THE OPPORTUNITY
Reporting To:-
Senior HR Adviser, Operations
Key Internal Relationships:-
HR Advisers
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HR Managers
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Payroll Team
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Recruitment Team
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Centre of Excellence Teams within HR
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Fee Earning Divisions (including Partners, Associates, Legal PA Managers, Group Executive Assistants, and PAs)
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Other Business Services Teams (including Learning & Development, Office Operations & IT)
Key External Relationships:-
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
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Referencing Provider
Key Responsibilities:
The HR Assistant team is managed by the Senior HR Adviser, Operations, and is responsible for providing general HR support to all business areas via the 'AskHR' helpdesk.
The AskHR helpdesk is the first point of contact for day-to-day HR related queries and requests offering a general advisory service across the Firm.
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Classifying queries and requests at first instance before assigning to members of the team
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Supporting the end to end employee life cycle by providing administrative assistance to the HR Business Partners and the wider HR team
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Maintaining personnel records, ensuring that all employee information is up to date and accurate on HR.Net
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Coordinating the weekly new joiner induction, liaising with the Recruitment, Office Operations and IT Training teams to ensure a smooth client experience
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Managing the on-boarding process for new joiners, liaising with the Firm's external referencing provider to ensure pre-employment checks are completed by the joiner's probation date
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Managing end to end Parental Leave processes for all employees
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Assisting with ER related issues such as disciplinaries and redundancies by taking a full and accurate note of the meeting.
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Coordinating monthly payroll submissions by ensuring all instructions are added to the payroll data room and are approved by the HR Business Partners before payroll cut off.
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Monitoring frequent sickness absence and escalating to the HR Business Partners where appropriate
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Conducting ad-hoc New Joiner Chats and Exit Interviews, providing feedback to the HR Business Partners where appropriate
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Running the weekly Joiners, Movers and Leavers report and uploading to the Firm's Intranet
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Coordinating the bi-annual General Trainee Induction, arranging speakers and training materials, collating feedback and liaising with the Learning & Development, Office Operations and Audio Technician teams to ensure a smooth client experience
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Supporting the Annual Performance, Salary and Bonus Review by attending group moderation meetings and talent sessions, data checking and letter production
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Assisting the Senior HR Manager, Operations & Systems with the annual renewal of SRA Practicing Certificates for Partners, Registered Foreign Lawyers and England and Wales qualified solicitors globally.
SKILLS, EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
- Proactive, confident and uses own initiative
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Excellent organisation skills
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Attention to detail is key
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Proven client service experience is essential
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Previous HR experience is desirable
Competencies:
Personal Leadership-
Builds personal credibility by creating a positive, professional impression when interacting with others, showing a personal commitment to the outcome and consistently delivering high quality work.
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Takes responsibility by ensuring tasks are completed on time and to a high standard, using own initiative without being prompted, willingly taking on new or unfamiliar tasks to support business outcomes.
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Maintains a positive outlook by finding ways to manage reactions to challenging situations, persisting in finding solutions when obstacles arise and remaining consistent, steady and approachable, especially when under pressure.
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Demonstrates the Firm's values by striving to excel, taking responsibility for personal and professional development and acting as a positive role model.
Connects and Collaborates with People-
Contributes to a positive team environment by taking an active interest in others, bring people together in conversation and activities, recognising and celebrating the achievements of others and treating people with respect in a fair and consistent way.
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Collaborates with others by building and maintaining genuine relationships, adopting a positive communication style and adapting to different work styles when needed.
Contributes to the Success of Others-
Understands their work environment by maintaining an awareness of the Firm's purpose, objectives and structure, building an understanding of how their role benefits their team and the Firm, getting to know what each person of the team is working on and recognising how their work contributes to and affects the work of others.
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Supports others to excel by taking an interest in others' work objectives, connecting people with the information and resources they need, sharing knowledge and ideas to help other achieve a high standard and identifying opportunities to assist others and readily volunteering to help.
Achieves Results-
Delivers high quality work by paying attention to the quality and accuracy of their work, working in a constructive and efficient way, managing changes in priorities and informing others appropriately, seeking guidance when unsure and monitoring the progress of tasks so that work is completed and delivered on time.
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Finds better ways to do their work by taking a flexible approach and welcoming others' ideas and suggestions, seeking and acting on feedback and suggesting new ideas in a confident, constructive and sensitive way.
Enhances the Client Experience-
Provides excellent client service by establishing client requirements, prioritising work with the client in mind, providing timely assistance and communicating in a helpful, open and concise way
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Acts with the client experience at heart by finding ways to enhance the experience and showing a willingness to go the extra mile to deliver great service.
GROUP / TEAM
Human Resources
GROUP / TEAM DESCRIPTION
Our competitive advantage is our people and our culture. Our HR team works closely with the leaders of the business to recruit exceptional people, nurture their development and guide their career.
As a member of the HR team, you could be working as a business partner assigned to a particular practice group, or in one of our specialist areas, including graduate or lateral recruitment, global mobility or reward. No matter what your position, you’ll play a core role in shaping the future of the firm.
ROLE TYPE
Business Services
CONTRACT TYPE
Fixed Term Contract
WORKING PATTERN
Full Time
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.