The State of HR Wellbeing - A candid conversation about what's really going on
- Felicity Baker
- Jul 29
- 2 min read
Behind the policies, processes, and people strategies, many HR professionals are carrying sustained emotional load, moral pressure, and responsibility for others’ wellbeing, while their own mental health challenges remain largely unseen.
After years of navigating uncertainty, emotional labour, and competing pressures, People Professionals are now living with the impact of their work in ways that are rarely named — or fully understood.
This free panel discussion brings together Dr Jo Burrell (Clinical Psychologist & Researcher), Chris Britton (Author & People Experience Director) and a group of experienced HR professionals to speak candidly about what’s actually happening beneath the surface of HR work — not in theory, but in lived experience.
Rather than jumping straight to solutions, this session asks harder questions:
How are mental health challenges showing up for HR professionals right now?
What does that look like day-to-day — in decision-making, relationships, energy, and identity?
And what are we collectively asking HR to absorb, tolerate, or normalise?
Panel members share how these pressures are manifesting for them personally, how they ripple out to colleagues and teams, and what they are observing across the profession as a whole.
This is not a conversation about “resilience” or quick fixes. It’s an invitation to name what’s really going on, to challenge unhelpful narratives, and to develop a clearer, more honest understanding of the wellbeing crisis facing HR.
Finally, the panel will reflect on what has genuinely helped — not as universal answers, but as grounded insights emerging from real experience.
Rooted in the #MakeHRHappyAgain campaign, this session forms part of a wider effort to surface evidence, stories, and patterns that are too often ignored — and to build a truer picture of HR wellbeing today.
🧠 What You’ll Gain
✨ A more honest picture of HR wellbeing. Understand how mental health challenges are actually manifesting for HR professionals — beyond burnout clichés.
🧩 Clarity on causes, not just symptoms. Explore the underlying conditions driving distress across the profession, rather than placing responsibility back on individuals.
🤝 Validation, not platitudes. Recognise experiences that are often minimised or normalised — and see them named and taken seriously.
📊 A chance to contribute to change. Add your voice to a growing body of insight shaping how HR wellbeing is understood and addressed.
Because if we keep treating this as an individual issue, we’ll keep missing the real problem.
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