People Advisor (20 hours per week, 6 month fixed term contract)

We are looking for a People Advisor to join our People team on a 6 month fixed term contract in our Support Office.

As the People Advisor, you will work closely with the Retail team and Store Managers to provide advice and support on all employee relation issues. You will coach and mentor our retail teams on all performance management activities and provide key People metrics to assist with the management of our teams within the retail business. You will also provide support across our warehouse and Support Office teams when needed.

You will be hands on, enjoy spending time out in stores and always look for solutions to improve our people practices and enhance our culture.

This is a part time role working 20 hours per week, ideally 5 hours per day Tuesday to Friday but we are open to conversations.

Our Support Office is based in Tolworth, near Chessington, only a 30-minute journey from London Waterloo. We offer hybrid working with a split of office and home working.

A bit about us …

At Oliver Bonas (OB), our values of Work Hard, Play Hard & Be Kind are integral to everything we do. Collaboration, imagination, curiosity, and teamwork are key to our success, and everyone has their part to play in making OB a special place to work.

Having fun is key, and a playful and positive approach creates an optimistic environment. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we are serious about what we do.

Our team knows their stuff. They’re confident and creative and unafraid to challenge convention to find solutions, taking accountability for their actions, but always with kindness and humility.

More about the role …

An OB People Advisor will:

• Provide employee relations advice to our retail teams in accordance with the company policies and current legislation
• Assist with any investigations into grievance and disciplinary issues and advise our managers, attending meetings where needed
• Support with all maternity/paternity/adoption/flexible working requests/long term sickness
• Write all employee related documentation – letters, follow up notes and ensure all records are saved in the system
• Coach and develop our retail teams on all People practices building their people management capability and confidence
• Monitor all employee relations activity across our stores
• Conduct People team store visits with store managers to help improve people practices
• Work with the Head of People to manage any industrial tribunal claims, liaising with employment lawyers where appropriate to reach a resolution
• Assist with the introduction of new or revised People policies and processes, including the delivery of workshops for store management teams.
• Work with Store Managers to ensure all progress chats and appraisals happen on time and developmental targets are set
• Use the 9 box grid to work with Area Managers to succession plan for managers
• Identify gaps for recruitment
• Assist the Recruitment team with Store and Assistant Store Manager recruitment where needed
• Advise Store Managers with best practice recruitment
• Conduct and collate exit interview information for store managers to establish reasons for turnover
• Monitor store turnover and investigate reasons why, providing suggestions for improvements
• Monitor absence across stores and suggest ideas for reducing and managing more effectively

Bonas Benefits:

• Generous employee discount up to 50% off all OB products
• Free access to our 24 hour employee assistance programme with Care First – offering financial, emotional and vocational support
• Flexible holiday – 30 days (including bank holidays) – increasing to 35 days with length of service
• Annual discretionary profit related bonus scheme
• Auto-enrolment into our pension plan
• Free access to our onsite gym
• Cycle to work scheme
• Quarterly free lunch
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave
• Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Voice network and EDI team
• Mental Health First Aider support
• Education and support throughout Looop eLearning platform

What we look for:

• Excellent people skills – coaching, supporting
• Experienced in people management
• Good understanding of HR Systems (preferably Core HR)
• Influencing skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Organised and have the ability to multi-task
• Resilient
• Discrete and professional
• Genuine interest in HR
• Attention to detail

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at OB

At Oliver Bonas, our promise is to do our bit to make living a joyful experience and give cause for optimism. This promise is central to our work in equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). To bring joy to others, we must first ensure everyone at OB feels valued, included and most importantly, can be themselves at work.

It is important to us that our brand reflects wider society and the communities in which we operate. As a result, we welcome all eligible applicants for this role however we are particularly interested in speaking to eligible candidates from the Black, Asian & Mixed Heritage communities.

Oliver Bonas is a Disability Confident Committed employer under the Disability Confident employer scheme.

To read more about our ED&I commitments, head over to the EDI page on our website: https://www.oliverbonas.com/meet-the-team/diversity