Role of the Line Manager in Managing and Developing People in Organisations - Example

Managing People in Organisations Table of Contents Part One: 3 Critical Analysis of the Role of the Line Manager in Managing and Developing People inOrganisations 3 Potential Benefits in Devolving HRM&D Responsibilities and Their Relationship with HRM&D Professionals 5 Part Two: 6 Evaluation of Tesco’s Current Practice Linked with its Line Managers Responsibilities 6 Introduction 6 Tesco Current Practice of HRM&D 6 Recruitment and Selection 6 Best Practice of Recruitment and Selection 8 Training and Development 9 Best Practice in Training and Development 11 Performance Management 11 Best Practice in Performance Management 14 Employee Relations 14 Best Practice in Employee Relations 15 Part Three 16 References 18 Appendices 21 Part One: Critical Analysis of the Role of the Line Manager in Managing and Developing People in Organisations Line managers are the managers in an organisation to whom the employees and the teams functioning under the manager report directly. The line managers are accountable to the top level managers for the entire team and their employees. Line managers are usually placed in the lower level of the hierarchical management structure (CIPD, 2012). Line managers should follow the best practice to effectively manage and develop their employees in an organisation by providing outstanding leadership in order to help people to enhance their performance through motivation and development. The role of line managers in management and development of their employees is predominant that includes: Providing the Purpose of Work and Direction to the Team: It is very important for line managers to help their team to understand what they will have to do and what the purpose of the work. Efficient Communication: Line managers should be able to provide their team the necessary information required for successfully executing the assigned tasks. Moreover, they should conduct regular meetings with their team members in order to share their valuable knowledge and resolve their problems in order to eliminate any possible conflicts that may hamper the organisation’s goal achievement process. Enable Good Performance: Line managers will have to provide clear instruction and guidance to their team members regarding the task to be performed which would enable the employees to perform well and further strive to create cordial workplace environment wherein the team members are able to deliver their efforts towards the accomplishment of the broad organisational goals and objectives (The University of Edinburg, n.d.). Setting the Standards and Limitations: Line managers should themselves become the role model for their team members and derive standards of the work to be performed so that team members are motivated to perform competently. It is a function wherein the managers have to set quality, precision and timeliness of the work to be done by their team members and the expectations related to it (The University of Edinburg, n.d.). Reviewing the Employee’s Potential: Line managers have to annually review the performance of their team members and make them realise their true potential. The managers should find out the prospect for personal development of their team members and provide them a clear understanding regarding expectation of work from them (The University of Edinburg, n.d.). Management of Poor Performance: Line managers have the responsibility of determining the aspect for poor performance and find out alternatives to enhance the performance of the team in order to ensure that the problem of poor performance is mitigated (The University of Edinburg, n.d.). Potential Benefits in Devolving HRM&D Responsibilities and Their Relationship with HRM&D Professionals It has been observed that in some situations the responsibility of Human Resource Managers (HRMs) is shared with line managers. In the present day context, line mangers are responsible for implementation of HR practices in the operational level. The issues involved in the decentralisation of HRM responsibilities for the line managers involves that the line managers do not have the willingness in performing the responsibilities of an HR, they do not have the time to focus on both operational and personnel responsibilities and they do not have the competency to perform the functions that is related to HR. Thus, it can be ascertained that the devolution of HR responsibilities to the line managers has not been effective. However, there are certain benefits for the delegation of HR responsibilities to the line managers. The benefits decentralization includes effective motivation and control of the employees as line mangers are always in contact with employees, line managers can reduce the operating cost of the employees and add value to the human resources through bringing motivation and commitment in the entire workforce (Bos-Nehles, 2010). Part Two: Evaluation of Tesco’s Current Practice Linked with its Line Managers Responsibilities Introduction Tesco was founded in the year 1919 by Jack Cohen. Initially, the organisation was involved in selling of groceries in London. Since its foundation, Tesco has expanded its business unprecedentedly all over the world with more than 4,331 stores that include hypermarkets and retail outlets to meet the customer requirements. Tesco is the third largest retailer in the world and the largest retailer in United Kingdom (UK) (Srivastav & Pandey, n.d.). The main objective of this section is to evaluate the current practice of Human Resource Management and Development (HRM&D) in Tesco. The section also includes responsibility of line managers in the organisations against relevant theory and models of best practice. Tesco Current Practice of HRM&D Tesco in order to manage its employee uses the HRM&D cycle which can be considered as the major aspects for the expansion of its business worldwide. The HRM&D cycle involves recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management and employee relations. Recruitment and Selection Tesco analyses the requirement of the work force through rigorous planning. Recruitment and selection helps the organisation in meeting its present employee requirements along with future requirements. As the organisation is expanding, recruitment and selection is very important to increase its operation. Recruitment and selection is done through work force planning which entails five steps: Designing the Management System of Human Resource: It is considered as the most important factor of human resource planning because if the goals of human resource are met subsequently the organisational goals are also accomplished. Analysing The Environment: It is very vital for a human resource manager to recognise the external and internal environment of the organisation. External environment entails the economy status, labour market regulation, technology, competition etc. Internal environment involves the short term and long term plan of the organisation, current status and strategies of the human resource in the organisation. Forecasting the Demand of the Human Resource: This step includes deriving the number and kind of employees required in the organisation in the present and future context. Analysing Supply: The HR manager can recruit its employees through external and internal sources. It is very necessary for the organisation to analyse the supply of work force to meet its employee requirements. Planning and Resolution: This is the final step in the recruitment and selection process wherein the action plan of the employees is designed. However, these plans must be accepted by both the employees and the top level managers (Tesco Plc, n.d.). Figure 1: The Process Used by Tesco to Select External Management Candidates (Tesco Plc, n.d.). Best Practice of Recruitment and Selection The best practice considered for selection and recruitment includes developing the criteria for selection of the individuals, advertising through ads and newspapers to generate the best pool of applicants, short listing the applicants based upon their qualification and skills, provide applications forms to the selected applicants, test the applicants based upon the requirement of the job and ensure that the test are relevant and updated, interview the applicants and derive their knowledge and experience, make the ultimate decision and finally select the applicant (Australian Human Rights Commission, n.d.). Training and Development Tesco has a flexible and organized method for training and development. This helps the organisation to identify the potential employees and train them to enhance their leadership skills. Tesco provides both on the job training and off the job training to its employees. On the job training has many advantages like it is cheaper as compared to off-the job training. Employees can exercise the acquired knowledge in their job. On the other hand, off the job training is more appropriate to develop new skills. These training are generally provided by the professional trainers of Tesco (Business Case Studies LLP, 2014). Figure 2: Illustration of Different Programmes Offered By Tesco to Its Employees (Business Case Studies LLP, 2014). Tesco has an approach of shared responsibility to the training and development process. Tesco uses the line managers to conduct training and development programme for the new recruits who are also referred to as trainees. The options programme of Tesco provides development strategy for long term which focuses both on operation skills and leadership. Personal development helps in enhancing the competencies of the employees due to which the employees become more valuable, productive and develop a positive attitude for a long term. As per the suggestions provided by the theorists, if the employees are supported to enhance their capabilities, it induces greater responsibility within employees and makes them more efficient in their job role (Business Case Studies LLP, 2014). Figure 3: Illustration of the Role of Line Manager in Training and Developing New Employees (Business Case Studies LLP, 2014) Best Practice in Training and Development In a retail sector it is important to communicate the expectations of the customers to its employees and to provide a brief explanation regarding the process of buying. It is essential to ensure that the training provided is relevant with the major focus on retail sales, enhance communication skills and use effective training methods (Business Case Studies LLP, 2014). Performance Management The dimension of performance management of Tesco is applied to each and every employee. The main aim of performance management is to ensure that the employees are conscious about the strategic plan and achievement of the organisation. Performance management inspires the employees to focus on the plan that is inclined towards the organisational success. Moreover, performance management helps in reviewing the on-going progress of the employees and enhance the performance of the employees based upon the progress. Tesco has emphasised the continuous improvement and encouragement of its employees in order to ensure that the jobs done by them get improved as the time passes (Lewis & Trevitt, 2000). Tesco framed an approach of steering wheel in the organisation. It is a balanced scorecard that is customised. This approach is very effective in communicating the goals, strategies and performances in an organisation. The steering wheel approach aids in monitoring the improvement and measuring the actual success. The steering wheel approach involves five dimensions which include customer, people, finance, operations and the community (Advanced Performance Institute, 2009). Customer perspective of the organisation involves earning life time loyalty, giving the customers what they exactly want, providing them good price for the products, ensuring that the customers are not forced to queue up in a line for purchasing the product along with ascertaining that the employees are great in providing the service (Advanced Performance Institute, 2009). People perspective of the approach taken by the organisation involves an opportunity to prosper, an interesting job, a helping manager and equitable treatment of the employees with respect. Finance perspective of the organisation involves increasing the overall sales, effective management of investment and maximisation of profit (Advanced Performance Institute, 2009). Operations perspective of Tesco’s steering wheel approach involves trying to do the job correctly in the first time, delivering products continuously on a day-to-day basis, making the assigned task easier, understanding the importance of the task and always saving money and time (Advanced Performance Institute, 2009). Community perspective of the organisation involves being accountable, honest and fair along with being a good neighbour (Advanced Performance Institute, 2009). Figure 4. Tesco’s Corporate Steering Wheel Community (Advanced Performance Institute, 2009). Best Practice in Performance Management A successful performance management system will have the capacity of integrating management system architecturally. Management of performance is generally convenient to use and access. Moreover, the tool of performance should be flexible in nature. Performance management should be able to ascertain and document present measurements. The system of performance management should be agreed by both the employees and the managers. It should be able to associate functional metrics with the corporate objectives and an effective performance management can be reviewed periodically (Mullie & Hill, 2004). Employee Relations It can be ascertained that Tesco has become successful due to its customers. Moreover, the organisation gives priority to its employees as they are considered as the valuable assets for the company. It has been observed that Tesco maintains good employee relations wherein all the employees are provided the responsibility along with recognition in the organisation. Communication process between the managers and the staff has enhanced in the recent times which has resulted in a good employee-manager relationship. With regard to employee relations, it has been observed that Tesco believes in treating the customers with a positive attitude so as to get a positive feedback from them. There is a good employee relationship environment in Tesco as all the employee work as a team, they respect and believe each other. Furthermore, it has been observed that the entire set of employees is very supportive and everyone has the attitude of sharing their knowledge and experience. Most importantly, all the employees in the organisation enjoy their work and they get rewarded timely depending upon their hard work and commitment for the work assigned. Tesco offers such mechanism to its employees wherein they can share their viewpoint through ‘question time sessions’ of the staff and derive feedback from the employees through surveys and encourage internal labour markets (Wilton, 2010). Best Practice in Employee Relations In order to ensure that the business is profitable, it is very essential to create a job environment wherein the employees are happy. The involvement of the employees should be encouraged and the ideas generated by them should be valued. The key factors for employee contentment involve workplace relationship, physical condition of working and work life balance. There are certain needs of the employees that have to be fulfilled in order to create a good employee relationship in an organisation which includes employment benefits, motivating salaries as per the skills, flexible schedules as well as the wellbeing of the employees should be given the main priority. Employee relations is directly associated with various factors. These factors involve good health and wellness, job safety, effective training, practices in the workplace, diversity in the work, good living wages and sound work life balance (Industry Canada, n.d.). Part Three It can be revealed that Tesco has a good initiative for training and development. However, it is considered that the process of training and development at Tesco can be further improved. It has been recognised that the line managers have been given the responsibility of human resource manager to carry out training activities. Line managers have been conducting training and development programme for the new employees at Tesco. The line managers provide training and guidance to the new recruits as per the requirement but it recommended that line managers should initially develop a plan for training its employees. Moreover, it is further recommended to identify the training requirements and accordingly design the training structure for Tesco. In addition, it is considered to involve the employees in training with the intention of deriving the preferences of the employees pertaining to the training programme. It is very important to understand the requirements of the business and determine how the employees learn in the best way. Furthermore, the line mangers of Tesco can conduct a training needs assessment in order to determine the requirements of the performance and identify the gap between the present aptitude, knowledge and skills of the employees and the required performance in the organisation. Once the gap is identified by the line manager, it is very important to take the decisions regarding the training required. Training needs assessment is a vital tool to determine the requirements of training and development in a rapidly changing business environment wherein the technology and working practices are frequently changing. Therefore, the line managers should use this tool in a systematic manner to derive valuable information regarding the training needs and what exactly the employees need to learn (Linehan, 2009). This recommended approach can be termed to be quite realistic, feasible and cost effective as well owing to the reason that it primarily focuses on proper judgement and evaluation of the line managers. There might be certain issues faced by the line manger to effectively implement the training needs assessment proposition in Tesco wherein the employees might not support the managers to undertake the assessment. Furthermore, the employees might have a negative attitude towards the training needs assessment endeavour owing to the fear of biasness from the line managers. However, if the training needs assessment and other factors of improvement are properly implied in the organisation, there would be a positive impact and productive result in the entire organisation. Tesco can also leverage greater profitability and productivity in this manner which in turn will enable to substantiate its globally leading position as a retailer. Moreover, the involvement of line managers can aid the management to derive a positive outlook of the entire organisational activities in a more prudent way. References Advanced Performance Institute, 2009. Delivering Success: How Tesco is Managing, Measuring and Maximising its Performance. Management Case Study. [Online] Available at: http://www.cpdopportunity.com/resources/delivering%20success%20tesco.pdf [Accessed February 26, 2014]. Australian Human Rights Commission, No Date. Best Practice Guidelines for Recruitment and Selection. Home. [Online] Available at: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/best-practice-guidelines-recruitment-and-selection [Accessed February 26, 2014]. Business Case Studies LLP, 2014. How Training and Development Supports Business Growth. Case Studies. [Online] Available at: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/tesco/how-training-and-development-supports-business-growth/development.html#axzz2uPbNZGde [Accessed February 26, 2014]. Bos-Nehles, A., 2010. The Line Makes The Difference: Line Managers As Effective HRM Partners. Thesis. [Online] Available at: http://doc.utwente.nl/71866/1/thesis_A_Bos-Nehles.pdf [Accessed February 26, 2014]. CIPD, 2012. The Role of Line Managers in HR. Resources. [Online] Available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/role-line-managers-hr.aspx [Accessed February 26, 2014]. Industry Canada, No Date. Employee Relations. Corporate Social Responsibility [Online] Available at: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/csr-rse.nsf/eng/rs00591.html [Accessed February 26, 2014]. Lewis, R. & Trevitt R., 2000. Business for Vocational A Level and AVCE. Nelson Thornes. Linehan, M., 2009. Learning Need Analysis in Selected Employment Sectors. CIT Press, pp.1-70. Mullie, C. & Hill, R., 2004. Performance Management in the Retail Industry. Business Objects. [Online] Available at: http://www.businessobjects.com/pdf/partners/ibm/ibm_owdretail_perf_mgmt.pdf [Accessed February 26, 2014]. Srivastav, S. & Pandey, A., No Date. Motivational Theory in Practice at Tesco: A Tesco Case Study. ABES IT Group of Institutions. [Online] Available at: http://www.abesit.in/pdfs/Motivational-theory-in-practice-at-Tesco-Contributed-by-Prof-Sarita-Srivastav-&-Prof-Ashutosh-Pandey.pdf [Accessed February 26, 2014]. Tesco Plc, No Date. Recruitment and Selection at Tesco. Glossary. [Online] Available at: http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CD0QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.businesscasestudies.co.uk%2Fretrieve_tesco_13_dGVzY28vY2FzZS1zdHVkaWVzLzEzL2Z1bGwucGRmfHw%3D&ei=oOYOU9GgK4flrAfs3YDYCQ&usg=AFQjCNGqzM5IHbCurVZyEptN2I3J2sy8Pw&sig2=K0GJKcjHom2tUAla9r9VOA&bvm=bv.61965928,d.bmk [Accessed February 26, 2014]. The University of Edinburg, No Date. Information for Line Managers. Planning and Organising. [Online] Available at: http://www.docs.csg.ed.ac.uk/HumanResources/Policies/Information_for_Line_Managers_Managing_Staff.pdf [Accessed February 26, 2014]. Wilton, N., 2010. An Introduction to Human Resource Management. Tesco and International Employee Relations. [Online] Available at: http://www.uk.sagepub.com/wilton/Instructor%27s%20Manual/Chapter%205.pdf [Accessed February 26, 2014]. Appendices Basis Best Practice Tesco’s Practice Recruitment and Selection Developing the criteria for selection, advertising, shortlisting, testing, interviewing and selecting. Workforce planning Training and Development Communicative and interactive Flexible and organised Performance Management Easy to use and access Steering wheel approach Employee Relations Create good working environment, job security, involve employees in decision making and provide diversity in work Consider employees as the most valuable asset Read More