Talent Engagement Business Partner

At Cortland, you map the story of your success. We don't adhere to the status quo, we love outside industry perspective, and we thrive on exploring possibilities and reimagining solutions. As an innovative leader in multifamily, our high performance continues to drive exponential growth – and we invite you to join us on our journey towards real estate excellence. With tools and guidance to sharpen your skills, you can forge your own career path, love what you do, and let it show.

As a Talent Engagement Business Partner, you administer and manage Talent Engagement functions and processes, including associate relations, performance management, leave administration, and policy implementation.

The Liaison

• Understand our business to be proactive and support functional executives, leaders, and managers in creating the best place to work
• Provide guidance, coaching, and consultation regarding leadership and organizational management practices to develop leaders and support alignment with policies and procedures
• Work closely with a variety of stakeholders to effectively manage concerns and issues raised through investigations, including assisting management with various associate relations issues like counseling, discipline, and performance improvement
• Partner with internal teams such as Talent Acquisition, Talent Development, and Talent Resources to assist in addressing issues and developing sustainable strategies
• Identify where inconsistent communications or messaging may appear and align communication plan with company strategy to ensure expected results

The Investigator

• Review and investigate all assigned associate complaints, concerns, disputes, claims of harassment, discrimination, and complaints of unfair treatment with priority given to the most egregious allegations
• Summarize investigation findings in written reports, make determinations, and recommend courses of action
• Submit recommendations to management as appropriate; follow up and documents outcomes
• Use sound judgment to mitigate risk and weigh the importance and validity of information to form fact-based opinions
• Convey empathy, patience, discretion, and active listening skills when investigating and discussing sensitive issues
• Support all aspects of HR during new acquisitions or closings

The Team Player

• Facilitate the execution of annual performance and talent planning processes
• Provide support to associates in various topics such as leaves and accommodations as well as associate concerns through multiple channels of communication (e.g. phone, email, chat, etc.)
• Support talent management activities, including onboarding/associate orientation activities, talent reviews, succession planning, etc.
• Conduct site visits to understand personnel needs often in partnership with regional leadership
• Lead the execution of change management plans to encourage associates to embrace new philosophies, technologies, and company initiatives
• Create strategies to identify and overcome barriers (i.e. facilitating conversations to identify root-cause issues of change blockers and coaching managers on appropriate tactics to mitigate or overcome issues)
• Develop and implement a localized recruiting strategy in partnership with the Talent Acquisition team, including tracking performance metrics related to staffing strategies, recruitment, interviewing, selection, and on-boarding processes to identify, develop, and implement necessary revisions to workforce strategy

The Impact You Can Make

• Thanks to your uber-strategic insights, Cortland outshines the competition by providing extraordinary associate relations, ultra-clarified policies, and well-managed administration.
• Internal customer support levels are at an all-time high, and associates enjoy knowing they can count on your team to cultivate a rewarding employment experience and always look out for their best interests.
• Cortland’s overall effectiveness is soaring because you consistently align organizational objectives with talent strategy so precisely.

Building Blocks of Success:

• Stellar 5+ year record of progressively responsible HR support experience; broad knowledge and understanding of all Human Resources functional areas
• Bachelor’s degree in human resources or related field
• Experience with complex investigations in a call center environment preferred
• Professional Human Resources (PHR) certification or Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR) certification preferred
• Highly effective social, written, and verbal communication skills
• Strong prioritization and organizational skills; solid attention to detail while performing multiple assignments in a dynamic environment
• Proficient in Microsoft Office and HRIS software