Employee Relations Specialist Review
at Sage (UK) Ltd
Higher Level Apprenticeship
Business Operations
Newcastle upon Tyne
Review Submitted: July 2020
Overall Rating
5 /5
The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!
5/5
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Overview of Role
5/5
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Skills Development
5/5
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Structure and Support
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
5/5
- First point of contact for ER and sensitive colleague issues, giving advice and guidance in line with our policies and best practice to managers.
- Working with managers across all locations of the UK business to identify trends in different areas and work together to come up with the most effective resolution.
- Disciplinary & Grievance - resolving all minor misconduct issues informally with management and coaching on how to handle this in the future, supporting end to end from first stage up to dismissal in formal cases. Supporting informal grievance resolution of minor issues and guiding managers through the formal grievance process.
- Consultation - supporting managers with business change and redundancy consultations, including redundancy calculations and producing standard documentation.
- Performance Management - advising managers on the best solutions for under performance issues and educating managers to effectively introduce formal performance improvement plans and the capability procedure.
- Training Materials - creating guidance packs for managers to enable them to carry out processes with ease. without needing to consult with HR if not necessary.
- Meditation - trained mediator to resolve minor and informal issues with mediation rather than going down the formal grievance procedure.
- Working with managers across all locations of the UK business to identify trends in different areas and work together to come up with the most effective resolution.
- Disciplinary & Grievance - resolving all minor misconduct issues informally with management and coaching on how to handle this in the future, supporting end to end from first stage up to dismissal in formal cases. Supporting informal grievance resolution of minor issues and guiding managers through the formal grievance process.
- Consultation - supporting managers with business change and redundancy consultations, including redundancy calculations and producing standard documentation.
- Performance Management - advising managers on the best solutions for under performance issues and educating managers to effectively introduce formal performance improvement plans and the capability procedure.
- Training Materials - creating guidance packs for managers to enable them to carry out processes with ease. without needing to consult with HR if not necessary.
- Meditation - trained mediator to resolve minor and informal issues with mediation rather than going down the formal grievance procedure.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
5/5
I enjoy the L5 apprenticeship as im able to learn about theory and known practises in HR and apply these to my role, its interesting to learn about theory and how i can put this into practice and think about how this links to my current role. I enjoy being able to learn about topics and skills I know ill be able to apply to my role and find them useful, as i feel like its meaningful
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
5/5
Communication skills, i have completed a business admin apprenticeship initally and then this developing into a CIPD L3, leading into my level 5 Higher apprenticeship. I have great leadership skills and am given the opportunity on a daily basis to lead on projects and high profile tasks.
I am a lot more confident now and my manager gives me the right amount of support alongside pushing me so I can develop further out my comfort zone
I am a lot more confident now and my manager gives me the right amount of support alongside pushing me so I can develop further out my comfort zone
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
5/5
very structured - my apprenticeship programme consists of face to face workshops every 2 months with a tutor, online webinars monthly with the rest of my group, there are assignments every 2 month on the current topic we are currently studying, followed by great feedback and gradings a week later. It is also great that my employer allows me to have a day during the week to complete my studies, allowing me to keep on top of them
How much support do you receive from your employer?
5/5
I feel exteremely supported, my manager understands the importance of a C I P D qualification and the experience and skills it can bring to my current role, alongside all of the benefits we get from being a memeber of the CIPD group. I am able to have twenty percent of my week focus solely on my studies, and if i am ever falling behind or struggling with any thing my manager would allow me additional time
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
5/5
my training providers are really good,as I have the C I P D assessor along side the apprentice assessor, so I am able to go to who ever is the most relevant for the topic or unit im studying. They are all really accessible and great at responding to any queries we have, as well as supporting on any difficult units and taking as much time as possible to ensure all students know what they should be doing
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
5/5
the CIPD qualification directly links to the human resources profession, and its units are focused around the different functions and sub functions within HR. This means that the topics i study directly link to my current role, or they will be the things I need to learn about in order to progress into other areas. There is also a specific employee relations unit in the level 5 qualifications which is great as this is the current role im in.
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
5/5
Yes there are lots, for example they run the Sage Foundation which allows all employees up to 5 days per year paid time off to volunteer in the local community. There are also lots of professional networking events that my managers often encourage me to look at and book onto. They are also great at planning social events when the company has performed really well as a token of thanks, such as the free christmas parties.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend Sage (UK) Ltd to a friend?
Yes
Why?
Sage is a really great organisation and I have been promoted twice during my 3 and a half year tenure here, they always support me and push me to achieve my goals, for example when I was in my first year of an apprenticeship I expressed an interest in the CIPD qualifcation and my manager was able to enrol me onto this course. There is also lots of career development opportunities through all of the functions
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Sage (UK) Ltd?
I would encourage everyone to have a look through the full sage careers site and look at all of the opportunities available and what would suit their skills the most, or what you would like to progress into.
There are also lots of information about Sage and the things we do additional to working on our social pages such as linked in and twitter, so it would be worth looking at these to get a feel for the culture
There are also lots of information about Sage and the things we do additional to working on our social pages such as linked in and twitter, so it would be worth looking at these to get a feel for the culture
