“Wherever possible, devolving responsibility for people management to the line manager, the role of personnel professionals being to support & facilitate line management in this task, control it.”
This underlines the need to let line manager have the responsibility and let HR support, but through their support the line managers can grow.
Within the Royal Bank of Scotland group there has been a transition of the HR function, this had led to all line managers within the organisation taking responsibility of some of the activities that were previously done by HR.
Its important that there’s balance of responsibilities between HR & the line as without it the consequences can mean all involved becoming demoralised, jobs not being done properly & most importantly legislation not being adhered to. This can then lead to the organisation not going forward which will lead to losing money.
Procedures at RBS have been put in place to make sure this balance is correct these include creating a better culture in the organisation, deploying the correct training & using both line managers & HR to work together to achieve results.
Through creating a better culture at RBS amongst the staff its helped the way in which line managers can relate to the staff, communication between them is open, they understand their needs & can help in certain scenarios I.e. with staff who may have personal issues, the personal touch that the line managers bring has led to improved moral.
The way in which this has been implemented in the organisation has been through training; an overall view is used to make sure that all aspects are covered, HR and managers also meet on a regular basis to review & plan further implementation.
Through this training staff have found it easier to go to the line managers for help & has helped to further build a rapport & trust amongst the staff.
Reviewing & setting goals with the staff has become a major part of the line managers responsibilities as they are a part of the staffs work place on a day to day basis, they work side by side & gives them the benefit of seeing first hand how an employee has worked and what they need to do to achieve more.
The line managers will sit down with staff on a quarterly basis to discuss for coming goals including how they have done against what they have previously been set. This has become a vital part of the process & has helped motivate staff as they know their managers better than HR & feel easier communicating within that environment. The line managers also move into a coaching role to help the staff during these periods to help staff reach these goals.
To make sure that the correct balance & to make sure that bias does nor occur the area sales manager will also perform a review & can do the quarterly reviews if staff require. HR are also their if staff want to speak to them but majority of cases are solved between staff & the line managers.
Although a lot of the responsibilities have been moved from the HR to the line the contribution from HR is still a necessity & is used as a tool to improve work & going forward. The way in which they contribute towards this is by meeting line managers to discuss implementation, ideas & generally work together to make sure the balance is in place. This helps as neither role could do the job on its own & the two need to work together to truly succeed.
Activities that line managers are now having to perform are monitored & enhanced through outside training where other specialist training companies come in to do training courses, this has helped as it doesn’t use ideas within the training course but helps the HR & line managers to think better, communication & understanding each others roles. HR are also given training in how to support line managers.
Recruitment has been a key focus for RBS as they have looked to implement line managers in recruitment enabling them to try and get the best people in the organisation. In the first interview HR are present and will look at general characteristics of recruits & do the general interview process including reviewing competencies. The second interview then involves meeting a line manager where the role is discussed in more depth, role plays are done within a similar scenario & more competency questions are asked in line with the role & person that are required.
This has proven successful as the line managers know what is expected from recruits, the type of person needed & it also gives future employees a more in depth look at the organisation increasing morale before a recruit has joined helping to attract recruits.
A successful idea that RBS have put in pace is to include a help line for managers & staff called HR direct, this is used to help with any problems or complications that cant be solved easily. This has helped staff when managers aren’t available, line managers have uncertainty & as its available from 8am-8pm 6 days a week so can help when outside regular working hours.
The way in which holidays & sickness are dealt with is now part of the line managers function rather than HR. This has been beneficial for staff as it means that they are getting decisions & problems solved quicker as the process & staff only have to go through one channel, now line managers sort out these issues & then contact HR to confirm, if further issues occur the line manager & HR communicate to sort out.
The amount of delegation that has now been transferred to line managers does need a balance as the workload line managers have has increased, yet they’re still doing the same amount of hours & jobs as before to do this & now they have HR work swell.
A key feature in making sure it is manageable is support from HR so that if line managers become stressed they have someone there to go to. From the increased support in both jobs it has meant that competencies have improved, processes have been streamlined and take less time to complete & the relationship between HR & line managers is strong.
Through RBS’s success at implementing these practices into the organisation it is apparent that they see this as an ongoing process which has enables them to deal with change easily & efficiently. It also enables development through better working relationships and a good environment for the staff to go in the right direction.
The results of moving the HR function towards the line can be positive & negative, involve all members of staff & the effects last short & long term.
Transferring some of the responsibilities of the HR function has implications which can be positive & negative. Relationships amongst staff could potentially have both differing implications; if done successfully can bring people closer together & adversely it could also lead to staff, line managers & HR being unhappy, low moral & people not knowing what direction their going in.
The understanding a line manager will have of a role can be a benefit to the staff and the company, majority of line managers would have done similar roles so they know how to succeed. Although having been in that position its important to be wary of the fact that favouritism & bias can follow due to managers being close to employees.
Line managers may not want to take on the responsibilities of HR and pose the responses; It doesn’t allow me to do my job, it’s just common sense & its not important to me so why should I do it?
In these types of scenarios organisations need to take steps to correct these beliefs straight away. With line managers believing that they don’t have enough time they could re assure the managers that they can do it, review how they get on & use HR to support them every step of they way. Through them doing this line managers could feel valued and start to believe they can do the job.
Underlining the benefits of doing this to line managers and getting them to believe in it can help them get over problems and through support from HR every step of the way lot of the anxieties they may have will go away. The importance of these negatives is reiterated by Harris, Doughty & Kirk (2002):
“HR specialists shared their concerns but in terms not only of the lack of specialist knowledge but also the level managerial skills & commitment to handling employment issues.”
So it is vital that when implementing the required training is given & that the necessary support is there for the line managers.
Knowing the staff better can help during times when encouragement is needed as line managers work with them on a daily basis so will know their personalities, this can help for dealing with different people I.e. some may need to be shouted at and some may need an arm round them.
Through reward and recognition from line managers better relationships can be formed which can lead to building a better workplace & re affirm commitment from all forms of staff. As the line managers are I the prime position to do this it will more beneficial for them to do this than HR & rewarding success will be important for the staff environment.
Training is important as done correctly will means that line managers will know all aspects of their jobs & feel confident enough to do them. Having line managers introduce induction plans means they will be involved in how new recruits begin their training as well and hopefully lead them to become fully competent at their job.
If sufficient training isn’t given problems could occur with legislation & regulations not being met & inconsistencies appearing, this could then lead to action being taken through tribunals, with the results potentially being catastrophic. With the cost for such action becoming increasingly higher its imperative that the correct measures are taken in training so that organisations don’t incur that financial burden.
McGovern (1998) underlines this by saying:
“as the potential costs of litigation rise, it increases the importance attached to the specialist HR functions role in protecting the organisation. In such circumstances devolution to the line is accompanied by increased monitoring.”
The attitude & respect that line managers have towards their responsibilities they inherit is important, its possible that managers might not see them as their responsibility leading to work not being done, resentment amongst staff & confusion as to who does what role. This could then lead to staff following suit with their attitude, morale reducing & jobs not being done throughout the company.
Consistency is key as it allows people to understand their goals & underlines where they want to go. Its needed between the line, HR & staff as it could lead to staff being confused by the structure & who to go to.
The more that line managers & HR work together to find solutions will determine there success, this is summed up by Harris, Doughty & Kirk who believe:
“The vital factor will be to what extent these HR processes are he product of a shared development process & joint ownership by HR staff & line manager s and how effectively line managers are prepared for the new HR responsibilities.”
With the HR function in organisations moving towards line managers there are many areas that need to be considered when implementing, these include training, structure, costs, attitudes, compliance, processes & workloads. In order to make sure that these functions are implemented properly the two need to communicate with one another & work together as neither could do it without co-operation. This will lead to organisations becoming more strategic including quicker more streamlined processes, improved recruitment & organisations being more profitable.
References
Torrington, D. and Hall, L. (1996), “Chasing the rainbow. How seeking status through strategy misses the point for the personnel function”, Employee Relations, Vol 18 18 No.6, pp. 79
Nicola Mindell (1995) “Devolving training & development to line managers”, Management Development Review, Vol 8 - Number 2 - 1995 p17
Krulis-Randa, J. (1990), “strategic human resource management in Europe after 1992”, International Journal of Human resource Management, Vol 1 No 2, pp 131-9
Lynette Harris, Dave Doughty & Susan Kirk (2002), “The devolution of HR responsibilities - perspectives from the UK’s public sector”, Journal of European Industrial training 26/5, p226
McGovern, P., Hope Vailey & Stiles, P. (1998), “Human resources management on the line?, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol 7 No.4, pp13
Lynette Harris, Dave Doughty & Susan Kirk (2002), “The devolution of HR responsibilities - perspectives from the UK’s public sector”, Journal of European Industrial training 26/5, p227
Bibliography
Books
Human Resource Management - Torrington, Hall & Taylor - Sixth Edition, 2005
Essential of Employment Law - Lewis & Sargeant - Eighth Edition, 2004
Journals
Journal of Industrial Training
Human Resource Management Journal
Employee Relations
International journal of human resource management
Management development Review
Websites
People Management - www.peoplemanagement.co.uk
Ebsco - www.ebsco.co.uk