We are about to close on Q1 2024, and HR professionals everywhere are feeling the burnout after what is likely HR peak season at most companies. Annual ratings, calibrations, and reviews are in full swing. Promotions, Compensation adjustments, and Compensation discussions are just around the corner. One of my biggest stressors when I was a HR leader was that a leader in the room would accidentally see or hear a discussion not mean for their eyes and ears. When COVID drove everyone at my company to work remotely, this was even more of a worry. I checked the video call attendance call every minute just to doubly make sure that we had the right people on the call. Most of these sessions consist of asking probing questions, getting leaders to see their own biases at play, and ensuring that we follow our standards and guidance. Often, reminding them not to allow gender to play a role in their assessments. Yes, even in 2024, gender bias is still a thing.
Next on the stressor list was checking for other hidden biases against tenure, or other things like similarity bias (preferential ratings for people like yourself), visibility bias (preferential ratings for those you have more visibility of their work), and halo/horn effect (seeing an employee as wholly good or bad based on a single performance interaction). Just to name a few. It was always interesting doing actual bias audits on performance and promotions. “Hm… interesting that our top performers and those on the promotion slate are 90% male, while our population is 55% female. Let’s review the individual cases, shall we?” Similar discussions also resulted from compensation audits as well. “So [insert leader name], help me understand why you are rating [insert employee name] as a poor performer, but also giving him added compensation this year. Do you think that might send the wrong message about their performance?”
Which leads me to the third biggest stressor. We would have engaged and inspiring performance conversations about our teams, helping managers come up with ways to discuss performance with their employees to acknowledge top performers, and encourage and support performers who need improvement. Then, inevitably at least one of the managers would panic or avoid confrontation sometimes leaving top performers feeling like they needed to do better and bottom performers thinking they are doing great. Or worse, they would have the right conversation but in the wrong tone and we would land ourselves in the middle of an Employee Relations case.
Well, if you are in the thick of it, I see you and feel you. I have been there. I also know you are probably thinking, as soon as Q1 is done it will settle down. I’ll have time to get back to myself again. I’ll finally have time back to exercise or eat real food again. I won’t be running on pure stress and coffee. If so, I want to say don’t wait. It’s ok to put yourself first. Pour into yourself so you can pour into others. And if you struggle with taking care of yourself first and making your wellness and self-care a priority, I got you. I once did too. I would be honored to help you on your journey. Just visit me at www.yvonneleehawkins.com to find out more about setting up a Wellness audit and stress strategy call. This is an introductory call where I help you identify your wellness goals. If you need support along the way, I got you there too. Don’t be shy. You don’t have to live in total stress. There is a better way.
…and don’t forget, self-care isn’t selfish, it’s essential.
All the best,
Yvonne