Line Managers & Human Resources Development:

Line managers have an important role to play in ensuring the realization of HRD objectives. While the top management make available the resources required for investment in human resources and the HR department should provide instruments and systems that can be used by the organization, it is ultimately the line managers who translate these into action. This requires realization on the part of the line manager that they have the responsibility to develop and utilize their employees.

Human Resource Development has five main components - training, appraisal (both performance appraisal and potential appraisal), organization development (including research and system development), rewards and career planning. In each of these five components, the line manager has distinct responsibilities of his/her own. The article compares responsibilities of the line managers against that of the HR department. handling those responsibilities not only helps in creating a climate highly conducive to HRD in the organisation but also increases the manager’s competence to deal with many human problems in other areas of their work.

Development of employees requires certain conditions:

The employee should perceive that acquiring new capabilities helps in fulfilling his or her psychological needs.

The employee should be aware of the capabilities he or she needs to develop.

The employee should perceive opportunities for acquiring such capabilities

The employee should have the means to assess his or her own rate of growth.

The employee should enjoy the process of growth itself.

A line manager plays an important role in creating these conditions for subordinates. Quite often, managers have the impression that the HRD department ensures that these conditions are met; however, the HRD department can only provide the instruments or mechanisms for use by the line managers.

The HRD department and line managers play complementary roles. Each supplements (and supports) what the other does in relation to the

development of employees. this relationship can be summarized as follows:

Training Responsibilities

Line Manager HRD Department

Analyses each employee’s role and lists detailed functions to be performed, outlining managerial, technical, and behavioural capabilities required.

Identifies training needs of each employee in terms of relevant functions and communicates these to HRD department.

Encourages employees; provides opportunities to take responsibility and initiative and to learn on the job.

provides continuous coaching and helps employees to develop problem-solving skills

sponsors subordinates for training with HRD department.

Obtains feedback from subordinates about capabilities acquired during training; discusses opportunities for trying out what they have learned provides such opportunities.

Institutes group discussions, etc., to help subordinates learn to work as a team.

Designs systems to identify trainings needs.

Collects information about training needs from line managers.

Keeps up-to-date on trends in training

Collect information about available training programmes.

Disseminates information about training opportunities to line managers

analysis training needs and plans in-house training.

Manages training production (functions and facilities).

Organization Development

Training Responsibilities

Line Manager HRD Department

Identifies subsystems that need OD efforts and notifies HRD department or top management

Responds frankly to organizational - diagnosis surveys

Participates actively in discussions arranged by process specialists.

prepares realistic action plans for OD interventions and implements them

Identifies subsystems that may need OD.

Identifies managers who can be trained as process specialists.

Conducts periodic organisational diagnosis survey.

Plans and conducts OD intervention and monitors follow-up.

Reinforcement

Line Manager HRD Department

Acknowledges the contributions of subordinates

Assigns challenging functions and tasks

Rewards teamwork and collaboration

Encourages interaction between subordinates and boss

Conducts job enrichment programmes

Monitors and recommends new employee-reward systems.

Develops systems for providing intrinsic rewards.

Assists managers in decisions relating to rewards.

Career Development

Line Manager HRD Department

Identifies career opportunities in the organization for each subordinate and assesses capabilities to be acquired.

Helps subordinates assess their own capabilities in relation to possible career paths.

Gives feedback to subordinates about their potential

Encourages subordinates to develop potential and provides opportunities.

Prepares career paths for different roles in the organization.

Prepares directory of functions and capabilities required to perform them and makes it available to managers

Develops and monitors career counselling services for employees.

Develops potential-appraisal system.

Develops policies and mechanisms for job rotation and monitors these.

Makes projections about manpower requirements and makes these available to line managers for career counselling.

Assists those who have reached a saturation level in the organization with future career planning.

Identifies qualities required for higher level managerial jobs and incorporates into appraisal systems and development work.

Arranges training programmes for managers.

This discussion makes it clear that human resource development is the joint responsibility of line managers and HRD personnel. While the HRD departments can design and provide instruments for use by line managers, the line managers have there responsibility for using these instruments (and a variety of other mechanisms) to develop their subordinates. If the line managers do not make demands on the HRD department and do not take follow-up action, HRD efforts in an

organization are not likely to succeed. The participation of line managers in HRD efforts also increases the managers’ competence to deal with many human problems in other areas of their work.