In this episode of Sticky From The Inside, I speak with Dr. Jo Burrell, Chartered Psychologist, Co-Founder of Ultimate Resilience, and named on HR Magazine’s “HR Most Influential Thinker” list. Jo has just completed a survey of nearly 1,500 HR practitioners — and the findings are a wake-up call for organisations everywhere.

The results? High levels of stress, exhaustion, and burnout across HR teams. These are the very people responsible for safeguarding the physical and mental health of the workforce — yet many are running on empty themselves.

We explore why HR’s wellbeing is a business-critical issue, the case for HR Supervision, the stigma around showing emotion at work, and how leaders can build psychologically safe workplaces for all.

----more----

• HR is in crisis. Jo’s survey of nearly 1,500 HR practitioners reveals widespread stress, burnout, and exhaustion.
• When HR suffers, so does everyone else. The wellbeing of HR teams underpins the success of all workplace wellbeing strategies.
• Supervision is a lifeline. HR Supervision offers a safe space to protect and strengthen those responsible for supporting others.
• Emotion isn’t weakness. Tackling the stigma around showing emotion is key to building psychologically safe workplaces.

----more----

The key moments in this episode are:

0:01:10 – HR Crisis Behind Workplace Wellbeing 0:03:44 – Meet Dr. Jo Burrell and today’s focus on HR wellbeing 0:04:15 – Jo’s background and the work of Ultimate Resilience 0:08:25 – The Rachel Reeves moment: why visible emotion hit a nerve 0:11:55 – Why emotion gets judged at work (and what that does to trust) 0:20:16 – Survey spotlight: HR practitioners on stress and wellbeing 0:21:17 – Burnout and anxiety rates vs the general population 0:30:33 – What is HR Supervision? Scope, purpose, and value 0:33:32 – How supervision strengthens HR decision‑making and wellbeing 0:49:25 – Jo's 3 Sticky Notes of advice

----more----

Get the full transcript of the episode here