Role of a Line Manager in HR [week 14]

A Line manager is an employee's immediate superior, who oversees and has responsibility for the employee's work. A line manager at the lowest level of a large organisation is a supervisor, but a manager at any level with direct responsibility for employees work can be described as a line manager.

There have been changes to the role and responsibilities of Line managers, some functions have been transferred from Human resources to Line managers. This is supported by research by Caldwell [2002], which looks at changing role of the HR professional and notes the shift of HR roles to a more strategic role.

The areas where front line managers make a difference to people management practices include:
Performance appraisal, training, coaching and guidance, employee engagement (involvement and communication)
Openness – how easy is it for employees to discuss matters with their front line manager, work-life balance and
Recognition – the extent to which employees feel their contribution is recognised. [CIPD, 2009]

From my own experience as a supervisor in a post office I carried out activities which where the line managers responsibility. These activities included training new staff [induction] and undertaking performance appraisals. Also some initial tasks of the recruitment and selection process such as short listing and interviewing applicants. Most of which where the HR depatments responsibility.

Pros and cons of a Line manager carrying out HR activity
There has been a trend to devolve many HR functions to line managers, including training and development. The justification is usually couched in terms of meeting the needs of people where it matters - at workplace level. This can be very effective because the assessment and delivery of training is more closely attuned to people in their working environment, but its efficacy depends on how it is carried out. The transfer of authority from the centre to the periphery aims to formalise initiatives to overcome the shortcomings of slow central policies, it also reduces the number of people involved in the altering of policies that pertain the unit, therefore saves any organisation time and money.

Some HR activities require a deep knowledge of employees’ situations, typically people management and development. Line managers are best positioned to know their employees and the levers to influence on loyalty or effectiveness. Line managers have a closer relationship to employees than a HR department does therefore they are in the best position to do certain HR activities for example if one employee has a grievance with another employee the line manager can see what happened for themselves therefore the line managers judgement of the situation will be better than that of someone working in the HR department. On the other hand if the employee has a grievance with the line manager they may feel not to come forward and express their grievance as the person they are always reporting to is the line manager. The employee may also feel the line manager will not take their side as the line manager may prefer one employee to another, therefore the HR departments help would be more favourable for the employee as there will be no bias opinion.

As Line managers have a closer relationship with employees they can make certain decisions more fairly/effectively for example they know how well each employees works so they can determine pay/ promotion and other benefits better than someone in the HR department could. Line managers have to have input in certain HR planning strategies, which consider immediate and long-term staff requirements in terms of numbers and skill levels. They also are involved in delivering training, including inductions for new staff, although the planning is done by HR. Line managers are able to effectively analyse training needs as they see the employees on a day to day basis, this would benefit the staff as they learn what they don't already know therefore improve their skills, it is also beneficial to the organisation as it means they are able to train and develop the staff effectively and therefore have better skilled labour as well as minimise waste on unnecessary training and development.

Line managers can benefit from carrying out HR activities as they gain new skills and are able to expand their knowledge. This may lead to them having a better career in the future as they have the basic skills to do so, they also have the opportunity for promotion to higher management. On the other hand line managers have conflicting priorities and may feel a role overload. They will have to put in extra time to carry out their people management activities, which could lead to them working more than they wish to. The organisation will benefit from this as it means they can employee internally, people who they are familiar with and already trust, they will also save time and money compared to externally employing someone.

Front line managers are often promoted from within and are unlikely to have formal management education. This means they are not properly qualified to carry out the tasks they are expected to carry out. The Line manager may have conflicts with certain employees there may be unfair to some employees e.g. they may not get on with an employee therefore may not give him/her the pay rise or holiday they are entitled to. Line managers are able to be bias whereas if this HR activity was carried out by the HR department it would eliminate any chance of this sort of bias as the people in HR department do not know the person they are dealing with.

The HR department and Line managers may have differences of opinion in terms of what is the best thing to do. Line managers may feel they are not getting enough relevant input from the HR department and the HR department may feel that line managers are not dealing with the situation properly. Both have to work alongside each other to carry out certain activities which may not always go according to plan. These conflicts/ disagreements may lead to line managers becoming de-motivated, and therefore not doing their job to the best of their ability.

Skills a Line manager needs to manage people
A line manager needs people skills as their main role is to manage others; this is the most important and most demanding task that a line manager faces. They need to know how to use positive communication, good counselling, training skills, motivational skills and positive discipline. They need an understanding of how to handle difficult people and situations and be able diffuse them and turn them around to the organisations benefit. This will enable them to get the best out of employees in a fairest way possible.

A line manager should have good time management skills so that they can use their time productively and not waste it doing unnecessary things. They should be able to set a good example to anyone else who would like to be in the same position as them. This will also mean they are not constantly working overtime and therefore have time out of work to return to work every day with a clear mind.

The line manager should be proficient at specific tasks; they should know how to use all systems put in place so they are able to train their employees. This in turn will help them provide the credibility or knowledge to persuade employees to do certain things, as employees will look up to their line manager in order to learn new things and improve their skills.

They need to be able to stay in control, monitor employees work and effectively delegate tasks. If they do not do so employee will do what they like and even when they are told what to do by the line manager they will not take him/ her seriously. They have been given the authority and should be able to use it to the organisations benefit; they should use it to make sure the company’s goals are being met. Line managers are there to empower others to deliver so they need to show the employees that they are the leader.
Line managers should be able to manage change and have the ability to develop action plan in order to stay in control and take charge/ lead of a new situation. They should be able to trust their employees so the employees feel safe in their job they also need their employee to trust them so they have a positive relationship and therefore happier employees. This will result to better quality of work and motivated employees.
They should be able to keep operational costs low and distribute the given labour hours to the advantage of the company. For example they should be able to decide when more/ fewer staff will be required and set the rota accordingly. This is important as if they get it wrong it will affect the quality of service provided for example if it gets really busy and the line manager predicted it will be quiet the customers may have to wait a long time for service. They should be able to keep on top of costs and should have some financial expertise as they are responsible for some expenses, they should be able to realise if budgets are not being met so that they can report to the rest of the employees in order to make them aware of the problem, this will enable them to sort the problem before it is too late.

They should be able to spot any weaknesses in employees so they can train and develop them and they should be able to see employee’s strengths so they can praise them. This will result to a more productive team who have the highest level of skills through training/ development and motivation for the job role.

Development for a Line manager at work
My Line manager at McDonalds was employed internally and new all the basics so was expected to take on new tasks and learn as she did new things. She had access to new system on the computer so was given 2 days off the job training at the management training centre where she was taught the new system as well as given some training on doing the end of week figures. On one of the days she was sent to a training branch to observe what extra responsibilities a line manager has to take on, this included learning how to make a rota, do daily figures, running a shift etc. She then spent a week in the training branch where there was help available from other managers to get the experience firsthand. She had to do a first aid course as well as a health and safety course both off the job which included role plays and a written test. The company did not train her to improve her people/management skills as such but she gained these skills with experience.

Role of a line manager or HR manager?
I think my skills are most suited to a line manager as I have previously been a supervisor and a line manager was the next step up, I have had brief practise in this job role. I think I would suit this role as I have experience of managing a small team of people and a HR manager deals with many people in many situations. A HR manager has to be up to date with current laws so they can deal with situations like sexual harassment realistically. A HR manager has to be able to make decisions about certain situations without being on the inside for example if there has been a problem between employees and the HR manager is involved to help with the situation, they have to be able to make helpful suggestions to solve the problem to prevent the situation escalating into something worse than it already is.

A HR manager’s skill base is similar to that of the line manager as they both deal with people, follow a budget, work as a team, do performance appraisal, interview staff etc; however their skills are more advanced as they have more authority to make decisions. The HR manager has to have salary and tax related knowledge whereas the line manager just doesn’t need to as they are just told what the employee will be getting paid and pass on the information. Therefore the skills that I have are more likely to suit the role of line managers however I think anyone who is a line manager can develop their skills further as they are similar roles.

References
Corporate careers. [Online]. Available from: http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/careers.html [Accesses 01 April 2010]
Hutchinson, S. and Purcell, J. (2003) Bringing policies to life: the vital role of front line managers in people management. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Milsome, S. (2006) Devolving HR responsibilities: are managers ready and able? 4th ed. London