49
faster ER case closure in just 3 months
The Body Shop went through a period of significant change in 2024. Following this, they saw an opportunity to drive efficiencies in the employee relations function to help improve employee experiences across multiple locations, with a lean HR team.
Case study overview
They were looking for an employee relations advisory outsourcing supplier to drive efficiency and deliver best practice, compliant advice to their management teams, including:
- Unlimited, straight-talking legal advice: On-demand advice from specialist employment law professionals, ensuring managers and HR have immediate access to expert guidance for complex ER matters whenever they need it.
- Monthly reporting: Detailed reports on new cases, total cases, case volume by store or function, case types, and time to close cases, enable data-driven decisions and improve transparency.
- Drafting and documentation support: Comprehensive drafting assistance for letters, investigation reports and outcome documentation, helping maintain consistency and compliance across all cases.
- Legal privilege and risk management: By embedding legal privilege into employee relations processes, Halborns safeguarded sensitive cases and reduced organisational risk, giving The Body Shop confidence and commerciality when handling complex situations.
HR transformation outcomes
- Consistent access to ER and legal experts: Managers and HR teams have continuous access to specialist ER advice every day, eliminating gaps caused by holidays, sickness, or other absences. This ensures uninterrupted support across all locations.
- Improved manager capability and confidence: Managers are empowered with timely guidance enabling them to handle ER issues competently and confidently. Quick identification of managers requiring support enables targeted upskilling, strengthening capability across the business.
- Optimised HR capacity to focus on strategy: Outsourcing ER support enables HR teams to focus on strategic priorities and people development, helping support better employee and customer experiences.
- Faster case resolution and process improvements: Streamlined processes and expert input speed up ER case resolution, with managers receiving same-day advice to keep issues on track from the outset. End-to-end documentation provided throughout the process enables managers to deliver consistent, robust people processes, minimising disruption and protecting productivity.
- Enhanced employee experiences: Timely and consistent case handling improves the experience for employees going through ER processes, supporting wellbeing and fairness. Halborns operate as an extension of The Body Shop team, immersed in their ways of working. This has helped reduce ER case volumes by 45% in the first 12 months.
- Legally privileged protection and reduced risk: Legal privilege and expert oversight provide complete confidence and commercial assurance, ensuring compliance and mitigating risks in complex ER cases. Advice protected by legal privilege guarantees objectivity and security for decisions.
The transition to outsourced ER support was designed to be seamless and collaborative. Our Group legal experts worked closely with The Body Shop team to align processes with the company’s culture and operational needs.
This included setting up clear communication channels, providing managers with immediate access to legal experts, and introducing monthly reporting to track progress and outcomes. A phased approach ensured consistency across stores, offices and distribution centres, while maintaining confidence and transparency throughout the change.
45
reduction in ER case volumes in the first 12 months
Testimonial
”Drafting outcome letters was an absolute win and music to managers’ ears, and for us it was equally about ensuring managers felt confident."
HEAD OF PEOPLETHE BODY SHOP
