Human Resources Business Partner
Milwaukee, WI
Full Time
Experienced
Our Story:
Crisis Prevention Institute, Inc. (CPI) is the worldwide leader in evidence‑based de‑escalation and crisis prevention training and dementia care services. Our programs teach professionals the skills to recognize, prevent, and respond to crises in the workplace. Since 1980, we’ve helped train more than 17 million people across service‑oriented industries including education, health care, behavioral health, long‑term care, human services, security, corporate, and retail.
At CPI, we are dedicated to changing behaviors and reducing conflict for the Care, Welfare, Safety, and Security of everyone. We believe empathy, meaningful connections, personal safety, and security are the antidotes to fear and anxiety. This philosophy is central to everything we do and traces back to our beginning.
As a member of the team, you can expect to:
The HR Business Partner serves as a strategic advisor to leadership and the primary owner of employee relations across the organization. This role partners with assigned business leaders to align people strategy with organizational goals, leads workplace investigations and corrective action, and ensures that people decisions are fair, consistent, well-documented, and compliant across CPI's multi-state and global workforce. The HR Business Partner provides expert guidance in employee relations, performance management, organizational change, and leave and accommodations, while also coordinating global HR initiatives to ensure alignment across regions. This position requires a proactive, solutions-oriented professional who brings recommendations, not just problems, and who has the judgment and composure to navigate difficult conversations with empathy.
What you Get to Do Every Day:
HR Business Partnership
We’d Love to See:
Crisis Prevention Institute, Inc. (CPI) is the worldwide leader in evidence‑based de‑escalation and crisis prevention training and dementia care services. Our programs teach professionals the skills to recognize, prevent, and respond to crises in the workplace. Since 1980, we’ve helped train more than 17 million people across service‑oriented industries including education, health care, behavioral health, long‑term care, human services, security, corporate, and retail.
At CPI, we are dedicated to changing behaviors and reducing conflict for the Care, Welfare, Safety, and Security of everyone. We believe empathy, meaningful connections, personal safety, and security are the antidotes to fear and anxiety. This philosophy is central to everything we do and traces back to our beginning.
As a member of the team, you can expect to:
- Make a difference through your work — You’ll be proud to tell your family and friends what you do.
- Gain significant career experience within a fast‑growing organization — From entry‑level roles to executive leadership.
- Feel fulfilled and have fun — We work hard but make time to build meaningful relationships and celebrate wins.
The HR Business Partner serves as a strategic advisor to leadership and the primary owner of employee relations across the organization. This role partners with assigned business leaders to align people strategy with organizational goals, leads workplace investigations and corrective action, and ensures that people decisions are fair, consistent, well-documented, and compliant across CPI's multi-state and global workforce. The HR Business Partner provides expert guidance in employee relations, performance management, organizational change, and leave and accommodations, while also coordinating global HR initiatives to ensure alignment across regions. This position requires a proactive, solutions-oriented professional who brings recommendations, not just problems, and who has the judgment and composure to navigate difficult conversations with empathy.
What you Get to Do Every Day:
HR Business Partnership
- Serve as the dedicated HR partner to assigned business leaders and client groups, building a working understanding of each team's goals, metrics, and challenges.
- Act as a trusted advisor on people-related decisions, bringing clear recommendations that weigh business impact, risk, and employee experience.
- Partner with business leaders to align HR strategies with organizational goals.
- Advise leaders on organizational design, workforce planning, role changes, and restructures, including impact analysis of proposed changes.
- Coach people leaders on performance, engagement, retention, and team effectiveness, building their ability to handle people issues independently.
- Lead regular talent reviews with client-group leaders covering performance, flight risk, succession, and development needs.
- Drive HR initiatives that support business performance and growth.
- Serve as the primary point of contact for employee relations concerns raised by employees and managers.
- Conduct timely, thorough, and impartial internal investigations into employee complaints, policy violations, and workplace concerns, including harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and code-of-conduct matters; document findings and recommend outcomes, ensuring fair and consistent resolution practices.
- Partner with managers on performance management and corrective action, including coaching conversations, written warnings, and performance improvement plans, ensuring documentation is consistent and defensible.
- Recommend and deliver employment decisions, including terminations, with empathy and professionalism; prepare separation documentation and coordinate with legal counsel on severance and release agreements.
- Track employee relations cases, identify trends, and recommend proactive solutions such as policy changes, manager training, or process improvements.
- Escalate high-risk matters to the Chief People Officer and legal counsel as appropriate, and manage outside counsel on assigned matters.
- Lead the development, review, implementation, and communication of HR policies and procedures to ensure alignment with organizational goals and legal requirements.
- Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations across all HR practices and processes, including consistent application of the Employee Handbook and state addendums.
- Provide guidance to leaders and managers on policy interpretation and compliance-related concerns.
- Monitor changes in employment legislation and proactively recommend policy or process updates to mitigate organizational risk.
- Support and manage non total rewards compliance activities including audits, reporting requirements, record retention, and mandatory training initiatives.
- Develop and deliver training and communication materials related to workplace policies, code of conduct, employee relations fundamentals, and compliance expectations.
- Maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgment in handling sensitive employee and organizational information.
- Promote a culture of accountability, integrity, and continuous improvement aligned with organizational values and business objectives.
- Administer FMLA, state and local leave programs, and ADA and state accommodation requests, including the interactive process and required documentation.
- Partner with managers and employees to coordinate leave, return-to-work, and accommodation plans while protecting employee privacy.
- Plan and execute reorganizations, reductions in force, and group separations in partnership with leadership and legal counsel, including selection criteria review, adverse impact analysis, WARN review, and OWBPA-compliant documentation.
- Build change management and communication plans so transitions are handled respectfully and consistently.
- Support organizational change initiatives by ensuring HR policies, practices, and communications are implemented consistently and effectively.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure HR programs and practices support a positive employee experience while maintaining compliance standards.
- Oversee onboarding processes to ensure a smooth new hire experience.
- Manage employee status changes (promotions, transfers, leaves, terminations).
- Coordinate offboarding processes, including exit interviews, and report on themes and retention risks.
- Ensure proper documentation and system updates throughout the employee lifecycle.
- Partner with managers to support employee transitions.
- Track and analyze HR metrics (turnover, engagement, headcount, employee relations trends, etc.).
- Prepare reports and dashboards for leadership review.
- Use data insights to recommend improvements and inform decisions.
- Maintain HRIS data integrity and accuracy.
- Support ad hoc reporting requests.
- Use engagement data, employee feedback, talent insights, and workforce trends to identify organizational health risks and opportunities and partner with leaders to develop and monitor targeted action plans.
- Coordinate and support global HR programs and initiatives across regions.
- Partner with international HR teams to ensure alignment with global standards and local requirements.
- Assist in the rollout of global policies, processes, and systems.
- Ensure consistency in employee experience while respecting regional differences.
- Support cross-border projects, including acquisitions, integrations, and organizational changes.
- Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field or equivalent experience
- Five years or more of progressive HR experience, including at least three years in an HR generalist or business partner role with direct responsibility for employee relations, workplace investigations, and corrective action.
- Demonstrated experience conducting workplace investigations and delivering terminations and other difficult messages.
- Experience administering leave and accommodations (FMLA, ADA, and state leave laws).
- Strong working knowledge of employment law, including Title VII, ADA, FMLA, FLSA, ADEA/OWBPA, NLRA, and multi-state leave requirements
- Strong investigative, documentation, and written communication skills
- Sound judgment and the confidence to make and defend recommendations, including unpopular ones
- Ability to deliver difficult messages with empathy, composure, and professionalism
- Business acumen; able to connect people decisions to business outcomes
- Knowledge and experience with human resources information systems
- Service and results-oriented, high attention to detail, critical thinking, and a sense of urgency
- Excellent communication (written and verbal), facilitation, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills
- Proven ability to collaborate, influence, and build trust within complex organizational relationships, within teams, and one-on-one
- Flexibility, adaptability, agility; able to effectively prioritize and manage multiple projects/priorities simultaneously and work independently
- High level of discretion – ability to deal with highly confidential information appropriately
- Proficiency with Microsoft products, including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams
We’d Love to See:
- SHRM-SCP or SPHR certification
- Experience supporting a multi-state and/or global workforce
- Experience with reorganizations, reductions in force, or group separations
- Experience with ADP Workforce Now preferred
- Comprehensive compensation package
- Comprehensive benefits package
- 401k
- PTO
- Health & Wellness Days
- Paid Volunteer Time Off
- Continuing education and training
- Hybrid work schedule
- Paid Parental Leave
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