Director Employee Relations

Why work for Nebraska Methodist Health System?
At Nebraska Methodist Health System, we focus on providing exceptional care to the communities we serve and people we employ. We call it The Meaning of Care – a culture that has and will continue to set us apart. It’s helping families grow by making each delivery special, conveying a difficult diagnosis with a compassionate touch, going above and beyond for a patient’s needs, or giving a high five when a patient beats a disease or conquers a personal health challenge. We offer competitive pay, excellent benefits and a great work environment where all employees are valued! Most importantly, our employees are part of a team that makes a real difference in the communities we live and work in.

Job Summary:

Location: Methodist Corporate Office
Address: 825 S 169th St. - Omaha, NE

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30am-4:00pm

Responsible for setting direction, managing and ensuring positive employee relations. Duties include support to supervisors and staff members, managing and responding to legal employment claims, collaborating on policy development/updates, teaching/training supervisors on a variety of employment and HR topics.

Responsibilities:

Essential Job Functions

Promoter of Service Excellence – Assists supervisors and staff in improving patient care/customer service by fostering personal responsibility/accountability through the promotion of positive employee relations and standards of behavior. Practices the leadership standards of behavior.

Role models promotion of positive employee relations by being approachable, accessible, cares about well-being of others, builds strong and positive relationships, confronts difficult issues head on and practices first party communications.

• Coaches supervisors toward positive employee relations by assisting in conflict resolution, fact finding, policy support and general promotion of the organization's core values.

Problem solves by taking charge when necessary, setting and modeling clear expectations, effectively analyzing problems, using resources, anticipates consequences and is action oriented. 

• Works collaboratively with individuals or teams to reach fair and responsible decisions or courses of action.

Participative Decision Maker – Develops consensus-based solutions that serve the employee and organization focusing on fairness to all parties, legal compliance and positive long term community relations.  

• Participates collaboratively with HR management team to lend expertise, team-ness, synergy, and humor to projects, strategic initiatives, day to day activities.

Manages Risk – Secures the organization's long-term feasibility by communicating a clear vision of the organization, taking initiative to plan and organize, implement smart systems to achieve best utilization of resources, being proactive to resolve or manage well compliance situations, and being a leader in the promotion of engagement and service excellence.

Catalyst – Assists in setting up policies and procedures to ensure the selection and management of the right people to serve our patients/customers. 

• Continually monitor, rethink, retrain and reevaluate Human Resources practices to ensure legal and ethical compliance with all applicable laws, business practices and organization values.
• Sponsors change when necessary to achieve fairness and legal compliance. 

Actively and proactively acts as counsel to division and organization on matters of employee relations to ensure minimum risk to organization and maximum protection of employees' rights, dignity and opportunity for development.

• Success measured with customer feedback, engagement results and legal proceedings outcomes.
• Develop, analyze, monitor and distribute to inform and educate management team, influence practices and culture, manage risk and evaluate HR practices.

Employee advocate in situations of change, reorganization, employee relations, discipline or diversity. Ability to impartially gather facts and assess situations for fairness, legal liability and legal compliance. Skill and ability to facilitate difficult and complex fact finding.

Point person for legal proceedings to organize plan of action, gather information and strategize on important decisions.  

• Function purpose to present all relevant facts, advocate for fair outcome to both employee and organization.
• Areas include Affirmative Action, EEOC claims on local, state and federal level; unemployment, Family and Military leave legislation, requests for documents.

Monitors, maintains and actively improves the organization Affirmative Action posture.  

• Duties include establishing appropriate policies, working collaboratively to plan recruiting to meet program goals; educate management and staff on the program and facilitate compliance with all data requirements.
• Maintains skills necessary to be the content expert.

Provides support to affiliate for union relations; participating in annual negotiations, consulting on contract interpretations, assisting in dispute resolutions and participating in the monthly union/management communications.

Other duties as assigned.

Schedule:

Monday-Friday

Job Description:

Job Requirements

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Master's degree preferred.

Experience

• Minimum 10 years Employee Relations experience required.
• Minimum 2 years union labor relations experience preferred.

License/Certifications

• N/A

Skills/Knowledge/Abilities

• Excellent written/oral communication skills to gain trust of clients, convey programs, messages or training to individuals/groups with professionalism, persuasion and accuracy; gather and present factual situations to legal decision making bodies.
• Knowledge of affirmative action program requirements, EEOC claims processes, general employment law, labor relations and Unemployment.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft outlook, access, word and excel at the intermediate level.
• Ability to impartially gather facts and assess situations for fairness, legal liability and legal compliance.
• Skill and ability to facilitate difficult and complex fact finding.

Physical Requirements

Weight Demands

• Light Work - Exerting up to 20 pounds of force.

Physical Activity

• Occasionally Performed (1%-33%):
  • Balancing
  • Climbing
  • Carrying
  • Crawling
  • Crouching
  • Distinguish colors
  • Kneeling
  • Lifting
  • Pulling/Pushing
  • Reaching
  • Standing
  • Stooping/bending
  • Twisting
  • Walking
• Frequently Performed (34%-66%):
  • Hearing
  • Repetitive Motions
  • Seeing/Visual
  • Speaking/talking
• Constantly Performed (67%-100%):
  • Fingering/Touching
  • Grasping
  • Keyboarding/typing
  • Sitting

Job Hazards

• Not Related:
  • Biological agents (primary air born and blood born viruses) (Jobs with Patient contact) (BBF)
  • Physical hazards (noise, temperature, lighting, wet floors, outdoors, sharps) (more than ordinary office environment)
  • Equipment/Machinery/Tools
  • Explosives (pressurized gas)
  • Electrical Shock/Static
  • Radiation Alpha, Beta and Gamma (particles such as X-ray, Cat Scan, Gamma Knife, etc)
  • Radiation Non-Ionizing (Ultraviolet, visible light, infrared and microwaves that causes injuries to tissue or thermal or photochemical means)
• Rare (1%-33%):
  • Chemical agents (Toxic, Corrosive, Flammable, Latex)
  • Mechanical moving parts/vibrations
• Note: Safety Officer can assist with identification of job hazards

About Methodist:

Nebraska Methodist Health System is made up of four hospitals in Nebraska and southwest Iowa, more than 30 clinic locations, a nursing and allied health college, and a medical supply distributorship and central laundry facility. From the day Methodist Hospital was chartered in 1891, service to our communities has been a top priority. Financial assistance, health education, outreach to our diverse communities and populations, and other community benefit activities have always been central to our mission.

Nebraska Methodist Health System is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other classification protected by Federal, state or local law.