Penningtons Manches Hiring for HR Advisor at Guildford Full Time

Term:
Permanent

Department:
Human Resources

Location:
Guildford

Company background

Penningtons Manches Cooper is a leading UK and international law firm which provides high quality legal advice tailored to both businesses and individuals. We address the specific objectives of each client through our flair and technical expertise and offer a personal service founded on a strong team ethic.
Today, we have UK offices in the City of London, Basingstoke, Birmingham, Cambridge, Guildford, Oxford and Reading while our growing overseas network stretches from Asia to South America through our presence in Singapore, Piraeus, Paris, and Madrid. We have 140+ partners and over 850 people in total.
We have established a strong reputation in a variety of sectors, particularly technology, private wealth, shipping and real estate. Our lawyers are also recognised for their expertise in life sciences, education, retail, sports and entertainment and international trade.
Among our clients we count multi-national corporations, public companies, professional partnerships, banks and financial institutions as well as private individuals, owner managed businesses and start-ups. We are conscious that our culture and close working relationships are vital assets and we are determined to maintain these as we increase in size.
Our broad international focus is supported by well-established links with law firms throughout the world. Penningtons Manches Cooper is a member of Multilaw and the European Law Group, networks with representatives in over 100 countries, and many of our lawyers play leading roles in various international bodies.
We believe that our values (we care, stronger as one, curious and grounded, constructively challenging and proactively evolving) are core to our success.

Summary of role

This is a generalist HR Advisor role. Working closely with the HR Business Partner, Shared Services and generalist team, you will support the fee earning Private Individual division and Central division. The role is client facing and you will be responsible for providing effective and proactive advisory advice to both individuals and teams and you will build pro-active and dynamic relationships with the business to ensure that a high standard of support is provided to your client groups. You will act as an Employee Champion, driving engagement and reflecting the Firm’s culture and values
The role will operate on a firmwide team basis, and occasional travel between offices may be required. Home office location of role is flexible (ideally Guildford or Basingstoke).

Responsibilities
The responsibilities listed below are intended to be a broad but not exhaustive list.

General

• First point of contact for all internal and external HR enquiries.

• Work closely with the HR Business Partner/specialist Managers and Team Partners to understand the business context and progress initiatives to address employee engagement.

• Support the HR Business Partner to ensure that employees and managers receive guidance with regards to all generalist HR issues.

• Provide timely communications to the relevant teams, and where appropriate firmwide (e.g. Joiners, leavers, absence, travel issues, office closures etc.)

• Contribute towards providing meaningful analytics to enable business improvement (e.g. exit interview summaries, absence data, headcount reports, start and leaver reports).

• Conduct exit interviews to gain further insight and identify improvement areas.

• Involvement in key HR projects, and support strategic initiatives across the team as required.

• Work closely with Shared Services to ensure a seamless process in relation to all HR administration.

Employee Relations

• Manage day-to-day employee relations cases with appropriate guidance from the HR Business Partner (including disciplinary, grievance, redundancy, and capability).

• Keep accurate and appropriate records of ER related events.

• Lead the performance management within divisions (with support from the HR Business Partner as required) advising managers and individuals on performance management policy and procedures (e.g. quarterly check-ins, performance improvement plans, and probationary periods)

• Manage all absence management issues liaising with both the individual and the manager.

Resourcing

• Alert the HR Business Partner to any recruitment needs.

• Assist the Early Careers Recruitment Manager with assessment days and first stage trainee interviews.

• Support the Early Careers Recruitment Manager with induction and joiner processes, newly qualified promotions, and trainee leavers, delegating to the HR Shared Services Team as necessary.

• Oversee the timely onboarding of employees, with the support of the HR Shared Services Team. This includes offer paperwork being issued, first day arrangements, inductions, training modules, and communications with Team Partners as necessary.

• Work alongside the HR Business Partner to provide advice and support to the Resourcing Manager on salary, benefit and start date negotiations as required.

• Complete a thorough onboarding process from acceptance of offer to the end of the probationary period (e.g. induction packs, firmwide and local inductions, office tours, follow-up checks, training etc).

Learning and Development

• Actively publicise training courses available to employees.

• Support the Learning and Development team by advising line managers and employees on relevant training courses available and encouraging employees to attend, and complete online compulsory training modules.

• Support employees in assessing their strengths and development needs.

• Inform the HR Business Partner of any training needs within your client groups.

Reward and Benefits

• Provide support to the HR Business Partner with input into annual salary review conversations.

HR Procedures and Systems

• Lead on monthly payroll input and checking process for relevant client groups. Escalate queries to the HR Business Partner as necessary.

• Oversee and provide support as necessary on all processes relating to the employee lifecycle (e.g. joiners, leavers, reward and benefits).

• Manage parental leave and flexible working request processes, and expedite appropriate documentation as necessary.

• Support Team Partners and Directors and manage the quarterly check-in process.

The firm operates a hybrid agile working policy allowing employees to work from home (or another UK location) for at least 50% of their time. Individuals can also apply for other flexible working options either at the time of recruitment or during the course of their employment.

Essential and desirable criteria

• A clear ability to manage and prioritise a complex and changing workload, with ability to work under pressure within tight deadlines, whilst maintaining high attention to detail at all times.

• Good understanding and experience of managing ER cases and strong knowledge of employment law and best practice.

• Professional approach with excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, that will ensure success and command instant credibility at all levels within the firm.

• A strong team orientation.

• IT literate with experience of HR databases, HR systems, Outlook, Excel and Word.

• Complete confidentiality at all times.

Equal opportunities statement

We actively want to attract a vibrant and varied workforce and welcome applications from everyone, from all backgrounds. We ensure that there are equal opportunities in all stages of the recruitment process and employment. All job applicants and employees receive equal treatment regardless of age, sex, gender, marital status, race, religion, colour, ethnic or national origins, sexual orientation or disability, and we are happy to make reasonable adjustments to enable disabled or neurodiverse candidates (including where a mental health issue is classified as a disability) to demonstrate their suitability for the position.

Job Type: Permanent