Senior People and Culture Generalist

Overview

The Morton Arboretum is seeking a Senior People & Culture Generalist to support our commitment to an engaged, inclusive, and mission-driven workplace. In this role, you’ll develop and administer human resources programs and functions to enhance the overall employee experience. This includes fostering engagement, managing the performance and growth framework, and ensuring a positive and productive culture through thoughtful policy development, targeted learning opportunities, and collaborative partnerships to ensure alignment across the employee lifecycle.

You’ll be part of a great team at a mission-based organization that has earned the designation as a Chicago Tribune Top Workplace for five consecutive years. If you’re highly organized, detail-oriented, comfortable working across multiple HR functions, and passionate about creating meaningful employee experiences, this position is for you.

Hybrid (The Morton Arboretum, Lisle IL)

Develop and administer various human resources programs and functions to enhance the overall employee experience. This includes fostering engagement, managing the performance and growth framework, and ensuring a positive and productive culture through thoughtful policy development, targeted learning opportunities, and collaborative partnerships across the People and Culture team to ensure alignment across the employee lifecycle.

• Plan, coordinate, and execute touchpoints to engage throughout the employee experience in alignment with department goals and priorities. Gather and analyze data on employee engagement and partner with supervisors and the director to identify and recommend strategies to strengthen the workplace and ensure sustainable employee engagement across teams.
• Champion effective internal employee communications to keep staff well-informed. Maintain various pages on the Arboretum’s intranet Rooted and promote it as a centralized go-to resource.
• Lead the organization and coordination of Arboretum staff events and engagement opportunities that build connection and enhance culture. Collaborate with partners to provide an engaging New Employee Orientation program to inform and enrich the new hire experience.
• Assist with the identification of training needs and gaps across the organization. Coordinate internal and external training opportunities to support employee development and ensure legal compliance. Partner with training vendors to deliver tailored training programs and courses. Partner with Knowledge Management team to support internal employee training via the learning management system.
• Administer the performance management process, providing coaching and support to employees and supervisors, and ensuring the process is in alignment with organizational strategy, mission, and values.
• Serve as a trusted consultant to staff and supervisors on employee relations and performance matters. Respond to and support resolution of difficult and sensitive employee situations with integrity and diplomacy.
• Develop and manage personnel policies, by maintaining the employee handbook and communicating policies to employees as they are updated or changed. Partner with other departments on guidelines and policies that impact employees.
• Manage compliance activities, including required postings, reporting, and audits in collaboration with People and Culture colleagues. Oversee personnel record maintenance and departmental document retention.
• Demonstrate alignment with the Arboretum’s employee core values.
• Other duties as assigned.

• Bachelor’s degree preferred, certification through SHRM or HRCI preferred.
• 5+ years broad human resources experience required.
• Previous experience with HR software systems and databases preferred.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills required.
• Ability to handle sensitive information in a confidential manner required.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Google applications beneficial.

• Highly organized individual to handle multiple tasks and record-keeping systems often with interruptions. Attention to detail with a concentration on accuracy.
• Outgoing, friendly and…