Human Resources Manager

Position Summary: 

This role focuses on deeply understanding then aligning key business and people strategies, practices and processes to ensure we have a productive environment that delivers key people solutions with emphasis on Strategic HR Planning and Change Management. It sets the standards of excellence for HR policies and practices for a given business unit or functional area and maintains the integrity of these practices while continuing to build capabilities.  It serves as a business and thought leader in setting the People Strategies for the respective business unit/ functional area it supports. 

This specific role focuses on consulting with business partners to determine and execute people strategies to drive a high-performance culture while meeting business needs and positions our talent at a strategic advantage. 

The role lives into and demonstrates the Grainger Principles: Starting with the Customer, Embrace Curiosity, Act with Intent, Compete with Urgency, Win as One Team, Invest in our Success and Do the Right Thing. 

Job Responsibilities (You Will): 

Execution of HR related initiatives:

• Succession planning and leadership development.
• Performance management in partnership with Team Member Experience/Employee Relations team.
• Change management responsibilities for small(er) function(s). 

Strategic Partner: 

•  Proactively influence and communicate the business strategy through knowledge of the business and the marketplace.
• Create the human capital strategy and plan to successfully execute the strategy; partner across HR including COEs and with the business to implement solutions to close gaps and create competitive advantage (develop and implement workforce plans, initiatives, and solutions that drive positive employee and labor relations, support growth and drive business results).
• Accountable to drive and ensure outstanding execution of cyclical HR processes that touches and shapes a great experience for Grainger team members.
• Accountable for working with the business to ensure we have the best talent and successors for all senior and critical roles.
• Influence business leaders to make the right decisions when it comes to people (managing people spend, providing a point of view on talent, etc.).
• Measure the effectiveness of the human capital strategy, programs and processes; refine and adjust as appropriate.
• Improve engagement by ensuring the business strategy and plans are well understood by all and that goals and work are aligned with the right accountability.
• Serve as cultural ambassadors that drive the desired cultural shifts needed to drive/ accelerate growth.
• Provide appropriate level coaching to leadership to ensure alignment with Grainger principals and current policies and procedures.
• Models outstanding people and ethical business leadership.
• Actively participate as a member of the business/ functional leadership team. 

HRBP Expectations: 

•  Drive and champions talent excellence within business/function supported (influences business leaders to make the right talent decisions regarding performance management, career development, talent acquisition, etc.)
• Maintains the integrity of HR policies and processes.
• Drive process and role clarity, understanding and proficiency within HR for all Key HR processes; effectively communicate in the business to achieve the desired process outcomes. 
• Identify business needs and process improvement opportunities; collaborate with COE’s and Shared Services to assess and develop solutions to improve business results (includes diversity, equality and inclusion, compensation and benefits, talent acquisition, performance/ career management, team member/ leader development, succession planning, compensation and benefits).
• Champion process and program standardization by leveraging Continuous Improvement and providing input and maintaining the integrity of HR standards of excellence.
• Regularly conduct effective workforce analysis and measurement to assess the health of the organization and talent (external and internal inputs); proactively communicate the information and implications with the business and HR; provide insight/ make recommendations regarding talent-related decision making.
• Interview new hire candidates to ensure knowledge, skills and experience align with organization expectations. 

 Team Member Champion: 

•  Facilitate employee engagement by training and coaching leaders to understand and utilize results to be more effective.
• Continuously emphasize the value of positive recognition and constructive feedback.
• Actively solicit employee feedback to assess the state of the organization; demonstrate the value of the feedback through action or acknowledgement; synthesize and communicate in a meaningful way.
• Ensure due process and due diligence occurs for relevant employee relations issues.
• Ensure appropriate learning and growth opportunities are identified and acted on for individuals and teams; know and help grow the talent. 

Change Agent: 

•  Coach and facilitate the business through the appropriate change management steps to ensure successful execution of key business initiatives and projects (including right tools and resources).
• Help the business understand and value the importance of effective change management.
• Build the business’s capacity and willingness to change through knowledge sharing and communication; help employees see the bigger context.
• Help team members understand and connect business and HR actions to business strategies and goals.
• Constantly identify and suggest better ways to organize work and people to deliver on business strategies and improve results. 

Education/Experience (You Have): 

• Lives into and demonstrates the Grainger Principles: Starting with the Customer, Embrace Curiosity, Act with Intent, Compete with Urgency, Win as One Team, Invest in our Success and Do the Right Thing.
• Strong business and financial acumen.
• Strong consulting skills, influencer and expert coach (as a business leader first and HR leader expertise) both across the organization and within the HR function - able to link business strategies with people strategies.
• Problem solving and systemic thinking skills-critical analytics/diagnosis/prioritization skills.
• Strong decision-making skills and judgment to drive the right impact.
• Ability to relate to people at all levels and build trusted relationships.
• Strong change agent - willingness to meet people and see people where they are.
• Strong project management skills.
• Demonstrates intellectual curiosity and learning agility.
• Communication (clear, inspiring, simple, situational, multi-level, multi-cultural).
• Strong results-orientation.
• Serves as a strong champion of diversity, equality and inclusion.
• Highly ethical and high integrity.

Experiences: 

• 5-7 years of experience in a related field preferred.
• Previous success in influencing without direct authority and leading large scale, complex change initiatives.
• Previous consulting experience in providing strategic recommendations to both corporate and field clients.
• Progressive HR generalist leadership (Union & Non) with a large field-based workforce.
• Experience in a leadership liaison role, particularly between Corporate and Field based functions.