Employee Relations Lead — Hybrid & People Partner

Oliver Bonas Limited; Staines-upon-Thames; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous employee discount up to 50%

Employee assistance programme

Flexible holiday

Profit-related bonus scheme

Pension plan

Onsite gym

Cycle to work

Refer a Friend

Free lunch

EDI support

Mental Health support

360L eLearning

Job summary

Oliver Bonas Limited is seeking an Employee Relations Manager to lead a small team of advisers in our Tolworth Support Office. You will provide expert ER guidance, coach managers, and support the Retail and Warehouse areas to ensure fair, compliant decisions aligned with OB values.

You will partner with the Head of People to embed policies, stay current with employment law, and drive improvements in people practices across the business.

Qualifications

• Significant HR generalist experience with strong employee relations expertise.
• Experience managing complex employee relations cases independently.
• Experience coaching and influencing managers at varying levels of seniority.
• Strong understanding of UK employment law and People best practice.
• Experience within retail, hospitality or another fast-paced, customer-focused environment desirable.
• Experience developing or improving People policies and processes.
• Experience analysing People data and identifying trends.
• CIPD qualification or working towards CIPD qualification desirable.
• Experience supporting organisational change, consultation or restructuring activity desirable.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to influence and build relationships at all levels.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the people advisors (team of 2) to provide expert employee relations advice and guidance to managers across Retail and Warehouse teams.
• Manage a varied employee relations caseload including disciplinary, grievance, absence, performance, capability, conduct, flexible working and organisational change matters.
• Coach and develop managers to conduct investigations, disciplinary hearings, grievance hearings, capability hearings and absence review meetings confidently and consistently.
• Attend and lead employee relations meetings where appropriate, ensuring outcomes are fair, compliant and aligned with company values.
• Ensure employee relations cases are progressed in a timely and professional manner, maintaining clear and accurate documentation throughout.
• Support managers to resolve issues through early intervention, informal resolution and effective people management practices where appropriate.
• Stay up to date on employment law and people best practice, sharing knowledge with the wider People Team and reviewing policies and procedures accordingly.
• Ensure People policies and processes are up to date, legally compliant and effectively communicated.
• Support the business through organisational change activity, consultation processes and business restructuring where required.
• Provide coaching on performance management, absence management, difficult conversations and conflict resolution.
• Work with the L&D team to develop and deliver guidance, training and resources that support managers in applying People policies appropriately.
• Partner with area managers and warehouse managers to identify people risks and recommend pragmatic solutions.
• Identify patterns, risks and opportunities and recommend action plans to improve employee experience and manager effectiveness.
• Share meaningful insight with the Head of People and wider business to support data-driven decision making.
• Partner with the Recruitment Team to attract and retain high-quality talent aligned with business needs and company values.
• Support succession planning discussions and identify people risks that may impact future capability.
• Review turnover data and exit feedback, creating action plans to address themes and improve retention.

Skills

Employee relations

Coaching managers

UK employment law

Stakeholder management

Analytical skills

Organisational skills

Education

CIPD qualification (desirable)

Job description

Oliver Bonas Limited is seeking an Employee Relations Manager to lead a small team of advisers in our Tolworth Support Office. You will provide expert ER guidance, coach managers, and support the Retail and Warehouse areas to ensure fair, compliant decisions aligned with OB values.

You will partner with the Head of People to embed policies, stay current with employment law, and drive improvements in people practices across the business.