Manager, Employee Relations

In this position... 

As Employee Relations Manager, you will have a key role in helping to ensure a healthy work environment, including fostering a high-performance work culture. The demands of this role are dynamic and require an individual who has a positive mindset and thrives on working hard to tackle challenging tasks and to build new processes, products, and policies. The individual must be a self-starter, resilient and able to work in a fast-paced environment and have deep prior experience with offering guidance on performance improvement, handling complex performance management, reviewing business reorganizations, HR policy writing, and partnering on responses to EEOC/state agency complaints/charges.  In addition to having a strong background in traditional employee relations, the role will also support on impactful enterprise projects related to employee relations products, policy, and processes. This includes project management skills, change management skills, engaging and aligning key stakeholders, reviewing existing policies and processes, and updating with competitive practice along with a mindset for improving the employee experience while maintaining a fair and consistent approach.

This role will be based in Michigan and located at World Headquarters, with expected occasional travel to Ford facilities inside and outside of Michigan as required, in some cases up to 20% of the time.

What you'll do... 

This role reports to the Director of Employee Relations, and will be responsible for the following:

• Providing high quality employee relations support that includes performance coaching and counseling, supporting on disciplinary actions, managing individual and group separations, responding to agency charges, and drafting and advising on HR policies. You may also provide ad-hoc investigations support and advise on complex HR matters ranging from employee concerns, complaints, and disputes from inception to resolution. 
• Assuring the quality of assigned employee relations programs and processes. 
• As needed, prepare investigative documentation, including interview notes and reports. 
• Using the case management system to manage and track cases from intake to resolution.
• Collaborate well cross functionally to further the goals of the Company and Employee Relations team.
• Partner with relevant control functions on investigations and outcomes.
• Look for and drive process improvements and efficiencies to support high quality employee relations.
• Proactively utilize data and metrics to identify employee trends and inform improvements to policy, process, and training to educate employees. Scan the external environment for regulations, best practices, and trends to be proactive and inform continuous improvement actions. 
• Internally, the role will make recommendations to and liaise with operations and across HR. 
• Acting with the highest integrity.
• Other duties as assigned.

You'll have... 

• Bachelor’s degree. 
• 5+ experience with providing performance management support and coaching as well as conducting investigations. 
• Passion for the employee and ability to empathize with their needs. 
• A collaborative and empathetic approach to solving problems with teams across Ford. 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Resiliency, creative thinking, and strong problem-solving skills.

Even better, you may have... 

• Master’s degree in HR, Business, Law, or other related subject areas. 
• Employee relations, performance management, employment separations and investigations experience at a global company.
• Familiarity with Title VII, ADEA, ADA, and related U.S. employment laws
• Experience handling charges from the EEOC and similar state agencies
• Experience managing group separation programs.
• Proven ability to deliver high-quality results while handling multiple priorities. 
• Prior experience working with agile cross-functional teams. 
• Strong business acumen – Possesses both systems thinking and holistic perspectives (understands how the different parts of the organization interact to generate results) 
• Demonstrates a growth mindset. 
• Aptitude for critical thinking. 
• Self-starter, capable of communicating across skill teams, regions, and at all levels. 
• Strong coaching and facilitation skills.

You may not check every box, or your experience may look a little different from what we've outlined, but if you think you can bring value to Ford Motor Company, we encourage you to apply!

As an established global company, we offer the benefit of choice. You can choose what your Ford future will look like: will your story