Data And Executive Accountability Become Critical As HR Teams Shoulder Crisis Fallout

HR teams are expected to absorb pressure, stabilize teams, and keep operations moving, even during crisis. That expectation breaks down when leadership treats HR support as a one-way function instead of a shared responsibility. A growing group of HR leaders is pushing back by formalizing escalation paths, tying wellbeing to measurable business impact, and forcing executive accountability into moments that have historically been left to HR alone.

Nadia Asmar, a Strategic HR and Governance Consultant, has led people strategy for workforces of up to 800 across humanitarian, retail, and FMCG sectors. She specializes in change management, compliance, and embedding duty of care into HR systems, and has translated HR’s critical yet often invisible work into actionable insights for executives during high-pressure situations.

“We cannot make ourselves the only heroes at the organization. We don’t carry a magic wand that can solve everything. We need help during certain situations, and we should ask for it,” Asmar says. She points to the 2024 Lebanon conflict, when her three-person HR team served a workforce with roughly 90 percent displaced. “On a daily basis, we checked in, coordinated essentials items like blankets and milk for babies, and guided staff through remote psychosocial support sessions,” effectively managing crisis operations all while maintaining normal people functions.

• One-way street: “They started contacting us even more frequently, when they saw us reaching out. We couldn’t stop them because we understand their situation and patience is required during such situations. But who was there to support us in such a critical moment? Almost no one, or far less than needed,” Asmar explains. The care flowed in one direction. When she looked up the chain, there was nothing coming back.

• No lifeline: “You don’t see anyone asking how you’re doing or if you need support. There might be some support from HQ, but you can’t blame them, they’re not in the country with you,” she says. When executives leave employee wellbeing solely to HR during crises or restructuring, they risk collapsing the very function that holds the organization together. Leadership must share that responsibility.

As the immediate crisis subsided, the challenges shifted from emergency assistance to navigating a high-stakes organizational restructuring. Asmar’s team managed the legal process and communication around laying off roughly 100 of approximately 230 employees. That meant notifying the entire workforce, then conducting the redundancy conversations individually.

• Blame game: “Each time you sit with someone, you are facing a person supporting their family. Sometimes that person has no support themselves. Professionally and emotionally, you have to remain stable and strong, supporting them while also protecting the organization from risk. I have a commitment to the organization and to the people,” she emphasizes. Rather than letting the team shoulder all the blame, Asmar formalized a selection matrix requiring department heads to document their criteria and own the final decisions.

• Soul burnout: “HR is always the first to be blamed. Some understand the situation, but others fault HR for the selections, even though the decisions are made by managers. I use a matrix with clear criteria that managers follow, yet it’s HR that carries the stress and stands on the front line,” she adds. The matrix helped protect the organization legally, but it offered no relief for the team bearing the burden. “The HR assistant started feeling the stress and began crying. I tried my best to support her, but she couldn’t cope and ultimately, she left. By the end of the year, I also left, leaving the HR department with just one employee unable to handle everything,” Asmar says.

• Volume enhancement: To ensure her concerns were heard, Asmar turned to data to track complaints, feedback, and sick leave herself. “Even when staff are on leave, their salaries and related costs continue, reducing output. I showed the impact to leadership in numbers,” she says. This data-backed approach reinforces her advice to HR professionals: “Raise your voice, document risks early, and share it loud enough through proper channels. HR leaders must speak up about issues affecting the department and the entire organization.”

HR must advocate not only for employees but for HR itself, setting boundaries, documenting risks, and pushing leadership to share responsibility. “When disciplinary actions increase, we need to understand the cause, whether it’s lack of training, poor decisions, or employee stress. I hope we can reach a solution for HR worldwide; with awareness raised at the executive level,” Asmar concludes. Ultimately, success depends on organizational support, not individual resilience.