Employee Relations Officer at Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

ROLE OVERVIEW

• Under the supervision of the Principal Officer, Staff Welfare & Employee Services, the incumbent shall be responsible for the development and administration of the employee relations program and employee advocacy, provide advice to management regarding the prevention and resolution of grievances etc to build a positive and engaged work environment. He/She shall manage a range of activities related to employee/labor relations, and grievances, and ensure compliance, fairness, and equity in line with the ECOWAS Staff Regulations.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Manage relationships with Staff unions & and ensure that the organization’s treatment of staff members is consistent with its core business values and objectives.
• Handle complaints, managing grievance procedures, and facilitating counseling in conjunction with other stakeholders.
• Investigate and resolve complex or critical industrial relations issues in a timely and effective manner.
• Collate and analyze employee feedback across all levels regularly and revise people programs and policies to generate more positive outcomes.
• Educate staff members on employee relations issues and create awareness in line with the staff regulations and Code of Ethics document.
• Assist the supervisor in developing the employee relations policies and procedures on Grievance, Complaints, and Discipline.
• Develop and regularly review guidelines in terms of staff administrative concerns.
• Administer and interpret various labor agreements, administer grievance procedures, and provide labor relations support during negotiations.
• Facilitate liaison between department managers and staff members.
• Advice and counsel staff members, managers, and supervisors regarding personnel practices, staff regulations, policy, and employment laws.
• Guide compliance of all staff members in the staff regulations.
• Administer the equal employment opportunity.
• Maintain a database to monitor and track all employee relations cases.
• Collate employee relations information including investigation reports, and disciplinary notes of the Commission and provide reports as required.
• Investigate and prepare documents for all Employee Relations cases and procedures for the Committee.
• Administer grievance, disciplinary, or any other employee relations meeting when required.
• Perform any other tasks that may be assigned by the supervisor.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Employee and Industrial Relations, Law, Human Resources, Social Sciences, or in a similar field from a recognized University.
• Five (5) years of relevant experience in Industrial Relations in a private/public sector or international organizations.
• Experience in the practice of Labor Law Management.
• Knowledge of HR Management best practices.
• Experience in employee relations or industrial relations.
• Experience in dealing with unions.
• Strong knowledge of HR policies & procedures.
• In-depth knowledge of employment legislation.
• Knowledge of human resources management operations including training, recruitment, performance management, change management, manpower planning, salary policy, pension administration, employee terms and conditions of employment, monitoring, analytics, and reporting.
• Knowledge of Staff Regulations, directives, and policies of relevance to the execution of duties associated with the position.
• Cognitive knowledge of database creation and management, and use of specialized computer systems and programs for operationalizing a variety of HR business processes and reports.

AGE LIMIT

• Be below 50 years old. This provision does not apply to internal candidates.

ECOWAS KEY COMPETENCIES

• Ability to persuade/influence others to consider a certain point of view, adopt a new idea or implement new methods and practices.
• Ability to lead a team of trainees/junior staff and instill a spirit of teamwork to engage employees and achieve a well-defined set of activities.
• Ability to respect chain of command in an appropriate manner.
• Ability to resolve challenges that occur with minimal direction and/or to recommend and explain solutions or alternatives for approval.
• Ability to utilize the Code of Ethics to manage self, others, information, and resources.
• Ability to mentor others and create feedback loops with supervisors, colleagues, and the subordinates to build strong working relationships and improve performance.
• Contribute to maintaining organizational unit’s performance goals and standards.
• Interpersonal skills with ability to keep a client informed of progress or setbacks in projects of relevance to timeline, quality, and quantity.
• Ability to proactively interact with clients and build strong trusting relationships based on mutual respect and regular discussions.
• Ability to establish and sustain professional credibility with clients/stakeholders in a manner that anticipates their need, mitigates issues and that carefully balances professional obligations with the need to be sensitive and responsive to their needs.
• Ability to counsel, advise, consult, and guide others on matters pertaining to assigned client service responsibilities and established client service standards.
• Demonstrate respect for cultural differences, fairness, and ability to relate well with people from varied backgrounds, nationality, gender, ethnicity, race and religion.
• Understanding of diverse cultural views especially within West Africa, with sensitivity to group differences; ability to challenge bias and to practice tolerance and empathy.
• Ability to listen actively, consider people’s concerns and apply judgement, tact, and diplomacy.
• Ability to work in a diverse and inclusive interactive environment that benefits from diverse strengths.
• Ability and responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.
• Ability to encourage, empower, and advocate for people in an unbiased and transparent manner.
• Knowledge of ECOWAS institutions, sectors, programmes and policies.
• Knowledge of ECOWAS internal operational requirements of programs, projects, services, and systems required to achieve work assignments and meet performance goals.
• Knowledge of rules and procedures of ECOWAS associated assigned responsibilities and ability to explain these clearly to others.
• Knowledge of the ECOWAS culture, structures and performance issues and priorities impacting assigned responsibilities.
• Knowledge of member states development trends, indicators, challenges, and opportunities as it relates to project/program assigned to own position.
• Ability to study data/information from a variety of sources, identify anomalies, trends and issues, present findings, and make recommendations.
• Ability to break down problems or processes into key parts to identify and solve gaps in service, quality assurance, compliance, and performance targets.
• Knowledge of and ability to apply techniques to generate creative ideas and new approaches to meeting goals.
• Ability to use evidence and research to inform policies and programs and identify relevant and appropriate sources of information, including stakeholders, regional institutions and/or internal committees.
• Demonstrate operational computer proficiency using appropriate tools.
• Ability to make sound use of graphics and tables to effectively present numerical data to write semi-complex technical reports/proposals and edit/check templates, letters, etc.
• Ability to convey information clearly and concisely in a succinct and organized manner through both writing and verbal means.
• Exhibit interpersonal skills, make presentations, express opinions, and debate ideas with others in a constructive manner.
• Proficiency in information communication technologies (ICT).
• Fluency in oral and written expressions in one of the ECOWAS official languages of the Community (English, French & Portuguese). Knowledge of an additional one will be an added advantage.
• Ability to develop, implement an individual action plan for achieving specific work goals.
• Identify, organize, and monitor tasks throughout to facilitate execution.
• Ability to contribute and/or lead on projects as per accepted project management standards and techniques, to co-ordinate contributions by others to set and meet deadlines.
• Ability to organize work, set priorities, and work within timelines, giving attention to details, stakeholders, indicators, and risks.
• Ability to identify, collect and assess indicators to monitor performance and to take proactive remedial action as required.