Human Resource Operational Functions in the Organisation - Essay Example

Critical Evaluation Performance is a broad concept from the perspective of an organisation, as it is synonymously used for efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness. This study aims at evaluating the role of line managers and resource specialists, so as to evaluate the effectiveness of their partnership in improving the performance of the organisation. The line managers and the resource specialists are involved in the recruitment activities in an organisation. Resource specialists are accountable for the management of the whole recruitment and selection process, while the line managers are superior to the resource specialist; the job analysis, description and specifications are prepared with the line managers’ approval only. So it goes without saying that the agreement of both the resource specialists and the line managers is significant for an effective recruitment drive. However, before discussing the effectiveness of their partnership on the performance of the organisation, an analysis of the effects human resource on the performance of organisations and the role of the managers in such a situations would be discussed to give an overview to the readers regarding the operational functions related to selection of human resource by the human resource of the organisation (Adams, 1991). Traditionally it has been seen that the human resource specialists were there to support the line managers in their duty of getting things done through people and their responsibility of managing the human resource affairs. They have the function of ensuring that the HR policies were followed and implemented by the responsible persons in the organisation efficiently. However, nowadays organisations are diversely structured and functions of the people have been segregated into several forms. The HRM ideas have diffused with the objective of the organisation to reduce the cost of operations. The line managers have got more involved in the functions of selecting, recruiting and appraising employees for their good performances. The senior managers take the responsibility of the strategies that have to be developed for managing the human resource, while the line managers’ role is to take up the operational responsibility for the resource specialist and supervise them in functions like counselling, selection and administration. The fundamental principles of coherence and comprehensiveness have to be in line with the major elements of HRM, as these factors are interdependent. Recruitment, selection, training and development, appraisal system and performance management are all interconnected functions. Every function implies various other functions that affect the human resource in the organisation (Blyton, and Turnbull, 1992). Traditionally, the human resource operational functions in the organisation were related to employee engagement, administration, compensation, staffing and training. However, the changing roles in the organisation and the level of importance or value that these functions add to the organisation also create new roles in the organisation. In the recent times, the centre of attention of the HRM is on strategic issues, which mainly focuses on integrating the business strategies with the human resource functions. The human resource specialists assist the seniors and the line managers in strategic management. They are the experts in administration and work processes, so they streamline the procedure and the systems of the organisation for enhancing the overall performance of the organisation. They act as mediators by representing the concerns of the employees to the management of the organisation. They are also regarded as the change agents in the organisation because they have the capability to improve the ability of the employees by motivating them. Visions suggested that the resource specialists often become internal consultants in the organisations when they facilitate, enable and support the senior managers and the line managers. Resource function is important because it assists in sourcing the expertise to manage the people. It also assists in formulating initiatives and systems, so as to help the organisation in aligning the human resource with the business strategies, but ultimately the organisation has to depend on the line managers in order to achieve results (Brewster, and Larsen, 1992). Ulrich developed a business partnering model in which he specified that the focus of human resource should be shifted from just recruitment and payroll administration to other aspects, such as how to deliver them (Francis, and Keegan, 2006, p. 231-249). He selected four specific areas, which if executed properly would assist the human resource to deliver their duties and meet the challenges while delivering them. The four roles are strategic partners, employee champion, change agent, and administrative expert. He mapped out that these new roles of the resource specialists would assist in aligning the business strategies and human resource, re-engineer the business processes, manage transformation and change, and respond to the needs and requirements of the employees. The role of the business partners such as the resource specialists and the line managers need to be streamlined based on the business objectives. The line managers have the technical knowhow, so they can assist in taking the major decisions related to human resource with the assistance from resource specialist. IBM has launched their smarter workforce initiative which involved sets of various solution through their cognitive computing system, which would assist the company in not only developing high-end recruitment portals, but also in providing talent solutions and planning right career for their employees. These were certain activities of that Ulrich suggested for the resource specialist due to which partnership with line manager was mandatory. This is because resource specialists handled the traditional human resource activities such as recruitment and selection skilfully, but in order to deliver the newly stated activities, resource specialists needed the support of line managers. However, he himself argues that excessive alignment of resource specialists and the line managers can lead to intense isolation of the well-being of employees, so if the resource specialists and the line managers start implementing agendas of management along with the own tasks, then a possibility of value role conflict may arise (Francis, and Keegan, 2006, p. 231-249). It has been argued that the line managers need to have an idea regarding the synergy between the physical, financial and human resources. The allocation of money, strategy and time and development and growth of the employees is not only an outlay for future success but also a necessity for handling uncertainties. It is the function of the line managers with the resource specialists to act as a catalyst in solving the human resource related company issues of the organisation. There are a few reasons why the responsibilities of the line managers have become vital in HRM over the years. Firstly, the trends have been shifting in the organisations towards profit-based approaches from the cost-based approaches. Secondly, it is the line managers who are in constant touch with the employees and not the resource specialists. So their responsibility of allocating task and monitoring the employees’ performance has increased. The responsibility of the line managers for their subordinate’s performance has increased. Thirdly, the increasing influence of the customers and special attention of the companies towards their needs and wants has re-defined the duties of the human resource in the organisation too. Lastly, the staffing or recruitment decisions have been made on real time basis and the movement of the organisation towards reduction of the overhead departments in the organisation are also the reasons due to which role of the line managers have been re-defined (Brewster, and Mayne, 1994). Various reasons have been stated by human resource specialists for the traditional position of the line managers, when line managers did not shared much responsibility with the resource specialists. Firstly, the line managers were not enthusiastic regarding taking up the responsibilities related to HRM in their department. Secondly, they gave low priority to the human resource managers and resource specialist. They were also ignorant in matters related to human resource, such as trade union agreements, legal requirements, etc. Thirdly, there was very little evidence of the fact that the line managers were given formal training on handling and managing the human resource. Lastly, the organisation and its management did not take seriously the issues related to human resource and treated them just as mere workers. However, the above explained attitude of the line managers were seen in the ancient times; but the new approaches revealed a strong relationship between the line managers and the resource specialists. The relationship is dynamic, complex, ambiguous and varied. Attention is being paid to the contribution and requirements of the human resource that form the organisation. This is now applicable to both the resource specialists as well as the line managers. However, this was not the case before. The challenges associated which managing the human resource in the organisation has to be faced by both of them. Evidences reveal that the implications of the changing roles have been greater on the line managers (Brewster, and Soderstrom, 1994). The resource specialists along with the line managers perform four major roles in an organisation, namely, strategic partnership, employee championship or performance evaluation, administrative expertise and change agent. Administration and performance evaluation are still important as before but the requirement to handle them effectively with credibility has increased because the requirement of these two roles would increase in future as these roles have diverse inferences for the line managers. The resource specialists are the administrative experts, who are regarded as valuable sources for providing advice and information to the line managers. On the other hand the functions of change agents and strategic partners would be conducted by the line managers directly. The resource specialists would be also getting opportunity to express their knowledge, expertise and skill in this case, but the line managers have the professional expertise to handle such issues. Another important issue why line managers were provided with more responsibility to handle the duties of the resource specialists is that of the advent of technology and computer framework in the organization, outsourcing the employees, introduction of standardized tasks such as training provisions and payroll system. This has reduced the work load of the resource specialists. Line managers have a vital role in training and learning process of the employees. Training and learning are two different important factors in the organization. Learning is important for the team in the first stage as this provides them an idea regarding the work process (Redman, and Wilkinson, 2009). In the second stage training is provided when the employees have learnt the work and have reached a stage where they can be trained to improve their efficiency. The front line managers are like the team leaders and critical change agents who manage the team functioning effectively and monitor their performances. They also develop strong association with the employees as they guide and coach them. The line managers remain in close contact with the employees, so they have the knowledge of the employee requirements. This is the reason why resource specialist prepares the job description and selects the candidature on the suggestion and preference of the line managers because it is the line managers who are going to train and manage them. Moreover, even in the recruitment process the resource specialists handle the initial stages, while the line managers take the final round of interview to check whether the candidate has the capability to work in their organization or not (Larsen, and Brewster, 2003, p. 228-244). A resource specialist’s position is the entry level position in HRM segment. They play the role of interviewer, benefit coordinator, trainer, job analyst, compensation analyst, etc. In large companies or organizations, there are many opportunities for promotion. They advise the line managers on the issues related to human resource, policy formulation and training and selecting the new employees. The line managers are seniors compared to resource specialists in the organization. So the resource specialists perform certain functions independently but with regular coordination from the line managers. The objective of the study was to identify whether the resource specialists and line managers can work together in coordination. The answer to this question is yes because the resource specialists are bound to work in coordination with the line managers and the line managers are also bound to share responsibilities of administration, recruitment, training and development with the resource specialists. This is a mutual relationship which both of the personnel cannot avoid because the framework of the organization and its human resource has changed, along with the recruitment procedure, training process and appraisal techniques (Marchington, and Wilkinson, 2012, p. 126-135). The responsibility of staffing in the organization lies on both resource specialists and line managers. The resource specialist develop the programs in order to recruit skilled workers but the line or operating managers take the final decision for hiring. The administrative procedures created by the specialists are promotions, demotions, layoffs, transfer. However, the line managers actually evaluate the employees and take the final decisions regarding demotion, promotion, transfer, and so on through the performance appraisal system designed by them. The resource specialists are responsible for contributing expertise, knowledge and counsel the employees, but the line managers take the final decision. Both the groups of personnel work together and coordinate with each other in order to fulfil the staffing objectives. The resource specialists have specialized knowledge regarding staffing, while the line managers have functional expertise. So the resource specialists are viewed as strategic partners, who are also regarded as business consultants, who solve strategic problems related to the human resource keeping in mind the global environment. They specifically focus on the activities related to human resource. They belong to a background where they had acquired skills to acquire information related to human policies, practices and techniques; which also include law, organizational psychology, industrial labour relations, social service, counselling and technology. Handling the total human resource activities and responsibilities can be problematic for the line managers as they do not have HRM skills or knowledge. So they might not handle certain situations effectively. Moreover, the increasing pressure of everyday activities makes it difficult for the line managers to handle the operational functions and manage human resource simultaneously. In order to avoid this problem, the resource specialists support the line managers in their decision making activities for the human resource. Through this procedure the expertise of both the groups of personnel are utilized in a correct way. This is because the line managers are not human resource specialist but they are responsible for the operational functions in the organization. They have the responsibility to coordinate and manage team of people so as to attain the objectives of the organization. This means that they are in close contact with the employees and know the skills and areas of expertise of every member in the team. However, this does not make them specialists in staffing activities. The resource specialists as discussed above are the trained personnel on various procedure of staffing and recruiting, but do not have the knowledge regarding the qualities or skills that would be required if they wish to recruit a particular person. So the requirements of a line manager from his team members and the expertise of the resource specialists in conducting the recruitment and selection activities jointly assist the organization in attaining competitive position in the market. Evidences reveal that the authority of hiring, firing, recruiting and selecting lies in the hands of the line managers but this does not mean that they can function without the assistance of the resource specialists. The line managers direct the employees in their own department in case of work related activities; further, this line of activities extend towards the HRM. The resource specialists coordinate with the activities related to personnel activities that are also referred to as functional authority. It can be concluded that the role of the line managers are not only important in the recruitment process but also in other activities related to HRM. Involving the line managers in the recruitment process is just because of making the recruitment process efficient. Another reason is that line managers have better knowledge regarding the requirements of the team and the technology (Blanpain, 2010, p. 103-105). The resource specialists have no knowledge regarding the requirements of skilled workforce in the different teams. Therefore, if they recruit on the basis of their decision, they might recruit a wrong person for the job profile. This is the reason why more and more line managers are being involved in the recruitment process. It is being seen that resource specialists and the line managers are working as partners in the organisations, which is why the recruitment and selection process have become refined and effective nowadays. References Adams, K., 1991. Externalisation Vs Specialisation: What is happening to Personnel? Human Resource Management Journal, 1(4), p. 40-54. Blanpain, R., 2010. Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations in Industrialized Market Economies. Netherlands: Kluwer law international. Blyton, P., and Turnbull, P. 1992. Reassessing Human Resource Management. London: Sage Publication. Brewster, C., and Larsen, H., 1992. Human Resource Management in Europe: Evidence from Ten Countries. Journal of Human Resource Management, 3(3), p. 409-434. Brewster, C., and Larsen, H., 2000. Human Resource Management in Northern Europe. Oxford: Blackwells. Brewster, C., and Mayne, L., 1994. The Changing Relationship between Personnel and the Line: The European Dimension. 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