Relationship between HRM and Line Manger Essay

Abstract Management of Human resource has gained paramount importance over the past few years. HRM has become an integrated part of all organisations. HRM plays a pivotal role in strategy planning, management and crucial decision making, therefore shifting the day to day implementation of HR initiatives to the Line Managers. Line Managers play a very important role in HRM and have been influential in the implementation of HR policies. HRM and Line Managers work in Tandem to achieve the goals laid out by the organisation. Hospitals and health care centres have recognised the importance and effectiveness of HRM and have made reforms to include HRM as an important part of their organisational structure. see more:explain how maintaining, regaining or developing skills can benefit individuals HRM provides hospitals with skilled staff and effective policies to implement their strategies. They are involved in strategic decision making of hospitals and provide guidance and help with government compliances. Line managers have also played their part by implementing day to day policy and practices and therefore ensuring the safety and well-being of staff and employees. HRM has its set of goals and functions which aim to increase the productivity and efficiency of employees and is involved in recruiting, motivating, training, compensating and developing human resources. The various aspects and themes of HRM lay emphasis on sustainability, integration, applicability and being influential. Introduction Organisations have for several years adopted various strategies and management skills to increase their efficiency and productivity. Management of human resources (HRM) has been of paramount importance to the stability and growth of organisations. Various macro and micro management strategies have been developed to optimise the development of human resources. HRM is involved in recruiting, motivation and development of human resources in an organisation. William R. Tracey (The Human Resources Glossary) has defined Human Resource as â€Å"The people that staff and operate an organization as contrasted with the financial and material resources of an organization.† With growing emphasis of the role of HR in an organisation, the HRM is also  playing a pivotal role in strategy planning, management and crucial decision making, therefore shifting the day to day implementation of HR initiatives to the Line Managers. Line Manager is the personnel that is directly involved in the administration and management of certain category or specific group or individuals and is responsible for the recruitment, performance analysis, discipline, productivity, motivation and growth of the group or individuals in tandem with the goals and needs of the organisation. Overview of HRM in Hospitals and health care sectors Hospitals and Health Care Organisations have faced various reforms over the past few years but the focus on the management of human resource has taken precedence recently. HRM plays a very important role in hospitals as implementation of sophisticated and relevant HR policies and trainings have made improvement in the patients mortality rate (West, 2000). HRM in hospitals has a very important role to play. HRM in hospitals carry out some very important functions such as managing the complexities of employee relations, handling employee recruitment, conducting hospital job audits, defining compensation plans and ensuring that the government compliances are being met. HRM in hospitals is also involved in handling issues of various aspects such as legal, ethical, health and safety. HRM also takes care of important functions such as recruitment, training and motivation, carrying out job analysis and strategic planning leading to the improvement of patient care. The above mentioned functions and policies are focused on building a strong relation between the organisation and the employees and achieving all the goals laid down by the hospital. While HR managers are involved formulating policies and approaches for the above mentioned functions, the execution of these are left to the line managers. Line Managers play a very vital role in implementing and enacting the HR policies and practices. They are the interface between employees and management therefore creating a healthy work culture. The primary function of line managers in hospitals are to provide sophisticated appraisals and extensive training , allocating specialised teams for technical requirement, fulfilling the day to day implementation of policies, supervising adherence to safety measures and acting as advisers to doctors, nurses and other medical staff on matters that affect the daily functions and personal lives  of hospital employees. Line managers are the frontline soldiers who execute the policies specified by the higher level of managers. (Larsen,2003). Line managers play a very important role between hospital management and hospital employees. Line managers are more often than usual HRM specialists rather than medical professionals. The job of the line manager as you stated is to implement hospital policies and ensure than these policies and corporate strategies are adhered to. Policies such as overtime wages, overtime shifts, requests for newer instruments, requests for new wardrobes, requests for increments etc; are all done through the line manager. Many times employees are not medical professional they are not able to tell when the proper time for changing the usable in the hospital is. Things such as disposable items, wardrobes, better machines, training and others are told to the line manager by the head nurses or department in charge. In case such a line manager is focused on cost effectiveness or other then he/she is unwilling to listen or even downplay the importance of changing these commodities. The above is one aspect where the line manager is not a medical professional but just a policy implementer. The second scenario can also be where the line manager is a medical professional and also part of the department. For example, the specific line manager can be the department in charge or head nurse. In that case the line manager himself knows exactly what the situation is with his soldiers. He knows what tools they need, what support, when to justify increments, or improve daily wages, etc. Role of Line Manager and HR Manager The role of HR manager is that of a strategic partner. HR managers are concerned with formulating strategies and policies for the important functions in an organisation. The role of HR managers involves tasks such as designing of work positions and developing policies for recruitment, recognition, compensation, employee development, appraisal, career and succession planning. They extend their expertise to provide sophisticated learning and develop a proper development and training environment for the employees. They support knowledge sharing and are involved in advocating the practice of policies and are also involved in bringing changes to practices as per the requirements. (Amit,1999) The role of Line Managers is that of an executive. Line Managers directly manage employees and are responsible for the administrative and functional management of individuals. Their  duties involve disciplining and motivating the employees, taking care of day to day management of HR functions, undertaking performance appraisals and allocating work to the employees. They are also involved with monitoring, training and providing guidance and advice to the employees. Line Managers implement the HR policies and practices and are therefore the interface between the individual and the management. Employees have an interactive relation with the line managers and due to this, their performance, loyalty and work satisfaction is based on the same. The Line Manager has the additional responsibility of selecting, recruiting and managing the performance of the line managers to ensure the most efficient utilization of resources.(Cunningham,1995) Goals of HRM The human resource department follows some basic key functions and operational elements that have been developed keeping in mind the growing trends and requirements of large and small organisations which have understood the importance and essence of the human resource for the welfare and development of the organisations. The primary goal of HRM is recruitment of qualified, competent and skilful employees that meet the requirements of the organisation and help ineffectively achieving the goals and objectives of organisation. HRM carries out effective recruitment through various measures such as psychometric evaluation, conducting interviews etc. Line managers help the HRM in achieving the goal of recruitment by evaluating and determining the requirement criteria for the vacancies available in the organisation and by actively helping with the recruitment process. Effective and quick recruitment is achieved only through successful co-operation between the HRM and Line Managers. The line manager’s help in evaluating the numbers of doctors, nurses and staff are required for the functioning of the hospital and then help in recruiting the right doctors and medical staff for achieving the safety and prevention measures for patients. (Bowen, 2004) Another important goal of the HRM is Organizational planning. HRM needs to decide on important matters such as the recruitment of requisite number of employees and formulating policies for training, maintenance, compensation, review and welfare of the employees. The management has the responsibility of recruiting employees according to the job requirement and focusing on being result oriented. Based on their interactions and research, Line  managers help in the goal of organisational planning by providing the evaluations and assessments for the required number of employees for the formation of a proper functioning team. They also support the achievement of this goal by providing the required training and development to harness the skills of the employees. With constant and compulsory training, the employees are constantly updating their skills and thus enhancing their performance. Line managers constantly evaluate the employees to monitor their performance. (MacNeil, 2003) Key Functions of HRM To achieve its goals HRM performs various key functions which help in achieving those goals and attaining the objectives of the organisations. Managerial functions of HRM involve planning, organising, directing and controlling. Planning pertains to formulating strategies and actions that will contribute to achievement of the goals of the organisation. This involves the planning of personnel needs, recruitment, training and selection of employees. It also consists of forecasting various requirements of the organisation and analysing the behaviour of employees to optimise their performance and well-being. (Hope†Hailey, 1997) Organisation is a process by which the planning is carried out to achieve the planned goals. Different departments have different needs and therefore a complex relation exists between the departments. One of the key functions of HRM is organising and establishing relationships between the departments and to collectively achieve objectives and goals. Directing means overseeing the activities which have been decided after planning and organising stages. This helps in confirming that the plans are being executed as planned. Attainment of goals can be achieved through proper direction ensuring effective cooperation of employees. After planning, organising and directing various activities, the performance has to be verified in order to determine if the functions have been performed as planned. Controlling provides this confirmation by checking, verifying and analysing to ensure the achievement of the planned goals. Operative functions are related to activities specific to personnel management with compensation, recruitment, development and relations .Compensation has a direct effect on the well-being and performance of employees. Being a strong tool of motivation, HRM manages to bring in skilled employees and provides motivation and  well-being of the personnel. Adequate compensation enhances performance and inculcates loyalty in employees. Right compensation creates healthy work culture and elaborates on the fact that management wants to retain the best. Development of human resource is of vital importance as it prevents stagnation of employees and harnesses their skills and helps in the development of the organisation and brings in a feel good factor in employees. (Stevens, 1994) Recruiting the right personnel is the key to the performance of an organisation. The recruitment of the right personnel and the appropriate number of employees will help in building relations and retaining employees and creating a healthy and balanced work culture. HRM is involved in various activities and takes proper measures to recruit the right employee for the required job so that the performance of the employee is enhanced therefore enhancing the overall growth of the organisation. Adhering and practicing the human resource policies and programmes like interaction, compensation, motivation and development creates a relationship between the employees and the management hence creating faith in the management. Human relations help in integration of various departments and motivates them to work with economic, social and psychological satisfaction. (Cunningham, 1999) Key Approaches and Contextual themes in HRM The key approaches and themes of HRM are Sustainability, Influential, Integrated and Applicable. HRM should be sustainable i.e. HR policies and practices should be such that they are sustainable in the future. The frame works should be designed in such a way that the policy and norms are to surpass the present requirement and can be maintained in the future thus requiring minimum changes. HRM should be influential so that the organisation can be flexible and be able to achieve its goals and objectives without any troubles and hiccups. The senior management should be able to influence the employees to enhance performance and have a dedicated approach to training and development. HRM should be Integrated i.e. it should be able to integrate the organisations’ various departments and bring compatibility between departments so that they can work effectively with mutual co-operation and understanding. Delegating work and optimising the efficiency of the work force can only be brought forward through integration HRM should be Applicable i.e. HR policies should be such that the policies  and programs of HRM should be in tandem with the work output of the organisation. HRM policies relevant to a car manufacturing plant will not be effective in a hospital. Policies for hospitals should be such that they are relevant to the well-being of the patients and medical staff. Therefore HRM policies should be applicable to the type of organisation that it is being created for.(Buyens, 2001) Conclusion From the above analysis, we can conclude that HRM plays a vital and pivotal role in all organisations including hospitals and healthcare sectors. HRM designs policies and programmes to meet the requirement of the organisation and therefore helps in achieving the set goals. Hospitals have very recently realised the importance of HRM with respect to the development, sustainability and achievement of goals. HRM has not only improved the quality of work force but has also provided the means for safety and well-being of employees and patients in hospitals. The above mentioned points have highlighted the importance of Line Managers in respect to the implementation of HR policies and programmes. Line managers act as the interface between the management and employees and help maintain a healthy relation between them. Line Managers carry out various HR functions on micro level like recruitment, appraisal, training and development of employee. HRM acts as a strategic partner and integrates various departments and helps in coordinated functioning of an organisation to achieve the goals and objectives of the organisation. HRM should always aim to design its policies and programmes to uplift the work culture and improve the wellbeing of the employees. They play an important role in enhancing the performance of the employees and also in the development of the organisation. (Points to add to the report in my opinion but due to lack of word counts I am just high lighting them only) Line managers and their credentials. Are they doctors? Are they HRM experts? Who understands the problem better? Line manager, over worked and under paid Line manager’s unwillingness to convey hurdles to HR due to groupthink or fear of rejection Personnel management capabilities of Line Managers References 1. West, M. A., Borrill, C., Dawson, J., Scully, J., Carter, M., Anelay, S., †¦ & Waring, J.. The link between the management of employees and patient mortality in acute hospitals. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 13(8), 1299-1310. 2002 2. Larsen, H. H., & Brewster, C. Line management responsibility for HRM: what is happening in Europe? Employee Relations, 25(3), 228-244. 2003 3. Cunningham, I., & Hyman, J. Transforming the HRM vision into reality: the role of line managers and supervisors in implementing change. Employee Relations, 17(8), 5-20 1995 4. Bowen, D. E., & Ostroff, C.. Understanding HRM–firm performance linkages: The role of the â€Å"strength† of the HRM system. Academy of management review,29(2), 203-221. 2004 5. MacNeil, C. M. Line managers: facilitators of knowledge sharing in teams. Employee Relations, 25(3), 294-307. 2003 6. Hope Hailey, V., Gratton, L., McGovern, P., Stiles, P., & Truss, C. A chameleon function? HRM in the â₠¬Ëœ90s. Human Resource Management Journal,7(3), 5-18. 1997 7. Buyens, D., & De Vos, A. Perceptions of the value of the HR function. Human Resource Management Journal, 11(3), 70-89. 2001 8. Stevens, M. J., & Campion, M. A. The knowledge, skill, and ability requirements for teamwork: Implications for human resource management. Journal of management, 20(2), 503-530. 1994 9. Cunningham, I., & Hyman, J. Devolving human resource responsibilities to the line: beginning of the end or a new beginning for personnel? Personnel Review,28(1/2), 9-27. 1999 10. Amit, R., & Belcourt, M. Human resources management processes: a value-creating source of competitive advantage. European Management Journal, 17(2), 174-181. 1999