Burnout seems to be an epidemic in the global workforce today. Operational recruiters are not exempt from this dilemma. According to Jobvite's Employ Recruiter Nation Report 2023, 53% of recruiters indicate that their jobs are stressful. These levels of stress and anxiety directly contribute to burnout. To solve this problem, companies must identify, understand and address it.

Identifying operational recruiter burnout

To fully understand how burnout affects recruiters for mass positions, a company must recognize the signs of burnout. Burnout can sometimes seem obvious, but at other times it can go unnoticed. Here are some of the symptoms to watch for when looking for warning signs:

Days of sick leave: A clear indicator that a recruiter feels overwhelmed or unmotivated is when they request sick days. An employee who is absent frequently, especially on seemingly random days, may be suffering from burnout.

Inefficiency: Another obvious sign is inefficiency at work. When a recruiter suddenly stops performing well, especially if you have been assigned additional tasks or work pressures that you previously didn't expect, you may feel stressed and overwhelmed.

Invisible signs: Some less notable signs of burnout are shorter attention spans, emotional indifference, and a cloudy mind. Although not easily seen, these signals are often detectable as time progresses.

Causes of Burnout in Operational Recruiting

What causes the stress that ultimately leads to burnout? Although the causes may vary depending on each individual and their specific situation, here are some of the most common challenges retail recruiters face:

Too many vacancies and too few recruiters

In mass hiring, there are a large number of vacancies that need to be filled in a short time. This can leave recruiters feeling overwhelmed and overworked. When recruiters experience this pressure, they're more likely to consider resigning. In addition, with a constantly changing hiring team, those focused on their roles can lose motivation

Turnover rates in the retail industry

High turnover rates in the retail industry increase the workload of recruiters, especially during peak seasons, such as holidays. These seasonal waves require recruiters to increase their efforts quickly, making it nearly impossible to keep up with an already challenging recruitment environment.

Tedious tasks

Retail recruiters are responsible for selecting applications, conducting interviews, and evaluating the most suitable candidates. With such a high volume of applicants, these seemingly simple tasks pile up into a mountain of tedious, low-value tasks.

Therefore, recruiters are often caught up in a monotonous sorting cycle through countless applications and failed attempts to communicate with candidates. This repetitive work can feel unsatisfying and lead them to feel like it's not important, contributing to both overload and boredom, ultimately leading to burnout.

Emotional exhaustion

In addition to the operational responsibilities of a retail recruiter, emotional work is required. Recruiters are the face of your company for candidates. They represent company culture and are used to maintaining a positive and attractive presence to attract talent.

Also, recruiters make difficult decisions that affect applicants' personal lives and their company's wider operations. Constantly keeping a smile on your face and being optimistic can be tedious, especially for those who don't know how to maintain work-life balance or try to communicate with candidates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Limited technology

Many recruiters for mass positions work for companies that aren't equipped with technology and tools for operational recruitment. Recruiters often spend an excessive amount of time and resources compensating for a lack of technology rather than using it to create valuable strategies. The lack of adequate infrastructure makes the hiring process much longer, only compounding the stress and workload of the hiring team.

Lack of support from leaders

Recruiters may feel ignored by company leaders, who may perceive human resources as an expense rather than a strategic investment. Talent attraction teams may feel that their needs are not considered when presenting recommendations to leaders, particularly when these conversations concern resource allocation. Feeling invisible and worthless leads to a lack of motivation and, eventually, to burnout.

Consequences of burnout for employers

Knowing the causes of the burnout of mass-recruiting recruiters is vital for any business leader. However, it's equally important to understand the price of burnout for employers. The consequences of employees being overworked, unmotivated, or distracted include:

1. Lower quality of work: When recruiters are overloaded with tasks, they won't be able to exert the same effort into relationship building or strategic planning as they would with a manageable workload. So, instead of doing their best on the most important elements of their function, they simply do what they must to survive.
2. Financial implications: If a recruiter is struggling to meet their workload, they are likely to hire fewer employees, leading to more time to fill vacancies and reduced revenues for the business. Less involved recruiters can also cause damage to the employer's brand, poor candidate experiences, and a greater loss of talent. The report State of the Global Workplace: 2023 Gallup's research found that employees affected by burnout cost the world $8.8 trillion in productivity.
3. Impact on company culture: A workplace full of dissatisfied, anxious, and overwhelmed employees seriously affects company culture and environment. A 2023 Gallup report found that only 33% of employees were focused on work. If a recruiter feels discouraged or disconnected, they may unintentionally reveal their dissatisfaction in an interview. The applicant may feel these emotions, which could dissuade them from wanting to work for the company. As you can see, these issues affect more than just the HR team and need to be addressed.

Addressing recruiter burnout

The risks that recruiter burnout poses to an organization should motivate leaders to actively address and prevent it. When a company supervisor sees some of these warning signs among their employees, they must act quickly. Here are some ways organizations can stop burnout before there's no turning back:

Set attainable goals

Unattainable and unrealistic goals in the field of mass recruitment can cause feelings of stress, frustration, or lack of motivation. To avoid this, companies and supervisors must set attainable goals for their employees. The primary element of an employee's well-being is knowing what they are expected to do. Each recruiter's job expectations and the measure of success must be clearly expressed. However, Gallup found that only about 50% of employees agree that they know what is required of them at work.

Detailed, attainable objectives that play on recruiters' strengths can help them feel successful and, therefore, more motivated. If recruiters struggle with burnout, managers can organize meetings to reevaluate and rethink objectives. By setting realistic goals, hiring teams can confidently work toward what they want to achieve, rather than just feeling stressed by the pressure that this entails.

Supporting employees

Without professional and personal support from management, recruiters are more likely to feel overworked. According to a study, workers who feel supported by their bosses are 70% less likely to experience burnout.

• Flexible hours: Managers can support their employees in many ways, such as offering flexible hours. Flexibility and freedom in the workplace can alleviate some of the pressures retail recruiters face. While this isn't always possible, when it is, it helps reduce employee stress and allows them to have more relaxed days.

• Work-life balance: Another way to support employees is to promote work-life balance. The hiring teams at many companies don't maintain a balance between work and family life because there's always something that needs to be done. However, one way to help add healthy boundaries is to set precedents in leadership and organizational policies. This could be seen as establishing the rule that employees actually disconnect during the PTO. Or try to minimize messages sent outside of work hours so that team members can focus on their personal lives after work hours. Balance can also occur during the working day itself. Leaders may choose to incorporate some of the teams' personal interests into the work. Create sporting events (we held one for the World Cup and March Madness at Emi) or encourage team members to post family photos in their office. This starts with leadership: everyone must support to help teams maintain a healthy balance for the good of the individual and the organization.

• Listen and learn: Managers can also support their employees by listening to and accepting feedback. When an employee raises a problem or concern, supervisors must be vigilant and work to resolve the issue. These responses will help alleviate the emotional causes of burnout.

Integrate the right technology

Social and personal support, while helpful, does not in and of itself provide a remedy for burnout. If recruiters for mass positions still have a very heavy workload, stress will overcome even the best relationships with managers. Plus, the answer can't always be just hiring more recruiters, especially when the economy is constantly changing.

The best solution is one that can adapt regardless of the size of the recruiting team and that can solve the tasks that often contribute to burnout.

Automation platforms such as Emi directly address the root causes of recruiter burnout. Emi, the platform created for mass hiring, eliminates manual and repetitive recruitment tasks, such as pre-filtering requests, the coordination of interviews, and communications with candidates. By automating these operational elements, recruiters can have more time and allocate it to the tasks they enjoy most.

For example, Team Honey Badger (THB), the Domino's Pizza franchisee, saw this impact on their organization. The team saved 2,750 hours of recruitment with a 100% automated interview schedule. Now, THB can focus on building relationships and improving the employer brand.

The importance of preventing burnout

Organizations that prioritize the well-being and support of hiring teams invest not only in people, but also in the long-term success of the company. Recruiters, especially those in the retail sector, are essential to maintaining activity and generating revenue at all plants. Talent attraction professionals ensure the future of a company in their hiring and incorporation processes.

By implementing new strategies, companies can effectively alleviate recruiter burnout by creating a healthier and more stable work environment. Burnout doesn't have to remain a constant and frequent employee illness in retail companies when the right solutions are in place.

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