The Microsoft Global Employee Relations (ER) team leads the process, principles, and practices to navigate complex and sensitive matters, conduct investigations and manage workplace conflict. This team works in close partnership with the Legal and Line Human Resources (HR) teams to manages cases involving inquiry into behavior concerns, manager conflict, consulting, investigations and employee grievances related to lived experiences not aligned to aspired culture, and legal risks.

We are looking for a Senior Employee Relations Manager with deep experience influencing and impacting high growth and dynamic businesses through effective management (both proactive and reactive) of a wide range of employee relations issues. This person will be accountable for working with employees across organizations, building trusted relationships quickly, and leading with warmth, empathy, compassion, and creativity to think inside of and outside of the box to drive the right solutions.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities

Investigations

• Directs the analysis and resolution of issues with increasing complexity, visibility and risk related to policy or culture concerns/violations and incident or threat response, independently or by collaborating with managers, peers in Human Resources (HR) and Legal as appropriate.
• Recommends solutions to address issues from a systematic perspective (e.g., establishing new principles/tools) while prioritizing employee experiences to maintain a safe and professional work environment.
• Effectively contracts with and manages stakeholder engagement and expectations. Leads and holds accountability for strategy and judgement around all aspects of an investigation (e.g., stakeholder involvement, communications) working with up to senior leadership.
• Updates case status and related notes, ensures customer relationship management (CRM) platform provides real time reflection of each case and its status, and ensures comprehensive completion of all fields in the tool.
• Documents findings, and maintains appropriate levels of confidentiality.
• Contacts and interviews complainants, reported witnesses, and respondents related to policy or culture concerns/violations and incident or threat response with increasing complexity, visibility and risk.
• Collaborates with and seeks counsel from senior peers or managers as needed on proposed strategy and approach depending on perceived increased complexity and/or sensitivity of the complaint, or seniority and/or visibility of the parties involved.
• Models best practices in interviewing techniques and mastery of empathy, confidentiality, and connecting themes across interview findings for peers.
• Utilizing Human Resources (HR)-related tools and customer relationship management (CRM) platform, tracks and documents findings gathered through interviews and the investigatory process. Is responsible for ensuring all aspects of the investigation are thoroughly documented (e.g., interviews, conversations with leaders and teams for operational buy in, findings, disciplinary actions).
• Assists/partners with internal investigative entities at Microsoft (e.g., Workplace Investigations Team [WIT], Business and Regulatory Investigations [BRI], Global Security Investigations [GSI]) in investigations of serious cases with increasing complexity, visibility, and risk, and implements appropriate remediation in conjunction with a business, region, or geography.
• May lead the investigations for a business, region, or geography where resources are limited. Ensures appropriate documentation of issues is in place.
• Seeks input from and/or partners with peers, managers, and appropriate stakeholders (including Works Council or other representative bodies as appropriate) to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and Microsoft policies.
• Influences internal investigative partners regarding country-level investigative processes or employee experience throughout the investigation process.
• Concludes an investigation, using findings, relevant partnership with team, and knowledge of the relevant regulations, and Microsoft business context and organizational policies to determine a resolution to investigation of policy or culture concerns/violations and incident or threat response, and assigns corrective/disciplinary actions as deemed appropriate.
• Independently recommends appropriate corrective/disciplinary actions or processes, consulting with peers/managers where needed, and influencing acceptance of recommendations by key stakeholders.
• Anticipates consequences and manages risk proactively in cases with increasing complexity, visibility, and risk.
  
  

Educating and Guiding Through Expertise

• Educates, supports, and coaches employees as they navigate the Employee Relations (ER) process for cases with mid-level complexity, sensitivity, visibility, and risk.
• Objectively provides guidance through the ER experience by actively engaging with employees and managers on how to navigate work and handle themselves post-investigation, and sets appropriate expectations around this.
• Provides guidance on information that may be situationally relevant (e.g., how to take a leave of absence, steps to the performance management process) or to address relevant skill/knowledge gaps (e.g., effective communication strategies, cultural differences impacting inclusivity).
• Collaborates with colleagues and/or management as deemed necessary or appropriate. Identifies the right stakeholders and influencers, determines who should be providing guidance, and brings in additional support and influencers as needed.
• Builds a trusted connection with employees at all levels to facilitate exploration of options and next steps in the employee relations process balancing the individual need with organizational context. Recognizes trends in current and past coaching to make recommendations to ER colleagues for future coaching engagements with employees.
• May serve as a subject matter expert on Employee Relations (ER)-related topics both within teams and for other teams (e.g., Human Resources [HR] Consulting, HR Business Partnership [HRBP], HR Leadership, management).
• Consults on a situation or concern, for internal partners seeking assistance, using subject matter expertise to make recommendations for next steps, determining what would need to occur next for the situation to need to be transferred to ER, and, if out of scope for ER, deciding what best practices other teams should use to navigate the situation/concern.
• Leverages other stakeholder partners to influence policy and decision-making based upon ER best practices and observed trends.
• Recognizes when standard HR policies and processes should be followed and where exceptions should and can be made.
• Consults with colleagues and/or management as deemed appropriate.
• Serves as point of escalation for consulting to stakeholders.
• Initiates conversations with individual parties at Microsoft in conflict, listening for what is said both verbally and nonverbally in order to understand the nature of the conflict for issues with mid-level complexity, visibility, and risk, what parties' contributions are to the conflict, their respective willingness to resolve it, and what may be potential solutions for conflict resolution while maintaining appropriate levels of confidentiality.
• Coaches and guides parties to leverage best resources and/or approach to address conflict after sharing their findings, or provides the tools that would allow for facilitating conflict resolution to occur as appropriate.
• Investigates further to find deeper reasons for conflict or coaches involved parties in the potential next steps in the Employee Relations (ER) process, if parties are not willing or able to resolve the conflict.
• Collaborates with colleagues and/or management as deemed appropriate or needed.
  
  

Other

• Embody our culture and values
  
  

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Management, Business Administration, Organizational Behavior, HR, Industrial Relations, Psychology, or related field AND 7+ years experience in experience in HR, mediation, investigation, or ER-related roles
• OR Juris Doctorate or Master's Degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Human Resources (HR), Business Administration, Organizational Leadership, Industrial Relations, Law, or related field AND 4+ years experience in HR, mediation, investigation, or employee relations (ER)-related roles
• OR equivalent experience.
  

Additional Or Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Management, Business Administration, Organizational Behavior, HR, Industrial Relations, Psychology, or related field AND 12+ years experience in experience in HR, mediation, investigation, or ER-related roles
• • OR Juris Doctorate or Master's Degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Human Resources (HR), Business Administration, Organizational Leadership, Industrial Relations, Law, or related field AND 8+ years experience in HR, mediation, investigation, or employee relations (ER)-related roles
  • OR equivalent experience.
• 3+ years experience handling internal employee investigations and managing employee conflict.
• Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) or Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) Professional in human resources (PHR) certification or equivalent.
• Association of Workplace Investigators (AWI) certification or other relevant mediation/investigation-related certification.
  

Employee Relations IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $103,800 - $200,300 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $133,700 - $219,200 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

Microsoft will accept applications for the role until September 12, 2024.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. Consistent with applicable law, all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.