutions is vast and diverse. It offers unique features catering to various businesses confronting different challenges. Your main task is to identify what you need and find the perfect match for you. Since you’re already here, why not start with us?
Timesheet Portal is a unique all-in-one software solution that enables your HR department and the business as a whole to operate more smoothly by streamlining numerous tasks. Some of its many features and benefits include:
Online time tracking. Track worker hours and set up configurable options such as time limit rules and overtime calculations.
Expense management. Submit and approve expenses, upload receipts, and export them straight to your accounting software (saving time and avoiding potential errors when inputting numbers manually).
Employee record keeping. Store employee contracts, employment details, contact details and bank details.
Company policy distribution. Host your internal policies and provide the ability for employees to read and agree to policies online.
Contract signing. Automatically generate employment contracts and have your employees sign them digitally through Timesheet Portal
Absence management. Record and report absences and control sick pay variation according to sick days taken.
Reporting. Benefit from over 60 built-in reports that can provide valuable and actionable business insights.
Timesheet Portal is web-based and compatible with your preferred browser. This allows you and your staff to access it 24/7 from anywhere in the world. You will also benefit from regular, free updates to the continuously evolving application.
Every day, the HR department faces a huge volume of challenges, all very diverse in nature. The processes they manage form the backbone of the operations that every business relies on, including recruiting, onboarding, conflict resolution, training, and many others. Despite this, most organisations tend to take these procedures for granted, failing to recognise the stress levels imposed on HR personnel. This oversight is a key reason why many cannot identify when the department is overwhelmed, leading to potentially costly consequences.
It is important to give your HR department as much support as possible. You can achieve this through conversation, inclusiveness, and digital transformation. Very often, human resources are siloed from the rest of the company due to slower adoption of new technology or alienation by other departments because of imposing disciplinary actions when required. This results in lower morale, disinterest in the job, and ultimately, errors. It is time to start seeing your HR for what they are and treat them accordingly - as the pillar of your business.
Recognise when your employees are struggling and take action. Support your HR team.