Skip to main content
  • Foundation
  • Executive network
  • CEO Circle
  • Enterprise Solutions
  • Linkage Logo
  • Store
  • Sign In
  • Account
    • My Account
    • Logout
    • Global
    • India
    • MENA
SHRM
About
Book a Speaker
Join Today
Renew
Rejoin Now
Renew
  • Membership
  • Certification
    Certification

    Smiling asian student studying in library with laptop books doing online research for coursework, making notes for essay homework assignment, online education e-learning concept
    Get Certified!

    Be recognized as an HR leader with your SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP credential.

    • How to Get Certified

      Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations. No other HR certification compares.

      • How to Get Certified
      • Eligibility Criteria
      • Exam Details and Fees
      • SHRM-CP
      • SHRM-SCP
      • Which Certification is Best for Me
      • Certification FAQs
    • Prepare for the Exam

      Give yourself the best chance to pass your SHRM certification exam.

      • Exam Preparation
      • SHRM BASK
      • SHRM Learning System
      • Instructor-Led Learning
      • Self-Study
      • Study Aids & Add-ons
    • Recertification

      Recertify your SHRM Credentials before your end date!

      • Specialty Credentials
      • Qualifications
  • Topics & Tools
    Topics & Tools

    Stay up to date with workplace news and leverage our vast library of resources to streamline day-to-day HR tasks.

    The white house in washington, dc.
    Executive Order Impact Zone

    Do not abandon, but evaluate and evolve. It is about legal, equal opportunity for all.

    • News & Trends

      Follow breaking news and emerging workplace trends.

      Legal & Compliance

      Stay informed on workplace legal updates and their impacts.

      From the Workplace

      Explore diverse perspectives from your peers on today's workplaces.

      Flagships

      Get curated collections of podcasts, videos, articles, and more produced by SHRM.

    • HR Topics
      • AI in the Workplace
      • Civility at Work
      • Compensation & Benefits
      • Inclusion & Diversity
      • Talent Acquisition
      • Workplace Technology
      • Workplace Violence Prevention
      SEE ALL
      SHRM Research
    • Tools & Samples

      Access member resources and tools to streamline HR tasks.

      • Forms & Checklists
      • How-To Guides
      • Interactive Tools
      • Job Descriptions
      • Policies
      • Toolkits
      SEE ALL
      Ask an Advisor
  • Events & Education
    Events & Education

    SHRM25 in San Diego, June 29 - July 2, 2025
    Join us for SHRM25 in San Diego

    Register for the World’s Largest HR Conference being held on June 29 - July 2, 2025

    • Events
      • SHRM25
      • The AI+HI Project 2025
      • INCLUSION 2025
      • Talent 2026
      • Linkage Institute 2025
      SEE ALL
      Webinars
    • Educational Programs

      Designed and delivered by HR experts to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need to drive lasting change in the workplace.

      Specialty Credentials

      Demonstrate targeted competence and enhance credibility among peers and employers.

      Qualifications

      Gain a deeper understanding and develop critical skills.

    • Team Training & Development

      Customized training programs unique to your organization’s needs.

  • Business Solutions
  • Advocacy
    Advocacy

    Make your voice heard on public policy issues impacting the workplace.

    Advocacy
    SHRM's President & CEO testifies to Congress on "The State of American Education"
    • Policy Areas
      • Workforce Development
      • Workplace Inclusion
      • Workplace Flexibility & Leave
      • Workplace Governance
      • Workplace Health Care
      • Workplace Immigration
      State Affairs

      SHRM advances policy solutions in state legislatures nationwide.

      Global Policy

      SHRM is the go-to for global HR leaders and businesses on workplace matters.

    • Advocacy Team (A-Team)

      SHRM’s A-Team is a key member benefit, giving you the tools, insights, and opportunities to shape workplace policy and drive real impact.

      Take Action

      Urge lawmakers to support policies that create lasting, positive change.

      Advocacy & Legislative Resources

      Access SHRM’s curated policy materials and content.

    • SHRM-Led Coalitions
      • Generation Cares
      • The Section 127 Coalition
      • Learn More & Partner with SHRM Government Affairs
  • Community
    Community

    Woman raising hand in group
    Find a SHRM Chapter

    Easily find a local professional or student chapter in your area.

    • Chapters

      Find local connections from over 607 chapters and state councils and create your personalized HR network.

      SHRM Connect

      Post polls, get crowdsourced answers to your questions and network with other HR professionals online.

      SHRM Northern California

      Join SHRM members in the greater San Francisco Bay area for local events and networking.

    • Membership Councils

      Learn about SHRM's five regional councils and the Membership Advisory Council (MAC).

      • Membership Advisory Council
      • Regional Councils
    • Volunteers

      Learn about volunteer opportunities with SHRM.

      • Volunteer Leader Resource Center
Close
  • Membership
  • Certification
    back
    Certification
    Smiling asian student studying in library with laptop books doing online research for coursework, making notes for essay homework assignment, online education e-learning concept
    Get Certified!

    Be recognized as an HR leader with your SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP credential.

    • How to Get Certified

      Demonstrate your ability to apply HR principles to real-life situations. No other HR certification compares.

      • How to Get Certified
      • Eligibility Criteria
      • Exam Details and Fees
      • SHRM-CP
      • SHRM-SCP
      • Which Certification is Best for Me
      • Certification FAQs
    • Prepare for the Exam

      Give yourself the best chance to pass your SHRM certification exam.

      • Exam Preparation
      • SHRM BASK
      • SHRM Learning System
      • Instructor-Led Learning
      • Self-Study
      • Study Aids & Add-ons
    • Recertification

      Recertify your SHRM Credentials before your end date!

      • Specialty Credentials
      • Qualifications
  • Topics & Tools
    back
    Topics & Tools

    Stay up to date with workplace news and leverage our vast library of resources to streamline day-to-day HR tasks.

    The white house in washington, dc.
    Executive Order Impact Zone

    Do not abandon, but evaluate and evolve. It is about legal, equal opportunity for all.

    • News & Trends

      Follow breaking news and emerging workplace trends.

      Legal & Compliance

      Stay informed on workplace legal updates and their impacts.

      From the Workplace

      Explore diverse perspectives from your peers on today's workplaces.

      Flagships

      Get curated collections of podcasts, videos, articles, and more produced by SHRM.

    • HR Topics
      • AI in the Workplace
      • Civility at Work
      • Compensation & Benefits
      • Inclusion & Diversity
      • Talent Acquisition
      • Workplace Technology
      • Workplace Violence Prevention
      SEE ALL
      SHRM Research
    • Tools & Samples

      Access member resources and tools to streamline HR tasks.

      • Forms & Checklists
      • How-To Guides
      • Interactive Tools
      • Job Descriptions
      • Policies
      • Toolkits
      SEE ALL
      Ask an Advisor
  • Events & Education
    back
    Events & Education
    SHRM25 in San Diego, June 29 - July 2, 2025
    Join us for SHRM25 in San Diego

    Register for the World’s Largest HR Conference being held on June 29 - July 2, 2025

    • Events
      • SHRM25
      • The AI+HI Project 2025
      • INCLUSION 2025
      • Talent 2026
      • Linkage Institute 2025
      SEE ALL
      Webinars
    • Educational Programs

      Designed and delivered by HR experts to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need to drive lasting change in the workplace.

      Specialty Credentials

      Demonstrate targeted competence and enhance credibility among peers and employers.

      Qualifications

      Gain a deeper understanding and develop critical skills.

    • Team Training & Development

      Customized training programs unique to your organization’s needs.

  • Business Solutions
  • Advocacy
    back
    Advocacy

    Make your voice heard on public policy issues impacting the workplace.

    Advocacy
    SHRM's President & CEO testifies to Congress on "The State of American Education"
    • Policy Areas
      • Workforce Development
      • Workplace Inclusion
      • Workplace Flexibility & Leave
      • Workplace Governance
      • Workplace Health Care
      • Workplace Immigration
      State Affairs

      SHRM advances policy solutions in state legislatures nationwide.

      Global Policy

      SHRM is the go-to for global HR leaders and businesses on workplace matters.

    • Advocacy Team (A-Team)

      SHRM’s A-Team is a key member benefit, giving you the tools, insights, and opportunities to shape workplace policy and drive real impact.

      Take Action

      Urge lawmakers to support policies that create lasting, positive change.

      Advocacy & Legislative Resources

      Access SHRM’s curated policy materials and content.

    • SHRM-Led Coalitions
      • Generation Cares
      • The Section 127 Coalition
      • Learn More & Partner with SHRM Government Affairs
  • Community
    back
    Community
    Woman raising hand in group
    Find a SHRM Chapter

    Easily find a local professional or student chapter in your area.

    • Chapters

      Find local connections from over 607 chapters and state councils and create your personalized HR network.

      SHRM Connect

      Post polls, get crowdsourced answers to your questions and network with other HR professionals online.

      SHRM Northern California

      Join SHRM members in the greater San Francisco Bay area for local events and networking.

    • Membership Councils

      Learn about SHRM's five regional councils and the Membership Advisory Council (MAC).

      • Membership Advisory Council
      • Regional Councils
    • Volunteers

      Learn about volunteer opportunities with SHRM.

      • Volunteer Leader Resource Center
Join Today
Renew
Rejoin Now
Renew
  • Store
    • Global
    • India
    • MENA
  • About
  • Book a Speaker
  • Foundation
  • Executive network
  • CEO Circle
  • Enterprise Solutions
  • Linkage Logo
SHRM
Sign In
  • Account
    • My Account
    • Logout
Close

  1. Topics & Tools
  2. Workplace News & Trends
  3. Putting Humanity into HR Compliance
  4. The Cure for HR Burnout
Share
  • Linked In
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus convallis sem tellus, vitae egestas felis vestibule ut.


Error message details.

Copy button
Reuse Permissions

Request permission to republish or redistribute SHRM content and materials.


Learn More
Viewpoint

The Cure for HR Burnout

September 19, 2023

A man in a business suit is holding his head up in front of a group of people.

​Former employment attorney and author Jathan Janove writes for SHRM Online on how to inject greater humanity into HR compliance. Jathan welcomes your questions and suggestions for future columns. Contact him at the email address at the end of this column.    

A recent SHRM Online article cited research showing that nearly two-thirds of current HR professionals are interested in switching to a non-HR job. At first blush, this seems surprising. In my experience, the overwhelming majority of HR professionals choose to be in the field for the entirety of their working years. What's going on? 

The answer is jaded reality. Here's a hypothetical example. "Jane" graduates from college with a degree in HR. She aspires to a career in the field and loves the idea of helping people and organizations succeed. She gets a job in HR, and what does she experience? 

  • Forms and procedures are more important than people.
  • Compliance, claim prevention and claim defense rate higher than culture.
  • She's seen by employees as the "Angel of Death" to be avoided at all costs.
  • She's often disrespected by senior leaders: "HR is just another annoying cost of doing business."
  • She knows that doing the right thing may mean losing her job or suffering other forms of retaliation. 

No surprise, then, that after several years, Jane starts thinking the grass may be greener in an entirely different field.

"I have empathy for those who have become frustrated with HR as a profession," said retired CHRO Bruce Cutright. "Throughout my career, there were times when I questioned my own value to an organization. I allowed my thinking to be influenced by executive team members who did not value HR." 

The Cure 

Although there's no easy solution to this problem, there are steps an HR professional can take to reduce the risk of burnout and persevere with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. Here are my three suggestions: 

1. Develop a listening/learning paradigm. 

Perhaps the most important thing you can do to garner respect and increase your influence is to be endlessly curious about your organization and its mission, vision, industry, challenges and people, including both their work and personal lives. 

Too often, HR professionals fall into a compliance rut and lose their curiosity about the workplace around them. I remember years ago asking an HR director at a manufacturing facility to describe the manufacturing process for me. She gave me a quizzical look and said, "I have no idea. I'm in HR." She'd been there for 12 years! 

This lack of knowledge can really backfire. "I once made the mistake of not doing my homework before giving a tour to a CEO candidate for the hospital where I worked," Cutright said. "During the tour, he asked me about the MRI machine's capabilities, how many ER beds we had, and various other hospital operations questions. At the end of the tour, I escorted him to the room where he was to be interviewed by the hospital board.  He quickly commented to the board that he had a lot of questions because 'the HR guy couldn't answer the questions.' He followed this comment with, 'But what do you expect from an HR guy?' Boy, did I blow it!" 

Cutright learned from this embarrassing experience. So can you. Get curious. Learn everything you can. Readers of my column know that I champion the E-A-R method of listening. Actively listen and relentlessly learn. Then observe how your approach changes others' perception of the HR department from a regrettable cost of doing business to a group of esteemed and highly valued colleagues. 

 "This is such an important strategy," said senior HR executive Colleen McManus. "How can I best serve the business when I don't KNOW the business? Learning what others do, their priorities, challenges and even the business language they use will make HR professionals better prepared partners and provide them with vital knowledge to bring strategic solutions to the table." 

2. Don’t be an expert. Instead, learn executive coaching. 

Many HR professionals see themselves as compliance experts. I remind them of the great architect Frank Lloyd Wright's observation: "An expert is someone who has stopped thinking. Why should he think? He already knows." In my experience, people who identify themselves as experts make horrible coaches. 

Retired CHRO Max Neves started his career in operations and saw HR through his boss's eyes. "When I started a job as an operations manager, my boss, the vice president of manufacturing, gave me a tour of the plant and facilities," he said. "As we walked past the door leading to the HR department, instead of inviting me in and introducing me, he said, 'Don't go in that door unless you want to feel small and stupid.' 

"I was stunned. The VP was someone I really respected. He was always positive and rarely spoke negatively of anyone." 

After assuming HR leadership positions, Neves made it clear to his staff that such an experience would never happen under his watch. HR would be a place of support, not a place to be avoided. It would truly be "human" and a "resource." 

What's the central difference between being an "expert" and an executive coach? In executive coaching, it's not about you, the coach. It's about the person you're coaching. The goal is to enable the "coachee" to take true ownership of the desired change, issue or challenge. The "aha moment" isn't for the coach. It's for the coach to create the conditions by which the coachee has the "aha moment."

 "I have known too many HR professionals who take pride in telling others what they can't do, rather than coaching them to find solutions," Cutright said. "I would argue that designing and executing human capital strategies is the most important contribution HR can make. This includes championing employee engagement and customer engagement. Without the first, you can't have the second. As a human capital strategist and coach, HR can connect the dots between products, services and people."

Whether or not you become certified in a coaching methodology, I highly encourage you to invest time and energy in becoming familiar with fundamental coaching precepts and approaches.

"By thinking about developing and coaching people," McManus said, "we put ourselves and our organization's leaders in the mindset of building people up for success, rather than just avoiding the legal pitfalls." 

3. Don’t sacrifice integrity. 

It seems whenever I read about the latest big sexual harassment or #MeToo scandal, HR gets blamed. It's accused of enabling or covering up leadership's bad behavior. Unfortunately, there's some truth to this accusation, though I'm not sure critics fully understand the dilemma HR professionals face when powerful leaders have done or want to do the wrong thing. At a minimum, standing up to such leaders is going to be highly stressful and fraught with job danger. 

When HR professionals confide in me that they're facing such challenges, I recommend they read the seminal book Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1992, second edition) and then develop a BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement). Have a backup plan: something to protect you or minimize the price you may have to pay for insisting on the right thing. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you seriously invest in the first two steps described above, there will be times when, without cost to you, you'll be able to persuade organization leaders to do the right thing when they might otherwise have done the wrong thing. I can attest to this from repeated personal experience. 

Finally, I can attest that whatever happens, when you hold integrity close, you'll land on your feet.

"Remember, your reputation and integrity are things that you'll always have regardless of where or with whom you work," McManus said. "Be sure that when you look in the mirror at the end of the day, the HR professional who looks back is proud of the guidance and the leadership you provided!" 

Jathan Janove, J.D., is a former state bar "Employment Law Attorney of the Year" and author of Hard-Won Wisdom: True Stories from the Management Trenches (HarperCollins/Amacom, 2017). Jathan is Master Coach & Practice Leader with Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching®, and faculty member, University of California San Diego HR Masters Series. If you have questions or suggestions for topics for future columns, write to JathanJanove@comcast.net.

Employee Relations
HR Careers
Job Satisfaction
Organizational & Employee Development

Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace

​An organization run by AI is not a futuristic concept. Such technology is already a part of many workplaces and will continue to shape the labor market and HR. Here's how employers and employees can successfully manage generative AI and other AI-powered systems.



Related Content

Kelly Dobbs Bunting speaks onstage at SHRM24
(opens in a new tab)
News
Why AI+HI Is Essential to Compliance

HR must always include human intelligence and oversight of AI in decision-making in hiring and firing, a legal expert said at SHRM24. She added that HR can ensure compliance by meeting the strictest AI standards, which will be in Colorado’s upcoming AI law.

(opens in a new tab)
News
A 4-Day Workweek? AI-Fueled Efficiencies Could Make It Happen

The proliferation of artificial intelligence in the workplace, and the ensuing expected increase in productivity and efficiency, could help usher in the four-day workweek, some experts predict.

(opens in a new tab)
News
How One Company Uses Digital Tools to Boost Employee Well-Being

Learn how Marsh McLennan successfully boosts staff well-being with digital tools, improving productivity and work satisfaction for more than 20,000 employees.

HR Daily Newsletter

Stay up to date with the latest HR news, trends, and expert advice each business day.

Success title

Success caption

Manage Subscriptions
  • About SHRM
  • Careers at SHRM
  • Press Room
  • Contact SHRM
  • Book a SHRM Executive Speaker
  • Advertise with Us
  • Partner with Us
  • Copyright & Permissions
  • Post a Job
  • Find an HR Job
Follow Us
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • SHRM Newsletters
  • Ask An Advisor

© 2025 SHRM. All Rights Reserved

SHRM provides content as a service to its readers and members. It does not offer legal advice, and cannot guarantee the accuracy or suitability of its content for a particular purpose. Disclaimer


  1. Privacy Policy

  2. Terms of Use

  3. Accessibility

Join SHRM for Exclusive Access to Member Content

SHRM Members enjoy unlimited access to articles and exclusive member resources.

Already a member?
Free Article
Limit Reached

Get unlimited access to articles and member-exclusive resources.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join to access unlimited articles and member-only resources.

Already a member?
Free Article
Exclusive Executive-Level Content

This content is for the SHRM Executive Network and Executive Content Subscription members only.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join the Executive Network and enjoy unlimited content.

Already a member?
Free Article
Exclusive Executive-Level Content

This content is for the SHRM Executive Network and Executive Content Subscription members only.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join and enjoy unlimited access to SHRM Executive Network Content.

Already a member?
Unlock Your Career with SHRM Membership

Please enjoy this free resource! Join SHRM for unlimited access to exclusive articles and tools.

Already a member?

Your membership is almost expired! Renew today for unlimited access to member content.

Renew now

Your membership has expired. Renew today for unlimited access to member content.

Renew Now

Your Executive Network membership is nearing its expiration. Renew now to maintain access.

Renew Now

Your membership has expired. Renew your Executive Network benefits today.

Renew Now