WELLBEING MICHAEL HEMPSEED
Exhausted from the pandemic? It’s fair to say we are all aware of people who are struggling with exhaustion right now. Michael Hempseed shares some crucial steps to help those within our organisations facing burnout.
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et’s face it, 2020 was a rough year for many. Recently, a lot of people have told me they are feeling tired, exhausted or burnt out. I am hearing that more and more people are ‘crashing’. Even if many of us in New Zealand weren’t directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the effects on the world and New Zealand have been emotionally draining.
Too often everyone thinks someone else will do something, and no one does. Emotionally draining
Many would expect that the worst psychological impact of the pandemic would be at the beginning, then people would get better over time. This is not what international research suggests. The Canterbury Charity Hospital found that, if people needed counselling immediately after 44
HUMAN RESOURCES
WINTER 2021
the earthquakes, on average, they needed two to three sessions, which is almost nothing. But if they needed counselling five years later, they required 22 to 23 sessions. This has been found with earthquakes, terrorist attacks, tsunamis and many other widespread disasters. All things considered, most people cope remarkably well with the immediate effects of a disaster, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When a disaster strikes, many people have a lot of resilience, and they are ready to fight and battle the incoming disaster. However, over time, their resilience is worn away little by little. This is why people who sought help from the charity hospital needed so many more sessions five years later. Also, often when a disaster strikes, we are good at checking in on people in the days and weeks afterwards; it is thought this is very protective. Many people will say New Zealand is far better off than other countries, so ‘we should be okay’. It is exhausting and emotionally draining watching COVID-19 ravage other parts of the world. The threat of more lockdowns or restrictions has many people on edge, not seeing close family who are overseas has been a source of great pain for many, especially if they are not able to attend significant
events such as births, weddings and funerals.
HR at the frontline
HR professionals have had a considerably challenging time in the past year. They may have been forced to make good staff redundant. Many people have changed jobs, which requires considerable extra work, and industries affected by supply chain issues have had numerous headaches. Also, many HR professionals are discovering they are coming across increasingly complex levels of mental illness in the workplace. A significant difference exists between feeling tired and being burnt out. Someone who is tired can usually recover with a good night’s sleep. Whereas someone who is burnt out often sleeps and sleeps and never feels rejuvenated. For other people, experiencing burn out can be feeling mind-numbingly tired but they just can’t sleep.
How can this be addressed?
One of the most straightforward steps is to make sure that managers and senior leaders are aware of the long-term impact of disasters. Simply bringing more awareness of this means that senior leaders can look out for it and respond more
