Employee Relations Adviser Sunderland, North East England, England
University of Sunderland
Full Time
Sunderland, North East England, England
35333 - 42155 GBP ANNUAL Today
Job description
Provide a pragmatic, flexible and risk measured employee relations service
to faculties and services interpreting legislation and case law to advise on
ER cases across the University.
Key
Responsibilities
and
Accountabilities:
- Use employee voice insights to ensure University employee relations
Plan and leads to improved business outcomes.
- Support managers in carrying out investigations and hearings, taking an
- Contribute to the development and review of ER related policy and
reflect up to date legal requirements as well as the University values
and employer brand.
- Support and advise on contractual issues and ensure our different
categories of staff are appropriately engaged to maximise organizational
performance.
- Promote the University mediation service, striving to ensure early
- Support on the University approach and processes for job evaluation,
- Build and manage excellent working relationships with the trade
- Support the University operational response to industrial action or trade
- Support and review effective employee relations systems and
efficient reporting, monitoring and management of casework and can
provide meaningful data analytics.
- Develop and support line managers to confidently deal with employee
upskill and build competency across the University.
- Prepare and respond to early conciliation and employment tribunal
- Seek and interpret legal advice as appropriate and assess it as part of a
- Ensure a learning approach to employee relations casework is adopted,
cases, involving appropriate stakeholders.
- Provide training and briefings in own area of expertise to upskill line
procedure
- Contribute to HR projects and working groups as appropriate.
- Undertake continuous professional development to ensure knowledge
of legislation, case law and best practice in employee relations.
- Act as an ambassador for the University and the HR team and role
model the University values.
University of Sunderland
Role Profile
Part 2
Part 2A: Essential and Desirable Criteria
Essential Essential
Qualifications and Professional Memberships:
- Undergraduate Degree educated or significant relevant experience (see
below)
Knowledge and Experience:
- Significant HR experience in a similar role in a medium to large
complex organisation.
- Significant experience of handling complex employee relations issues
to an effective resolution.
- Experience of building effective working relationships and managing
negotiations with trade unions.
- Thorough and up to date working knowledge of existing and
forthcoming employment legislation and case law and its practical
application in a medium or large complex organisation.
- Recent experience of developing and writing HR policy and procedure
- An understanding of current trends in employee relations and best
practice in the sector and beyond.
- Personal presence, resilience, and credibility with a track record of
using influencing skills to achieve positive results.
- IT and numeracy skills including ability to use Microsoft Office
applications and analyse and interpret data.
- A good level of relevant digital and IT skills for the role including
competence in Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel.
Qualifications and Professional Memberships:
• Chartered Member of the CIPD with evidence of consistent and recent
- Evidence of recent and relevant CPD activity
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Qualifications and Professional Memberships:
• Chartered Member of the CIPD with evidence of consistent and recent
CPD activity.
- Post-graduate or equivalent qualification in a related discipline
Knowledge and Experience:
- Experience of working in the Higher Education Sector
- A good understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the
Higher Education Sector
- Experience of communicating and collaborating remotely using tools
such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
- Trained Mediator
Part 2B: Key Competencies
Competencies
are assessed at
the
interview/selectio
n testing stage
Communication
Oral Communication
- Summarises and interprets complex, conceptual and special matters to
aid others' understanding and aimed at their needs
- Uses appropriate styles and arguments to influence and negotiate
satisfactory outcomes
- Monitors understanding of others, develops approach and takes
corrective action if required
Written Communication
- Conveys information of a complex, conceptual and specialist nature
using a range of styles and media selected to meet the needs of others
- Presents complex information in formats appropriate to non- specialists
without comprising meaning
- Monitors the reactions of others and takes appropriate steps to remedy
any miscommunications
Decision Making
Independent
Decisions
- Considers wider impact of decisions, assesses possible outcomes and
their likelihood
- Uses judgement to make decisions with limited or ambiguous data and
takes account of multiple factors
- Distinguishes between the need to make a decision, when to defer and
when not to take a decision
Collaborative Decisions
- Helps others to explore options that initially appear to be inappropriate
or unfeasible and recognise when a decision is or is not needed
- Enables others to contribute to decisions
- Ensures that options are weighed, outcomes identified and chances of
success considered
- Challenges decisions, appropriately to ensure consideration and
processes are robust
Provision of Advice
- Anticipates and highlights issues that need to be taken into account
- Outlines possible impacting factors, assessing their degree of influence
on the choice of options
- Ensures previous learning is included
Initiative & Problem Solving
- Initiates processes and procedures to resolve new problems
- Anticipates possible implementation difficulties and identifies practical
ways of overcoming or preventing them
- Takes account of others and the broader context when generating
options
Pastoral Care & Welfare
- Deals with difficult situations or confidential matters, according to policy
and procedures
- Involves others or refers elsewhere for assistance if the situation
becomes more complex and if additional help or information is required
Planning and Organising Resources
- Actively seeks information to support planning and prioritisation of work
- Ensures that time and resources are used effectively to their maximum
efficiency
- Checks and reports on progress and achievement against plans to key
parties
- Develops plans to take account of problems, delays and new priorities
- Co-ordinates the work of others to improve performance and use of
resources
Service Delivery
- Adapts services and systems to meet customers’ needs and identifies
ways of improving standards
- Learns from complaints and takes action to resolve them
- Collates feedback and views from customers and keeps up-to-date with
market trends to inform service development and make changes
- Actively promotes services
- Monitors standards and levels of service constantly
- Identifies ways of making improvements to standards based on
feedback and anticipated changes in the market
Team Development
- Plans and generates training and development opportunities to meet
team members current and future learning needs
- Enables team members to apply their learning
- Evaluates learning and development activities with those involved
Teamwork & Motivation
- Ensures appropriate resources and support are available so that the
team and individual members are able achieve their objectives
- Monitors progress and takes appropriate action to deal with difficulties
or slippage
- Deals with conflict within the team
- Creates a sense of common purpose
Date Completed: November 2022
