Emerging Trends and Changes in the HR Function - Essay Example

? The relationship between the line manager and human resource management The relationship between the Line manager and Human Resource Management A line manager, also called a direct Manager or a front line manager, is the person who is directly involved in managing and directing the work of other employees in a given project or an area of specialisation in a firm. The line manager is usually promoted from within and probably has no formal education on management. As such, the line manager acts as the direct link between the employees and the HR Department. Some Front-line managers have responsible for directing the work but are not involved in the administrative function of the employee’s welfare. This means that they direct the work and ensure high employee productivity in their areas of work but do not carry out administrative duties for the employees. These administrative duties include discipline, promotions, demotions, and salary administration among others. The line manager is charged with the responsibility of meeting corporate objectives in his or her field. In the recent past, however, other aspects like risk management, Human resource function and finance have crossed into the line management. Research shows that the human resources in an organisation contribute to almost eighty percent of the organisation’s net value. This means that if human resource is not managed properly, the organisation can undergo a great loss. It is, therefore up to the Human Resource Department to bring out the best in all workers and thus leading to the realization of the set organisational goals. As such, the management of Human resource has recently become every manager’s job. This means that the main functions of the HR Department are increasingly being devolved to other Managers, and this is where the relationship between the line manager and the HR department becomes crucial. For starters, the HR department is responsible for hiring employees; this involves attracting employees, giving those positions in the work place and ensuring that they perform as expected. The Human Resource Department is supposed to clarify and set the daily goals for the organisation. It is responsible for the organisation of people in the entire organisation and the present and future and ventures and objectives involving human resource in the Company. (Handy 1999) The functions of the HR department will include Manpower planning, Job analysis and description, Determination of wages and salaries, the recruitment and selection method for performance appraisals, training and development, Employee welfare and motivation, employee grievances among others. These functions are interrelate the HR function in that they require the participation and feedback from the line managers. The role of the line managers include: 1. Managing the daily running of the line 2. Managing the operational costs of his area of production 3. Providing technical expertise 4. Organising the allocation of work and duties 5. Monitoring the work process 6. Checking and ensuring quality production 7. Dealing with customers and clients 8. Measuring operational performance of the line More recently, these functions have been widened to include: 1. Providing coaching for employees 2. Performance appraisals 3. Handling discipline and employee grievances 4. Participation of the line managers in the recruitment and selection function From the fore-mentioned responsibilities, it is evident that the HR department relies so much on the line managers to get things done and get a follow up on the set policy. It is as if the HR department formulates the policies and the line managers implement them. This makes the HR department appear like a ‘big Brother” to the line managers refusing them to do their work properly. Emerging trends and changes in the HR function Training and Internships Norbert (1967) notes that not all employees who go through the recruitment process successfully are best placed to produce quality work in the organisation. Since every organisation is unique in its culture and the way of doing things, it is important for the new employees to be placed under an internship for a while to learn the ropes in the organisation. It is, therefore the role of the line manager to organise how the new employees in his line will get the much needed training to enable them steer the organisation forward. This explains the orientation process in the placement process of the HR and this function can best be direct by the man on the ground who in this case is the line manager. Improving Organisational Culture Organisations are increasingly getting interested in establishing organisational culture in the workplace. A trend almost unthinkable in the past has seen the management spend quality senior management time and a lot of resource sin establishing an organisational culture. This culture has been and has continued to improve the following three steps. The first step involves observation. Here, HR investigates what comprises and dictates the culture of the organisation. HR should take into consideration the organisational needs. They should appreciate that personal fulfilment is more effective and, therefore should ensure that the change is pertinent to every employee. It is the role of the HR to inform all staff members and stakeholders the advantages of cultivating the organisation’s culture. This should be explained so that all can see the advantages at a personal level and not simply at the organizational level. Erica (2006) Improving the Organisational culture must have its benefits and must work toward the realisation of the Organisational goals. The organisation should be having the perceived benefits, a procedure for execution and the expected gains in relation to the change in culture. Reality checks should be conducted often to ensure that the set changes are effected, and any anomalies are corrected in time. Through this scheme, the HR Department should be able to implement a positive culture in the organisation that leads to improved production and better realisation of the organisational goals (Harold, 2003). The perceived gains in corporate culture management are three. The main one is that such a culture is perceived to allow for consensus in the workplace. Consensus is the achievement of a common set of examples and beliefs. When this consensus is established, Industrial conflict is averted since all the workers now work toward the same goal. The next prize in the culture management is the flexibility and agility, which allows for optimal performance of the employees. This is because the workers are given the freedom of movement and, therefore can move between two erstwhile jobs. This means that the employees are managers of their own time and they perform best when given this freedom. The employees work when they want instead of following a strict and repetitive timetable, As such the employee works only when they are most productive thus giving their best in their jobs. This ensures quality work. The final price in the corporate culture management is commitments. This is in reference to the employees’ engagement. The employees feel as if they own the production process. Working to towards a common goal in a firm that they feel they belong makes them endeavour to perform. Working flexibly, the workers ensure customer satisfaction in their own way, and this leads to the achievement of the set organisational goals HR business collaboration Another emerging trend in the management of organisations is the HR business Partnering. The HR professionals work hand in hand with business leaders or line managers to achieve the desired organisational goals especially those that involve the creation and enforcement of HR systems and policies that are supportive of strategic business aims in this process. This process usually involves the designation of ‘HR business partners’, as HR professionals who are situated within the business, sometimes as part of a bigger process of restructuring the HR function. Business collaborating also refers to the way that a professional services function can be restructured into different roles, aimed at providing better and cheaper HR services to the organisation. However, many varying definitions of HR business collaborating exist, and the application chiefly depends on the organisational objectives and, where the HR business partners operate there exists wide variations in their role. In the HR business partner model, the department participates in strategic planning in order to help the business meet its obligations. Rather than just concentrating on HR duties such as benefits, payroll and worker co-relations, HR departments endeavour to add value to the company by supervising recruiting, training and placement of new and current workers. E-HRM E-HRM refers to the devolution of HR functions to the management and employees. They can access these functions easily via intranet or other web-technology related channels. The empowering of line managers and employees to perform certain HR functions has the effect of relieving the HR department of these tasks thus allowing HR staff to devout less time on the operational and more on the strategies of HR, and allowing company to lower HR staffing levels, and this, in turn, lightens the administrative burden 0on the department. It is expected that, as E-HRM evolves and becomes more pronounced in business culture, these changes will become more apparent though they have not yet been manifested to any significant degree yet. According to a 2007 CIPD research, “Outsourcing and e-HRM have had relatively little impact on costs or staff numbers". E-HRM offers the potential to develop services to HR department clients (both employees and management), become more efficient and cost effective within the HR department. This allows HR to become a strategic partner in achieving the set organisational goals. From the foregoing discussion, it is clear that the role of the first line managers in the implementation of HR policies cannot be overlooked. This is because the job of the line managers is not only truly vital in the realisation of organisational benefits, but it is also delicate and should be handle as such. The difference between what the HR policies are perceived to be and what is actually implemented depends chiefly on the conduct and competence of the line managers. Kulik and Perry (2008) believe that devolving HR responsibilities to the line can create opportunities from the HR department gain influence in the Organisation. Gaining the commitment and loyalty of front line managers, meeting the needs of the customers, and acting as a link between the works in the production location and the management (both Middle and Senior) is a highly delicate balancing act. If done properly, it will catapult the organisation to a truly high position, but if not, the organisation is set to perform dismally. Getting the best out of staff, especially in times when time and resources are limited, is a highly demanding task for any manager. The qualities that a good line manager should possess are discussed below. 1. A good line manager should have quality interpersonal skills. This will enable him to communicate clearly with the workers and explain what need to be done. He will also be able to create a rapport with his team in such a way that the team views him more as a leader that a manager. This will allow him to carry out the various duties assigned to him by the HR department in conjunction n with his other roles. 2. The line manager should also be a coach and facilitator. He should expect the exceptionally best for his team but more importantly, show them how to do it. This is in line with the HR function that requires the training of the employees to achieve their potential in the workplace. Both the current and new employees require training from time to time, and in this endeavour, both the line manager and the HR department must work hand in hand. 3. A good line manager also acts a role model to the other employees and is an epitome of all that the organisation wants in an employee. If they fulfil this requirement, then they can set a good example to be followed by his juniors and consequently, they act as a good leader for their people. This makes it easy for him to discipline the employees. 4. The manager should also be able to build credibility with his team through championing for their better working conditions in the HR department and ensure they are not short-changed by the organisation. 5. He should also be a team player and should be able to guide the employees towards the desired goals easily. He should be able to build a high performing team that works harmoniously for the good of the organisation. 6. Being the leader in his area of production, the manager should be an honest person who can give sincere feedback to the employees also as to improve their productivity. The manager should also be able to give unbiased performance appraisals t0o the management and thus assist in charting the career path of members of his team in accordance with their industriousness Some of the challenges that the line managers go through while trying to implement the HR policies are: 1. Lack of clear policies and procedures At times, the procedures given by the HR department are not specific enough to be applied to the practices in the areas of production. 2. Unwillingness It can be because of ignorance to the benefits of implementing HR polices or too much pressure from other quarters, most line managers, is not highly enthusiastic about incorporating the HR policies in their work. It is up to the management to come up with motivational methods to persuade the line managers to adopt these polices. 3. Incompetence Most line managers are not particularly competent when it comes to managing people since this is not their primary field of work. It is the role of management to provide training to such managers 4. Lack of support by the HR department The line managers might be very determined to carry out their mandate in relation ion to HR policies but get minimal support from the department for various reasons. It is, therefore the work of management to ensure that the line managers receive adequate attention firm the HR department to ensure the realisation the organisational goals 5. Inadequate time When the HR department starts delegating its functions to the line managers, they do not take into consideration that these managers have other duties. This is turn takes up too much time from the manager especially in the face of short-term production goal that he pays more attention to his job and devoting very little time to his HR duties. This can be rectified by reducing his duties or revising the job description to ensure that the line manager has adequate time for both roles. Conclusion Line managers’ conduct in implementing HRM is very critical in Improving employee job satisfaction, ensuring commitment and subsequently extra-role behaviours (Harney & Jordan 2008). This means that not only the HR department, but also line Managers are necessary in establishing successful social exchange relationships in the Organization. The impact of HR department working together with the line managers is that there is increased production. This is in line with all organisations goals. Apart from increased production, there is also the matter of cutting costs. This is because once some HR issues are integrated into the work of the line managers the HR department can get adequate time in handling the other issues of formulating policies and reviewing the production quality in the organisation. Again, the number of personnel in the HR department can be reduced further cutting costs. Bibliography Erica, W., 2006. Strategic Public Relations Management Planning. London: Penguin. Handy, C., 1999. Understanding Organisations. 4th ed. London: Penguin. Harold, K., 2003. Project Management: A systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling & Controlling. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Nobert, E., 1967. Management Planning: A sytems Approach. Melbourne: Melbourne Publishers. Read More