Crisis | Does HR overuse the word 'crisis'?

HR, if you read the headlines, might seem like it’s in a crisis.

For starters: there’s the war for talent; the productivity crisis; the wellbeing crisis; the engagement crisis; the burnout crisis; and a so-quickly-shifting re-imagination of what it means to work, thanks to the changing nature of work and digital transformations, that HR can often be struggling to keep up.

Yet, according to one recruitment leader, the word crisis is being used too easily. Ellen Mullarkey, Vice President at Messina Staffing told HR Grapevine that the structural changes that all businesses must contend with – and that occur time and time again – aren’t ‘crises’.

“I think the word is way overused, especially in HR. For example, everyone talks about the need for digital transformation as a “crisis”. But honestly, all you have to do is hire the right employees and build a plan for moving forward into the digital era. It’s not a crisis, just another phase in business like any other,” she said.