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HR Consultant

Fixed Term (18 months), Full Time

Up to £52,901 per annum

Location: Chelmsford

Working Style: Anywhere worker

Closing Date: 11th May 2023

Please note this is a fixed term contract/secondment opportunity for a period of 18 months.

The Opportunity

This role is part of the People Business Partnering team and supports the delivery of the workforce strategy, functional people strategies and the implementation of strategic initiatives across a broad spectrum of functional areas.

Working collaboratively within People and Transformation and across a number of business functions at any one time, this role requires HR expertise to support the business at Heads of Service level and below, in implementing organisation change projects and managing employment cases which are escalated by the people service centre.

The role will also coach managers dealing with these projects and cases, to develop skill sets to increase their confidence and effectiveness in managing others. Working as part of the wider Business Partnering team, this role provides support to the strategic business partners, offering challenge and high quality and high impact HR advice, within and outside the People and Transformation function.

Tracy Walters, Employment Practice & Consultancy Lead, provides an insight into the role and what it entails. Please click here to view the video.

You will be responsible for;

• Working under the direction of the People Business Partner/s to translate business requirements into prioritised people requirements, using a consultancy approach to contract the People and Transformation offer with the business.
• Coaching leaders and managers in dealing with business change project implementation (including redesign, redundancy, TUPE) and moderate to high complexity cases, individual performance and employee relations issues, providing high quality advice based on an in depth knowledge of employment and case law, policy and good practice, including conflict resolution and mediation.
• Shared accountability with the business for leading continuous improvement in business outcomes, by coaching and influencing leaders in all aspects of People and Transformation.
• People and Transformation projects (or parts of projects) for the business area or for People and Transformation itself and support People Business Partners in delivering business performance improvement.
• Contributing to intelligence and insight gathering into significant concerns across the function and/or patterns of behaviour, to ensure such insights can be used to drive and address underlying business issues.
• Providing a comprehensive HR advice and support service to managers and customers with regard to more complex case work and change programmes, using personal judgement in making effective decisions, ensuring matters can move forward and options considered.
• Leading the delivery of projects to meet agreed outcomes within agreed timescales, working collaboratively across the business functions and with the People Business Partners.
• Contributing to the achievement of the Council’s/Functions priorities and work collaboratively, to ensure they are implemented and delivered within the appropriate services.
• Providing information and advice to customers on the practical application/implications of changes in legislation and other good HR practice, identifying how best to distil complex data into distinct, clear and concise concepts others can understand.
• Using professional expertise and high standards to promote how People and Transformation can add value to the business by recommending improvements in current policies and practices, to challenge current thinking and drive greater commitment to alternative approaches or solutions.
• Contributing to the planning and delivery of HR services in a customer focussed way in order to promote continuous improvement within HR services.
• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives, which are defined annually within the performance management framework.

You'll do great here if you

• Have strong consulting skills, including excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to make strong and influential relationships with a broad range of stakeholders, providing both high challenge and support.
• Are able to analyse people and business metrics and develop insight and solutions; using these to influence decision making in the context of the business and to shape and influence others.
• Can facilitate successful change management techniques and champion the importance of engaging leaders and managers in the change.
• Have a working knowledge of the critical factors in planning change and the stages and phases of project and programme management, and are able to identify risks and create mitigation plans; Are able to develop the business case for significant change programmes and manage implementation, seeking opportunities to understand blockages and drive continuous improvement, including seeking ideas and feedback from customers.
• Know how to design and develop people activities and interventions to improve business outcomes; understanding the key drivers of employee engagement and how to coach leaders to understand and drive business value from them.
• Understand the broad employee relations landscape and can use this to influence and coach the business, and understand the broad legal context in which People and Transformation operates and can apply this to managing complex employee relations issues and mitigating organisational risk.
• Know how to implement people initiatives and develops metrics to measure their impact, and use this to adjust and develop future practice. Demonstrating commitment to own professional development.
• MCIPD qualified or working towards this.

To read more about us please visit: People & Transformation

Why Essex?

Essex County Council has a location to be proud of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career. Read more about us here.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process.

We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

What you should do next

If you are interested in finding out more about this role, we would love to hear from you. Please apply via the Working for Essex website.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community here .

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email [email protected]

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