Sarah had been the HR Director at a medium-sized manufacturing company for eight years. Known for her calm demeanour and problem-solving abilities, she was the go-to person for everything from disciplinary issues to redundancy programmes. But during a particularly challenging period involving a factory closure and 120 redundancies, by day Sarah managed distraught employees facing unemployment, and by night, she fielded angry calls from union representatives and prepared paperwork for the next day’s meetings. Sarah’s breaking point came when her own physical health began to deteriorate.
“I remember sitting in my car after a particularly difficult day, unable to turn the key in the ignition,” Sarah recalls. Chronic insomnia, migraines, and elevated blood pressure forced her to take sick leave. “The irony wasn’t lost on me,” she says. “I had arranged counselling support for dozens of affected employees, but I never considered that I might need support myself.”
Sarah is not unique.
Research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in 2023 indicated that 81% of HR professionals reported experiencing excessive pressure or stress at work in the past year, compared to 67% of the general workforce. This significantly higher rate reflects the unique emotional demands placed on those in HR roles.
HR professionals carry the responsibility of managing the wellbeing, productivity, and interpersonal dynamics of entire organisations, but many report feeling isolated and unsupported themselves. Knowing how to cope does not guarantee being able to cope.
The Supervision Solution
In coaching and therapy, supervision is not optional – it is considered essential professional practice. It provides a place for practitioners to process complex cases, receive support, explore ethical dilemmas, and ensure client safety. According to research by Hawkins and Shohet and their research studying psychological practitioners, regular supervision is associated with significant reductions in burnout and improved wellbeing outcomes.
Given that HR is also deeply people-focused work, why isn’t similar support an automatic offering?
Due to performance management responsibilities, speaking with one’s manager rarely provides a safe enough space to share openly. Working with someone neutral—who has no vested interest in your performance—creates the psychological safety needed for true reflection. This is not about performance; it is about acknowledging humanity.
Different Needs, Different Approaches
Some questions HR professionals face might be material for coaching, such as:
- Who am I (as an HR person and as a human)?
- What is important to me?
- What do I want from work and from life?
- What is my learning edge? Where will I get my development?
Other questions benefit from supervision, including:
- How do I want to be in relationship to my many stakeholders?
- What stops me being this way?
- What exhausts me? What feeds me?
- How am I looking after myself, recognising that HR often holds itself to higher standards around self-care?
- What are my triggers and boundaries in this work?
- How is the organisational system helping or hindering people within it?
- What are my blind spots about the culture within which we operate?
- What ethical dilemmas am I facing, such as conflicts of interest?
- How do I work with so many unknowns?
- What am I struggling with that needs processing?
- How do my values challenge or collude with organisational values?
Common Objections and Responses
When an organisation hesitates to provide supervision for HR professionals, one or more of four concerns are usually involved:
1. It is too expensive
Consider the cost of burnout and turnover within your HR function. Research from CIPD (2022) shows that replacement costs for specialised professionals can range from 100-150% of annual salary when including recruitment, onboarding, and lost productivity. By comparison, professional supervision typically requires a modest investment that represents a small fraction of these potential replacement costs, making it a significant return on investment.
2. HR should be resilient by training
Even therapists, with years of psychological training, require supervision. Resilience is not about never struggling; it is about having adequate support systems that allow you to process difficulties and continue functioning effectively.
3. We already have an EAP
Employee Assistance Programmes, while valuable, provide general support rather than profession-specific support. HR professionals need specialised supervision from those who understand their unique challenges.
4. There is no time
Making time for supervision ultimately saves time by preventing burnout, improving decision-making, and reducing the emotional labour that HR carries home.
The Organisational Benefits
HR professionals can often suffer Cobbler’s Children Syndrome – so busy providing support for others that they neglect their own needs. HR professionals not having access to the same quality of support they help provide to others is a huge misstep.
Investing in HR supervision delivers multiple organisational returns:
Retention of expertise: HR professionals who feel supported stay longer, preserving valuable institutional knowledge. The CIPD found that organisations with formal wellbeing support for HR teams reported 23% lower turnover in these functions.
Enhanced decision-making: Supervision provides clarity in complex situations, leading to more effective interventions. Research from 2020 demonstrated that supervised professionals show improved critical thinking and reduced decision fatigue.
Healthier modelling: When organisations visibly support their HR teams, they demonstrate authentic commitment to wellbeing. This creates powerful ripple effects throughout organisational culture.
Greater strategic capacity: HR professionals who are not emotionally depleted can focus more on strategic initiatives rather than merely surviving. A 2021 CIPD study indicated that HR teams with adequate support spent 44% more time on strategic work.
Risk reduction: Supervised HR professionals are less likely to make stress-induced errors in sensitive situations. Studies found supervised practitioners in people-focused professions demonstrated better judgement in high-pressure scenarios.
Finding the Right Support
Organisations looking to implement HR coaching supervision should consider individual external supervision and group supervision.
Partner with qualified supervisors who understand both HR and organisational dynamics. Look for professionals with qualifications from recognised training schools accredited by the coaching or therapeutic bodies, experience in organisational settings, and an understanding of HR’s unique challenges.
Also consider small group formats where HR team members can learn from each other’s experiences while sharing the cost. That said, although this is likely to be more cost effective, it has the potential downside of participants within the same organisation being in competition and not being willing to talk about their fears and frustrations.
The path to creating genuinely healthy organisations must include supporting those tasked with supporting everyone else. It is not just compassionate practice; it is smart business.
