Labour and Employee Relations Manager - Germany

Job content

Role Overview

Danaher has a matrixed and decentralized organizational structure with over 20 operating companies globally. With a significant collective presence in Europe, Danaher’s operating companies present a wide breadth of associate representative forums, including 60+ works councils across Europe. Germany in particular presents a large associate population with various levels of works council relationships, including the Arbeitsgemeinschaft (“ABD”) of German Works Councils (made up of representatives from the many operating companies in Germany).

This position is part of the Danaher Corporate Labour & Employee Relations (LER) EU team and has two main areas of responsibility.

First, this position will play a critical role in developing and executing Danaher’s labour relations strategy in Germany. As one of Danaher’s German labour relations experts, this role will provide a critical and influential voice, driving positive and consistent associate outcomes aligned with business priorities. Partnering with Danaher’s Liaison Leader to the ABD, the role will drive meaningful and co-ordinated engagement with the ABD consistent with enterprise-wide program and process deployment. The role will also provide leadership and support in improving our LER capability across the German operating companies.

Second, this position will serve as a senior specialist for Danaher’s EU Regional LER Centre of Excellence (LER COE) with specific responsibility for the DACH region. As the COE DACH leader, this role will provide close consultation and support to OpCo HR Business Partners (HRBPs) and OpCo HR Generalists on routine core LER matters. The role will also handle non-routine and more complex core LER matters that require judgment, interpretation of policies, and deep LER expertise and experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop trust and collaborative relationships with the HRBPs and HR Generalists who manage Works Council relationships in Germany.
• Partner with Danaher’s Liaison Leader to the German ABD to ensure meaningful and effective engagement – devise the strategy and materials, ensuring an effective feedback and escalation process to Project Owners to enable on-time deployment of Corporate change initiatives.
• Prepare and review of ABD draft factory agreements to drive consistency and compliance with LER strategy and programmatic objectives
• Develop HR and business leadership competency on works council engagement and co-determination requirements for German operating companies.
• Develop process tollgates, standard work, toolkits and guidance to support increased co-ordination and best in class implementation for change across Germany.
• Within the LER COE, provide advice and support to OpCo HRBPs and Generalists in the DACH region on routine core labour and employee relations matters including routine workplace investigations, policy and issue resolution, performance improvement issues, disciplinary matters, individual employee terminations, mass layoffs, etc.
• For more complex/non-routine cases, lead formal investigations and manage associate complaints and grievances with systematic approach to address root causes. Develop, recommend, and review actions and countermeasures with appropriate stakeholders to effectively conclude investigations.
• Support and guide re-organisations and restructuring in the DACH region (including providing expertise as to associate representative consultation requirements relating to outsourcing, role elimination or redundancies).
• Drive education, process and program improvements, creation of standard work, and audits as appropriate through training and other methods.
• Strengthen HR-related compliance processes, by being a proactive advocate for ethics and compliance consistent with Danaher’s Code of Conduct and Core Values.
• Consult and manage outside counsel per governance framework
  

Key Skills & Qualifications

• Deep knowledge of German LER subject matter and a working knowledge of the broader DACH region
• Keeps pace with changes in external labour and employment relations landscape in Europe
• Has proven track record of work council management and co-ordination, including execution of business change, restructuring, policy and project deployment
• Understands how to apply LER expertise and experience with a pragmatic and proactive approach – knows how to balance collaborative workplace partnerships and business interests
• Foundational knowledge of Data Privacy/GDPR as it relates to the collective bargaining considerations and the management of associate data
• Effective listener and strong critical thinker with problem solving acumen
• Able to gain respect of and influence HRBPs and HR Generalists and business clients at various levels of the organization and builds trusting relationships and followership with others
• Builds confidence and credibility to influence broader and senior stakeholders and lead others through change and drive through change
• Proven competency in preparing and negotiating collective, factory agreements consistent with best practices – support and develop HRBPs to achieve consistency and compliance
• Excellent bi-lingual (German and English) written and oral and presentation skills with professional presence; able to clearly and concisely communicate progress, results, and guidance to critical stakeholders in timely manner
• Approaches decisions proactively and in a fact-based way, makes effective and pragmatic choices, balances benefit and risk, maintains compliance, and drives holistic LER strategies
• Demonstrates composure in tough situations and does not retreat from constructive conflict.
• Never compromises high ethics and integrity and is an active advocate for compliance
• Guides discussions to enable others to express concerns and perspectives and accurately summarizes and narrows issues
• Is a self-starter, manages time effectively, and has excellent planning and organization skills; able to prioritize and meet deadlines in fast-paced environment
• Possesses operational and customer service orientation with high sense of urgency
• Possesses empathy and understanding for needs of diverse groups
  

REQUIRED EDUCATION And/or EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in Law (Labour/Industrial relations), Labour Relations, Business, Human Resources, or another related field
• 7+ years of labour and employee relations experience in leading a variety of complex LER issues including change management projects, investigations, disciplinary matters, terminations, etc.
• Subject matter expertise regarding labour and employment laws and labour and employee relations landscape in DACH countries and Europe generally
• Experience and expertise in the creation of bi-lingual (German and English) factory agreements for works council engagement
• Case management on a range of employee-related matters including performance, absence, discipline and terminations
• Experience in managing, handling and executing employee investigations and preparation of appropriate documentation
• Evidence of having developed and implemented processes and systems for programmatic and consistent LER practice across a team or function
• Experience working in a high-energy, quickly changing and demanding environment
• Experience with project and change management and stakeholder management
• Experience preparing and presenting LER training/educational materials to large HR audiences
• An ability to function independently and effectively in a complex, matrixed organization
• Proficient with MS Office Suite including Excel and use of LER Case Management technology platform
• Able to travel 30% (in a post pandemic environment)
• Located in Germany – this is a remote/home-based position
  

When you join us, you’ll also be joining Danaher’s global organization, where 69,000 people wake up every day determined to help our customers win. As an associate, you’ll try new things, work hard, and advance your skills with guidance from dedicated leaders, all with the support of powerful Danaher Business System tools and the stability of a tested organization.

At Danaher, we value diversity and the existence of similarities and differences, both visible and not, found in our workforce, workplace and throughout the markets we serve. Our associates, customers and shareholders contribute unique and different perspectives as a result of these diverse attributes.

If you’ve ever wondered what’s within you, there’s no better time to find out.