Job Description

• Help design, deliver and, when required, lead the ROI’s employee relations, colleague
• listening and business change strategies and plans
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with Unions (by
• leading or supporting, as appropriate, with the communication, consultation, or
• negotiation between parties) to create a proactive partnership with each union which,
• at its heart, jointly delivers business benefit and positive colleague engagement.
• Work closely with key stakeholders, to develop and deliver toolkits, training
• interventions and upskilling strategies which raise line manager ER capability and
• confidence to ensure policies are applied correctly; colleague experience is enhanced;
• business change is implemented appropriately; and trade union partners are properly
• engaged.
• Provide expert employee relations advice and input into business change
• programmes. This includes partnering with ROI People Partners and M&S UK CoE’s
• as necessary to ensure the effective delivery and end- to-end management of
• operational or transformational change which can include, when required, assisting
• or leading trade union negotiations/consultation.
• Develop and simplify ROI people policies and processes to ensure they are legal,
• competitive, practical, meet future business needs, and enhance the M&S brand and
• colleague experience. This includes ensuring that ROI policies and processes are
• communicated effectively, and their delivery is supported, when required, with
• appropriate training.
• Partner with subject matter experts to ensure any policy related system change
• requirements and dependencies are fully understood, resource-effective, will be
• supported by robust user acceptance testing and, if necessary, launched with user
• training to ensure successful deployment.
• Monitor and interpret changes to ROI employment legislation and undertake external
• benchmarking to ensure M&S remains compliant and a best practice and innovative
• employer.
• Lead (from design to post implementation review) projects as required and act as
• the ROI’s subject matter expert by providing guidance and support to HR colleagues,
• line managers, and colleagues on policy, employee relations and colleague
• engagement and listening matters.
• Manage and provide expertise to line managers on how complex casework should
• be handled and progressed (working with Legal and other specialists) to the case’s
• successful conclusion.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, by seeking feedback, designing and
• developing metrics and incorporating insights and learning to refine policies and
• processes and to measure their effectiveness.
• Create and maintain effective working relationships with M&S’s UK Policy and ER
• specialists (and other UK CoEs) to ensure ROI and UK policy and people strategies
• are (when appropriate) congruent and jointly promote the M&S brand whilst
• minimising any ER risks or issues across the company’s island of Ireland operation.
• Work effectively with the rest of the Ireland People Team, by contributing ideas and
• expertise and acting as a fully participative team member to assist colleagues in the
• delivery of all elements of the People Plan and to be a high-performance team.