James Gibbs

Experience

• 

  London & Quadrant

  Apr 2005 - Jan 2011

  HR Officer (2008-2011); HR Assistant (2005-2008)

  • Liaising with managers in various departments on their recruitment needs.• Holding interviews and discussing with recruiting manager regarding the best candidate to appoint.• Checking references, identity documents and qualifications.• Taking minutes in meetings related to a range of HR matters such as TUPE and grievances.• Evaluating data to identify training needs.• Researching courses appropriate to provide required learning and development.• Administering attendee lists and monitoring feedback. Show less

• 

  Japan Airlines

  Jan 2011 - now

  • Applying my knowledge of UK legislation to deal with various Employee Relations matters, making contractual work adjustments for health-related reasons, managing lateness / absence issues, and supporting managers with capability processes. In one case I worked with senior managers as they investigated a combination of grievance / disciplinary which also required me to liaise extensively with lawyers up to and including providing testimony at Employment Tribunal.• Handling most stages of the typical employee journey: onboarding, offboarding, learning & development, interdepartmental moves, time off for parental reasons. I have made changes to the administration in some of these areas where necessary to provide a flexible service.• Working collaboratively with a wide variety of stakeholders to provide high quality and cost effective HR service which meets customer needs and corporate objectives. I have supported innovation in the use of Google Workspace to deliver improvements in a few areas of HR admin.• Assuming responsibility for payroll reconciliation, pension processing. I am also responsible for procurement activities for benefits such as health checks (for new starters & other colleagues), Group Life, Death In Service. • Managing recruitment processes, induction, reference checking. A few months ago we had 7 new starters on one day which was a new record for me.• Communicating with senior management regarding appraisal system and salary / bonus review. Through recognition of my communication skills, I have researched and written HR policies (e.g. social media usage policy, gifts / bribery policy). I was also recently asked to do a snapshot report on the rate of staff turnover and related recruitment costs.• Maintaining a good knowledge of UK employment law means I find it straightforward to research areas which are new to me such as the recently introduced eVisa regulations. Show less • Taking on more leadership responsibilities such as holding appraisal meetings to set staff annual objectives and measuring success against those objectives.• Giving advice and guidance on IT tools such as Google Sheets or MS Excel. This support was particularly important as the company moved into a closer relationship with Google Workspace.• Promoting positive employee relations with weekly team meetings. • Considering complex situations such as the WFH policy, I will analyse from several different perspectives in order to reach judgements which balance fairness and efficiency. • Applying my knowledge and understanding of employment law to handle HR related queries (with an emphasis on lateness and absence management).• Coaching staff on how to improve their prioritisation skills.• Advising staff on how to improve work efficiency with new software (e.g. Gmail filtering and labelling).• Enhancing sales with hands-on administration of Europe-wide website.• Monitoring and reporting workload for all European Sales Support Desk tasks.• Forecasting and managing workload requirements, assigning jobs to the team accordingly.• Reporting on financial risk management with input from third party organisations. Show less • A 2-year secondment role based in Head Office (the agreement was extended by a few months).• Negotiating international contracts connected to logistics services. For example, I successfully secured much improved terms for "Aircraft On Ground" assistance, when engine parts are urgently required.• Reviewing, analysing, commenting, reporting on English language contract documents.• Managing the organisation of a conference on logistics management issues. Representatives from various oneworld airlines travelled internationally to attend 2 days of sessions in Tokyo. Show less • Supporting managers and employees using problem solving approaches to deliver positive outcomes.• Arranging and taking minutes in disciplinary and grievance meetings.• Liaising with Trade Union representatives in various disciplinary and grievance contexts• Coaching colleagues to be HR Administrators at JAL, each person coming to the role with very different set of skills & experience. • Supervising HR Administrator work (e.g. time-sheet checking, payroll administration).• Controlling administration of appraisal system and salary / bonus review.• Administering and reviewing staff benefits (Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution Pension Schemes, Private Medical Insurance, Death In Service, Group Income Protection, Staff Travel).• Liaising with managers and new starters while overseeing recruitment and induction processes.• Delivering training sessions on JAL Philosophy.• Running projects (e.g. introducing Salary Sacrifice to reduce tax burden for company and employees). Show less

  • HR, Assistant Manager

    Apr 2024 - now

  • European Sales Support Desk, Assistant Manager

    Apr 2019 - Apr 2024

  • Procurement, Assistant Manager

    Nov 2016 - Apr 2019

  • HR Senior Supervisor (2013-2016), HR Supervisor (2011-2013)

    Jan 2011 - Nov 2016