Senior Manager HR Employee/Associate and Labor Relations

We use technology to solve problems in spaces, light, and more things to come… for our customers, our communities, and our planet. 
 
Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI) is a market-leading industrial technology company. We use technology to solve problems in spaces, light, and more things to come. Through our two business segments, Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls (ABL) and the Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG), we design, manufacture, and bring to market products and services that make a valuable difference in people’s lives.  
 
We are positioned at the intersection of sustainability and technology. Our businesses develop technology that helps save our customers energy and reduce their carbon emissions. We achieve growth through the development of innovative new products and services, including lighting, lighting controls, building management solutions, and location-aware applications. 

Job Summary

The Associate Relations Sr Manager is primarily responsible for maintaining positive employer/associate relationships across our Canada and UK locations.  This position has e multi-country responsibilities for leading the function and partnering with HRBPS, managers and associates to create a positive and engaging work environment.  The selected candidate will be responsible for understanding organizational dynamics for manufacturing and non-manufacturing sites  in the Canada and the UK. The qualified candidate will be responsible for investigating associate complaints and developing action plans to ensure proper resolution is reached.  The individual will identify and mitigate risks and ensure associates are treated fairly and with dignity and respect and define and partner with other centers of expertise to implement proactive associate relations strategies and initiatives to educate managers on best practices to improve manager effectiveness.

Key Tasks & Responsibilities (Essential Functions)

• Provide leadership and engage in resolution of associate relations issues, investigate and offer recommendations and solutions to associate complaints and similar concerns, and advise managers in associate coaching, counseling, performance monitoring and evaluation, employment laws and company policy        
• Collect, understand and analyze data to provide insights to the business and HR leadership on trends, strengths, and areas of improvement accross multiple sites in Canada and the UK. This includes developing action plans to mitigate risks and support business strategy        
• Proactively recommend new processes, policies and procedures and modifications to existing processes and polices, assessing needs and facilitating improvements in order to meet organizational objectives.        
• Proactively develop leader communications, announcements, articles/blogs, plans, or strategies to disseminate key functional initiatives, programs, and events to designated groups of associates to drive adoption, awareness, and engagement.      

Skills and Minimum Experience Required

Skills, Education and Experience (Required to Perform Essential Functions)

• Strong organizational skills, demonstrated ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously and able to react to shifting priorities to meet business need
• Experience working n both union and non-union environments
• Strong business acumen
• Bilingual French and English
• Strong Written and Communication Skills Experience in industrial manufacturing

 

Education (minimum education required)
Bachelor’s Degree or Equivalent

Experience (minimum experience required)    
6 to 8 years    

Preferred Education (i.e. type of degree)
Masters Degree in Human Resources, Labor Relations or related field.

 

Preferred Experience (i.e. industry experience)    

• 3+ years experience in a business with significant hourly workforce
• Proven ability to work collaboratively with associates of all levels and build cross-functional relationships. 
• Experience collaborating with senior leaders of a company as a trusted partner. 
• Excellent writing, editing, and verbal communications skills; understanding of how to develop messages for different audiences; proven experi