'Hamster wheel' | HR partner breaks down over burnout and too much work

The HR function plays a big role in the workplace. From ensuring legal responsibilities are met to being compliant and looking after employee wellbeing and engagement, recruitment and learning and development to payroll and more, there are many things that fall under the people function’s remit.

While juggling multiple responsibilities is a large part of most roles, the challenge can be heightened within small teams where workloads are unevenly distributed.

This is an issue that one HR partner recently highlighted in a post on Reddit. In the post titled ‘Help! Burning out’, user turdunkindonuts – who said that they were relatively new to the HR field – explained that they worked in a lean department and have too much work assigned to them.

“If I pulled 60+ hour weeks I could never handle my to do list. I feel like I'm running on a hamster wheel and can feel myself burning out. I feel like I spend more time putting out fires then being able to take my time and do things the best I can (sic),” they explained.