HR Advisor

Thames Water; England; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading water utility company in the UK is looking for an HR Advisor to support employees and managers with HR policies and processes. The ideal candidate will have experience in HR advisory services and strong communication skills. This role is based in Reading with a hybrid working model and offers a competitive salary and benefits package.

Benefits

Competitive salary up to £36,000

Annual Leave - 26 days, increasing to 30

Performance-related pay plan

Generous Pension Scheme

Health and wellbeing benefits

Qualifications

• Experience working in a high-volume HR Advisory service.
• Confident with a detailed knowledge of People policies.
• Excellent communication skills with all levels.

Responsibilities

• Provide front-line advisory support for policy and process queries.
• Coach employees and managers to use self-service resources.
• Manage simpler ER cases and maintain case management records.

Skills

Experience in HR advisory service

Customer-focused approach

Ability to manage queries

Strong communication skills

Organizational skills

Job description

Overview

The HR Advisor will play a critical role in the People Advice Service team that provides front-line People policy and process advice to Thames Water employees and managers. This role requires someone who is confident, customer-focused, with strong knowledge of People processes, policies, and systems.

What you’ll be doing as a HR Advisor

• Providing a professional front-line advisory service that supports employees and managers with People policy, process and system queries, aiming to resolve as many at the first point of contact as possible.
• Customer-focused advice provided on inbound calls and via email.
• Coaching line managers and employees to find the information they need in the People Portal and FAQs, to support self-service.
• Raising cases in ServiceNow where the question cannot be quickly resolved.
• Ensuring that the daily short-term sickness and long-term sickness reports are uploaded and actioned in line with the agreed process each morning.
• Working with the wider teams.
• Taking responsibility to manage simpler ER cases, as agreed with the HR Advisory Team Leader.
• Maintaining case management records to ensure they are clear, concise and in line with GDPR.
• Attending and participating in training/updates about any system policies, processes, or procedure changes.
• Working on the telephone advice service.

Base Location: Reading - Hybrid

Working Pattern: 36 Hours

What you should bring to the role

To thrive in this role, the essential criteria you’ll need are:

• Experience working in a remote and high-volume HR Advisory service using a similar HR service model/approach.
• Customer-focused, with a detailed knowledge of People policies, processes and procedures.
• Highly organised and responsive, with an ability to deal with a high volume of queries each day.
• Confident and tenacious, taking ownership of issues to resolution promptly.
• Experience in managing challenging stakeholders.
• An active listener who is naturally inquisitive and able to coach managers and employees to self-serve and/or know when to escalate a case.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to adapt and build rapport/provide advice to all levels.

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary up to £36,000 per annum, depending on experience.
• Annual Leave - 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with the length of service. (plus bank holidays)
• Performance-related pay plan directly linked to both company and individual performance measures and targets
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON.
• Access to benefits to support health, wellbeing, and finances – from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling, to Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance.

Find out more about our benefits and perks.

Who are we?

We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people, and the planet to thrive. It’s a big job and we’ve got a long way to go, so we need help from passionate and skilled people, committed to making a difference. Together, we can build a better future for our customers, our region, and our planet.

Learn more about our purpose and values

Working at Thames Water

Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy meaningful career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits. If you’re looking for a sustainable and successful career where you can make a daily difference to millions of people’s lives while helping to protect the world of water for future generations, we’ll support you every step of the way.

Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family.

We’re committed to being a great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and want to ensure you feel supported throughout the recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, whether that’s extra time, accessible formats, or anything else just let us know, we’re here to help and support.

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business and meet colleagues.

Disclaimer: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.