General Manager - Employee Relations & Consequence Management at Equity Bank Kenya

JOB PURPOSE:

• Our purpose at Equity Group is lived in transforming lives, giving dignity, and expanding opportunities for wealth creation. Consistent with our Critical Success Factor 1: ‘An organization culture that values people, enhances performance, and supports business’, this role will provide strategic leadership in the area of Employee and Industrial Relations and oversee people governance obligations across the Group. The role holder will work in close collaboration with subsidiary Employee Relations leads to harmonise Employee Relations standards across Equity Group.
• Reporting to the Group Director of HR the role holder will develop ER&IR governance frameworks and provide policy advice and guidance on subject matters across the Group.  The role holder will develop organisational strategies to foster amiable employee and industrial relations both internally, and with external social partners. The role holder will also be responsible for designing and implementing disciplinary and grievance handling policies and procedures taking into account, application of law across all subsidiaries, our values, existent collective bargaining agreements, Group HR & Operational policies and procedures, and regulatory obligations.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Employee Relations & Consequence Management

• Provide strategic advice to Group leadership on the management of employee relations and industrial relations across the Group subsidiaries.
• Develop, review and implement relevant HR Policies & Procedures, and provide employees and management with guidance on all matters arising thereof.
• Collaborating closely with subsidiary ER and Legal teams, advise Group leadership and senior management on employee relations matters, labour regulations, and emerging industrial relations trends across the Group subsidiaries.
• In liaison with the Forensic Department and or other concerned departments, line management, and employees, investigate or coordinate the investigation of employee cases relating to disciplinary and grievance matters.
• Oversee key aspects of employees’ separation procedures and communication to constantly protect the interests of the Group.
• Collaborate with line management and HRBPs to support the implementation of PIPs (Performance Improvement Plans) driving for positive outcomes, and where necessary guide line managers to appropriately handle any resultant disciplinary action.
• Train business leadership, line managers, and employees on legal affairs concerning employment.
• Train business leadership, line managers, and employees in best employee relations practices and strategies for managing employee grievances.
• Instil principles of Fair Accountability in Consequence Management processes and educate leadership and line managers on the application of the same.

Records Management

• Maintain accurate and consistent data, records, and statistics relating to all employee relations matters including the management of physical employee files, HRMIS employee records, observing document retention and disposal guidelines as per the law and internal policy requirements.
• Be custodian of all minutes for all employee relations related meetings.
• Provide secretarial support for employee committees and other forums such as Disciplinary and Grievance Handling Committees, Appeals Committees, Union-Management Meetings, OSH (Occupational Safety & Health) Committees, and other employee engagement forums designed to foster harmonious employee relations.

Governance & Risk Management

• Take central ownership of the Group HR risk and obligations register, providing guidance to all segments of HR on all matters concerning assurance.
• Lead the execution of RCSA (Risk Control Self Assessments) across the Group HR department and define global standards for implementation across the Group subsidiaries
• Coordinate all compliance and audit remediation activities across Group HR acting as a central point of consolidation for tracking and reporting on the same.
• Ensure compliance with internal audit standards, and risk standards through closure of risk and audit findings and observations within the agreed timelines.
• Closely track and report an all risk and audit exceptions across the group, leading closure of the same items through subsidiary counterparts.
• Maintain a Group HR Risk Register and Heat map updating it with new developments.
• Conduct a Risk Assessment of the Employee Relations and Industrial Relations environments across the Group and present a consolidated report to Group Leadership, showing the identified risks, potential costs, and recommendations to mitigate the risks.

Relationship Management

• Manage and maintain cordial relationships with internal and/or external partners, stakeholders, and suppliers including: Subsidiary Heads of HR Departments, Appointed Consultants, Trade Unions/Committees, Medical, Wellness, and Safety Providers, and related Consultants, Industry bodies (e.g. Kenya Bankers Association, Federation of Kenya Employers, equivalent subsidiary partners, e.t.c.), line managers, lawyers, Divisional Heads, Heads of Departments and Units, Branch Managers, and employees.
• Create strong partnerships with line Managers to plan and implement various human resources and labour relations initiatives that are consistent with overall business and labour strategies and contracts

Reporting & Communication

• Prepare substantive management papers, reports, recommendations, opinions, briefs, presentations, proposals relating to Human Resources internal committees for the consumption of Executive management, and the Board.
• In collaboration with the Group’s Communication department disseminate employee relations centred internal communication and monitor feedback.
• Monitor the industrial climate, make early identification of threats to industrial harmony and smooth running of the business, across all subsidiaries, and advise Group leadership accordingly.

Policy & Process Compliance 

• Coordinate employee discipline, and disciplinary processes among the locational committees and implement disciplinary policy accordingly
• Ensure compliance with good human resource practices, labour laws and good labour relations with the trade unions across all subsidiaries.
• Handle the investigation and disposition of grievances in a timely manner. Define the SLAs to be adopted across the group.
• Work tenaciously to proactively avoid and minimize all Group exposures to legal and regulatory penalties related to Employee Relations, including those arising from violations of employment legislation across all subsidiaries.

Representation

• Robustly represent Equity Group as the lead negotiator in Collective Bargaining negotiations, and in any trade disputes that may arise within the Industry. Closely support subsidiary ER leads in this respect.
• Work with union representatives and line Managers to resolve issues regarding operations, safety, discipline, and grievances across all subsidiaries.
• Interpret provisions of collective bargaining agreement to Group leadership and all employee members of the union.
• Internally review and manage law suits filed against the Group and its subsidiaries, by former employees on various grounds related to the conduct of their employment.
• Collaborate closely with legal counsel and other departments in the preparation for, and participation in negotiation with employee and labor groups, as well as in preparation for representation in court matters

Employee Wellness Support

• Implement and manage employee wellness strategies and policies to ensure a conducive working environment, employees commitment, and a great employee experience. 
• Coordination of the provision of counselling services to employees

Team Leadership

• Provide thought leadership to all Group entities on the area of people governance
• Mentor, train, coach and support all subsidiary ER leads and define high standards of operations across the Group
• Ensure adequate staffing of employee relations departments across the Group to provide robust timely support all leadership teams
• Ensure that there is a succession plan for each role in the Unit across all subsidiaries 
• Identify team training needs, develop a training plan, ensure each member attends training in line with the target number of learning days, and support the team members’ personal development. 
• Manage overall performance against Group objectives by providing performance objectives, conducting quarterly reviews and addressing raised concerns in the reviews
• Develop and implement career plans and development plan for each role in the unit

Key Organisational Support Expected

• Executive support to the Group Director, Human Resources 
• Provide ongoing direction and coordination of Employee Relations teams across all subsidiaries
• Provide ER & IR reports within agreed timelines
• Adhere to defined SLA’s, TAT’s and other issue resolution timelines
• Represent the Group in court hearings as directed by the Group leadership

Qualifications

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED FOR THIS ROLE

• The right candidate MUST possess sound working knowledge of: -
• Kenya Labour Laws plus exposure to Labour Laws of other African countries where the Group has its operations
• Handling Collective Bargaining Agreements between the key social partners across all subsidiaries e.g. KBA & BIFU for Kenya
• Comprehension, interpretation, and application of the appropriate sections of applicable laws, guidelines, regulations, ordinances, and policies.
• Development and implementation of Human Resources policies and procedures

Work Experience

• Minimum 7 years of continuous specialist Employee Relations & Industrial Relations experience in a busy Human Resources department within a large enterprise, and
• Overall a minimum 10 years Human Resources experience in various roles
• Solid experience engaging with labour social partners including Unions, Labour Offices, the industrial Court, and Employee Union Representatives
• Solid experience of convening Joint Consultation Councils with all social partners in the ER & IR space

Educational & Professional Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Relations, Human Resource Management, or a business related field from a recognized University
• Professional Qualification in ER/IR, workplace Mediation, or a specific area of HR
• IHRM Membership is a mandatory requirement
• CPS qualification is desirable

Competencies

• Advanced oral and written communication skills with ability to clearly articulate ER/IR matters
• Demonstrate great tact, calmness, and persuasiveness in controversial and/or confrontational situations.
• Demonstrate advanced stakeholder management skills
• Strong interpersonal Skills
• Strong judgement and evaluation skills
• Advanced Communication skills
• Highly developed emotional intelligence
• Management of conflicts and dispute resolution
• Strong planning and organising skills
• Advanced negotiation skills