While everyone working will say that their job is pretty stressful, some jobs, in particular, take the cake.
One such profession is working in HR or Human Resources.
There’s a lot that HR professionals have to handle, day in and day out.
There are several different projects and things to juggle and all with tight deadlines.
This can contribute to a lot of stress and negativity over time.
So, is working in Human Resource (HR) stressful?
Yes, it can get pretty stressful. With tight deadlines, long work hours, and a high work volume, HR can be an exhausting profession to work in. Furthermore, having to deal with challenging employees and coming up with strategies around the clock to satisfy both the management and employees can be challenging.
While it’s evident that HR is a stressful career path, we’ll now see just what makes HR Managers so stressed out.
HR Managers having to deal with difficult employees can be stressful.
One of the most significant responsibilities an HR manager has is to deal with any challenging employees.
The way these employees behave can slow down the entire team and can sap the team’s morale, so they must be dealt with immediately and effectively.
However, working with negative people can be pretty draining and stressful.
It can take a long time to deal effectively with difficult employees, and it involves learning their strengths and weaknesses, working out potential problems and solutions, and much more.
This time consuming and the emotionally exhausting process is one of the most significant factors why working in HR is so stressful.
Terminating Employees can be stressful.
This is another part of dealing with difficult employees. At times a company can no longer accommodate certain workers, and it’s up to the HR managers to carry out that order.
No matter what the reasons for termination are, this can be a challenging process.
Furthermore, there is a specific protocol we must keep in mind when terminating anyone’s contract, to make sure that both parties can part amicably.
Additionally, you need to sort out issues of pay and holidays and so on, so make sure you are fully prepared.
Explaining to someone where they lacked can lead to either tears or angry meltdowns, both of which can make an already bad situation all the more stressful.
HR managers having to deal with troublesome management can be stressful.
Human Resource managers play a huge role in ensuring a company’s success, but the job isn’t easy.
It involves working with management to make sure employees get the support and nurturing environment they need.
Sometimes, the suggestions made by HR managers aren’t welcomed by the management, for reasons such as lack of funds are awareness.
It can be stressful and irritating not to have your suggestions implemented, especially when they directly benefit the company. In such situations,
HR Managers need to come up with creative solutions to get their ideas implemented, which can be exhausting and stressful.
An added stress factor is the fact that the HR department is often the bearer of bad news.
Whether its employee terminations or benefit cutbacks news comes from the HR department first, and this can place HR managers on an uneasy footing with the employees as well.
Being inexperienced in HR can cause stress.
Working in Human Resources requires you to have a broad skill set. While other jobs can be more defined,
HR requires you to adapt to every workplace and come up with the best creative solutions to improve the workspace.
In addition to this, you also need to work with every employee the company has.
This includes understanding the entire team’s strengths and weaknesses, who they work best with, and what their most powerful incentives are.
At the same time, you have to understand the restraints of the company, such as finance, time, etc. all this requires a lot of expertise as well as quick thinking, and being inexperienced is exceptionally stressful.
When you are inexperienced, dealing with the whole workplace’s stress can be challenging, and it can seem as if you have too heavy a burden on your shoulders.
After all, the company’s smooth functioning relies on your performance too. Seeing your decisions create losses instead of gains can be extremely demotivating and stressful.
Unrealistic deadlines and too much work create stress.
As we discussed earlier, HR isn’t a field that’s limited to just one sort of task.
The wide variety of things we need to tend to can take up a lot of our time.
This, in turn, causes a lot of mental stress.
Coming up with the best ways to handle several ongoing projects at the same time, as well as working with a diverse set of employees, is difficult.
HR managers have to do all this and so much more in the most unrealistic and short deadlines.
There are several projects underway, and of course, we want to perform our very best on every project.
In particular, this can be challenging to deal with for newcomers, who will find that they have to juggle too many things at the same time.
Over time these deadlines and work stress can severely damage our performance, which can create even more stress. It is just a vicious cycle that is incredibly difficult to break out of if you’re in a bad workspace.
Final Thoughts
HR managers have stressful jobs where they have to advocate for employees while also making sure that the administration’s demands are met.
Even the act of juggling these two opposing sides can be stressful enough, without the added stress of dealing with an immensely heavy workload and short deadlines.
It can be challenging to stay afloat, but it can serve you well to remember the rewards of working in HR.
It can be the most satisfying feeling when your plans go according to plan, and you and the company reap immense rewards.
Pair this up with frequent vacations, meditation, and a firm belief in your abilities, and you’re good to go!
