Theatre Royal Plymouth Hiring for HR Advisor at Plymouth Full Time

Human Resources Advisor

Reports to: Head of HR & Business Support
Responsible for: HR System Administration
Salary: £27,500 per annum
Contract: Permanent, 40 hours per week
Benefits: 28 days annual leave (inclusive of Bank Holidays; increasing to 30 and 33 after 3 and 5 years service); contributory pension; staff discounts and ticket offers (where available)

Theatre Royal Plymouth is a registered charity, inspiring a lifetime of creativity for audiences, artists and participants throughout Plymouth and the wider region. As the principal home of performing arts in the Southwest, we engage and inspire many communities, creating memorable experiences for people from all backgrounds. TRP do this by creating and presenting a breadth of shows on a range of scales, with their extensive creative engagement programmes, by embracing the vitality of new talent and supporting emerging and established artists, and by collaborating with a range of partners to provide dynamic cultural leadership for the city of Plymouth.
The HR Advisor Vacancy is within the Human Resources and Business Support Team at TRP and the successful candidate will play a critical role in our objective to be a supportive and inclusive employer of choice within the city of Plymouth.

Inclusion and Diversity

We are committed to cultivating a culture of inclusion at TRP with a workforce, participants and audiences that reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.

The collective power of each team member’s life experiences, knowledge, innovation, self-expression, and talent creates the very best environment for us to achieve our ambitions and lead the sector.

In recruiting for our team, we recognise the unique contributions that you can bring in terms of education, opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, colour, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and beliefs.

How to Apply

Closing date for applications: Monday 6th June 2022 at 09:00
Interview Date: First interviews likely to be scheduled on 10th and 13th June 2022
We’re here to talk! We’re available to speak to you before you make your application so, if you’re not quite sure if your skills match the role, want to talk about how flexible working could support you, or just check any of the details in this document, please do email us on [email protected]_ with subject line ‘HR Advisor’_ to arrange a chat.

The Role
The HR Advisor will build and maintain supportive and constructive relationships with managers and team members within TRP and contribute to the provision of an inclusive and nurturing employment environment which supports people to thrive and succeed. As a champion and ambassador of TRP’s values, they will provide professional and expert advice and guidance on all employment matters which is considerate and nuanced and which delivers positive outcomes for both the organisation and its valued employees. They are the custodian of the HR System (Iris Cascade) ensuring that HR Data is accurate and up to date; utilising this to support decision making; facilitate inclusivity and to inform HR, Recruitment & Training activity.
Key responsibilities and accountabilities include:

• To be a subject matter expert in relation to employment matters; including all aspects of employment law and employee relations but also current best practice in recruitment, motivation & engagement, performance management and development, health & wellbeing, coaching and mentoring and effective leadership. Moreover, to utilise this knowledge to consider and develop appropriate recommendations in nuanced and complex situations and articulate these in a clear, concise, and compelling way.
• To have the ‘ear’ of the workforce – both management and team members; pro-actively creating early opportunities for information to be shared, plans developed and potential issues to be aired and solutions developed collaboratively and constructively.
• To work in partnership with the Recruitment & Training Advisor to ensure that processes are aligned and that managers of new team members are equipped and prepared to provide a quality welcome and onboarding process, following up as necessary with managers and new joiners throughout their settling in period.
• To contribute to the facilitation and delivery of the TRP Experience Day induction for all new staff including welcoming delegates and leading the HR sections of the day including ‘Our Values’ and our ‘Inclusivity Plans’.
• To develop an understanding through dialogue and discussion with line managers of the learning and development needs within their teams and to work collaboratively with the Recruitment and Training Advisor to establish annual learning priorities across TRP and make recommendations to the Head of HR & Business Support.
• To support the Head of HR & Business Support with the design and development of learning to support management and leadership development in line with agreed priorities. Where appropriate, to deliver training in relation to areas of subject matter expertise.
• To be an advocate for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion across all aspects of TRP and with the support of the Head of HR & Business Support contribute to the development and delivery of Inclusivity Action Plans in line with our Business Plan. Moreover, to support line managers and Heads of Department across TRP to develop and deliver their own inclusivity objectives and to engage their teams in creating a more inclusive TRP.
• To provide expert knowledge and support to the Business Support Team with their delivery of HR Administration and HR System tasksensuring that they are carried out in good time and in line with HR policy and best practice. To provide information, training, and advice to the Business Support Team with the provision of HR administration and ensure any queries are resolved quickly and professionally.
• To be an ‘expert’ for the HR System (Iris Cascade) and to ensure that the system is appropriately maintained; that data is accurately collected, securely maintained, and regularly updated. To educate and engage managers and teams in the use and usefulness of the system.
• To use HR data to provide informative and useful reports to enable proactive and supportive management intervention in potential issues (i.e. absence, turnover etc) and to provide regular monitoring information for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion objectives both in relation to TRP and Arts Council England requirements.

• To be a champion of TRPs Values and an advocate of the Positive Performance Framework, ensuring that these are at the heart of all activity and advice and supporting line managers and Heads of Department to use these tools in the engagement and development of their teams.
• To be an ambassador for the health and wellbeing of all colleagues. To work with internal and external partners to deliver a collaborative and cross departmental approach to Wellbeing in the Workplace, including the co-ordination and facilitation of a ‘Wellbeing Champion Network’.
• To support the Head of HR & Business Support in carrying out an annual review of the Positive Performance Framework, facilitating workshops with colleagues to check understanding, consider relevance in current context, gather feedback, and make recommendations for any update or refresh that might be required. To support with the communication and engagement of colleagues for any changes or revisions.
• To support the Head of HR & Business Support with a regular review of HR Policies, Processes and Systems and to contribute to project planning and delivery for the implementation, communication and engagement of new systems and procedures.
• To undertake project work as may be required and relevant to the role and in line with TRP Business Plan objectives.
• To represent the HR & Business Support Team at TRP meetings and events and to contribute to internal communications and newsletters etc. ensuring that all departmental objectives and plans are clearly and compellingly shared.
• To maintain own professional knowledge and undertake development activities as agreed and to willingly share knowledge and learning with colleagues in support of their development.
• To undertake other duties commensurate with the role as discussed and agreed with the Head of HR & Business Support.

The Person
Our Values are at the heart of everything we say and do, and our people demonstrate these values in every aspect of their work. To be successful in this role, you should be able to demonstrate the following skills, experience, and behaviour in line with these values.
Quality:
Taking pride in achieving excellence. We take responsibility for and pride in what we do, recognising each other’s good work. We set consistently high expectations and ensure that everyone has the skills to achieve excellence.

Collaboration:
Valuing each other in the way we work, communicate, and spend time together: We communicate regularly with each other, listening and understanding people’s needs. We value and respect the relationships we have with colleagues and partners and we celebrate shared successes.

• CIPD Qualification or equivalent would be beneficial – but we are equally interested in hearing from candidates with relevant experience.
• Comprehensive knowledge of UK Employment Legislation and Employee Relations.
• Experience of designing and delivering training appropriate to role.
• Previous experience of working as an HR Advisor or HR Assistant – but also interested in hearing from people with excellent people management / leadership experience who may be looking for a career change.
• Experience of HR Management Systems, ideally as a system administrator and with ability to construct and interpret HR reports and data.
• Able to work autonomously with accountability for the delivery of high-quality outputs and targets.
• Experience of Wellbeing at Work and supporting healthy workplace initiatives.

• Able to establish and nurture credible and constructive working relationships at all levels within a diverse community.
• Demonstrates empathy and understanding.
• Able to confidently engage audiences when imparting information that influences behaviour and learning.
• Works across departments and disciplines to deliver business objectives.
• Displays a flexible ‘can-do’ approach and supports others to achieve success.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with a persuasive and compelling style and ability to present complex information clearly and simply to diverse audiences.
• Experience of using HR Data to pro-actively inform management interventions and improvements.
• Confident networker both internally and externally.

Creativity:
Being imaginative in everything we do: We use our knowledge, experience, and judgement to explore doing things differently. We aim to empower everyone in the organisation to adopt a flexible, open-minded, and imaginative approach.

Diversity:
Embracing the diversity among our people and community: We embrace and value difference and individuality treating everyone as equally important. Together we are stronger and more effective.

• Creates dynamic and engaging communications that are appropriate for diverse audiences.
• Considers a range of options and is sympathetic to nuances and sometimes conflicting needs when developing strategies and solutions.
• Flexible and agile – able to adapt to a changing landscape and to reprioritize and reframe workloads and projects and consider new approaches.
• Keeps up to date with latest innovation and best practice in own profession and industry and maintains awareness of regional and national initiatives that might support knowledge and development
• Pro-actively manages own learning and development; reflects and improves on own performance

• Current and extensive knowledge of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion both in terms of the legislative framework but also best practice and latest innovations and opportunities.
• Understanding of the particular cultural, social and economic issues within the South West Region how these might be addressed as part of an inclusion strategy.
• An awareness of activities and initiatives to support Equality Diversity & Inclusion within the Arts would be beneficial – but we’d also be interested to hear about experiences of improving ED&I in other industries, particularly within the charitable, public or education sectors.
• Ability to consider the needs of a wide range of audiences and to adapt approach / delivery accordingly to remove barriers to inclusion.

Job Type: Full-time

Salary: £27,500.00 per year