The Roles of Human Resources Managers and Line Managers
Concept of Professional HRM – A New Management Approach
Professional human resourcesmanagement (HRM) is both a strategic and operational function that ensures that an organisation’s ‘people plan’ meets current requirements, and that the organisation is able to identify, plan for and meet future organisational staffing and capability needs.
Increasingly,the concept of HRM is shifting its focus from supporting individuals and groups in organisations, to providing advice and data to seniorleaders on the costs, capability and capacity of the workforce to deliver the organisation’s objectives. This leads to more effective people management.
But who is responsible for this, and how can it be achieved?
HRM and HRD
HRM anticipates and manages the flows of staff in, up, through and out of the organisation, including human resources (HR) policies and processes which regulate employer and employee behaviour (such as legal compliance, ethical practices, meritocratic decision making, job performance, and terms and conditions of service).
Human resourcesdevelopment (HRD) isa subset of HRM, concerned withensuringthat staff are properly trained to fulfil their work responsibilities and realise their potential.
Role of the HR Officer inManaging People in Individual MDAs
ProfessionalHR officershave an important and strategic role to play, but how should they be organised and what might their distinct roles and responsibilities be? While the service-wide ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), especially the Office of the Head of Service play a key role in defining common HR services in public service organisations, the responsibility for delivering these services lies with the individual MDA. Similarly there are often specific ‘people needs’ found within individual MDAs, and even individual departments, which cannot be addressed solely through a generic or service-wide approach to HRM.
Where a state has only a service-wide 'one size fits all' approach to HRM, individual MDAs will be unable to take responsibility for identifying and addressing their own people problems. This is not about replacing the important role of service-wide HRM; instead it is about adding to and complementing this framework. It is only through strong relationship management and close collaboration between professional HR officers and line managers in individual MDAs that such a model can function successfully.
(Refer to the 'Service-wideand Individual MDAs' document in this Resource Suite series for further guidance on how the important, but distinct, people management roles of the service-wide and individual MDAs are reinforced through a professional HRM approach.)
Role of the Line Manager in Managing People in Individual MDAs
The management of people in any organisation is not solely an HR officer responsibility. Proactive people management requires close collaboration and ongoing dialogue with line managers who are on the 'front line', practically dealing with day-to-day HR issues and challenges as part of delivering the services for which the MDA is responsible.
Getting Started –Best Practice HR Roles in Individual MDAs
There are a number of different ways an individual state government service, sector or individualMDA might choose to organise its staff in order to effectively deliver HR services,but some fundamental and distinct HRM roles are outlined below.
(Refer to the 'HR Structures' document in this Resource Suite for further guidance on how to develop a formal HRM Roles and Responsibilities Matrix which clearly delineates the separate HRM responsibilities of service-wide and individual MDAs.)

Contents

Generic HRM Roles

HR Strategists (Senior Professionals)

HR Managers (Mid-level Professionals)

HR Personnel (Technical Administrators)

The Role of the HR Strategist

Principal accountabilities:

The Role of the HR Manager

Key Result Areas:

Performance Standards:

The Role of HR Personnel

The Role of Line Managers

What Do We Mean by Line Managers?

Key People Management Responsibilities

Generic HRM Roles

The table below provides a high level overview of the distinct HRM roles which are necessary in any public service organisation. Each is then described in more detail below.

ROLE / DESCRIPTION
HR Strategist / •Aligning HRM withMDA and government strategy
•Ensuring service standards and delivery
•Strategic people planning and policy
•Proactive management of longterm change
HR Manager / •Working with specific teams/departments to develop personalised HR solutions for individual groups
•People management
•Employee champion
HR Personnel / •Personnel administration
•Functional services
•Operational services focused on compliance with rules
•Service-wide processes
•Short term/day-to-day activities

HR Strategists (Senior Professionals)

  • HR strategists guide and manage the overall provision of HRM services service-wide, sector-wide or for an entire MDA
  • They advise on HR strategies and service-wide, sector-wide, or MDA-specific HR policies and ensure that all HR functions are operating to an agreed standard
  • They originate and lead HR practices that provide an employee-oriented, high-performance culture that emphasises empowerment, quality, productivity and standards, goal attainment, and the recruitment and ongoing development of a superior workforce
  • They are responsible for capacity building.

HR Managers (Mid-level Professionals)

  • The HR manager is the acknowledged ‘go to’ person for specific HR issues
  • They have intimate knowledge of all officers in each team, unit or department
  • They proactively seek to identify HR issues and work to develop tailored HR solutions to ensure each team, unit or department can achieve their specific goals
  • They are responsible for ensuring individual officers have the necessary knowledge/skills required for optimal performance.

HR Personnel (Technical Administrators)

  • HR personnel help with the administration of all day-to-day operations of the HR Department and assist the HR managers and strategists with their duties as directed.

The Role of the HR Strategist

HR strategists originate and lead HR practices and objectives that will provide an employee-oriented, high-performance culture that emphasises empowerment, quality, productivity and standards, goal attainment, and the recruitment and ongoing development of a superior workforce.

They coordinate the implementation of services, policies, and programmes through HR managers; directly assisting the Head of HRM(the Head of Service or the top MDA manager to whom this responsibility is delegated) and advising senior managers about HR issues.

Principal accountabilities:

  • Member of the senior management leadership team; formulating strategies, policies, plans, budgets and monitoring performance to ensure the mandate and goals are achieved
  • Advise the Head of HRM, senior managers and colleagues on the HRM and employee relations policies required by the service, sector or MDA,in all areas of people management and to uphold core values
  • Formulate HRM strategies that are fully integrated with the service, sector or MDA strategy and are coherent across all aspects of people and performance management
  • Develop plans to implement the strategies and ensure the right number of people with the right skills and competence are available to the service, sector or MDA to enable it to meet its goals
  • Advise on the development of organisational structures and processes and on the management of change to maximise organisational effectiveness
  • Plan and direct employee development, performance management and career management processes and programmes to improve individual and organisational effectiveness and to give employees the best opportunities to develop their careers
  • Advise on employee relations and communication strategies and policies
  • Direct and control the operations of the HRM function to ensure it provides professional and cost-effective people management support to the service, sector or MDA
  • Ensure, through advice and monitoring, that HR policies are implemented consistently and that the core values of the service are upheld (including those concerned with fairness, equal opportunity and the management of diversity)
  • Keep uptodate with developments in HRM, using benchmarking and other means to introduce innovation
  • Advise on pay and remuneration within the powers delegated, and in relation to the service, sector or MDA staff recruitment and retention needs
  • Engage in dialogue at service, sector and MDAlevels on broader HRM policies, impact on the service and changes to be considered.

The Role of the HR Manager

To provide advice and cost effective HR services which enable the MDA to achieve its goals and its responsibilities to the people it employs.

Key Result Areas:

  • Advise on HR strategies, policies and practices which support the MDA’s achievement of its objectives and meet its responsibilities to the people it employs
  • Prepare demand and supply forecasts of people requirements in terms of numbers, skills, competences, and plan for the recruitment and selection of employees to meet MDA requirements
  • Provide a recruitment and selection service to the MDA
  • Provide advice on legal and other employment obligations e.g. health and safety; employment code
  • Develop and help maintain performance management processes which are owned by managers and employees and make a significant contribution to employee motivation, performance and development
  • Plan and implement human resources development programmes to meet identified training and learning needs and satisfy the MDA’s requirements for an effective and skilled work force
  • Advise, within the powers delegated, on pay and rewards and the operation of the pay structure and performance pay schemes
  • Advise on employee relations issues and coordinate MDA communication to maintain a cooperative working climate
  • Develop and maintain aneffective (computerised) HRManagement InformationSystem (HRMIS).

Performance Standards:

The HR Manager’s performance will be up to standard when:

  • A proactive approach is consistently adopted in making proposals to managers on the development of policies and practices that will impact on the MDA and add value
  • Realistic plans are made to anticipate future employee requirements which avoid skills shortages or unmanageable employee surpluses
  • Systematic recruitment and selection procedures are maintained which provide wholly acceptable service to managers. An acceptable service is one that includes:
  • prompt responses to requests for advice
  • delivery of accurate job descriptions, person specifications, draft advertisements and media plans
  • use of tests (psychometric or exams) which have been properly evaluated, are administered by trained staff and provide valuable insights into the recruitment process
  • delivery of a shortlist of candidates by an agreed deadline.
  • Helpful advice is given on employment which is based on a thorough understanding of the laws and regulations, policies and procedures
  • All managers and staff have been briefed and trained to use the performance appraisal process properly
  • Employee development programmes are based on systematic analysis of needs and meet success criteria established by the training programmes course evaluation
  • Reward management policies and practices are transparent, competitive and equitable
  • A good employee climate is maintained and staff attitudes are measured regularly in staff surveys and the occurrence of disputes and grievances
  • HRMIS is used to maintain accurate records and to generate information as a basis for decisionmaking on key HR issues.

The Role of HR Personnel

The main function of HR personnel is to provide administrative personnel services for all officers, assisting the HR managers with service delivery.

Example tasks might include:

  • Providing advice and services on basic HR issues, as directed
  • Organising induction programmes in conjunction with the HR Manager
  • Collecting data, analysing jobs and preparing job descriptions for evaluation purposes
  • Preparingdraftdocumentation for employee relations cases, such as grievance and disciplinary matters
  • Providing administrative support to committees, working groups, etc.
  • Ensuring that all HR data is input to the HRMIS
  • Keeping other trackers and records up to date
  • Analysing data and preparing specific HR reportsas necessary.

The Role of Line Managers

What Do We Mean by Line Managers?

As every HR professional knows, their ability to deliver and implement successful HR policies, procedures, interventions and to solve employment issues isoften only as effective as the line manager directly responsible for managing the work of civil servants to deliver the MDA’s services.

Line managers are those managers to whom individual employees or teams directly report and who have responsibility to a higher level of management for those employees or teams.

The term ‘front-line managers’ is rather more specific and normally refers to line managers in the lower layers of the management hierarchy – that is, where the employees who report to them do not themselves have any managerial or supervisory responsibility.

Typically the management responsibilities carried out by line managers (particularly front-line managers) might include:

  • Day-to-day people management
  • Managing operational budgets and costs
  • Providing technical expertise
  • Organisation of work processes, methods and allocation of tasks
  • Monitoring work processes
  • Checking quality of output
  • Dealing with external and internal service users
  • Measuring operational performance.

Line managers also carry out a number of activities that wouldtraditionally be seen as part of the HRM remit, such as providing coaching and guidance, undertaking performance appraisals and dealing with discipline and grievances. They also often carry out tasks such as recruitment and selection, or pastoral care, in conjunction with HRM.

Key People Management Responsibilities

Globally, therelationship between the HRM function and line managers has been subject to a number of changes in recent years. In many countriesthe focus of responsibility for somecore HRM activities, such as recruitment or objective-setting, has shifted from HR managers to line managers.

Line managers can have a crucial impact on performance where they act as the interface between the organisation and its workforce. It is therefore especially important to pay close attention to how the organisation selects, develops and manages the performance of line managers to ensure they maximise their potential to be effective leaders.

Overall, the areas where line managers make a significant difference to people management practices include:

  • Performance appraisal
  • Training, coaching and guidance
  • Employee engagement (including involvement and communication)
  • Openness – how easy is it for employees to discuss matters with their line manager
  • Employees’ welfare and work–life balance
  • Recognition – the extent to which employees feel their contribution is recognised
  • Communication – particularly encouraging or reinforcing alignment with business goals or core values.

These are all areas where, although the processes may be designed by HRM, they cannot be delivered by HR managers directly. The line manager role is therefore crucial in a number of respectsto:

  • Enabling the HR policies and practices, or bringing them to life
  • Acting upon advice or guidance from HRM
  • Controlling the work flow by directing and guiding the work of others.

11CThe Roles of HR Managers and Line Managers