Working in Human Resources isn’t just about policies and procedures. It’s about navigating the most challenging, unexpected and emotionally demanding situations an organisation can throw at you, and it’s one of the reasons why HR is a high burnout profession.
From disciplinary hearings involving pigeons to tragedy and trauma, HR professionals face scenarios that would leave most other departments speechless.
The Reality of Working in HR
When I was 27 I was the HR manager of a five-star hotel in Brighton. I thought my HR degree had prepared me for anything.
I was wrong.
A pigeon had got into the hotel, flown up into the roof, and settled itself next to a beautiful glass dome. A team of staff decided the sensible solution was for one of them to go home, fetch an air rifle, and come back to shoot it.
They didn’t shoot the pigeon.
They did cost the hotel four thousand pounds to replace a pane of glass in the roof.
I held a number of disciplinary hearings about that pigeon (words I never thought I’d say!). During one of them a member of staff looked at me and said, “I don’t know how you sleep at night.”
I remember thinking, okay. But I’m still disciplining you.
Traditional HR training doesn’t prepare you for the absurd, the tragic, or the unexpectedly human moments that define HR work.
When HR Becomes a Crime Scene.
After leaving the hotel I joined a major NHS Trust, where my first case involved a staff member who arrived at work with his deceased girlfriend in the boot of his car.
Fair to say my HR degree didn’t prepare me for that one either.
That was a police matter rather than a disciplinary one. It highlighted a critical gap in HR management training: how do we prepare HR professionals for workplace trauma? These situations demand more than policy knowledge. They require exceptional emotional intelligence, crisis management skills, and the ability to remain regulated under extreme pressure.
One of my corporate clients who I delivered resilience training too shared with me how a member of staff had actually murdered another member of staff onsite….fair to say the HR Managers degree hadn’t covered how to deal with that either.
At this point I won’t even go into the number of suicides that take place on site….
Why HR Burnout is Becoming an Epidemic
Later, at 31, I was leading a redundancy and restructuring programme for a public sector organisation.
During one meeting I had to tell an employee she was being made redundant. She broke down. She and her husband had just secured a mortgage on their new home. The raw emotion was completely natural and understandable.
Here’s where it gets telling.
Her manager, who should have been providing support, simply got up and left the room. Abandoning both the employee and me to handle that deeply human moment alone.
If you’re an HR professional reading this and these scenarios resonate, it’s no wonder HR teams experience emotional exhaustion at alarming rates, and why HR burnout is becoming an epidemic. Wellbeing in the workplace has to start with the very people responsible for everyone else’s wellbeing. The HR team.
Why Traditional HR Resilience Training Falls Short
Over my 12-year HR career, despite a university degree in HR and a CIPD qualification, nothing truly prepared me for the psychological and emotional demands of the role. We deal with situations that simply don’t exist in sales and marketing.
That realisation led me to spend the next 12 years working one to one as a coach and therapist, while delivering mental health training for managers to organisations. Through that work I recognised that my old tribe, HR professionals, needed specialised support more than anyone.
Traditional HR resilience training isn’t enough. Emotional intelligence training for leaders and HR stress management need to go deeper, addressing the specific challenges HR professionals face daily.
The nature of HR work directly impacts the nervous system. Disciplinary hearings, workplace trauma, redundancies, crisis situations. The body responds with stress responses that become chronic if they aren’t properly managed. It’s also why stress management training on its own doesn’t stop it.
Traditional emotional intelligence training focuses on understanding emotions and doesn’t address the physiological impact of constant exposure to workplace stress and trauma.
HR Resilience Training: What it Actually Teaches
This insight led to the creation of a signature programme, emotional resilience training for HR teams, designed specifically for HR professionals and teams. It isn’t a typical emotional intelligence workshop or generic stress management training. It’s built around nervous system regulation, teaching HR professionals how to show up from a place of groundedness and stability.
It covers advanced emotional intelligence, going beyond basic EQ to sophisticated emotional regulation. Nervous system regulation techniques, practical tools for maintaining physiological balance during high-stress situations. Trauma-informed HR practices, handling workplace trauma while protecting your own mental health. Leadership presence under pressure, holding authority and compassion at the same time. And sustainable decision-making, making sound judgments even when emotionally activated.
It also addresses the things nobody trains you for. The emotional labour of managing not just your own emotions but helping others process theirs. Boundary setting in high-stakes situations, holding professional boundaries while showing genuine empathy. And decision-making under emotional pressure, because unlike other departments, HR makes critical decisions while managing intense emotion, both their own and everyone else’s.
The business case
Organisations investing in emotional intelligence training within their HR teams see measurable returns.
HR departments experience significantly lower turnover, saving the substantial cost of recruiting and training new HR professionals, including the recruitment fees of replacing a senior team member. HR professionals with advanced emotional intelligence training handle sensitive situations more effectively, leading to better outcomes for all parties and reduced legal risk. Teams operating from a regulated, grounded state create ripple effects throughout the organisation. And organisations with trauma-informed HR teams are far better equipped to handle unexpected crises, from workplace accidents to personal tragedies affecting staff.
The benefits extend well beyond the HR department. Conflicts get resolved more effectively, creating safer and more productive work environments. Employees are more likely to approach HR with concerns when they see HR as emotionally intelligent and genuinely supportive. Interpersonal issues get identified and addressed before they escalate. And organisations going through transition benefit enormously from HR teams trained in emotional regulation.
Where this needs to go
The stories I’ve shared, from pigeon-related disciplinary hearings to workplace tragedies, illustrate why HR professionals need specialised support.
We can’t keep expecting HR teams to handle the most emotionally demanding situations in an organisation without giving them the tools to do it.
Wellbeing in the workplace initiatives have to include comprehensive support for HR teams. That means moving beyond emotional intelligence workshops into deep, practical training in nervous system regulation, trauma-informed practice, and sustainable emotional labour management.
HR professionals deserve to thrive, not just survive.
When HR is operating from a place of nervous system regulation and emotional intelligence, everyone in the organisation benefits.
Conclusion: From Burnout to Brilliance
HR professionals deserve to thrive, not just survive. With HR Resilience Training, HR teams can move from burnout back to brilliance and stay there.
HR Resilience Training represents a new approach to HR leadership development programs, one that recognises the unique demands of HR work and provides practical solutions for sustainable success. Because when HR professionals are operating from a place of nervous system regulation and emotional intelligence, everyone in the organisation benefits.
