Since 2013, I have run my own independent HR consultancy, working in partnership with clients across a variety of industries, from health care to manufacturing. Prior to that, I worked in-house at various organizations, where I experienced the many ways in which the C-suite listens to, cooperates with, and directs HR departments.

In-House HR Professionals Signaling a Departure

Knowing firsthand how valuable this leader-manager relationship is when it comes to developing a healthy, dynamic workplace culture, I have been troubled by the recent trend of in-house HR leaders signaling their intention to exit their roles within the year. According to a new Blu Ivy Group poll, 57% of CHROs and 75% of people leaders are considering leaving, with 58% indicating burnout as the primary reason, followed by poor support from organizational leadership. This exodus may already be well underway, given that almost half of HR professionals have been in their positions for less than two years, slightly under the 3.5-year average tenure for HR managers.

We can easily blame some of this burnout on the rapid-fire changes produced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations are still reeling from the impacts on business conduct, engagement, and workflow stemming from the lockdown, and a large share of these massive shifts were executed by HR departments. It’s no wonder that HR professionals have found it difficult to weather a multiyear international health crisis unscathed, not to mention people leaders, who often deal more closely with disrupted employee experiences of engagement and culture.

HR Alienated from Core Organizational Strategies

However, there is also a related but far more systemic and damaging cause. The same Blu Ivy poll reports that 43% of HR professionals “spend less than 10% of their time on long-term strategic planning.” In other words, business leaders are using HR departments to put out fires rather than involving them in overarching organizational missions. Using HR as a reactive force rather than a truly integrated component of the organization can alienate HR professionals, making them feel uninvolved in the core goals of the business.

In my experience, this disconnect between the C-suite and HR is rarely intentional. Leaders are not purposefully excluding HR from the central work of the organization. COVID-19 mandated that organizations redeploy the department as a flexible, improvisatory team, responding quickly to the unpredictable changes the economy and workforce were experiencing. Over time, the movement toward this status—poised to react rather than develop, focused on the short term rather than long term—began to redefine HR’s role without any explicit decision. Quite simply, the momentum begun by temporary necessity is hard to counteract.

For many HR professionals, having a part to play in the overall shaping of organizational culture is essential to their work satisfaction. They did not sign up to merely respond to unexpected emergencies, like a volunteer fire department. What’s more, the failure to involve HR in core goals deprives the whole organization of the potential value the department has to offer.

Keeping HR Involved As a Strategic Partner

The best indicator of inclusion is open communication. Deliberately and regularly looping HR into far-reaching strategic planning will go a long way toward combating the reported burnout and alienation. Even if the department seems preoccupied with a short-term emergency, leaders should always maintain communication regarding broader organizational matters. This consistent commitment to communicate will facilitate the integration of HR into the overall organizational mission once relative calm returns.

Do not assume that members of a department lack interest in overarching organizational goals simply because they are busy with a temporary issue. Alternately, HR leaders should remind the C-suite more consistently of their need to be invested in long-term strategizing, that they can come up with solutions for immediate problems more effectively if they have that investment in larger goals. This iterative emphasis, in turn, can reassure their own reports—and people leaders more generally—that the purpose of human resources is far more comprehensive and aligned with the organizational mission than it might seem during temporary setbacks. By fostering these connections, HR leaders can buck the trend of attrition. Awareness of a “macro-purpose” often energizes, orients, and adds meaning to the “micro-issues” that might otherwise seem endless and fruitless. That sense of purpose boosts morale, which, in turn, increases retention.

Photo Credit: Robert Daly