Associate Employee Relations Consultant

We believe in the power and joy of learning

At Cengage Group, our employees have a direct impact in helping students around the world discover the power and joy of learning. We are bonded by our shared purpose – driving innovation that helps millions of learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Our culture values inclusion, engagement, and discovery

Our business is driven by our strong culture, and we know that creating an inclusive workplace is absolutely essential to the success of our company and our learners, as well as our individual well-being. We recognize the value of diverse perspectives in everything we do, and strive to ensure employees of all levels and backgrounds feel empowered to voice their ideas and bring their authentic selves to work. We achieve these priorities through programs, benefits, and initiatives that are integrated into the fabric of how we work every day. To learn more, please see https://www.cengagegroup.com/about/inclusion-and-belonging/.

As part of the HR Services Center of Excellence and reporting to the Sr Director, Employee Services, the Associate HR Employee Services Partner will focus on developing strong relationships with leaders, managers, and employees to enhance the experience and effectiveness of our organization’s talent by delivering a consistent and repeatable approach to Cengage Group’s policies and practices. Working with Talent Strategy Partners and other Centers of Excellence, including HR Operations, Talent & Inclusion, and Total Rewards, the HR Employee Services Partner will play a key role in ensuring employees feel supported and enabled at each step of their Cengage journey.

Where you'll work: This position is a hybrid role and is required on-site in our Kentucky office a minimum of three days per week.

What you'll do:

Employee Services

• Serve as a trusted advisor and subject matter expert to leaders and employees along their career journey; provide care, guidance and coaching while effectively mitigating business risk.

• Partner with HRTSP team to learn and understand the talent strategy for a business unit(s) or function(s), and enable strong execution against those talent plans

• Support the implementation of organization and operating model projects including org design, role and job leveling, and change management activities.

• Build a performance-based culture by actively engaging with managers and employees; coach managers on cultivating high performance and addressing under-performance on their teams.

• Provide expertise and coaching to leaders handling highly sensitive and complex employee matters including performance management, terminations, and other employment-related matters.

• Will provide direction to employees and managers within the Distribution Center location on a wide variety of HR processes, programs, policies, and tools. This will require tactical hands-on guidance, along with critical thinking skills to address complex employee relations issues.

• In partnership with Legal, lead investigations into employee relations matters with a solid understanding of applicable employment laws, regulations, company policies and procedures and in alignment with our Company's culture.

• Liaise with HR Operations, Talent & Inclusion, and Total Rewards to respond to employee and manager needs with efficiency and care

• Raise or transition requests to proper channels, ensuring a ‘warm’ handoff and exceptional customer service.

• Help bring the voice of the customer back to the broader HR team to influence program design

• In collaboration with Total Rewards, work with leaders and advise on total compensation as it relates to internal/external equity issues.

HR Excellence:

• Conduct on-site HR Day One orientation for our Distribution Center new hires

• Ensure the seamless delivery of our employee experience, driving service excellence with a focus on efficiency and consistency in the experience we deliver.

• Build strong, collaborative relationships with partners to improve the employee experience, share information and influence change.

• Actively contribute to the global HR community to increase the capability and strategic value of the human resource function through high levels of performance and customer service.

Skills You Will Need Here:

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources or related field or requisite experience

• 2-4 years of experience in HR, preferably in an Employee Relations or HR Specialist role

• Ability to communicate ideas and data in a persuasive and appropriate manner.

• Strong coaching, conflict resolution and ability to have difficult conversations

• Strong organization, planning and project management skills; ability to prioritize tasks for both self and team to meet business requirements and deadlines

• Collaborative, innovative and customer-focused

• Must possess the ability to thrive in a team-based environment and work effectively with employees of all levels

• Ability to travel as needed; a few times each year on average

Preferred

• Experience with Workday is strongly preferred

Cengage Group is committed to working with broad talent pools to attract and hire strong and most qualified individuals. Our job applicants are considered regardless of race, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, disability, age, veteran status, and any other classification protected by applicable federal, state, provincial or local laws.

Cengage is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities including during our job application process. If you are an applicant with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in our job application process, please contact us at [email protected] or at +1 (617) 289-7917.

About Cengage Group

Cengage Group, a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. For more than 100 years, we have enabled the power and joy of learning with trusted, engaging content, and now, integrated digital platforms. We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through our scalable technology, including MindTap and Cengage Unlimited, we support all learners who seek to improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Compensation

At Cengage Group, we take great pride in our commitment to providing a comprehensive and rewarding Total Rewards package designed to support and empower our employees. Click here to learn more about our Total Rewards Philosophy.

The full base pay range has been provided for this position. Individual base pay will vary based on work schedule, qualifications, experience, internal equity, and geographic location.  Sales roles often incorporate a significant incentive compensation program beyond this base pay range.

$60,000.00 - $75,000.00 USD