The People & Culture Generalist will forge strong relationships with managers and employees, providing advice on people matters. The person in this role assesses and anticipates people related needs and formulates partnerships across the organization to deliver value-added service to management and employees that reflects the mission, values, and objectives of PAWS. The generalist ensures the organization is both a great place to work for its valued employees and volunteers and inspires new people to join our PAWS community to help animals. The People & Culture Generalist will be a strong advocate of PAWS Chicago and the No Kill mission, always fostering a culture of warmth and passion for animal welfare and the people acting on their behalf.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Employee Relations & Culture

• Be a strategic thought partner for the team to maximize employee engagement to achieve exceptional operational performance.
• Contribute to employee development and engagement initiatives in support of, and in partnership with, the organization, i.e. training programs, culture events, roundtable discussions, engagement surveys, etc.
• Participate in investigations of employee relations issues in alignment with PAWS Chicago’s standard, values and leadership principles.
• Support the overarching company strategy for DEI as it relates to the mission, values and culture.
• Assist and collaborate with Marketing & Communications on resources for PAWS staff and volunteers that are inspiring, on mission and on brand, generating more engagement and connection.

Leadership

• Provide coaching and guidance to our leaders using PAWS Chicago’s vision and values to help them effectively apply our people practices, particularly around performance feedback, employee relations, and development discussions.
• Collaborate with employees who are seeking guidance or support related to our practices and systems.
• Maintain a positive and inspirational environment for staff and volunteers, keeping all people focused on the life-saving goals of PAWS Chicago.
• Partner with cross-department and cross-functional teams to create and implement process improvements and other special projects as they arise.
• Identify and assist in facilitating the development of new aspects of the People & Culture program to keep PAWS Chicago on the cutting edge.
• Support ad hoc people strategies and projects.

Talent Acquisition/Management

• Partner with hiring managers to coordinate interview scheduling for phone and onsite candidates.

• Work with leaders to effectively onboard new hires to set them up for success in their career with PAWS Chicago. This may include facilitating new hire trainings, setting them up in our HR Systems, answering onboarding questions, etc.
• Cohort for managing, tracking, and communicating with candidates throughout the recruitment experience.
• Support change management, communications and facilitate training to educate leaders, managers, and employees on performance management processes.

Benefits, Compensation, Risk Management

• Be a resource regarding compensation and benefit related items
• Support wage and salary surveys to ensure PAWS remains competitive.
• Administer leave of absence programs by advising and supporting employee throughout the LOA process.
• Ensure worker’s compensation claims are administered in an effective and compliant manner, including incident investigations, data analysis and recurrence prevention program and procedures.

Systems & Compliance

• Manage the process, data collection and reporting for the various tools and systems we use on a daily basis, i.e., Paycom, OneAmerica.
• Process HRIS transactions including organizational changes, separations, and LOA’s.
• Ensure the organization is up to date on all federal, state and contractual requirements.

• Passion for animals and animal welfare
• A bachelor's degree and 2+ years of Human Resources experience with progressive career development
• Knowledge and commitment to PAWS Chicago’s No Kill model
• Individual must be proficient in MS Office
• Effective management of the details as you work towards the bigger picture
• Ability to handle multiple projects and prioritize your work without compromising quality or the experience you are working to deliver
• Excitement about the opportunity to navigate in ambiguity, get creative and challenge assumptions
• Confidence to ask thought-provoking questions and give high-quality feedback with integrity
• Ability to translate complex or charged solutions into simple options and make others feel heard