Senior ER Consultant (part-time)

This role forms part of a job share, you will be required to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday totalling 21 hours

Hybrid working: Guildford or Bournemouth

Closing date for applications: 9th August 2024

Who we are

Allianz is a global insurance company serving across 70 different countries, but from the very first day you join our team you'll know that your contributions are valued. We offer world class learning and career development opportunities, while we celebrate an inclusive culture.

Role Description

This is an exciting time for us, as we look to enhance our Employee Relations (ER) centre of expertise to support the provision of specialist expertise across the whole of Allianz UK, in locations across the UK and Republic of Ireland. The Senior ER Consultant plays a pivotal role in the effective delivery of the ER and people policy service to Allianz UK business (Allianz Personal, Commercial, Specialty and Shared Services) by ensuring employee relations matters are dealt with in accordance with employment legislation, best practice, internal policy, commercial and risk considerations.

Key Accountabilities

STRATEGY

• Support the design and implementation of an effective short and long-term ER and policy strategy, ensuring alignment with People and Culture and business strategies and goals

ER CAPABILITY

• Work in partnership with the Head of Employee Relations and ER Consultants, supporting the development of an effective ER advisory capability to support all stakeholders
• Support ER Consultants to offer an effective, consistent and timely service to the business
• Work closely with ER Consultants to ensure they understand legislative updates and policy amendments, ensuring they are fully briefed and understand any changes and their impact on the business
• Support ER Consultants with their policy and process knowledge and understanding
• Training and development of People and Culture colleagues and employee representatives to ensure they are up to date and knowledgeable
• Act as a point of escalation for the ER Consultants, supporting and mentoring them on casework when needed

CASE MANAGEMENT & ADVICE

• Provide hands on case and stakeholder management, oversight and guidance on pre-litigation proceedings, ACAS conciliations and employment tribunals - working with external solicitors, ACAS, company legal counsel and other relevant stakeholders, such as the People Directors, People Partners, line managers and other business stakeholders/witnesses at all levels, and across all business areas in AZUK
• Provide specialist guidance and expertise where required for any people change projects or programmes, eg. redundancy or TUPE
• Work with the Head of Employee Relations and ER Consultants to mitigate key risks in complex cases to reach a successful conclusion, ensure risks are clearly recorded and escalated when necessary
• Ensure standardised ER tools, templates and processes are appropriate and accessible for the effective management of ER activity by all stakeholders, People and Culture and line managers. Actively use those tools to drive insight and improvement activity

POLICY MANAGEMENT

• Review, develop and implement people policies (guidance, functional rules, standards and policies) across our employing entities ensuring they remain legally compliant and fit for purpose supporting the business strategies/culture and are clearly communicated
• Ensure our people policies are benchmarked externally to measure effectiveness and drive innovation ensuring policies match risk appetite levels and seek to minimise ER activity
• Lead specific policy consultations with our employee representatives, Unite and ECF, as well as seeking feedback from other relevant stakeholders, People Partners, business stakeholders (policy user group), D&I network groups etc.
• Ensure rigorous policy governance and version control management

ER DATA FOR DECISION MAKING & REPORTING

• Maintain oversight of the case management tool and dashboard with the provider, currently Pinsent Masons
• Responsible for the production of ER data, management and reporting in line with GDPR
• Providing insights and MI to the People and Culture Exec, Head of Employee Relations , ER Consultants and People Partners to help drive business performance and decision making
• Providing case data and key metrics to Risk Committees
• Providing case data to the SM&CR conduct risk reporting process and panel

KEY STAKEHOLDERS & RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

• Collaborating across multiple functions and externally
• Develop strong relationships with Legal, Compliance, representative bodies (Unite & ECF), People and Culture Exec, relevant business stakeholders and the wider People and Culture team to deliver a seamless ER service
• Utilise and develop internal and external networks to understand business strategy and commercial challenges to assess impact on ER policy and practice and to influence and manage change requirements
• Responsible for fostering positive relationships with our external providers, eg. through case litigation management with external legal counsel, oversight of the ER case management tool and dashboard functionality with the provider, or via operational service reviews with Occupational Health
• Responsible for processing invoices in relation to external legal spend, analysing costs associated with legal proceedings to ensure maximum value for money

UNION & ECF (Employee Consultative Forum)

• Understand the recognition agreements, ways of working and actively foster positive relationships with senior employee reps from Unite & ECF to achieve effective ways of working that support business purpose and strategy
• Work in partnership with employee reps in the development of policy and in delivering upskilling/training of employee representatives
• Provide advice and guidance to People and Culture colleagues and business stakeholders where needed, on how to work effectively and collaboratively with our employee reps
• Act as the primary link and subject matter expert, as a point of escalation, for senior reps' concerns and feedback, acting collaboratively to understand and address local/national ER issues and to provide support in finding effective solutions with senior reps

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

• Contribute to the wider People and Culture team focussing on driving continuous development and improvement of the function, making us 'future fit'
• Identify emerging risks and opportunities for improving people policies and ER capability across line managers and HR

Skills & Experience

• Strong ER or legal experience including exposure to dealing with complex and/or high-risk cases
• Strong application/interpretation of UK employment legislation and best practice across all key HR policies and procedures
• Previous exposure to generalist HR environments, advising in a complex, multi-site environment with multiple sets of terms and conditions, policies and procedures
• Ability to influence at a management level having managed relationships both internally and externally
• Ability to think commercially and pragmatically, with consideration of risk appetite, when analysing problems or recommending solutions/options to meet business needs
• Sound and balanced judgement when assessing and advising on the severity of employment relations issues
• Analytical ability - able to identify and monitor trends quickly and succinctly interpret and articulate to a wide stakeholder group what the data is telling us - and the able to develop fit for purpose solutions
• Strong written communication skills - can communicate complex information simply and write in a friendly but professional tone of voice
• Strong rapport building/influencing skills at all levels of the organisation

Qualifications

• CIPD qualified and / or employment law qualifications (degree level or equivalent)
• Mediation qualification (desirable)

What We Will Offer You

Recognised and rewarded for a job well done, we have a range of flexible benefits for you to choose from- so you can pick a package that's perfect for you.

We also offer flexible working options, global career opportunities across the wider Allianz Group, and fantastic career development and training. That's on top of enjoying all the benefits you'd expect from the world's number one insurance brand, including:

• Car allowance
• 30 days holiday plus bank holidays
• Flexible buy/sell holiday options
• Hybrid working
• Annual performance related bonus
• Contributory pension scheme
• Development days
• A discount up to 50% on a range of insurance products including car, home and pet
• Retail Discounts

Our Ways of Working

Do you need some flexibility with the hours you work? Let us know as part of your application and if it's right for our customers, our business and for you, then we'll do everything we can to make it happen.

Here at Allianz, we are signatories of the ABIs flexible working charter. We believe in supporting hybrid work patterns, which balance the needs of our customers, with your personal circumstances and our business requirements. Our aim with this is to help innovation, creativity, and you to thrive - Your work life balance is important to us.

Our Purpose and Values

We secure your future

Be Brave | With Heart | Everyone Counts | Inspiring Trust

Our purpose and values are more than just words on a website - they are the why and how of Allianz. They influence everything we do and guide us how to do it.

Created by our people, for our people, they shape our culture, bring us together, and inspire us to be the best. Building on inclusive culture for us all to succeed.

Diversity & Inclusion

At Allianz, we value diversity and inclusion and back this up with our accreditations, Allianz is EDGE certified for gender inclusion, members of the Women in Finance Charter, a Disability Confident employer, Stonewall Diversity Champion members, signatories of Business in the Community's Race at Work Charter, and an Armed Forces Covenant gold standard employer.

We recognise the strength of neurodiversity in the workplace, and the far-reaching benefits of embracing a spectrum of thinking styles and innovative capabilities. We proudly welcome applications from neurodivergent and disabled candidates, and can offer tailored adjustments to remove barriers and set you up for success in your career.

At Allianz, we encourage our people to advocate for what they need, we listen, and we act - this could include providing assistive technology, ergonomic specialist equipment, mentoring and coaching, or flexibility in the way you work, among a wide range other adjustments.

Join us - Let's Care for Tomorrow.