Unconnected dots. H.R., Burnout & Gender

If you attended the recent #UNLEASHworld event in Paris last week you could be forgiven for thinking there is gender balance in H.R. I don't have the event stats and didn't have time to parse the attendance list on the app, but from a visual sweep of the main stage area, it looked pretty equal to me, even with my less than 20/20 vision.

If anything, I would say it was 60% men to 40% women in the expo hall, but it is an H.R. Tech conference.

Pink function

Yet the H.R. industry is a pink function or silo, which in more academic language is part of something called "occupational segregation." It is very heavily female dominated especially at entry to middle management level. In the U.K. approximately 80% of those taking postgraduate HRM qualifications are female.

The source of this infographic is Zippia, although the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, reports that in 2021 women held over 80% of HR management positions. We are also seeing a continued trend to an increased number of CHROs, which is a good thing.

Unconnected dots and burnout

The conference mantra was "there has never been a better time to be in H.R." yet at the same time we were also talking about unprecedented levels of burnout and churn within the function

A study surveying 520 HR professionals in the U.S and U.K ?conducted by?Workvivo , an employee experience app that increases employee engagement, highlights the challenges of H.R. professionals today. They ask who is looking after H.R?

98% have experienced burnout and only 50% feel supported by their organisations.

David Green who MC-ed the Unleash event, asked the audience for a an old-school show of hands to establish how many participants felt connected to their organisations. There were alarmingly few.

All of these results are disturbing and should be red flags. Based on what we know about the gender distribution in the function, these burnout numbers will be heavily skewed towards women.

Retention risk

The same study also suggests that 79% are considering leaving their jobs which is supported by another study from Qualtrics earlier this year. Their research indicates that organisations are most at risk of losing female leaders as part of the global "Great Resignation" movement. In Europe this tends to be more of a "resignation thought" than an action, and people are not leaving in the same numbers as their U.S./U.K. colleagues. However, my observation is that here, people are much more open to being approached than they were pre-pandemic, so for organisations this is a retention risk.

The Great Breakup

But don't take my word for it. McKinsey are calling it the "Great breakup" and if they say it, thus it is so.

H.R. and Gender

Lars Schmit facilitated a Round Table at Unleash on "Future Proofing your People Team in the New World of Work." He expressed surprise that the demographic most at risk is the 35-45 age group.

The middle manager of any gender, in any function is the cheese in the post-pandemic workplace sandwich. They are the ones?spinning plates ?caught between a rock and hard place.

Since the pandemic started, H.R. has been critical to supporting companies in their shift to remote work and heavily involved in protecting the health and safety of employees. They have been dealing with both employees and leaders, very often feeling the pressure from the top, and the brunt of push-back from below. Now we are moving into pre-recession mode, the pressure is intensifying. Only 29% of HR professionals feel valued by their organisations.

Women and the pandemic

The impact of the pandemic on women is well documented. If we layer on that data and then connect the dots between the gender composition of HR, the burnout numbers should not come as a shock.

For female managers in this age demographic, domestic and child care responsibilities were not shared equally during COVID. A hot off the press paper from last week's conference on hybrid working from Stanford says;

"We also find that mothers combined paid work and child supervision to a greater extent than did fathers."

Women also tend to be the primary person involved in elder care. In Europe 59% of carers are women with an average age of 47. The average age of an H.R. Manager is 46. Single parent households had a particularly tough time. Once again these are predominantly women.

Infographic: McKinsey

Toss the increase in online harassment and domestic violence, not forgetting a 13% gender pay gap in H.R in some geographies into the mix the scene is set for burnout and resignations.

Who is looking after H.R?

But despite what we know, H.R. is still being asked to continue to provide support, not just for their own teams, but for whole organisations and to take care of themselves while they are at it.

What we should be doing is finding ways to support the supporter. To do this it's important to have an open conversation and connect those important dots between gender and burnout within the function. Currently we seem to be shoving those dots under the carpet.

To circle back to the original question from Workvivo - who is looking after HR?

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My goal is to increase the number of gender balanced, diverse and inclusive workplaces where everyone feels secure and reaches their potential.

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