Employee Experience and Engagement Partner (Architecture)

Southwest Power Pool (SPP) is about more than power. We're about the power of relationships. Our employees have the opportunity to work together to ensure electricity is delivered reliably and affordably to the millions of people living in our service territory. We have been voted one of Arkansas' Best Places to work by Arkansas Business and we are looking for a member of our team who is passionate about our mission to keep the lights on!

We have a core ideology here at SPP that we stand by: Do the right thing, for the right reason, in the right way.

We believe in supporting our employees through a fantastic benefits package:

• Competitive pay with bonus opportunities
• Excellent insurance package including three great medical plans to choose from, employer-paid short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance
• Relocation assistance
• Flexible working environment for positions that are eligible where employees have the flexibility to work from home and come in where collaborative in person work is needed.
• Fantastic contributions to your retirement through a 401(k) savings plan with employer-match benefits and a defined benefit plan fully funded by SPP

Overview

 The Employee Experience and Engagement Partner is responsible for leading and executing programs and initiatives related to employee experience and engagement. As a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Team (DEI), this position provides program management for the DEI Council, Business Resource Groups (BRGs) and Communities of Practice and identifies opportunities and implements strategies to increase engagement. The Employee Experience and Engagement Partner formulates partnerships across the organization to execute employee experience and engagement programming. The Employee Experience and Engagement Partner independently performs assignments with guidance from the Director of DEI.

The position reports to the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Essential Functions 

• Create, organize and implement employee engagement programs and initiatives that build culture, community, purpose, and belonging
• Demonstrate a sense of ownership and provide leadership for overall employee engagement programming and projects including SPP's BRGs, Communities of Practice, Wellness, awards and recognitions, corporate events, and STEM-related Community Partnerships.
• Exhibit leadership within the DEI team by using project management skills to drive quality and ensure timely results
• Maintain in-depth knowledge of employee experience and engagement related issues and best practices
• Recognize when to challenge and/or escalate decisions or actions that could adversely impact programming and respond appropriately to the circumstances
• Develop company-wide strategy and roadmap of programs and initiatives designed to enhance DEI, culture, engagement and employee experience.
• Leverage relevant tools and resources to plan, monitor, analyze and report on employee engagement and culture. This role takes ownership of various reporting functions, including but not limited to, report creation, running standard reports, and communicating predefined metrics.
• Document the execution of DEI and engagement milestones and provide strategic support to the Director of DEI
• Project Management for benchmarking surveys designed to gather employee feedback with external recognized companies
  1. Lead the process by working with the relevant stakeholders to gather updated information and data to provide to our external partners (i.e. plan to lead weekly touchpoints and communication strategy, act as point of contact for stakeholder inquiries, partner with external agency to ensure data and processing accuracy)
  2. Create data-driven (quantitative) approach to facilitate company-wide action planning in response to employee feedback.
  3. Execute the strategy for analyzing and translating results into actionable insights.
• Initiate work with the Communications Team and vendors to enhance employee engagement, DEI programs and events as well as marketing and promotional materials, including writing feature stories, event photography, and coordinating communication efforts with other departments in order to effectively promote the various events and programs available to employees
• Work in partnership with recruitment, HR operations, and Learning and Development to implement engagement initiatives.
• Serve on various committees, attending related meetings and activities, as necessary.

 Qualifications 

Experience Requirements:

• Three (3) years of progressive experience in developing solutions and implementing strategies with focus on cross-cultural resource efforts in an organization with diverse constituencies (in excess of educational requirements stated above) required.
• Experience managing DEI programs, organizational development, or learning and development preferred.

Required:

• Resourceful, problem-solving aptitude and critical thinker – ability to define problems, collect and analyze data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions
• Exceptional communication (both written and verbal), interpersonal, and problem-solving skills
• Detail-oriented
• Experience with creating innovative presentations
• Exercise sound judgment
• Work collaboratively and build relationships
• Analyze, organize, and prioritize work while meeting multiple deadlines
• Work successfully as a member of a team and independently
• Handle confidential information with discretion
• Lead initiatives and programs with influence across an organization and within teams preferred.
• Work effectively and cohesively with people at all levels of an organization preferred.

Preferred:

• Microsoft Office, Virtual conferencing platforms

Work Environment:

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.

Physical and Mental Demands

The physical and mental demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to perform the essential functions of this job successfully. 

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to make decisions, interpret data, and problem solve.
• The employee frequently is required to stand or sit for extended periods; use hands to operate a computer keyboard and standard office equipment.
• The employee must occasionally lift and move up to 10 pounds.
• Requires the ability to work and collaborate with managers and employees at all levels to exchange ideas, information, and opinions to facilitate the task.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, and ability to adjust focus.

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work:

This is a full-time position. Days and hours of workweek are Monday through Friday; 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Working extended hours may be required. 

Travel Requirement:

• This position requires minimal travel (approximately 0-15%)

Should you elect to apply for this position SPP will review your qualifications. If after reviewing the qualifications and experience of all applicants, your skills and credentials meet our needs, someone from our organization may contact you. Please be advised that the time required to complete the applicant review process typically takes between 30 and 90 days, but could extend beyond that. Once the position has been filled, all applicants will be notified via email.  

Southwest Power Pool is an Equal Opportunity Workplace and an Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age or any other protected category.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines “reasonable accommodation” as a change or adjustment to a job or work environment that allows a qualified individual with a disability to satisfactorily perform the essential functions of a particular job, and does not cause an undue hardship for the employer.  SPP adheres to the ADA and reasonable accommodations may be made to enable a qualified individual with a disability to perform the essential functions.

 

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)

See job description