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The end of the year is a busy and overwhelming time for HR leaders. But now you are in the final stretch. During the next two weeks you can relax and take your foot off of the gas. Make the most of your time off. Hit the snooze button. Don’t check your emails. Play games with your kids. Wear your pajamas until noon. Leave work at the office. Be truly present.
Using popular Christmas carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” as inspiration, here are 12 tips for self-care, reflection and intention setting that will take you all the way through to New Year’s Day and ensure a strong start to 2025.
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…Wrapping up year-end
It’s time to wrap up year end! You are almost there! Trying to deliver performance management, promotions, compensation reviews, and bonuses all within a short time window can be both heroic and exhausting. That’s in addition to all of the regular HR BAU activities like hiring, projects and resignations. At the same time, there’s a huge number of personal things to do as well – Christmas shopping, kid’s school plays, corporate parties, catching up with out-of-town guests. It’s enough to make you collapse out of sheet exhaustion just from looking at your calendar. But you’ve got this!
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…Sleighing self-care
Lean on your support team This time of year is a really good time to lean on your external HR peer network. They are experiencing similar challenges, but with slightly different nuances and timelines. Venting, blowing off steam or just generally having a laugh will do you a world of good. You can bond about how ridiculous your internal processes are or how you can’t stand using Workday for another second.
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…Rocking around the clock with work-life balance
Set boundaries (within reason) Of course you won’t be able to decline every late-night call, especially if you are working in a global team. But you don’t have to accept all of the early morning ones and certainly not the ones on Friday night. If you have personal plans that are really important to you (i.e. your kid’s school play) get someone else on the team to take the call for you, ask them to record it or just respectfully decline and say you will catch up later. No one is going to die if you don’t join a call.
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…Unwrapping your strengths
If this year has really gotten you down, you might want to think about why. Is your job as an HR leader aligned well to your strengths? Do you even know what your strengths are? Usually, when I ask clients this question, they give me a list of their weaknesses. You might not be comfortable acknowledging your strengths or have ever really thought about what they are. As a certified Hogan strengths assessor, we can work together to identify your strengths and determine which of the strengths you can utilize now to help you on your journey into 2025. This is the perfect time to unwrap your strengths.
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…Rocking your resume
If you are thinking about updating your resume in 2025, pull out that performance review that you just completed. Your performance reviews should have a big list of accomplishments, projects and things worth highlighting - things that a potential hiring manager at a new company would love to see on your resume. Then they would know what you can achieve, how you do it and how you could potentially do it at their organization. If you are thinking about making a move in 2025, now is the perfect time to use that performance review to update your resume. Carve out some time over the holidays to help you get ready for your 2025 job search.
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…Giving back to yourself
I’m working with a lot of HR leaders who want to find a new job in 2025. They come to me for help with their resume, their LinkedIn profile or for getting ready for interviews. They all have one thing in common. They feel like they should "know how to do it themselves" since they "are HR." They tend to be a bit embarrassed that they need professional support. Let me tell you something. There is no shame in hiring an expert. Everybody needs a bit of extra help sometimes. Give back to yourself and invest in your career.
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…Decking the halls with professional development
If you want to upskill or reskill yourself in 2025, here are 3 podcast recommendations for HR leaders.
“The Josh Bersin company” from HR guru Josh Bersin. The episodes are short (~20 minutes) and focus on timely and relevant topics in the world of HR
“Actsplore This” podcast, hosted by Janice and Sarah Ann. It's a podcast for the "modern day working professional." It’s not HR specific, but they have great guests and do in-depth interviews about how to be successful in your career
"I hate it here" podcast hosted by Hebba Youssef. Wow, I wish I had this podcast when I was working in corporate HR! Hebba's podcast shares best-in-class resources to make the hardest job in the world a little bit easier. As Hebba says, "If HR is one of the most soul-crushing industries to work in, how come we’re not talking about it more?"
On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…Gifting ourselves with friends
Go out with your non-HR friends I know what’s it’s like to laugh at inane things with your colleagues at 2am. Everything seems funny at that time. But it’s good to get perspective and hang out with some non-HR folks during this very busy and challenging time of the year. They can remind you that life exists outside of the office, that you are valued for who you are (and not what you can deliver), and that the end is in sight.
2025 is the year you need to kick that imposter syndrome to the curve. Ask Santa to put a boost of self-confidence under your tree instead.
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…Sleighing imposter syndrome
2025 is the year you need to kick that imposter syndrome to the curve. Ask Santa to put a boost of self-confidence under your tree instead. 75% of high-performing senior women leaders in Fortune 1000 companies have experienced imposter syndrome. You are not alone. But it doesn’t need to be your reality. If you are experiencing imposter syndrome, follow this tip: Choose a cue that will help you to check-in with yourself periodically throughout the day. It could be every time you refill your water bottle. Ask yourself, “Am I stuck in my own head? What’s the evidence for these thoughts?”
On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…Jingling all the way to a new job
If you want to make a career switch (like from HRBP to Learning or Talent Acquisition to Comp & Ben), don’t bother applying for roles online. This is particularly true if your résumé only details your previous roles and is NOT tailored to your target career. Somehow, candidates think that everyone will just “see” your transferable skills and you’ll be able to transition into that new career really easily. Reality check: recruiters are not trained to look for transferrable skills. They just want someone who will check all of the boxes. Spend some time developing your personal brand and articulating your unique value proposition. It will make transitioning into your target role much easier.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…Wrapping up with year-end reflections
Performance reviews are a good way to reflect on what you’ve been doing professionally, but what about you? How has 2024 gone for YOU? As the year draws to a close, don't let the chaos of performance management overshadow your own success story. When the insanity of year-end processes lets up, take 20 minutes to sit down and do this exercise (click HERE for the worksheet). It’s a good way to reflect on what went well for you this year (both personally and professionally) and how you can set yourself up for success in 2025.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…Ringing in the new year with mindfulness
Yeah, meditation and deep breathing exercises and all of that is good, but to really detach, just turn off your phone. If you can, I’d recommend turning off notifications on your phone, so you don’t get those pesky Outlook, Slack and Whatsapp pop-ups from your clients while you are trying to destress over the holidays. I know it’s easier said than done, but give it a try. It’s liberating.
Use these 12 days leading into New Year's to reflect on what went well this year, set intentions for success in 2025, and invest in your own career development. Prioritize self-care, set boundaries when needed, and lean on your support network. With intentionality and planning, you'll be ready for whatever comes next. Onwards!
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I work with female senior leaders in Human Resources who feel stuck to help them love their work or find work they love. Like this? Please share + follow me if you found this interesting. I post about:
👂 Executive & career coaching
📄 Career development and career transition
🎯 Job search strategy
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