Role of the line manager

Benefits and drawbacks of line managers being involved with the HR activities
The line managers are responsible for making all the important decisions for the business or organisation and they manage everything within the business. It is their job to make sure that all the employees are well behaved and do their jobs properly. It is important for the line managers to have good communication skills so they can communicate well with their employees and give clear instructions to them. (M.Farmer, W.Yelloley 2008). The roles of human resources is to recruit the correct employee who is most suited for the job role. They are also in charge of firing employees who are not doing good with their job even after all the training provided for them by the human resource team.

The benefits of line managers being involved with the human resource activities are the following:

• The line managers will feel more close to the staff which is important for both management teams because the better they know their staff, the better they can get them to show a better work performance for the organisation or business.


• If the line managers get more involved with the human resource activities, they can work together to solve any problems that could occur on a daily basis from the staff. If the staff has any enquires, they can ask a wide variety of people, rather than just the people from the human resource management team.


• The line managers will also gain more knowledge in something else such as the activities that goes on in the human resource team.


• As the line managers are responsible for the operating system of organisations, they can help the HR team by showing how all the technical systems work within the organisation so when it comes to giving the employee training, the HR team are more aware of what they are talking about (Tpub 2010)


• If they get more involved with the activities, there is a better chance for them to connect with the higher management teams.

However there are also some drawbacks of the line managers getting involved with the HR activities which are listed below:

• The line managers are not well trained to be part of the HR activities and therefore the outcome of the performance between the two teams could turn out negative.


• The relationship between the line manager and the human resource manager might not be too good and therefore could cause conflict within work, which could show a negative affect on the organisation as they are important mangers.


• The top manager might not like the idea as that is not what either of them has been signed up for. The top manager would like the line manager to get on with his/her job rather than getting involved with something that isn't part of his job as their are already other professional people doing that job.


• The whole culture of the organisation could change as people are starting to get involved with something that isn't part of their job.


• If there is a lack of communication between the two different managers, it will be showing a bad example on the employees.

Skills needed for line managers to manage people
Line managers have a big responsibility which is to make sure that the operating system within the working environment is in good quality so the environment is more safe for the employees to work. In order for them to check that everything is in perfect condition, they need to have the skill to be able to operate the technical equipment and be able to fix them if it doesn't work. If they don't have that skill, the company could lose out on a lot as the equipment are not working in order to run the business properly. Another responsibility that they have is to calculate all of the operational cost which means they need to have some financial and numeracy skills in order for them to work out the correct costing. If their working out methods of the operational costings are wrong, it could show a negative affect on the business. Line managers need to have good communication skills with the top manager as well as the employees. The reason why they need good communication skills is because they need to demonstrate a lot of things to the employees and top managers, and it is important that it is done clearly so no one gets the wrong impression or idea. The better relationship the line managers have with the employees, the better it is and in order for them to build that strong bond, they need to be able to listen carefully to what the employees have to so say. If the employees have any problems, the line manager must be able to solve the problem so the employees can depend on them. They need to be able to provide a good customer service which is also a skill, and the better the service, the better it is for the business as more customers will attend (Cipd 2010)

Line manager at Square Group

Square Group is a privately owned business which test drives all the latest apple products. The line managers at Square group have good communication skills and therefore know how to demonstrate the latest products to the employees. The line managers also have the skill to fix a technical error which could occur in the equipment or products. If their is a faulty product, the managers has the knowledge to fix it and get it working again which is good for the company. As they have good communication skills, I can also go and talk to them about any daily problems that has occurred at work. The line managers at work really understand all the employees working there and they also try to make work more fun rather than boring. They have good motivation skills, for example they give us extra time for our break and they also try and get all the working staff involved as much as possible. As we get a lot of customers and clients at work, the line managers are very good at dealing with them if they get too difficult with the employees and therefore it makes us feel more better knowing that we are not on our own when the customers show their bad side of them to us.

Job roles for an HR manager

The human resource managers have an important job as they are in charge of recruitment and making sure that the correct people are employed for the job. If they don't select the right people, the employees could leave within the next two months, and that would cost the business a lot. For this reason it is important for them to take their time and carry out interviews and role plays so they can analyse and choose the correct person for the job. They also have to learn and know all the legislation which is relevant for their business, but not only do they have to know the laws, they also have to know the company policies so they can tell the employees what the company expects from them during the job interview. HR managers have to work closely with other departments such as the line managers and they have to make sure that the line managers know the legislation relevant for them. They also have to educate them the company policies so the line managers can carry that forward with the employees. It is important that HR have good communication skills because if employees have any problems with their pay, they will go up to the HR department and mention their problem to them. Therefore HR needs to know how to solve their problem and how to make things better for them in the future, and if they are not careful with how they deal the situation, it could lead to job losses. They are also in charge of all the training programs for the new employees that have joined (Prospects 2010)

Looking at the roles of an line manager and a HR manager, I think that I have better skills to be a line manager. The reason for this is because I prefer working with employees one on one so I can help them achieve and aim higher in their career. If I get the right training to operate technical products and equipment, I believe that I will do a good job of that once I get used to it. My communication skills are good and therefore I know how to talk with the customers as well as the employees. I have good team working skills as I tend to listen to what everyone has got to say. I don't like making decisions where I only have a say in it because if the employees don't like the situation they will be in due to the decision made by me, it could lead to some de-motivated employees and even job losses. The reason why I don't think I have the skills to be a HR managers is because there will be a lot of legislation involved which the HR managers has to know fairly well. As HR managers are also in charge of recruiting, I don't have the skill to select the right person for the job, and even if I was stuck in a situation where I have to select the correct person, I don't like turning down the others as it will hurt their feelings.

Conclusion

Over all the line managers and the HR managers play important parts of an organisation and without them the organisation wouldn't do as well because there will be no one to select the right employees or even motivate employees on the shop floor. It is important that both set of managers are high trained as they have a role which will influence the other employees. The employees will look up to the line managers and if they need help with anything, they go up to them, and the employees have to make a good first impression to the HR managers as they are in charge of recruitment.

Reference

• (M.Farmer, W.Yelloley (2008) People and Organisations, 2nd edition. The main activities of human resource management. Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex. Page 4)


• (Tpub (2010) Line managers responsibilities [online] available at: http://www.tpub.com/content/doe2/hdbk1114/hdbk11140009.htm [accessed at: 28/01/10])


• (Cipd (2010) The role of front line managers [online] available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/maneco/general/rolefrntlinemngers.htm [accessed at: 28/01/10])
• (Prospects (2010) Typical work activities [online] available at: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/human_resources_officer_job_description.jsp [accessed at: 29/01/10])