How to overcome recruiter burnout

As an employee, everyone can feel burnt out. However, have we ever wondered that the people who hire us could also face burnout? But, how does one overcome recruiter burnout? A recruiter faces excellent challenges every day. Thai ranges from going through hundreds of C.V.s, selecting them, and conducting interviews before finally selecting the ideal candidate. And did we mention recruiters also have to keep the budget in mind? Then there is the question of hikes and promotions, which is usually one of most companies’ most stressful phases annually.

Doing all this has a high chance of making recruiters fatigued. Their workload has only greatly increased after the COVID-19 pandemic, with new terms such as work from home(WFH), hybrid work model, or remote work. This means hiring or even ensuring the day-to-day functions.

A 2020 survey from software and recruiting corporation Jobvite found that over 60 percent of recruiters felt stressed and overworked. Most of these changes came with the COVID-19 pandemic, which massively altered workplace dynamics. In fact, recruiters added that they have been more stressed, especially since last year, when companies began to recall workers back to the office as it is them who have to talk to the employees.

Burnout is a huge issue that even the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies it as a disease. According to WHO, Burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.

So, what is the best way to overcome recruiter burnout?

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How to overcome recruiter burnout?

The best way to overcome recruiter burnout is acceptance. Most recruiters accept that they are tired but think it is a workplace issue and don’t think they are burnout and need a break. Therefore, most of the time, they have not even accepted that they are fatigued. Without this, their efficiency is vastly diminished, and they are unable to diagnose the exact reason behind it. This acceptance can come from within themselves or from someone else, who might be friends, family, or colleagues.

According to WHO, burnout leads to ‘feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion’, ‘increased mental distance from one’s job’, and ‘reduced professional efficacy’.

However, accepting the problem is just the first step. One needs to do much more to overcome recruiter burnout. But before that, we must understand why burnout in hiring teams happens.

Why burnout happens 

Bad hiring policies

Burnout can affect everyone, so recruiters’ being affected by it is nothing new. One of the reasons they are most affected is when a company’s hiring policies are not efficient. The base of any hiring process is simple: it should be quick, efficient, and hire the ideal candidate. However, even when one of these things is not aligned correctly, it can make the hiring process highly stressful.

Lack of resources and manpower 

Perhaps human resources is usually one of the most understaffed departments of any organization or company. Since the company usually wants to spend more resources on other divisions in search of growth and additional revenue, the H.R. department is mainly looked at as a liability rather than an asset.

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High attrition rate 

The attrition rate is perhaps one of the most feared things in the workplace. It is defined as the number of employees who leave a company after a specific period (usually a year). Companies should keep the attrition rate as low as possible. However, if it becomes high, it not only destroys the work environment but also burdens recruiters with more work as they have to constantly conduct the hiring process.

How to overcome recruiter burnout

Promote work-life balance

One of the easiest ways to help stressful employees is to ensure work-life balance. The employer must understand that recruiters are the ones doing the hiring, so their not being at their best affects the quality of candidates being hired. Moreover, it means that employees can also face issues while discussing issues such as hikes or promotions. So, promoting work-life balance for recruiters is, in a way, promoting work-life balance for the entire company.

Setting realistic goals 

Another way to overcome recruiter burnout is to start setting goals that can be reached considering the resources of the company and the burnout situation. One of the best ways is to use the S.M.A.R.T. technique. S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. This technique is used first by addressing an issue and then measuring and quantifying the goals. The next stage is to see whether the goals are achievable or not. A discussion of the relevance of the goal follows this. The last stage is to ensure that all these goals are achieved in a time-bound manner.

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Hire adequate recruiters to manage workload 

As mentioned earlier, recruiters are often understaffed in most companies, which increases their workload. So, ensuring that your hiring team has adequate manpower to handle all recruitment responsibilities is a great step to alleviate burnout in a company.

In addition, having a large number of recruiters also ensures that any negative issues in the workplace can be swiftly addressed, thus providing the work environment remains healthy.

Use A.I. tools like BarRaiser 

One reason recruiter burnout is so high is the less penetration that technology has had in the field of recruitment. Sure, we have seen things such as video interviews, as new realities like work from home have become a part of our work culture post-COVID-19.

However, what if you could take hiring to the next level technologically? This is where companies can use BarRaiser. Our AI-driven intelligence interview platform gives real-time insights to help interviewers conduct a flawless interview. This is possible due to our A.I. Interview Copilot, which allows the interviewer with real-time questions. 

We first provide interviewer training to ensure that recruiters are fully equipped before using our tool to conduct actual hiring. Using our tools will make recruiters conduct recruitments swiftly while not compromising the hiring quality.

We also believe in the motto of checks and balances, which is why our tool analyzes the interviewer to ensure they are conducting the interview professionally. Reports are gendered on both the interviewer and the interviewee to eliminate hiring bias.