Workforce Advisor

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals; Preston; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working options

Wellbeing support

DBS checks processed

Job summary

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals seeks a proactive Workforce Advisor – Employee Relations to provide expert advice on sickness absence management, disciplinary and grievance processes, and policy implementation. You will support service managers, champion a just culture, and help develop workforce strategies.

The role blends on-site collaboration with some home-working, requiring regular engagement and CPD. Join a diverse NHS trust delivering compassionate care and ongoing development opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience in HR handling employee relations case-work.
• Thorough knowledge of employment law and its application.
• Strong understanding of equality and diversity principles.
• Experience in policy development within HR.
• Experience working in NHS HR environments.
• Knowledge of Agenda for Change terms and conditions of service.
• Experience in undertaking job evaluation.

Responsibilities

• Act as point of contact for managers seeking advice on terms and conditions of employment and workforce policies.
• Support managers on employee relations cases including sickness absence, disciplinary, grievance, performance management and workplace conflict.
• Participate in job matching and job evaluation; support recruitment processes as required.
• Make recommendations for changes to practice, policy development and ways of working.
• Provide information to managers and Workforce Partners to support divisional workforce strategies and improvements in performance metrics.

Skills

Employee relations

Employment law

Equality & diversity

Policy development

NHS HR

Agenda for Change

Job evaluation

Education

Degree or equivalent experience

CIPD Level 5

CIPD Associate Membership

ECDL or equivalent IT skills

CPD

Tools

Microsoft Office

HRIS systems

Job description

We hope to be welcoming you to the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals team soon; we've shown you exactly why we're 'a great place to work', now it's time to see for yourself! Have a look at our current vacancies down below and make the first step to starting a fantastic new career. Need help with your NHS application? We've got you covered! Our brand-new step-by-step NHS Application Help Video will guide you through the process, making it easier, faster, and stress-free to apply. Additionally, you can check out our helpful Application Guide as well!

You can also look at our recruitment flipbook , an interactive brochure showcasing various entry-level roles. It includes a fun quiz to help you find the right role and links to more information about our hospitals and our fantastic staff.

Corporate Services Roles

For roles in our corporate services departments including – Digital Services (I.T), Recruitment, Employment Services, Temporary Staffing, Rostering, Procurement and Finance, these departments are now part of OneLSC and can be found on the ELHT website: https://elht.nhs.uk/working-us/our-vacancies

Are you seeking to develop your HR career in a fast-paced environment? If so, we would love to hear from you.

As an award-winning teaching hospital, with a range of acute and specialist services, our workforce is diverse and aspires to achieve great things for our patients. Due to the size of the organisation and the variety of the services provided you will have the opportunity build your experience and have an impact on the services you support.

Our Workforce Advisors are focused on providing specialist employee relations advice, coaching managers and developing policies.

We support colleagues to work agilely, and many of the team split the week between working on site and working from home. Please note all staff are required to work on site at least 2 days a week and flexibility is required, subject to the needs of the service e.g. meeting that require attendance in person.

Main duties of the job

No two days are the same in this role. You will be providing advice about sickness absence management, disciplinary and grievance processes and best practice in managing people and teams. This could be over the phone, in online meetings, or face to face.

There will be days when you will deal with challenging and sensitive situations and other days when you will be able to celebrate success and share learning. Every contact you have can make a difference to someone else and high levels of compassion and professional judgement will be crucial.

You will play an important role in providing support and advice to service managers. You will be an advocate for colleagues ensuring policies and employment legislation is followed as well as championing a just culture approach to employee relations matters.

The ongoing learning and development of team members is very important to us and to support this we have weekly team sessions to ensure there is a regular opportunity to meet as a team, discuss learning from cases and have the opportunity for CPD.

Working for our organisation

The Workforce Team is based at Preston Business Centre, co-locating with other key teams such as Recruitment, Payroll and Temporary staffing, providing the opportunity for engagement and closer working relationships.

We employ over 10,000 staff across Royal Preston Hospital and Chorley and South Ribble Hospital and are committed to working in partnership to deliver seamless care to patients close to home.

As a teaching hospital we offer a wide range of development and training opportunities to colleagues in house.

Our purpose is to be recognised as the acute and specialised hospital services in Lancashire and South Cumbria, providing the highest standards of compassionate, safe care that gives our patients a positive experience, excelling in research, innovation and teaching, developing our staff to reach their potential, and improving the health and wellbeing of our diverse communities.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Act as point of contact for managers seeking advice on terms and conditions of employment and Workforce policies.
• Proactively support and advise managers on employee relations cases including sickness absence management, disciplinary, grievance, performance management and workplace conflict
• Participate in job matching and job evaluation; and support recruitment processes as required
• Make recommendations and proposals for changes to practice, policy
  development and ways of working.
• Provide information to managers and Workforce Business Partners to support the development of divisional workforce strategies and improvements in workforce performance metrics.

Knowledge & Experience

• Experience of working in HR undertaking employee relations case-work
• Thorough knowledge of employment law and its application
• Thorough knowledge of the principles of equality and diversity
• Experience in policy development
• Experience of working in HR in the NHS
• Knowledge of Agenda for Change terms and conditions of service
• Experience in undertaking job evaluation

Qualifications & Education

• Good general education to degree equivalent level or equivalent experience
• CIPD level 5 and CIPD Associate Membership
• ECDL or equivalent IT skills
• Evidence of continuing professional development

We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of race, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership, neurodiversity or veteran status are encouraged to apply for this post. Our Statement on the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders is available Here

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when writing job applications

If you choose to use AI or other tools to assist in writing your application, it's essential to personalise this information, particularly your supporting information section. While AI can help streamline the writing process, these tools cannot fully grasp the context or requirements of the job you’re applying for. There is also a risk that it can generate false or misleading information.

AI-generated job applications can often be generic, impersonal and may not accurately reflect your qualifications, knowledge, skills, and experiences. It is crucial that you personalise your supporting statement by articulating these in your unique voice. Relying solely on AI to write your application or supporting information section is not advocated by Lancashire Teaching Hospitals and could negatively impact your chances of success in the application process.

We have added a disclaimer to our application process advising that the use of AI is monitored and if applicants have used it then they are required to declare this.

Supporting Information

The supporting information section is an opportunity for you to showcase how your qualifications, knowledge, skill and experiences align with the requirements and criteria outlined in the job description and person.

Our recruiting managers score applications based on the criteria listed in the person specification. They will be looking for evidence of how you meet these criteria. To increase your chances of securing an interview, provide examples of how you have applied your skills and knowledge in real-life situations. Share work-related successes and challenges you’ve navigated that align with the criteria. These could be from various aspects of your life, including work, education, and personal experiences.

Consider structuring your supporting information section with clear headings or bullet points. This approach will help both you and the recruiting manager navigate through your application more effectively.

Working Smarter pledge

We are reminded everyday of how important life is, so as part of our Working Smarter pledge we offer a variety of flexible working options and wellbeing support to enable our people to find and maintain the right work-life balance.

Disclosure and Barring Service checks

If the role you’ve applied for requires a Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) check we will administer this on your behalf and the cost will be recovered from your salary, either as a one-off payment, or over 3 months. The level of check required depends on the role that you have been offered. Currently the charges are - Basic DBS check £26.40 Standard DBS check £26.40 and Enhanced DBS check £54.40. You should be aware that if you are successful in obtaining a position that requires a DBS check but later withdraw your application, you may be required to reimburse the cost of the DBS check. DBS checks remain free of charge for volunteer positions. The DBS Code of Practice can be accessed here .

In line with guidance from United Kingdom Health Security Agency, all staff and volunteers are required to comply with Trust Infection Prevention and Control processes in relation to safe working. This includes mask wearing and adherence to social distancing at all Trust sites.

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Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

Name Helen Scott Job title Workforce Business Partner – Employee Relations Email address [e-mail] Telephone number 07860502802

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