Managed HRO services for employee relations
Relieve the pressure on your HR team to drive business change by empowering your people managers with a best-practice approach to employee relations support.
Reduce HR burnout and improve manager capability
How your organisation manages employee relations directly influences performance, culture and reputation. Yet, with sickness absence at a 15-year high and 94% of HR professionals reporting work-related stress, teams are under more pressure than ever.
Our fully managed HRO services combines expert employee relations advisers, proven case management processes and intelligent technology to deliver consistent, compliant and cost-effective support. We help you reduce HR burnout, minimise risk and enhance efficiency and costs, freeing up internal HR teams to focus on strategic priorities with confidence that your managers are in expert hands to handle employee relations cases like grievances, absence cases and conduct matters.
Empowering people at the heart of leading organisations
Employee relations management support
Through a managed ER service enabled by empower®, leading organisations are increasing in-house efficiency and reducing burnout. In 2024, we helped organisations to deliver:
- Over 90% of employee relations tasks handled directly by line managers;
- 5 in 8 ER cases resolved without HR intervention;
- Average of 31 days before HR involvement required, freeing HR to focus on complex or strategic issues.
By enabling managers to resolve day-to-day matters independently while HR retains oversight of more complex cases, organisations are achieving faster resolutions, improved engagement and measurable cost savings.
Minimise ER cost and risk
Our experienced ER advisers integrate seamlessly with your team to provide consistent, compliant and high-quality support. Every case is handled with care, protecting your organisation from risk while maintaining trust and fairness across your workforce.
Improve manager capability
Give your managers the confidence, tools and guidance to resolve people issues early and effectively. From performance and conduct to absence and conflict resolution, managers can act quickly, supported by our advisers and empower® guided journeys that simplify every step.
Gain insight and drive ROI
Access real-time data and people analytics to uncover the root causes of employee relations challenges. Track trends, measure outcomes and demonstrate the impact of proactive case management on cost, performance and engagement.
Starbucks UK’s case study demonstrates how the employee relations transformation solution, empower®, supported by an HR Advice Line, empowers managers with guided journeys, helped to add an incredible 15,000 hours to frontline services.
more hours improving frontline services
15,000
Outsourcing HR to boost capacity and reduce risk
Our HR Advice Line provides immediate access to CIPD-qualified ER specialists, helping managers handle cases confidently while alleviating pressure on HR teams.
- Aligned with your organisation: Guidance reflects your policies, culture and risk appetite;
- Specialist support on demand: ER experts are just a call away to guide managers through complex cases;
- Flexible support: Options include full outsourcing, supplementary help, or cover during peak periods;
- Reduce HR burnout: Consistent, compliant handling of cases allows HR to focus on strategic priorities.
Combining this service with our award-winning employee relations case management software transforms HR.
Transform employee relations with HR technology
Our award-winning empower® platform transforms employee relations processes, giving managers the tools and guidance to manage cases confidently while freeing HR capacity.
- Equip managers to act: Line managers self-serve routine ER cases, reducing reliance on HR;
- Ensure consistency and compliance: Guided journeys build capability and maintain compliant processes;
- Understand the bigger picture: Track caseloads, spot trends, and benchmark performance across the organisation;
- Turn insights into action: HR and leaders gain real-time, data-driven insights for enhanced decision-making;
- Tailored to your organisation: empower® can be customised to reflect your organisaton’s policies, processes, procedures and tone of voice.
STARK’s case study showcases how empower®, combined with the expert HR Advice Line, transformed its employee relations model, enabling managers to handle 70% of ER tasks proactively and contributing to a 60% reduction in tribunal claims.
reduction in tribunal claims
60%
If you’re struggling to find the space, capacity or capability to drive business change, why not talk to us about how we can help you to manage your day-to-day HR and people management matters?
Get in touch
Or speak to an HR expert on: 0844 327 2293
Ask our experts
For many of our clients, one of the primary objectives of HR outsourcing is to cut costs while delivering a strong return on investment.
We can support you in making the financial business case, as well as highlighting the benefits of a service which is culturally and strategically aligned.
We offer a competitively priced service, tailored to each organisation’s needs.
We aim to deliver the perfect balance of people and technology, supporting fast implementation of a framework for a high-performing HR function, increased visibility of people issues and an uplift in people performance.
A six-week induction period gives our employee relations experts the opportunity to immerse themselves in each client’s policies and procedures, to fully understand the culture and environment employees are working in.
There’s a lot of power in your people data. We can provide instant visibility of the employee relations landscape across your business, giving you knowledge and insight that informs better business decisions.
Our insight analysts will review your data, benchmark it against other businesses in your industry, and give you recommendations and predicted outcomes.
Some clients work with us for all their ER services, removing business partners from their HR model.
Others use our services as an opportunity to enhance HR’s influence on business strategy; with us delivering the day-to-day ER tasks, your HR team can concentrate on taking a strategic approach to employee engagement, the absence process, performance and productivity.
We pride ourselves on our collaborative approach. From implementation to service completion, we’re an extension of your team.
We achieve this through our people and processes:
- Providing dedicated advisory teams
- Replicating your employee induction process
- Running new service roadshows
- Developing an encyclopaedic knowledge of your policy, processes and escalations
- Ensuring frequent touchpoints between our advisers and HR team
- Delivering dedicated account management
And through our technology:
- Websites designed to match your brand
- Content written in your language and tone
- Seamless online access via single-sign on
- Case management software configured in line with your policies, process and tone