Matthias Ruziwa and Alyson Martens
Line managers whom our employees report to have always had people management responsibilities and are increasingly called to take on more of these roles whilst human resource practitioners are encouraged to strongly participate in formulation of business strategies in their organisations.
This paradigm shift calls for reallocation of human resource practitioners’ responsibilities to line managers, which is also known as “human resource devolution”.
This entails inter alia that line managers would be included in the active execution of operational human resource tasks such as talent acquisition, de-recruitment, human resource development, performance management, disciplinary handling to mention but a few.
It is a fact that human resource professionals are still reluctant to devolve responsibilities to the line managers since this can seem like loss of professionalism.
Furthermore, there can be reluctance among line management to take on human resource responsibilities devolved to them. For example, it has been more often reported that line managers are a source of labour relations problems in Zimbabwean organisations.
We beg to differ from this view because our understanding is that the line managers are already under pressure, therefore taking time for additional responsibility can seem irksome. And mind you, this is a strategic human resource partnership model which requires the human resource practitioner to link well with top management as well as with line managers.
Failure to do so is what causes line managers to think that “human resource have retreated to the strategy bunker to think great thoughts and discuss the shape of the world with like-minded people, consuming endless cups of coffee, while the appraisal, labour relations, hiring and firing is left to the line”.
It is more likely that this negative mentality is what fails human resource practitioners from positioning themselves as business partners.
In most cases, line managers formally accept the human resource role without pointing out any problems of time, ability, strategic focus and policy making skills.
Human resource management is concerned with people at work and their relationships within the organisation. Its major aim is to strike a balance between economic value of the organisation and organisational capability, which involve taking into account the well-being of individuals and working groups in order to achieve the highest levels of efficiency and productivity possible.
In other words, if organisations first address the needs of employees, the employees will contribute more towards achievement of the organisation’s desired profit levels.
The problem
Since line managers are generally responsible for their subordinates while human resource managers are responsible for development and implementation of human resource policies within the organisation, there appears to be a degree of uncertainty regarding the respective responsibilities of line managers and human resource practitioners in the human resource field.
The underlying difficulty is that of reconciling organisational objectives with individual needs and aspirations. Our experience is that in some organisations, line managers are responsible for executive action affecting labour issues in their departments while human resource managers act as advisors.
However, the major problem seems to be the distinction between the executive and advisory functions, which is often blurred.
The line manager’s portfolio
The line manager’s main objective is to achieve efficiency and effectiveness i.e. output targets.
In doing this, the line management of his/her staff forms part of this responsibility and this operational effectiveness is diminished to the extent that decisions affecting labour are referred to others.
Since the line manager is strategically positioned to communicate and consult with employees, he/she has an advantage when given responsibility for dealing with everyday problems relating to matters such as training, counselling, disciplinary and grievance handling and motivation among other things.
It is a fact that line managers play a crucial role in communicating policies regarding the panoramic view and the organisation’s purpose of existence in their face-to-face contact with employees.
In addition, they can help in developing suitable human resource policies, handling change and devising new methods of work.
However, due to lack of training, clearly defined job descriptions concerning their responsibilities and authority in respect to people management aspects, others have concluded that line managers are a source of labour relations problems whilst they are not.
The human resource
manager’s role
In as much as the line manager may be too busy with departmental operations to give full support to human resource issues, it is the duty of the human resource manager to use specialised knowledge and skills such as talent acquisition, negotiating, championing change among others in offering assistance and advice.
The human resource practitioner is mainly responsible for managing the exchange relationship between the organisation and its employees and produces a state of equilibrium through effective human resource policies.
Put in simple terms, employees provide labour as a tangible contribution in exchange for rewards. In addition, employees look forward to obtain job security, recognition, growth/development/achievement in exchange for loyalty and commitment as intangible contributions. The human resource manager knows that too much of care towards employees’ needs affects profitability of the organisation while on the other hand, too much control on the needs of employees affects their welfare. This is the reason why some have termed human resource as the most vital asset in the organisation due to the assertion that human beings are the most unpredictable resource at the disposal of an organisation.
Collaboration between human resource managers and line managers
Human resource and line managers need to work together to operate and establish systems of consultation with regards to people management.
Matters of common concern need to be identified. A better way forward is to form consultative committees where line managers and their human resource counterparts explore ways of injecting harmonised new ideas including extending the range of discussion and methods of assessing the effectiveness of developed human resource policies.
It is particularly important that line managers get to understand developed human resource policies and procedures since this is the level where breaches of rules and procedures commonly occur.
Once rules and procedures fall into disrepute, human resource by-pass line managers and confusion becomes the order of the day. For example, in designing and operating a pay system, line management can help determine the objectives based on alternatives provided by the human resource specialists. Thereafter, line managers can supervise the application of the payment system within the areas of the responsibility ensuring that employees understand the system.
Changing role of the
line manager
There is some evidence that Zimbabwean organisations are experiencing the emergence of strategic human resource management and accordingly, the role of line managers in the management of people is changing and expanding.
According to recent research conducted by Matthias Ruziwa, Marcus Mutanga and Patience Siwadi on “The Significance of the Human Resource Function in the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Industry” published in The International Journal of Management, Technology and Engineering, Journal 3, Issue 7 of 2013 which can be accessed at http://www.jimra.us, most of the major human resource programmes were being implemented by line managers, who in no doubt are influencing direction in human resources policy.
The study also showed that the new circumstances enabled line managers to jointly formulate innovative human resource strategies consistent with the emergence of strategic human resource management plans.
The paradigm shift entails that line managers are now expected to maintain open, two-way communication and to accept more responsibility for involving and developing their subordinates.
As Zimbabwean industry is battling with economic woes, alignment of human resource with the organisation’s strategic planning process is essential. However, this cannot be achieved without devolving the human resource function. It is our belief that success in human resource devolution will revolve around the following recommendations:
a) Human resource departments must conduct relevant training programmes to impart adequate knowledge to line managers on handling human resource management duties and responsibilities.
b) All line managers in our organisations must be given job descriptions which clearly define their human resource management roles and responsibilities for accountability purposes.
c) Effective handling of human resource management duties must be entailed as one of the factors to be measured when performance appraisals are carried out for line managers.
We anticipate that if the above recommendations are considered seriously, the human resource department can focus on developing and updating policies and procedures depending on the actors and forces emanating from the business environment and our companies can gain sustainable competitive advantage through management of resourceful humans.
Matthias Ruziwa is an experienced and growing human resource practitioner. Alyson Martens is an Industrial Psychologist. Both are practising in the Midlands Province, City of Kwekwe. You can contact either Matthias or Alyson at the following email addresses: mruziwa@gmail.com or WhatsApp 0773 470 368: alyson.martens@hotmail.com