Why should HR manager and line manager work together?
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Have you ever noticed how ambivalent line managers are about the Human Resources function? On one hand, most of them want their HR people to be involved in key strategic decisions; on the other, they want to make sure that whatever they do is not perceived as an “HR program.” Managers often rely on their HR partners to help them build an effective team, but then chafe at them for forcing them to “follow the process.” The bottom line, as Ram Charan argued in his recent HBR article, is that many line managers are disappointed in their HR people. Show
While there may be many factors influencing their complex relationship, these three stand out: First is the confusion about the role that HR is playing at any one time. As Dave Ulrich pointed out almost 20 years ago in his classic book, “Human Resource Champions,” there are actually four roles played by HR people: administrative expert, employee advocate, strategic business partner, and change agent. In some cases, an HR person specializes in just one of these roles (e.g. the manager of an HR call center is basically focusing on the administrative role). Many other HR professionals however, particularly generalists, switch back and forth between the roles, and when they (and their management partners) are not explicit about which role is being played, it creates misunderstandings. For example, an HR person who was helping a team streamline a number of key planning activities switched the discussion from process mapping to employee performance assessment. The managers were puzzled and frustrated by the shift, because they felt that they were making progress and that HR was all of a sudden slowing them down. But the HR person was simply concerned about whether the team’s actions would eliminate some positions and wanted to make sure it was handled in a fair and equitable way. She had shifted her role from “change agent” to “employee advocate,” but because she had not been explicit about putting on a different hat, the rest of the team grew upset at the sudden change of direction. Unfortunately this happens all too often, particularly with HR generalists who play multiple roles. When it isn’t clear which role is being played at a particular time and why, managers become confused and then blame HR for not providing effective support. Second, many managers don’t fully accept their own accountability for managing human capital, and instead want HR people to “take care of it” for them. They avoid or delay activities such as candidate interviews, performance assessments, employee feedback discussions, compensation reviews, responses to engagement surveys, and a host of others. Often this avoidance is based on a lack of time, skills, or interest – or anxiety about getting into tough interpersonal territory. No matter the reason, it leaves HR people acting like the process police and chasing after recalcitrant line managers, which does very little to enhance the relationship. Finally, all too many HR people don’t take the time to truly understand their company’s business and the pressures facing its managers. It’s surprising how many HR people can’t explain their firm’s business model, competitive industry context, or critical product issues – much less be conversant with the key financial metrics. As Ram Charan noted, very few organizations encourage rotation between HR and line business roles; as a result, most HR people become functional or technical experts and miss out on the nuances (or basics) of the business. In the absence of this understanding, it’s often difficult for HR people to contextualize the critical human capital processes for managers, who then don’t know how to prioritize them. The good news about these issues is that they are not impossible to resolve – although as in any two-way relationship, both sides have to join in the dance. Line managers have to accept that human capital management is a major part of their job that can’t be delegated or deferred; and HR professionals have to better understand the business and appreciate the performance challenges facing line managers. In addition, both parties need to be more explicit about what role HR needs to play at any given time. Obviously this won’t happen overnight, but there are some easy steps that both sides can take to get started. For example, if you’re an HR manager, make a point of spending more time with business people and less with your HR counterparts. Don’t talk to them about HR, but about what they are doing in their jobs, their concerns, and their aspirations. If you’re a line manager, make sure that your colleagues in HR are engaged in your business reviews and encouraged to contribute, not just about human capital issues, but also about business decisions. If you keep asking, you might actually get some fresh perspectives. Boost your employer brand and attract and retain the best talent by becoming a CIPD People Development Partner Find out moreMembership Become a member
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Share17 Feb 2022Line managers' role in supporting the people profession Find out more about the role of line management and its relationship to an organisation's people practices On this pageOn this pageIntroductionLine managers have a very important role to play, not only in managing people and operations day-to-day, but also in implementing HR and other organisational policies and in supporting their team’s development. It's therefore important to give proper thought to how line managers are appointed, managed and developed to make sure they are successful in their role. This factsheet outlines the roles and responsibilities of line managers and explores their relationship with people professionals, including opportunities to work together to support organisational strategy. It stresses the need for positive relationships between line managers and their team members, and for supporting line managers in developing their own people management skills. See the full A-Z list of all CIPD factsheets. Line managers have responsibility for directly managing individual employees or teams. In turn, they are managed by a higher-level manager on the performance of those employees or teams. The term ‘front-line manager’ or ‘first-line manager’ normally refers to those who supervise and manage employees who themselves have no supervisory responsibilities, but a role title need not have ‘manager’ in it to have people management responsibilities. Typically, the management responsibilities carried out by line managers (particularly front-line managers) might include:
Managers are also responsible for supporting the wellbeing of their teams, preventing ill health caused by working conditions by monitoring workloads and ways of working, and seeking support from occupational health services to deal with cases of ill health. Our Health and wellbeing survey found that, although the number of sick days recorded by employers has dropped, ‘presenteeism’, where employees feel the need to work when unwell, and ‘leaveism’, where employees use their holiday allowance to work, are widespread. These attitudes are informed by the organisation’s and team’s culture and line managers can play a key role in shaping them. There are number of areas of people management practice where the processes may be designed by HR or L&D or OD specialists, but cannot be delivered by them either in part or in full. Examples are performance management and recognition, employee engagement, enabling employee voice, creating and maintaining a learning culture, and achieving employee work-life balance. Our report Professionalising Learning and Development showed that nearly 80% of L&D professionals feel that traditional views of line managers are a blocker to implementing better ways to improve organisational performance. Relationship between HR and line managersThe relationship between the HR function and line managers has been subject to various changes and tensions in recent years. Adjustments in HR delivery have shifted responsibility for many core activities, such as recruitment or objective setting, away from HR teams. The trend towards individualisation of the employment relationship has also placed new burdens and opportunities in the hands of line managers. An obvious example is in pay rises - with collective pay-setting provisions giving way to individual performance-related pay awards in many organisations, the role of line managers has become increasingly influential in determining individual pay increases. The move to outsourcing transactional HR activities by many organisations has also resulted in more devolved responsibility to line managers to maintain records, input data and manage routine HR activities such as staffing requests, booking training or submitting payroll information. When outsourcing is working well, and managers have appropriate resources, they can access better and more timely information and support to manage their staff more effectively. But where managers’ workloads don’t allow them time to collect relevant information, or the systems used to keep records are cumbersome or inaccessible, there’s a risk that the organisation won’t have an accurate grasp on its people data. Relationship between L&D and line managersThe relationship between the L&D function and line managers has also seen a shift. Previously, with L&D working mainly as course providers, managers had no role within learning, even though it could be argued managers always needed to support the embedding of learning in work practices. Managers are now expected to have a coaching role with their teams and people development is their responsibility. L&D’s role in this relationship is to facilitate the ‘upskilling’ of the line managers, to allow embedding to take place. Our research with Towards Maturity on the link between learning and performance highlights the important relationship between L&D professionals and line managers. See also our factsheet on a range of learning solutions to fit individuals’ and teams' needs. Line managers can make a significant difference in:
Line managers and individual performanceResearch carried out for us by a team at Bath University found that front-line managers play a pivotal role in implementing and enacting HR policies and practices. Where employees feel positive about their relationship with their line managers, they’re more likely to have higher levels of job satisfaction, commitment and loyalty – which are in turn associated with higher levels of performance or ‘discretionary’ behaviour (behaviour that goes beyond the requirements of the job). Our subsequent work with Bath University explores the role that line managers play in two key areas: reward, and learning and development. Our review of evidence on effective performance management approaches also points at line managers’ critical role in assessing and recognising performance. Practices include setting specific and challenging goals, monitoring progress and providing feedback, and assessing performance on a regular basis. Line managers and employee engagementThe increasing focus on employee engagement in the workplace shows that this aspect of line managers’ work can be particularly influential. Our report on the relationship between line management and employee engagement and well-being highlights line managers’ crucial role in balancing the levels of challenge at work – which motivate and engage employees, with the right levels of support – which can reduce stress and support wellbeing. It’s therefore especially important to provide line managers with the skills, tools and support they need to make sure they can, in turn, support their own team. The CIPD has developed a series of practical tools to help line managers support employee engagement, health and wellbeing. To deliver good people management, line managers themselves need to be managed within a strong, supportive framework to enable them to develop self-confidence and a robust sense of their own role in the organisation. This further emphasises the need for appropriate training and development for those newly-appointed in a line management role. If managers are the ’face’ of the people profession to employees, the people profession must be part of ensuring this framework is in place. Developing line managersFront-line managers are often promoted from operational roles and might not have any management experience or education at the time of their appointment. Given their critical role in supporting people as highlighted above in this factsheet, it is paramount to provide newly-appointed line managers with the skills they need to support and develop their team. Our podcast on training line managers discusses the need to develop line managers and some different strategies organisations have found successful. A general overview on all aspects of management development can be found in our factsheet. A specific example of an effective training programme for line managers to support employee mental health in the financial sector in the UK is presented in our report A new approach to line manager mental well-being training in banks. The COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns and, often enforced, remote working have also presented new challenges in supporting employee’s mental wellbeing. Our podcast ‘Managing the wellbeing of remote workers’ offers suggestions for line managers on how to approach what could be a challenging situation. Many of the qualities and skills associated with higher quality line management focus on the behaviours of the line managers themselves. However, it’s not enough to educate line managers in the behaviours required; organisations must also ensure they’re developing the environment and culture in which line managers are actively encouraged to show positive behaviours. Our Leadership: easier said than done report outlines the key barriers to management and leadership within the organisational environment. L&D professionals are increasingly seeing their work move into this cultural impact area as they move away from simply booking courses. In our Good Work Index survey, we regularly track employee satisfaction with the different aspects of line management which provides important information on areas where management quality may be falling behind. Our report Real-life leaders: closing the knowing-doing gap provides further information on the gaps in line managers’ skills from the point of view of managers themselves, as well as HR and L&D practitioners. The role of business partneringThere's a growing emphasis in both HR and L&D teams on business partnering, where people professionals are closely involved in supporting business strategy. This has enhanced the people management aspects of the line manager’s role. Line managers have the opportunity to develop responses and solutions to HR issues together with their HR business partner with more immediacy and alignment to business strategy. For L&D, the business partner’s ability to respond readily to line manager needs for their team creates a much closer and relevant role. This enables both people and business issues to be considered as part of a wider range of decisions that impact organisational effectiveness. Because the relationship is ongoing, both sides build a better understanding and develop long-term strategies and solutions rather than the HR and L&D functions being brought in to manage issues as they arise. This proactive rather than reactive approach offers better support to operations and impact on the bottom line. Leading line managersWell-managed line managers are more likely to lead high-performing teams. Senior management support and action on developing line managers is critical. The relationships between line managers and their own managers and with senior management tend to make a significant difference to their willingness to display discretionary behaviour in their own management activities, as they reflect the culture of an organisation in their behaviour. For HR and L&D initiatives to be truly successful with line managers, they need to be offered with full senior stakeholder engagement and endorsement. Generally, line managers are more likely to display the positive behaviours associated with higher levels of performance from those they are managing if they experience:
Find out how to use our resources to help you support the health, wellbeing and engagement of your team. ContactsChartered Management Institute Books and reportsACAS. (2016) Managing people. London: Acas. LOPEZ-COTARELO, J. (2011) HR discretion: understanding line managers' role in human resource management. In: Academy of Management annual meeting, 12th-16th August 2011, San Antonio, Texas. NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH AND CLINICAL EXCELLENCE (2016) Workplace health: management practices. London: NICE. Journal articlesHASSAN, F. (2011) The frontline advantage. Harvard Business Review. Vol 89, No 5, May. pp106-114. TRULLEN, J., STIRPE, L, BONACHE, J. and VALVERDE, M. (2016) The HR department’s contribution to line managers’ effective implementation of HR practices. Human Resource Management Journal. Vol 26, No 4, October. pp449-470. Reviewed in In a Nutshell, issue 64. TRUSS, C., SOANE, E. and ALFES, K. (2013) The relationship between line manager behaviour, perceived HRM practices, and individual performance: examining the mediating role of engagement. Human Resource Management. Vol 52, No 6, November/December 2013 pp839-859. WHITEHOUSE, E. (2019) Will we ever build better line managers?People Management (online). 25 April. CIPD members can use our online journals to find articles from over 300 journal titles relevant to HR. Members and People Management subscribers can see articles on the People Management website. Download factsheet This factsheet was last updated by Giorgia Gamba Quilliam: Digital Learning Portfolio Manager, Profession Core Themes, CIPD Giorgia designs, develops and manages learning content at the CIPD, including digital courses, factsheets, podcasts and web content. She was instrumental in developing the first ever fully digital qualification delivered in partnership with AVADO, which won both a Training Journal and a Learning Technology award in 2016. Explore our related contentCIPD Learning Courses Motivate and inspire your team to perform at their best and drive maximum value for your organisation. Support materials Surveys CIPD Good Work IndexThe CIPD Good Work Index provides an annual snapshot of job quality in the UK, giving insight to drive improvement to working lives View the survey resultsPodcasts Training Line ManagersEpisode 114: Recorded at the CIPD’s annual Learning and Development Show, this month’s speakers discuss the importance of developing line managers and the different strategies they’ve found successful. Read moreTopic pages Line manager supportResources to support line managers in their people management approachRead more
People Management PM jobs Copyright © The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 2022. Incorporated by Royal Charter, Registered Charity no. 1079797 What is the role of HR in supporting line managers and staff?Collaborate with HR regularly
Line managers should remember that HR has useful resources and information to help tackle problems early on and to ask for this when needed. For example, HR can help managers with tools or training for supporting employee mental wellbeing, or provide key insights on team absences.
What is the relationship between HR and managers?Managers tend to view HR as “paper pushers,” while HR teams don't feel like managers are fulfilling their roles as culture champions. But the relationship between HR and managers is important when it comes to the success of an organization, and both sides need each other to accomplish their respective goals.
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