How to Avoid HR Burnout?
One of the main purposes of any HR professional is to safeguard the well-being of their members of staff whilst ensuring the company’s interests are served in terms of human resources. It is often a balancing act that requires a great deal of empathy, interpersonal skill but also wisdom and tenacity. One of the major challenges for any HR professional is pushing for a people agenda when the return on investment is not obvious and often not easily quantifiable. In addition, the job entails dealing with people day in and day out. People are complex and people’s problems can result in even more complex situations that may arise from time to time. Over time, the cumulative effect of the job can lead to stress and in some cases burnout. The keynote speech will look at the job of the HR professional and scenarios that can lead to stress and burnout, looking also at how this can be prevented and asking the all-important question ‘Who looks after the HR professional?’
BIO
Mikela Fenech Pace: For the first 15 years of her career she was a serving diplomat with the Government of Malta. Serving overseas and gaining exposure to the highest echelons gave her a unique insight into the public sector and what motivates and drives people to serve.
The highlight of her diplomatic career was in 2011 when she was on the leading team of Malta’s response to the Libya Crisis. This led to her appointment as the Head of Strategy and Policy within the Office of the Prime Minister which put her at the centre of all government policy-making. She was able to develop a sense of handling a crisis and working under intense pressure and scrutiny.
During this time, she wrote a book ‘Stolen Childhood’ – a true story of a Welsh woman who she assisted during the Libya crisis and whose children had been abducted to Libya by her husband. This 3-year project gave her an incredible insight into a mother’s quest for her children.
In 2014 she moved into the private sector and transferred her diplomatic skill set into the human resource functions across the telecoms, financial as well as food importation and distribution industries. Working with international companies such as Vodafone, Deloitte, and one of Malta’s largest companies and leading and transforming HR strategy brought her into direct contact with being responsible for growing and developing people.
This is where she looked at the idea of taking the sum of her experiences and channeling her self-awareness into becoming an Executive Coach. This was the beginning of her coaching journey aimed at developing a wider skill set to facilitate her client’s development and assist with their self-belief and leadership potential.
Since reading for the MSC in Executive Coaching she has stepped down from her HR Manager role and set up her own HR Consultancy and Executive and Team Coaching Practice.
