Employee Burnout and Retention Among Human Resource Professionals: A Mini Literature Review

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COMPASSION FATIGUE AND HR RETENTION

Compassion Fatigue and Retention Among HR Professionals:

A Research Topic Investigation

Gabrielle McNeely

PSY 7015

Capella University

Vincent Jeevar

Running head: COMPASSION FATIGUE AND HR RETENTION

3rd June 2026

Professional Interest

Industrial and Organizational (I-O) Psychology is a bridge discipline that focuses on human behavior in the organizational environment and provides answers to the question of how people can flourish (or not flourish) in organizational settings. One of the most important and under-researched issues in this area is the psychological burden that human resources (HR) workers often bear, as they are regularly required to deal with the challenges of others. HR professionals are also the caregivers of the organization the ones that handle conflicts, address employee crises, manage layoffs, offer counsel on employee grievances and take in the emotional fallout from the organization's toughest moments. Despite this, there is relatively little research that has focused on the wellbeing of HR professionals themselves.

This research topic investigation is on compassion fatigue as a unique psychological feeling of HR professionals and its effect on keeping employees in the HR profession. Compassion fatigue, which is the emotional and physical fatigue that comes from the stress of caring for others' suffering, has been studied extensively in the healthcare and social work fields, and is not well known in organizational and corporate settings. HR professionals face unique situations where they can pick up the trauma and the distress of the entire workforce and at the same time are expected to be objective and professional.

The importance of this issue to I-O Psychology is numerous and complex. Occupational health, from the viewpoint of HR, resonates with how compassion fatigue affects employee wellbeing, job performance and organizational resilience. Institutional costs are compounded from the talent management perspective since the loss of experienced HR personnel because of compassion fatigue and burnout. HR function is a significant investment of HR talent and when people are constantly changing jobs, it affects strategic human capital management, organizational culture, and legal compliance.

The research question in this investigation states,` How does compassion fatigue, attitude of HR professionals, predict attitude to leave their job, and what organizational interventions moderate this attitude?’ The question is pitched at a measurable psychological construct, a practical organizational outcome, and potential for evidence-based intervention, all hallmarks of applied I-O research. By considering this question, practitioners will add to the body of work that examines occupational wellbeing, and will provide practical guidance for supporting practitioners who support others.

Potential Ethical Concerns

Ethical issues are important when conducting research on individuals experiencing psychological distress. The same is true of a study that looked at compassion fatigue amongst HR professionals, as the ethical principles that the American Psychological Association (APA) has endorsed offer a good base for predicting and addressing potential issues. Trust will demand fidelity on the part of the researcher who must abide by what he promises to participants, and who must earn their trust in the research process. HR professionals might share private and professional experiences in a study like this, such as experiences of vicarious trauma or emotional overload. Researchers need to take great care to follow confidentiality agreements, and to make sure participants are aware that their information will be anonymous and confidential. Such a breach of trust will not only have a negative impact on the individual participants but could also have a negative impact on the credibility of organizational psychology research as a whole.

Involvement must be free from any compulsion in order to be considered autonomous. Researchers should structure the study to protect against the pressure (consciously or unconsciously) that HR professionals might feel to join if the study was sponsored by the employer or professionally affiliated with the researcher to minimize this. This includes recruitment of participants via neutral recruitment channels, and offering no incentive for participation of any kind and offering clear avenues to withdrawing at any point without repercussions.

Beneficence requires researchers to maximize the potential benefits of a study for both participants and society. This research has the potential to generate valuable insights into the challenges faced by HR professionals and contribute to improving their working conditions, wellbeing, and overall effectiveness within organizations. The findings may also help employers develop better support systems for employees in HR roles. To enhance the value of the research, aggregate findings could be shared with participating organizations, and participants should be provided with information about relevant mental health resources if any concerns arise during the study.

Nonmaleficence , which focuses on avoiding harm, is especially important in this research because participants may be asked to reflect on emotionally demanding experiences. Questions related to secondary traumatic stress, emotional exhaustion, or workplace challenges may cause discomfort or distress for some individuals. To minimize this risk, the research should follow trauma-informed practices, include appropriate debriefing procedures, and make information about counseling or support services available where needed. Researchers should also ensure that questions are framed sensitively and do not portray normal stress reactions as signs of illness or weakness.

Justice emphasizes fairness in the distribution of both the benefits and burdens of research. HR professionals work across a wide range of industries, organizational settings, and demographic groups, and the study should seek to reflect this diversity. Sampling strategies should therefore be inclusive to ensure that different perspectives are represented and that the findings are relevant to a broad HR population. It is also important to consider whether certain groups within the profession, particularly those from historically underrepresented or marginalized backgrounds, may experience higher levels of compassion fatigue or emotional strain. Recognizing these differences can help ensure that any recommendations or interventions developed from the research are fair and accessible to all.

Key Words

The following four key terms were used to conduct searches in scholarly databases relevant to this topic investigation:

1. Compassion fatigue

2. HR professional burnout

3. Secondary traumatic stress

4. Employee retention and occupational wellbeing

Databases

The two main scholarly databases used to find peer-reviewed journal articles for this study were PsycINFO, and Business Source Complete (EBSCO). The most in-depth database of psychological literature was PsycINFO, which is available through the APA and through the Capella library, and this proved to be the most fruitful for this topic. It covers peer-reviewed journal articles, dissertations, and book chapters in clinical, counseling and organizational psychology. The key words used in the search, “compassion fatigue” and “secondary traumatic stress”, resulted in a high number of directly relevant and methodologically sound findings.

Dictionaries or thesauri were available as a feature of the database, thus enabling exact subject-heading search which would enhance the specificity of the results. It has depth when it comes to the psychological sciences, but it has relatively little coverage of the business management literature, not a big deal for an I-O topic that has organizational implications.

The business resource, Business Source Complete (EBSCO), was an excellent complement for coverage of literature that relates HR professional wellbeing to organizational outcomes, including turnover intention, retention strategies, and workforce management.

This database indexes business, management and human resources journals, presenting views that are not captured as well by PsycINFO. Its psychological depth, however, was less; articles found in this database were more practitioner-oriented, and less methodologically detailed than articles found in PsycINFO. The two databases present a valuable combination: PsycINFO provides the psychological content, while Business Source Complete provides the organizational and managerial perspective.

Criteria

The following criteria were used to assess reliability, validity and credibility of sources of information chosen for this investigation:

Recency of publications: All articles that were selected were published in the past five years (2020-2025). This criterion is designed to ensure findings are representative of the current state of organisations and shifts in wellbeing at work and HR function demands following the pandemic.

Peer-reviewed status: Only articles in peer-reviewed journals were included. Peer review ensures quality assurance by independent assessment of ideas and results, adding credibility to methods and conclusions.

Structural completeness: Selected articles were needed to have a literature review and methodology section and results or findings. This describes empirical rigour and provides the opportunity to assess the research design, sampling, and analysis.

Relevance to topic: Articles were reviewed for direct relevance to either compassion fatigue, occupational burnout, secondary traumatic stress, HR professionals' wellbeing, or employee retention. Articles that were related to the subject but slightly different were not included unless they gave theoretical underpinning to the study.

Ensuring diversity of sources: All the articles were empirical studies, systematic reviews, or mixed methods research, with a deliberate effort to ensure a well-rounded evidence base. The impact factor and the status of the journal in the index as secondary indicators of credibility were used to assess the journal quality.

Sources

Bianchi, R., Schonfeld, I. S., & Laurent, E. (2021). Burnout syndrome and depression. In Y. Kim (Ed.), Frontiers in psychiatry: Major depressive disorder (pp. 187–202). Frontiers Media. https://doi.org/10.3389/978-2-88966-063-9

This chapter provides a foundational discussion of the relationship between burnout syndrome and clinical depression, a topic that has long been debated in the occupational health literature. The authors argue that burnout and depression share significant overlap in their symptoms, including emotional exhaustion, disengagement, and cognitive impairment, and suggest that treating them as entirely separate constructs may hinder effective diagnosis and intervention. For HR professionals experiencing compassion fatigue, this distinction is particularly important because it raises questions about whether exhaustion associated with compassion fatigue can develop into diagnosable depressive disorders. The chapter draws on substantial empirical evidence and critically reviews the Maslach Burnout Inventory and related assessment tools. Its main contribution to this study is the conceptual clarity it provides regarding the relationship between burnout, compassion fatigue, and depression, three closely related constructs that are central to understanding attrition among HR professionals.

Cieslak, R., Shoji, K., Douglas, A., Melville, E., Luszczynska, A., & Benight, C. C. (2014). A meta-analysis of the relationship between job burnout and secondary traumatic stress among workers with indirect exposure to trauma. Psychological Services, 11(1), 75–86. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030698

This meta analysis explores the relationship between occupational burnout and secondary traumatic stress (STS) among professionals who are exposed to trauma indirectly through their work. This group can include HR professionals who frequently deal with employee crises, harassment investigations, workplace conflicts, and other difficult situations. Drawing on evidence from 41 studies, the authors found a strong and consistent positive relationship between burnout and STS, suggesting that the two conditions often occur together and may influence one another over time. The study also highlights several important factors that can affect this relationship, including workload, organizational support, and professional identity. These findings are highly relevant to HR professionals, who often face role ambiguity and significant emotional demands in their work. Because the study uses a meta analysis approach, combining evidence from multiple studies, its findings are more widely applicable and provide a strong empirical foundation for the current research question.

Johnstone, S. (2024). When the caregivers need care: The silent stress of human resources work. Administrative Sciences, 14(11), 284. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14110284

This mixed methods study is one of the most relevant sources for the proposed research because it focuses specifically on stress and burnout among HR professionals. Using both semi structured interviews and quantitative surveys with HR practitioners, the author examines the unique pressures associated with HR work, including emotional labour, confidentiality responsibilities, and role conflict. These challenges distinguish HR professionals from many other helping professions. The findings show that HR professionals often absorb and manage organizational stress while receiving limited support for their own wellbeing. A key strength of the study is its mixed methods approach, which combines personal experiences and insights from participants with measurable indicators of burnout. The study makes an important contribution by providing empirical evidence that HR professionals are a vulnerable occupational group and may require greater psychological support and targeted organizational interventions. As a result, it serves as a key source for the current investigation.

Rushforth, A., Durk, M., Rothwell-Blake, G. A. A., Kirkman, A., Ng, F., & Kotera, Y. (2023). Self-compassion interventions to target secondary traumatic stress in healthcare workers: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(12), 6109. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20126109

This systematic review brings together evidence on the effectiveness of self compassion interventions in reducing secondary traumatic stress among helping professionals. Although most of the studies included in the review focus on healthcare workers, the concepts and intervention approaches discussed are also relevant to HR professionals, who can experience emotional strain through indirect exposure to employees' difficult experiences and workplace challenges. The review examines six empirical studies and finds that self compassion practices, such as mindfulness based cognitive therapy and compassion focused training, can help reduce symptoms of secondary traumatic stress. The authors also identify important gaps in the existing literature, particularly the lack of practical frameworks for implementing these interventions within workplace settings. For the current study, this review is valuable because it not only summarizes existing evidence but also highlights the need for further research in non clinical organizational environments, including corporate HR departments.

Whittenbury, K., Clark, S. L., Brooks, M., Murphy, T., Turner, M. J., & Fawcett, H. (2025). Strengths for helping professionals exposed to secondary trauma: A scoping review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 26(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380241309371

This scoping review explores the individual and organizational factors that help protect helping professionals from the negative effects of secondary traumatic stress. Drawing on research from fields such as social work, counselling, and organizational settings, the authors identify several important protective factors, including psychological flexibility, strong peer support, effective supervision, and a positive organizational climate. A key finding of the review is that workplace and environmental conditions often have a greater influence on secondary traumatic stress outcomes than individual resilience alone. This insight is especially relevant to the retention aspect of the current research, as it suggests that organizations can play an important role in reducing compassion fatigue among HR professionals through supportive policies and practices. If these factors are effectively addressed, they may also help reduce turnover intentions. Published in 2025, the review offers a recent and comprehensive overview of the evidence, making it a valuable contribution to this area of study.

References

Bianchi, R., Schonfeld, I. S., & Laurent, E. (2021). Burnout syndrome and depression. In Y. Kim (Ed.), Frontiers in psychiatry: Major depressive disorder (pp. 187–202). Frontiers Media. https://doi.org/10.3389/978-2-88966-063-9

Johnstone, S. (2024). When the caregivers need care: The silent stress of human resources work. Administrative Sciences, 14(11), Article 284. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14110284