HR practitioners are used to building wellbeing and resilience strategies within their own organisations, but who is looking after their mental health?

As the work landscape becomes increasingly dispersed and complex, with shifting demographics, skills shortages and bleak cost-of-living realities, HR practitioners once again find themselves navigating an ambiguous business environment.

As a result, HR are often exposed to emotionally taxing situations, such as redundancy conversations or supporting managers to deal with disengagement or underperformance in their teams.

“A lot of people look at HR to solve problems leaders should be solving,” says peak performance researcher Dr Adam Fraser, who recently spoke at AHRI’s National Convention and Exhibition. 

“People have high expectations around HR’s ability to respond quickly. 

“And one thing I’ve noticed about HR professionals is that they tend to look after everyone else, often at the expense of their own wellbeing.” 

Fraser has worked with people in a range of high-stress professions, from paramedics to teachers, and has accumulated a range of useful tips to help them prioritise their own mental health. 

Here are four of the strategies he’s found most effective for HR practitioners to manage their mental health:

1. Develop your ‘third space’

HR practitioners don’t have a resilience problem, says Fraser. They are actually some of the most resilient people in the workforce. However, they often don’t carve out adequate recovery time. 

HR practitioners are constantly navigating conflicting organisational priorities and engaging in difficult conversations, sometimes without processing the emotional impact of those interactions, he says. 

The key is to develop a transitional space – or what Fraser calls the ‘third space’ – between work and home to help process difficult experiences.

Fraser says the concept of third space, which he developed from his research with elite athletes and high-performing leaders, enables people to switch off at the end of a workday, sift through negative feelings and bring a reinvigorated energy to the next task. 

“There are three key things to do as you transition from work to home, whether it’s from the kitchen bench or the office. The first part is a reflection phase. It’s about how you make sense of the day so you can move on from it. In particular, focus on the constructive parts of the day and what you achieved. This helps elevate your mood for when you move into home mode. 

“[Next] is the rest phase. This is where you take time to calm your brain. For some people this may be sudoku on the bus, a podcast in the car or going to the gym. The purpose is to calm that frantic brain we often have in our workday. 

“The third one is the reset phase. This looks at preparing your mindset for the home environment. Specifically asking yourself, ‘How do I want to show up when I move into home mode? In particular, what is my intention and how do I have to behave to get that intention?’” 

2. Inject levity and humour into work

Humour at work goes a long way in improving employees’ mental health, as well as strengthening bonds within teams, says Fraser. 

“It’s this ability to have light-heartedness and banter when in the trenches together.”

Research from the University of Warwick in England shows that laughter relieves stress, makes us feel more in control and helps shift our perspective in challenging situations. Leaders who positively leverage humour are viewed as more transformative, which translates to better performance and greater employee satisfaction, the research found.

“One thing I’ve noticed about HR professionals is that they tend to look after everyone else, often at the expense of their own wellbeing.” – Dr Adam Fraser

“Thinking back to parenting and trying to work during the pandemic, I found it so difficult, but what got me through was sending funny memes or messages to my mates about how terrible we were at home-schooling our children. Being able to laugh at ourselves was one of the most helpful things.”

This can easily translate to a work environment, says Fraser.

“We were recently working with a group that experiences a lot of trauma and we asked them to rate the top three strategies that help them cope in a functional way. 

“In that list was ‘having a playful workplace with lots of humour and support’. People said playfulness decreases their stress and helps them get over a tough day.”

3. Practice compassionate listening around mental health

Practising empathetic team debriefs, in Fraser’s view, is a critical way to safeguard your wellbeing.

“The most important thing is that ability to debrief with colleagues and be validated and supported without people jumping into solution mode and saying things like, ‘Here’s what you’ve got to do next.’”

Consider setting up a structured debriefing process for your HR team, he suggests, just as psychologists do in their formalised supervision relationships. 

For example, if you know a colleague is going into a challenging performance review conversation, have a set of mechanisms in place to support them, such as an immediate debrief with the HR lead or a follow-up at the end of the week.

“What the latest research is telling us is that the individual should drive the debrief. Don’t pepper them with questions that make them relive the experience, but rather let them take the lead and validate their experience.” 

Sign up to AHRI’s new short course Renewing Resilience: Addressing burnout in HR practitioners  for useful strategies to avoid burnout and to create your own personalised resilience plan.

4. Perform acts of kindness

Another interesting insight to come from Fraser’s research is the significance of performing acts of kindness. 

“A lot of evidence shows that appreciating others and doing acts of service gives a massive boost to your wellbeing. 

“[Psychologist] Martin Seligman’s research documented that one of the best things you can do for your wellbeing is contact someone who has had a positive impact on your life and thank them in detail for the difference they have made.”

For this reason, taking the time to recognise when a co-worker has helped you or done great work helps build strong, trusting relationships that can bolster your wellbeing during challenging times at work, he says.

Consider creating opportunities for shout-outs in team meetings where employees can recognise the work or support of their HR peers. 

For example, Fraser makes a point of writing one LinkedIn recommendation per week for his colleagues. 

“I can’t tell you the impact this had on my mood,” he says.

Investing in team culture, holding each other accountable for self-care and giving yourself permission to process the day-to-day strain of the workday are fundamental to ensuring HR practitioners are able to do what they joined the company for in the first place: bettering people, workplaces and businesses. 

A longer version of this article was originally published in the August/September 2024 edition of HRM Magazine.

Want to learn more from Dr Adam Fraser? Check out this episode of AHRI’s podcast, where Fraser talks about all things wellbeing and HR self-care. Subscribe to AHRI’s podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud or Apple Podcasts so you never miss an episode.