Employee Relations Consultant

KeyBank • Brooklyn, OH

23h • Hybrid

About The Position

The Employee Relations (ER) Consultant is an individual contributor role reporting to the ER Solutions Team Manager. This role provides consultation and support to employees and managers across the organization on standard to moderately complex Employee Relations matters by interpreting policy, assessing risk, documenting consultation, and identifying matters requiring escalation due to complexity, sensitivity, potential policy violation, investigation need, legal/compliance concern, or need for more in-depth ER review.

Requirements

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• 3+ years of Human Resources experience required
• Demonstrated knowledge of employment law, HR practices, Employee Relations principles, and the ability to analyze standard to moderately complex Employee Relations issues, assess risk, apply policy, and recommend appropriate courses of action in support of business objectives.
• Experience using HR case management systems, HR information systems, and Microsoft Office tools, including Teams, Word, Excel, Outlook, and related productivity tools.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to remain composed and professionally support employees and managers through sensitive, emotional, or escalated workplace concerns.
• Ability to prioritize work and meet deadlines.
• Adaptability: Works effectively in changing, ambiguous, or unstructured environments and adjusts to new situations and priorities.
• Collaboration: Demonstrates experience in participating in productive collaborative processes that help solve business problems and meet business goals.
• Critical Thinking: Evaluates information, assesses options, anticipates potential impact, and applies sound judgment to Employee Relations matters.
• Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates self-awareness, composure, empathy, and sound judgment when supporting sensitive or challenging Employee Relations matters.
• Problem Solving: Examines issues from multiple perspectives, gathers relevant facts, identifies root causes, and recommends practical solutions.
• Oral & Written Communication: Possesses the ability to adapt listening and facilitation style to others’ communication styles and uses various approaches appropriately and effectively.
• Risk Management: Identifies potential Employee Relations risk, applies appropriate resources and escalation paths, and supports consistent, compliant outcomes.
• Business Acumen: Works to understand the business priorities of internal and external clients and can describe relevant profitability drivers and considerations.
• All KeyBank employees are expected to demonstrate Key’s Values and sustain proficiency in identified Leadership Competencies.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Human Resources, Communications, Psychology, Sociology, or a related field preferred; equivalent experience may be considered.
• Employee Relations consultation experience preferred.
• Knowledge of financial services industry
• Employee Relations investigation experience
• Experience with accessing, analyzing, and communicating data driven insights for action
• Aptitude for and interest in AI-enabled business process transformation
• Experiencing using Visier or similar People Analytics and Workforce Intelligence platform

Responsibilities

• Provide guidance, coaching, advice, and consultation to managers and employees regarding standard to moderately complex Employee Relations matters by interpreting and applying policy, supporting business objectives, mitigating risk, strengthening manager effectiveness, and facilitating employee engagement.
• Serve as an ER consultation resource within the ER Solutions Team by triaging Employee Relations inquiries and determining appropriate next steps, including consultation, documentation, referral, or escalation to the Senior Lead Employee Relations Consultant, ER leadership, HR Business Partners, Legal, Compliance, or other subject matter experts, as appropriate.
• Create documentation for consultation provided and employment actions taken in a centralized case system in a thorough, timely, and accurate manner.
• Provide timely, professional, and responsive support to employees and managers in alignment with established service expectations.
• Review and provide feedback on employment-related documents, including Performance Improvement Plans, termination documentation, and manager correspondence; escalate high-risk, sensitive, investigatory, or legally/compliance-sensitive documentation for additional review.
• Maintain confidentiality and exercise discretion when handling sensitive Employee Relations matters, employee information, and business-related concerns.
• Identify Employee Relations issues or trends and escalate matters that may pose risk to Key due to complexity, sensitivity, potential policy violation, need for investigation, legal/compliance concern, or need for more in-depth ER consultation.
• Respond to unemployment insurance claim requests by gathering relevant data, preparing timely responses, and partnering with appropriate stakeholders to resolve related issues.
• Perform other duties as assigned; duties, responsibilities, and/or activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice, including project participation and implementation or line of business policy review.
• Comply with all Key policies and procedures, including without limitation, acting professionally at all times, conducting business ethically, avoiding conflicts of interest, and acting in the best interests of Key’s clients and Key.

Benefits

• Compensation for this role also includes eligibility for incentive compensation which may include production, commission, and/or discretionary incentives.
• Please click here for a list of benefits for which this position is eligible.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: High school or GED