Keep it simple: HR managers offer tips on dealing with hybrid work burnout

A hybrid work setup can offer convenience and reduce costs to the employees, but it can also lead to burnout due to the need for constant adjustments.

Annie Caw, chief human resources officer at CIMB Bank, acknowledged the effectiveness of a hybrid work setup but said it also challenges the readiness of company management.

“A hybrid work arrangement would actually challenge HR [human resources] and the management because they need to be ready. Your systems and processes need to be in place,” Caw said during the 3rd Annual Philippines HR Workplace Summit 2025 on Thursday.

Among the concerns that need to be addressed is burnout, or a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged or excessive stress.

Caw and Joy Noree Maramba, head of talent management at CDO Foodsphere Inc., said companies should use the right communication channels and know the source of burnout.

Caw said that using the right communication channels could lessen one’s emotional burden, such as opting for a quick call instead of sending a long email or multiple messages.

“The goal is to keep things as simple and as easy for your subordinates to execute so that they don't get burned out with so many follow-ups and information because of the ambiguity created by multiple channels,” she said.

For Maramba, knowing the source of burnout is the first step in addressing it.

“Let's figure out first why you're stressed, why you're burnt out, or why you're on the verge of resigning already because you are so burnt out. Then we'll try to solve that problem for you,” she said.

Maintain engagement among employees

In some cases, a hybrid work setup has led to a decrease in human interaction among employees, posing a challenge for companies in building relationships and culture.

To maintain engagement among employees, Maramba said, “regular meetups” are important.

“So just like any relationship, if you have a relationship with your children, your family, your friends, high school friends, you can't just maintain a chat group and say, 'Oh, we're friends',” she said.

She added that these meetups include organizing Halloween or Christmas parties.

Meanwhile, for Caw, a company should have a good listening mechanism so that each employee is willing to participate whenever there are wellness activities.

“It's about perfect timing, and she [the HR manager] is good at that. She knows how to time it and what is the right methodology and the right modality to do it virtually, face-to-face, with blending. So it helps when you have a full HR team also on the ground,” she said.

Meanwhile, Marco Padernal, human resources director at Robinsons Retail, said a company should engage in empathy with its employees.

“It is the head office people who are saying, we will also go to work because our store operations go through floods, earthquakes that just happened just to be at the store. And being there, being at the office as well for the majority of time is something that is innate, that I observe because of that culture,” Padernal said.

The 3rd Annual Philippines HR Workplace Summit 2025 is themed “Shaping the Future of HR: Empowering People and Workplaces in the Digital Era." — BM, GMA Integrated News