JOB DESCRIPTION
About Herbert Smith Freehills
As one of the world’s leading law firms, we advise many of the largest and most ambitious organisations across all major regions of the globe. With over 5,000 people, including 3,100 lawyers and over 2,000 business services professionals, operating from our global network of offices across Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and North America, Herbert Smith Freehills is at the heart of the new global business landscape providing premium quality, full-service legal advice.
We recognise that the success of our business and our clients relies on the skills, knowledge and ideas of all our people. Our environment is one in which high performance is expected, in return, we will provide you with rewards and opportunities tailored to your personal and professional goals.
The Opportunity
Primary Objectives:
The primary focus of this role is to act as one of the key HR contacts for the ALT team across the UK, pro-actively delivering business focused HR services and solutions to fee-earning and Business Services Teams.
Primary Responsibilities:
The primary focus of this role is to support the HR Manager to deliver a pro-active HR service to the ALT Practice Group across the UK.
Business partnering and day to day operations
1. Building relationships and an understanding of the ALT practice group, proactively identifying ways that HR can support people and operational priorities.
2. Act as a trusted advisor and sounding board to people managers across ALT UK
3. Provide HR advice and expertise on a wide range of generalist issues, taking into account the operational impact of any intervention.
4. Support the various change management initiatives underway across the firm and work with the HR Manager to communicate any organisational change to the practice areas as appropriate.
Employee Relations
5. First point of contact for ALT team, providing guidance and support to people managers, ensuring that all employee issues are resolved promptly, with the emphasis on building excellent relationships and instilling trust.
6. Proactively identify changes and improvements to employment policies and practices.
7. Advising people managers on how to effectively manage poor performance, ensuring issues are being managed in the appropriate way.
8. With guidance from HR Manager, lead on straightforward ER issues such as disciplinary and grievances.
9. Oversee the probation review process, ensuring that probation decisions are made, and outcomes communicated in a timely way.
10. Management of all flexible working requests (up to appeal), including monitoring of trial periods and advising on policy and procedure.
11. Monitoring and pro-active management of sickness absence (including referrals to Occupational Health or other providers as necessary) and implementation of the firm's sick pay policies.
12. Manage long term sickness cases and PHI claims where necessary.
13. Support the HR Assistant to manage the maternity, shared parental leave and adoption processes for employees.
Joiners and Leavers
14. Working with the HR Assistant to oversee an effective and consistent induction process for new joiners and inbound secondees.
15. Meet with new joiners to the firm, collating feedback and communicating to the appropriate teams as necessary.
16. Conduct exit interviews, collating, and communicating feedback and conduct analysis to identify trends or recommend interventions.
Secondments
17. Manage client and intra-office secondments, working closely alongside International Mobility team and relevant managers in the practice.
18. Oversee secondment policy and ancillary secondment documents, ensuring that inbound and outbound secondees have clear escalation routes while on secondment.
19. Tracking all movement of employees to and from Belfast from a secondment and transfer perspective.
Recruitment
20. Assist the Recruitment Team with the coordination and delivery lateral and graduate recruitment processes as required.
21. Interview or support candidate assessment processes as necessary.
General
22. Be the first point of contact for all HR issues;
23. Oversee monthly payroll activities, ensuring accurate and timely processes are in place.
24. Assist the HR Manager to co-ordinate the delivery and communications of Talent and annual compensation processes in conjunction with the Reward team.
25. Assist the HR Manager with the delivery of the Trainee life cycle, including onboarding, exam registration, seat moves and qualification.
26. Escalate risk issues promptly and openly to HR Manager, identifying the requirement for external legal (or other) advice where appropriate.
27. Be responsible for the creation and pro-active upkeep of the HR Belfast intranet pages, including review of policies as required.
28. Oversee the annual practising certificate renewal of qualified fee earners in the Belfast office.
29. Assist and lead (where applicable) small-scale people projects for ALT UK and the Belfast office.
30. Working with the HR Assistant to ensure organised and well managed and maintained filing systems.
31. Supporting the HR Manager and practice group in preparation for and participation in audits.
32. Collation of employee and applicant data for NI statutory reports including the Annual Monitoring Return and Article 55.
Qualifications, Skills & Experience
33. An extremely well organised, commercial and intelligent HR generalist with a minimum of 2 years HR generalist and business partnering experience at adviser level, preferably with some professional services experience although those with less or more experience will be considered provided they can demonstrate the core skills and experience required for the role.
34. Track record of building strong relationships with internal clients built upon sound technical knowledge and excellent interpersonal skills.
35. Track record of project and stakeholder management skills; confident, with the ability to advise, influence and negotiate with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
36. Proven track record of case management in relation to performance management, grievances and disciplinary matters, health and well-being.
37. Sound understanding of current employment legislation (both N.I. legislation and England & Wales).
38. PC literate (Microsoft Office suite).
39. Familiarity with Workday would be advantageous.
Please note, closing date for applications is 5pm Tuesday 26th March 2024
Team
Human Resources
Working Pattern
Full time
Location
Belfast
Contract type
Permanent Contract
Diversity & Inclusion
At Herbert Smith Freehills you will be part of a diverse, innovative culture where high performance, client focus and highly engaged people are our differentiator. People at our firm come from a range of backgrounds and bring a wide variety of experiences and perspectives to their work with us. We strive to ensure that our inclusive environment means you feel valued and able to perform at your best by being your authentic self at work. We know that our future success not only depends on being innovative and progressive in the changing legal market but, most importantly, on our people feeling highly engaged in meaningful work.
We understand that you have commitments and personal interests outside of work and we strive to create a working environment based on mutual trust and respect, in which you can perform at your best whilst maintaining sustainable balance across your life.