Employee Relations Manager

Location

Worcestershire | United Kingdom

Job description

Job Purpose

To ensure the day-to-day management and delivery of the Employee Relations (ER) Team according to governance, processes, policies, and service level agreements. As the Senior Employee Relations Advisor, you will be responsible, alongside the Group Shared Services Manager, for creating and embedding the ER strategy, policy, and practice across the Halfords Group, whilst continually seeking ways in which operational efficiency can be achieved. You will be accountable for line managing, leading, supporting, and developing the ER team whose primary role is to ensure that leaders across the group are equipped, empowered, and engaged to manage all ER matters ensuring legal, commercial, and business considerations.

Key Responsibilities

One Halfords family:

• Maintain an effective feedback loop with the Group Shared Services Manager and wider People Team to drive change.
• Act as a mentor for the Employee Relations Advisors providing support and guidance where required and act as the initial point of escalation.
• Support the People Team projects both businesses wide and ad hoc.
• Work cross functionally, supporting managers and key stakeholders across all the Halfords Group.
• Champion the ER Team in building relationships across the business to obtain support when formal meeting attendance is required on case work.
• Own the engagement survey for the ER Team and implement any actions arising from the survey, whilst actively encouraging and facilitating activities which drive a culture focused on colleague engagement.
• Be responsible for managing the ER Team rota, ensuring adequate cover is in place to meet stakeholder needs and service level agreements.
• Take ownership for the performance and development of each of the ER Advisors/Assistants, ensuring that appropriate Performance Development Records and Personal Development Plans are in place to achieve this.

Wow our customers:

• Ensure that the ER Team partners with the business to deliver a high quality, pro-active, and SLA compliant case management offer on ER issues such as disciplinary, grievance, capability, appeals, absence management, the Equality Act, redundancy, TUPE, changing terms and conditions, probation, and flexible working, whilst ensuring consistency of decisions across the business.
• Develop line manager capability by creating and reviewing material and processes for the Group Shared Service Manager and the Learning & Development Team to deliver training to upskill line managers.
• Support line managers with the management of high-risk ER cases by advising, influencing, and coaching on how to proceed following best practice and ensuring compliance with employment law ensuring the appropriate advice is being given by the Employee Relations Advisors.
• Provide proof-reading expertise, where required on correspondence sent from People Advice to ensure accuracy and consistency to an excellent standard and give feedback to the team to ensure right first time.
• Oversee the day-to-day management of the ER email inbox to ensure tasks including the production of letters such as acknowledgement, invite, outcome letters are produced within SLA’s and the business are supported with pro-active management of ER cases.
• Provide managers and key stakeholders with consistent and policy complaint advice and guidance, whilst considering the employment legal and risk framework. This will be both face to face and remotely via telephone and Microsoft Teams.
• Ensure all ER templates utilised across the group are up to date and fit for purpose.

Be better every day:

• Continually seek ways in which operational efficiency can be achieved to provide outstanding support to the business and key stakeholders.
• Keep up to date with developments in employment legislation and people best practice to ensure continuous development and improvement in the service offered.
• Ensure accurate records of all ER case outcomes and systems are updated (Hornbill, Dayforce etc) so that these can be used to provide monthly and ad hoc data and insights to the wider People Team to highlight trends and areas of concern.
• Case manage complex/ high risk ER cases as escalated from the Employee Relations Advisors as and when appropriate.
• Ownership for drafting, revising, and reviewing all People related policies on an ad hoc and biannual (every 2 years) basis.
• Contribute to the ER and wider People Teams development through the sharing of knowledge, best practice, lessons learnt, and any changes or updates to matters affecting ER.
• Develop, coach, and support the ER Advisors to ensure high standards and performance levels.
• Create and manage a dedicated space for ER documentation which is accessible for all leaders across the group to support with the management of ER cases.

Pride in expertise:

• Alongside the Group Shared Services Manager, create and embed the ER strategy, policy, and practice across the group.
• Provide the business with pragmatic and commercial based solutions whilst considering the employment legal and risk framework.
• Manage all cases in line with GDPR regulations.
• Support the progress of ET’s, COT3’s and settlement agreements liaising with the Legal Team, ACAS, and solicitors as necessary.
• Work closely with the ER Team to ensure that relevant administration is processed accordingly.
• Utilise your knowledge to manage controllable costs, expenditure, and achieve budgets set for the team.
• Undertake an annual review of the service provided by the ER team to its key stakeholders, taking actions to build upon opportunities for improvement along with identifying areas to consolidate.

Key Skills/Experience

• Minimum of 3 year’s ER experience, both in terms of providing advice and guidance and managing a team, ideally from within a shared service environment.
• Strong knowledge of employment law and experience in handling complex ER cases.

• Previous experience in dealing with third parties such as solicitors and ACAS.

• Excellent verbal and written communication and influencing skills, and ability to hold difficult conversations in a way which leads to the desired outcomes.
• Excellent organisational skills, ability to meet deadlines, self-motivated, and able to work at pace with accuracy and good attention to detail.

• Experience of managing and prioritising own workload in a high volume, demanding environment with changing priorities including project work.
• Deals with highly confidential information discreetly, in accordance with GDPR regulations.
• Able to work in a sensitive and diplomatic manner, while remaining confident and resilient.
• Customer focused and service oriented, with experience in building and maintaining strong, relationships effectively with teams and stakeholders both face to face, and remotely via telephone or Microsoft Teams.
• Experience and confidence in communicating and challenging as well as supporting managers at all levels, flexing your style as necessary.
• Excellent coaching skills and effective questioning techniques.
• Experience of applying best practice to people issues, considering both commercial and external factors when offering people solutions.
• Fun, team player who works collaboratively for the success of the wider team.
• CIPD level 7 qualified is desirable, but not essential.
• In possession of a valid and current driving licence.

Job tags

Salary