HR Advisor in London

Who are we? Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 24,000 employees spanning over 56 countries. People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work/life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

We are looking for a reliable and proactive HR Advisor who enjoys working as part of a team, takes pride in delivering high-quality HR support, and brings a positive, can-do approach to their work. A great opportunity to work alongside Recruitment, Learning & Development and HR Business Partners supporting the UK Underwriting and Corporate Function teams as the first point of contact for HR generalist and advisory queries. Working collaboratively with the Group HR Centres of Excellence. Workday experience preferred. Working within a small, fun and collaborative team. Full time, permanent position, located across two of our biggest offices: London and Romford. Flexibility is required to travel to other office locations, as and when required (West Wickham, Manchester & Bristol).

Role overview: We are looking for a motivated and enthusiastic individual, who is interested in taking their next step within the corporate sector. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to join our energetic, fast-paced and dynamic organisation on a full-time, permanent basis. The successful candidate will need to have HR policy and process application knowledge, excellent organisational and communication skills, with a strong attention to detail and a positive can-do attitude. We are looking for an individual who has strong analytical and Microsoft Office skills (including Excel, Word and PowerPoint). Workday experience is preferred.

The successful individual will be required to work closely to support the HR Business Partners with transactional and operational changes to the UK Underwriting business and will be the first point of contact to the business for all HR Generalist and advisory queries, whilst also working collaboratively with the Group HR Centres of Excellence (Recruitment, Reward, Payroll and HRIS teams). Therefore, will need to be personable, approachable and have the ability to work in a fast-paced, complex and entrepreneurial environment and work with a degree of ambiguity that comes with growth and transformational change.

Role responsibilities:

• HR Advisory: First point of contact for the business on generalist and advisory queries, coaches and advises Team Leads and managers on day-to-day people matters (including absence, performance, conduct and probation), building credible relationships within the business, establishing manager confidence and capability whilst ensuring consistency with policy and best practice.
• Manages all Employee Relations issues as the first point of contact, utilising the HR Business partners as the escalation point, making sure templates are up to date and accurate and processes are well-supported and documented, keeping the ER tracker updated, and making the Head of HR aware of high-level trends.
• Provides support to HR Business Partners and Head of HR with M&As, new initiatives and business growth, attending meetings, taking actions and providing admin support including assistance with onboarding/offboarding teams.
• Proactively runs exit interviews for members of staff (excluding senior management), documenting responses, informing the HR Business Partners of any key business insights and feedback, tracking exit trends and making recommendations for change where appropriate.
• Supports the business and works with the Learning & Development lead with any Workday or other training needs, including involvement in the monthly New Starter Inductions.

Operational Efficiencies/Change Management:

• Assesses data and trends and proactively provides solution-based suggestions/recommendations to help support positive change.
• Initiates ad-hoc Workday reports to provide valuable business insight to the HR Business Partners, including but not limited to absence management reports, probation review report, performance objective reports, DE&I reports, milestone reports and headcount reports.
• Processes contingent worker data, ensuring data in Workday is up to date and correct, working with the recruitment team and hiring managers on aspects such as job details, contract end dates and the IR35 process.
• Actions/approves all job changes through Workday (team organisation changes, transfers, promotions, leavers etc.).
• Works with the Recruitment team to ensure the efficient processing of job requisitions, within a timely manner, chasing any outstanding or delayed in the applicant tracking system on Workday.
• Works with the HR Employee Services team and Workday team to improve processes, to drive greater automation and efficiencies.
• Validates data and Workday records, ensures correct job titles, teams, cost centres are correct and notifications are sent to the correct business stakeholders.
• Works with the Payroll team to resolve pay-related queries.
• Creates International Workday profiles, when required.
• Provides ad-hoc, bespoke letters, documents, presentations when required.

Key requirements:

• It is essential the individual has a positive attitude, is self-motivated, naturally proactive and organised, with a strong sense of ownership and the confidence to chase, escalate, and close actions.
• High interpersonal skills with a proven track record of supporting a matrix style organisation.
• Confidence to build relationships with stakeholders - coach, influence and (where needed) challenge Team Leads and managers to take ownership of people actions.
• High attention to detail.
• Proven experience of helping businesses through a phase of growth and change.
• A strong team player with the ability to learn quickly and build relationships quickly.
• Ability to work well independently but confidence and curiosity to ask questions.
• Ability to follow process accurately.
• Experience working with hybrid teams.
• High level of numeracy and literacy.
• Strong verbal communication and interpersonal skills.
• Workday experience is preferred.

What do we offer in return? A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

• Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new.
• We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges.
• We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond.

Reasonable adjustments: We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours or hybrid working. If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.