HR leaders often face similar psychological demands to those of a clinical psychologist. Yet, unlike psychologists, they rarely receive formal supervision or psychologically-informed coaching to help them manage and perform at their best.

As a clinical psychotherapist, I’ve always received regular supervision from a senior practitioner. It’s a licensing requirement and I consider it a professional right. With a caseload of complex and sometimes distressing situations to manage, I have regular support to help me make considered decisions, get expert advice and manage the emotional toll. 

I first understood how poorly HR executives were supported in comparison to us clinicians when I started an Employee Assistance Program provider some 15 years ago. HR leaders called me with truly challenging and confronting scenarios.

Workplace bullying investigations, complex mental health presentations, traumatic workplace injuries, staff conflict, corrosive behaviour, workplace politics, retrenchments – the list goes on. 

Now as an executive coach who works with Chief People Officers and Chief HR Officers, I am acutely aware of how such psychological demands can burden senior people leaders. 

Senior HR leaders may not be aware of psychological stresses they carry – the impacts are often ‘hiding in plain sight’. But I see many clues of these stressors when I hear HR leaders speak of difficulty sleeping, finding themselves short tempered, relying on alcohol to end their day, problems relaxing on weekends, changes in mood, overworking and feeling like they have to personally support the mental health of staff. 

This doesn’t mean that every HR person will be negatively affected. I simply hope to raise awareness of the high emotional demand on HR executives to demonstrate that psychologically-informed coaching can benefit HR leaders in a similar way that clinical supervision helps psychologists.  It’s a proactive means to avoid burnout and to elevate decision-making skills. 

Situational psychological demands

HR’s day-to-day work traverses a range of significant interpersonal challenges, from delivering the news of redundancies to managing delicate mental health conversations.

HR is the organisation’s custodian of employee wellbeing. That’s an incredibly important job, but it also comes with a plethora of risks.

In these situations, HR will often face a range of intense emotions including grief and loss, anger, uncertainty, conflict, blame, hostility, reluctance, threats to safety, intense fear and trauma. Each of these situations can rattle HR leaders and, over time, can lead to burnout and, at the more extreme end, vicarious trauma. 

I’ve seen the weight lifted from HR leaders’ shoulders when they have the chance to stop and speak about how it feels to be in a distressing situation or to share a complex dilemma.

They talk about things such as speaking to the family of someone who was badly injured at work, or about the pressure they face from competing executives to back their position on a resourcing decision. 

HR leaders experience a great deal of relief given the chance to process the emotional toll with a professional. They also benefit from support formulating a psychologically informed response to a given situation.

HR engages in elevated thinking

HR executives are called on to champion a range of sophisticated mindsets on behalf of the organisation. These can include assessing the group culture and advising on its development, designing the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) and engagement strategies and being a visionary for the leadership model(s) to best support the organisation’s strategy.

The head of HR also acts as the organisation’s ‘collective unconscious’. Or, in other words, remains aware and at times speaks to what is felt or ‘known’ by people in the organisation, but not said.

These elevated thinking positions require a lot from the HR executive. While measurement and data can inform a number of these perspectives, instinct and experience are required to decide what really counts and which aspects of change to promote to the executive and board. 

Elevated thinking requires regular thinking space – a space to unpack the data, to name the pressure and to reveal bigger patterns and themes. An expert coach provides a blank canvas for joint thinking and meaning making. 

A coach who understands the nature of group dynamics, systems, the collective unconscious, biases, splitting and other types of group behaviour has many lenses available to help the HR chief get a better read on the wide array of inputs available. 

Additionally, HR leaders are likely to benefit from a coach who understands interpersonal behaviour (relationships) and personality (individuals), as well as motivation theory. Such frameworks help HR leaders to design interventions that gain leverage with the board, leadership, management and staff. 

Collaboration and politics 

To support an agile methodology, HR leaders will often be the champion for collaboration of the group over self-interest, silos or factions. 

While business leaders may claim to appreciate the need for collectivism and well-distributed authority to compete in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world, they are often swayed to return to hierarchical behaviour or self-interest to meet revenue or stakeholder demands. 

This is exacerbated by competitive instincts at the C-suite level that can work to derail well-intended initiatives for cross-functional or business unit collaboration. 

The HR executive is left to identify and address this conflict in a tactful and effective manner, but in doing so risks losing the trust or respect of the remaining executive. 

“I’ve seen the weight lifted from HR leaders’ shoulders when they have the chance to stop and speak about how it feels to be in a distressing situation.”

In attempting to maintain an elevated stance on these issues without succumbing to external pressures, the HR leader can be pigeonholed as an advocate solely focussed on employee or culture needs. They may then be scapegoated or ousted by the group. 

It’s a delicate balance to strike. As with the other mindsets mentioned, maintaining objectivity and courage while skilfully handling the groups and individuals involved is greatly aided by a quality thinking space and by a debriefing with behavioural specialist who can develop a successful approach to raising such issues. 

Psychologically informed behavioural experiments can be conducted to see which approaches to challenging issues result in collaboration from the executive and which are met with resistance. In such situations, I’ve observed that the HR leader’s effectiveness is vastly improved by consultation that provides insight into group dynamics and personality types.

Confidant and trusted advisor

Another area in which the HR executive manages complexity and psychological demand is as the confidant and trusted advisor to a range of stakeholders. 

The HR executive is often entrusted with succession planning and talent development at the executive level. Close working relationships to help people advance their careers are a privilege, but also involve being on more than one side of a competitive dynamic without taking favour. 

It can also test loyalties and create pressure when, for example, the board entrusts the HR leader to develop a culture, leadership or capability framework that is at odds with aspects of the incumbent executive or CEO. 

When to seek consultation or coaching

It can be tempting to suggest that HR leaders should wait to seek support when they start to present with signs of burnout or mental health issues. 

In reality, HR leaders benefit personally and in their practice from proactive and regular coaching or consultation. 

Like other senior executives they must straddle paradox and complexity. However, they also carry a range of emotional, cultural, relationship and political demands.

To manage these demands, HR executives benefit greatly from coaching that is focussed on processing strong emotion, interpreting group and culture themes, reflecting and interpreting politics, personalities and dynamics.

Dan Auerbach is a senior Executive Coach based in Sydney Australia. He is the Founder CEO of Associated Employee Assistance Providers. He holds dual-qualifications in psychology and commerce and maintains an executive coaching practice working with C-Suite leaders as well as a clinical psychotherapy practice.