Role of line manager and HR manager

In businesses the HMR managers look after many different sections of the business such as “The design, implementation and maintenance of strategies to manage people for optimum business performance including development of policies and processes to support these strategies.” (Mullins 2007). A problem that some businesses have is whether to delegate jobs performed by the HR managers down to the line managers as this can have benefits for the business as well as drawbacks.
Benefits of line manager being involved with HR activities

1. As roles and responsibilities are shared a greater employee bond will form resulting in the business running more effectively

2. HR managers may not have very good relations or be known by employees, so by giving the line managers more HR roles a closer working relationship can be built as the line managers will have a more personal relationship and already know the employees working under them making it easier for any problems to be sorted out

3. When decisions need to be made less time will be taken as the employees can go straight to their line managers who will then report it to HR

4. It will also be easier to deal with day to day problems such as lateness or disobedience

5. Line managers will be able to gain new skills as they will have a active link with HR and their practices

Drawbacks of this

1. Line managers are not specialised in HR so will lack certain skills needed to overcome certain situations

2. The line manager will have a more personal relationship with their employees which could result in it being harder for employees to air any problems that they may have as they may feel it might not be taken seriously or they may be looked upon a certain way

3. The line manager may have little or no belief in the HRM resulting in them being less likely to perform their job to the best of their ability

4. Size of workforce and span of control may be a problem as employees may not trust the line manager doing a higher role due to lack of skill or experience

5. Different line manager will have their own personal views on what is acceptable and what is not which could result in a unruly workforce

What skills do line managers need?

By looking at a piece of work by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, it can be seen that there have been many developments in line managers gaining roles from HRM, but there has been a lack of training to improve skills as “Front line managers are often promoted from within and are unlikely to have formal management education” (Chartered Institute of Personnel Development 2010). As line managers have not had the same level of training as HRM they will be less able to control certain situations. The main area were the line manager will have problems is in their time management as it may seem to them to begin with that they are over loaded with extra work. But according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development there are some areas that line managers are able to perform a better job that the HRM such as

• Performance appraisals
• Training, coaching and guidance
• Openness – as a relationship has already been established with the line manager they are easily approachable
• Recognition

For the delegation of responsibilities to work the line manager must have a number of qualities and skills such as

• A good working relationship
• Able to deal with problems without bias
• Helpful and supportive
• Effective at teambuilding
• Self confidence

More suited to a line manager or HR manager?

After looking through a number of job descriptions at Prospect, I can see that my skills are more suited to HRM. I believe this role would be better for me as the role within the job such as employee relations, recruitment and training appeal to me and the bond between HRM and the smooth running of the business is curtail, if there is a problem HRM is normally the person people go to, and as I enjoy problem solving and working with others as well as being able to work well under high pressure

References

CIPD (2010) The role of front line managers in hr. [online]. Available from: http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/maneco/general/rolefrntlinemngers.htm [Accessed 30 April 2010]

Mullins, L. (2007) Management and Organisational Behaviour. 8th edition. Essex: Pearson Education Limited

Prospects Jobs. [online]. Available from: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/p!eLaXi [Accessed 30 April 2010]