Howdy HR friends!👋

Hope your Tuesday’s off to a productive (and caffeine-fueled) start! ☕️ 

Today we’re diving into career dysmorphia. That tricky phenomenon where even your top performers struggle to see their own value. They’re achieving great things, but their inner critic keeps yelling “not enough.”

The problem is that it doesn’t just hurt their confidence, it also quietly drains your talent pipeline. Because if people can’t recognize their worth, they stop raising their hands for opportunities that match it.

By the end of today’s edition, you’ll have a few ways to help your team (and maybe even yourself) see the bigger, more accurate picture in the mirror. 🪞

🚦Coming up

In today’s edition

🌪️ The Silent Career Crisis Your Top Talent May Be Hiding: Understanding & Addressing Career Dysmorphia

🛋️ The Break Room: How is your organization addressing career dysmorphia among employees?

📚 Human Readsources: Practical strategies for social media boundaries, preparing for the evolving skills landscape, and navigating AI-driven workforce changes.

💭Opening thoughts

When talent forgets they’re talented..

Did you know that only 30% of U.S employees feel that someone at work encourages their development, which has led to a phenomenon now recognized as "career dysmorphia"?

This persistent, distorted self-perception goes beyond occasional imposter syndrome, creating a talent paradox where your best people either reject advancement opportunities because they "aren't ready" or leave seeking growth they don't realize they've already earned.

HR leaders face a critical challenge in identifying and addressing career dysmorphia before it disrupts succession planning, damages retention metrics, or creates costly leadership gaps in the organization.

For easy reading

Today’s edition is presented by

SelectSoftware Reviews

Overwhelmed by HR Software Options? 🫠 

I get it, you’ve got a ton on your plate and don’t have time to become an expert in the ever-evolving world of HR tech.

That’s why I recommend SSR’s free HR software matching service - perfect for HR teams who need help selecting the right HR tools. After asking you a few quick questions, SSR’s HR experts will tailor a custom vendor shortlist for you and support your buying process.

This is a free service and there is no obligation to choose a particular solution (they are vendor-agnostic), and have a 4.9/5 star rating from the HR teams they have helped.

Save yourself time, stress, and guesswork - let SSR handle it.

🧠Let’s unpick

🌪️ The Silent Career Crisis Your Top Talent May Be Hiding

In today's hypercompetitive workplace, career dysmorphia is creating a perfect storm for talent retention nightmares. While you're busy crafting development plans and career ladders, your high performers are spiraling—constantly comparing themselves to their peers, and dismissing their achievements as "just doing their job," and quietly convincing themselves they're falling behind. This has become a persistent inability to accurately see their professional worth that's making your best people either burn out trying to prove themselves or jump ship for greener pastures they'll never actually find.

The numbers are alarming: according to research, this distorted self-perception is increasingly common among millennials and Gen Z professionals. As one study notes, "32% of young professionals report that people in their organization who are not close to their age do not see the value in their ideas". This perception gap directly impacted your succession planning, diversity initiatives, and bottom line as qualified candidates self-select out of advancement opportunities.

You can read more at...

🔗 Career Dysmorphia: When Comparison Sabotages Professional Confidence (The HR Digest)

🔗 Career Dysmorphia: When Success Never Feels Enough (Fast Company)

🔗 Career Dysmorphia: When You Can't See Your Own Success (UNILAD)

👀Too long didn’t read

TLDR

Your high performers are battling career dysmorphia, a distorted self-perception that has them dismissing their own achievements. As HR, it's time to move beyond generic recognition and equip managers to identify these struggles, create achievement portfolios, and reframe success metrics before your top talent either burns out or walks out.

🎬Lights, camera, action!

Takeaway and try

🔍 Train managers to spot career dysmorphia warning signs like excessive self-criticism or achievement dismissal during 1:1s and performance discussions.

📊 Create "achievement portfolios" or digital trackers where employees document concrete wins they can reference when imposter syndrome strikes.

🤝 Launch reverse mentoring programs pairing junior and senior staff to normalize vulnerability and show that even leaders struggle with confidence.

🗣️ Audit your company language around success, shifting from competitive "rock star" terminology to growth-oriented and collaborative achievement metrics.

🚪 Redesign promotion processes to encourage applications from reluctant high-performers by using opt-out rather than opt-in nomination systems.

☕The break room

What’s your take?

📚Additional reading

Human Readsources

📱 Social Media Posts Spark Workplace Discipline Surge (HR Dive) - Employers disciplining workers over social media posts, tighten policies.

📊 7 Million Workers Face Skills Gap by 2035 (HR Magazine) - Millions of UK workers may lack essential job skills by 2035.

🤖 Accenture to Workers: Learn AI or Leave (HR Brew) - Accenture prioritizes AI upskilling; exits workers unable to adapt.

That’s it for today.

Thanks for reading to the end and we hope today’s edition sparked some new ideas for your workplace! 🧠

We know you’re super busy and really appreciate you saving some room for us in your inbox 😀