Protecting Your People Team From Burnout Is the Most Impactful Thing You Can Do

Cat DiStasio draws on her career in people leadership to share practical strategies for preventing HR burnout.

Today’s people leaders are well aware that burnout in the workplace has been high in recent years, with 82% of employees at risk of experiencing burnout, according to the 2024 Global Talent Trends report by consulting firm Mercer. Many of the problems employers are facing today – low engagement, higher absenteeism, productivity losses, and high employee turnover – can be linked to stress and burnout.

Addressing the larger issue of burnout among employees is nearly impossible when your people team is suffering just as much, if not more. Among people teams, rates of burnout are downright alarming. According to Workvivo research, 98% of HR professionals report feelings of burnout and 79% are open to leaving their jobs. This makes it a business imperative to proactively address the root causes of burnout on people teams.

While the figures around today’s burnout problem are startling, the challenge of burnout among people teams is not new. When I worked on corporate HR teams 15 years ago, stress and burnout ran rampant – especially amid broader challenges in the talent market and economic landscape. In many ways, what I hear from today’s people leaders echoes my experiences working in HR through the 2009 economic recession, when HR teams worked overtime to manage large-scale reductions in force, often to find themselves downsized in a later phase of layoffs.  

Burnout prevention is better than remedies

Today’s people leaders face a steep challenge: stretch shrinking budgets and lean teams to provide expanded programs and support for employees at risk of burnout. In order to do this, these same leaders must put on their proverbial oxygen masks before helping others. Next in line? Protecting your people Ops team at all costs.

Yes, it’s crucial for organizations to have policies and practices that help employees, in all positions, manage and recover from burnout when/if it occurs. These include flexible work arrangements, generous paid time off, access to mental health services, and so on. But if all you have to offer are reactive strategies, it’s time to look upstream.

As a department leader, you probably already do a lot to protect your team members. Strategically working to prevent burnout is the most powerful thing you can do, not only to take care of your team of resourceful humans but also to enable them to provide the best service and support possible to the rest of your organization’s employees.

Practical strategies for preventing HR burnout

During my 10-year career in corporate HR, I was fortunate to work with many compassionate, savvy people leaders who understood how to walk the fine line between maximizing efficiency and overextending their team members. Many of my memories of the most stressful times at work – from hectic open enrollment periods to bumpy technology rollouts to hefty layoffs – include moments with my leaders and mentors that were characterized by deep empathy, unparalleled flexibility, and a strong commitment to problem solving.

When I talk with modern people leaders about how they can better support their teams, I share the following ideas, drawing on my past experience working with some truly great people leaders.

1. Keep checking in  

No matter how busy or chaotic work demands are, hold regular weekly 1:1 check-ins with your team members. Use this time to check in about their overall wellbeing, as well as work priorities and objectives.

2. Prioritize transparent communication

Hold regular all-hands team meetings to keep everyone in the loop about new directives, feedback, priorities, and available resources. The more transparent you can be, the easier your team members can adjust their expectations. 

3. Do nice things for your team

Look for ways to treat your team, as a whole or on an individual basis. If your team works in the same location, this might mean ordering lunch during particularly busy weeks. For dispersed teams, modern people leaders can make use of digital gift cards for meal/grocery delivery.

4. Recognize and reward good work 

Reward team members for their efforts as well as their accomplishments. Spot bonuses, especially in the form of cash or gift cards and when accompanied by a heartfelt ‘thank you’, go a long way toward helping your team feel seen and appreciated. 

5. Give the gift of time

Whenever possible, give your team members time back. I’m not talking about ending a meeting five minutes early. I’m talking about closing the office at 1pm instead of 5pm on Friday after a particularly busy or stressful week. 

6. Be open and vulnerable

Share (in appropriate ways) about your own struggles, what’s helped you manage stress, and how you ask for what you need from your manager. This might mean sharing that you used PTO for an afternoon massage that helped you refocus for a presentation. Or you might demonstrate how you use your organization’s flex work policies, by letting your team know you’re leaving an hour early because you worked later the day before. 

7. Invite feedback and requests

Ask your team what they need. Everyone has different triggers and thresholds for stress, and what helps one person feel secure and supported might not work for others. The best way to protect your team from burnout is to get to know what they need, and then work together to create a plan to provide that.

Preventing HR burnout has lasting and widespread impacts

Anything you can do to lower rates of burnout among your people team will have a positive ripple effect throughout your organization. When the people team feels confident and supported, they can be more effective in their jobs. They will have more mental and emotional bandwidth to think of creative and innovative solutions to your organization’s biggest people-related challenges.

You might even expect to see a positive change in recruiting outcomes, as candidate experience is likely to improve.

And, at the end of the day, you may even feel less stressed yourself, knowing you’ve done right by your team, your organization, and all its employees.