Managing Personal Well-being as an HR Professional in an Underperforming Company
The pandemic reinforced the hard way that maintaining personal health and well-being is just as important, if not more so, than many of the other values that society and businesses value in today’s bustling economy. Far too many people were rudely awakened to the realities of stress, anxiety, overload, burnout, and exhaustion during those trying years.
While the level to which people suffered during that time was certainly individualized to relative factors such as industry, health, financial consequences, and living situations, it would be difficult to find someone who did not struggle during that time.
One of the things that individuals and companies became more aware of as a result of those hyper-stressful variations of a “normal” day-to-day existence is that without balance, anyone can collapse. Without the proper attentiveness and management of personal health, physical, emotional, and spiritual (for some), people run a much higher risk of eventually reaching a point of stress and anxiety that can compound into conditions of burnout, depression, isolation, and the onset of chronic illnesses.
Ironically, HR professionals that are tasked with, in many respects, the oversight of employee well-being, we’re not immune to the fallout of those challenging years. Though the pandemic was most certainly a unique event in modern history, it only heightened by demonstrating the reality of damage that can occur in personal lives and businesses when individuals fail to manage their health. The extent to which the pandemic affected the world proved no one is immune to such challenges, and HR departments are included in that mix, but how can HR professionals help to manage personal well-being in a company that is underperforming?
The following are some suggestions for ways in which HR professionals can maintain their own health and wellness while continuing to support company wide wellness.
Strategies for Well-Being
Greater Self-awareness
Healthy leaders have great self-awareness. While much of the tasks and motions that people accomplish in a day like walking, talking, thinking, breathing, and even driving are things that have become so accustomed to that people can automatically, there are plenty of other processes which should take a bit more self-awareness.
Working, no matter the industry, is a constant balance of new input— client conversations, brainstorming sessions, problem solving— and familiar tasks like attending to emails while planning for future meetings that can lead to better company-wide performance.
For as effective and efficient as people can be outwardly on a day-to-day basis there are plenty of ways in which daily tasks can become major stressors over time. When not recognized for what they are and being addressed in a timely manner, those stressors are what eventually add up to loss of productivity, attention, focus, and even health concerns.
For those that do the opposite and work on developing their self-awareness, they will have a much more effective ability to emotionally regulate, maintain healthy relationships, and create a better work-life balance between work and social lives. By working on honing one’s self-awareness, they will have an easier time taking steps to remain grounded in their personal and professional lives.
Establishing Healthy Boundaries
A well balanced life should be made up of many different segments of personal, social, and professional lives. Recognizing and establishing routines based on principles of counseling that acknowledge and make time for the many activities which can help to keep a person happier, healthier, more rested, and energized means that they will have a greater chance of success with mental health.
Some of the most important boundaries to set have to do with getting enough sleep, eating right, surrounding oneself with healthy relationships, and spending time on hobbies that bring joy and fulfillment in life. Too many people today are at a higher risk of emotional instability and degrading physical health because of poor boundaries. HR professionals that recognize this and maintain those workplace boundaries are better equipped to weather difficult work situations.
Creating a Support Team
Managers can be a wonderful resource when troubleshooting a task or looking for direction with a problem that needs solving. Most of the time, this is a great way to attend to the casual challenges at work, but when things company-wide become extra challenging, a manager may not be the best source. In fact, if that manager is under enough pressure, the strain on them may have a trickle-down effect on their subordinates.
Poorly managed emotions, consistent mistakes, and flaring tempers are enough to stress even the most seasoned HR employee. In cases like this, where the whole company is strained, it’s a great idea to have a support network of other HR professionals to turn to in times of need.
Every team, even within the same company is going to be a bit different, and thus will sometimes have refreshing perspectives on how to possibly fix internal issues. HR professionals that can be found throughout networking groups may produce a connection that leads to a solution that would not have been found without reaching out to a broader support network.
Additionally, knowing that there are others who are familiar with the consistent challenges faced by HR departments means that there is a safe place to vent and process how to best resolve even the most complex of issues and may even help to overcome psychological crises.
