Line managers are increasingly turning to the Internet rather than the HR department when making important employee management decisions, according to recent Hay Group research.
It found that around half of line managers (51 per cent) felt that HR teams kept information too close to their chests with one in five (20 per cent) instead turning to Google as they believed it was a better source of information and support.
Hay Group polled 273 line managers and HR executives in Australia, New Zealand and other South Pacific countries to better understand the HR-line manager relationship.
While the results revealed an uncomfortable truth about the current state of the relationship, the findings also offered pointers on how a more constructive connection can be established.
“We see the most effective HR leaders recognising their critical role as strategy ‘enablers’ instead of more traditional roles as tactical implementers/compliance,” said Ralph Marshall, business unit manager at Hay Group.
“There will always be operational and compliance issues to be managed, but these must be balanced against helping others deliver and empowering the line to implement strategy more effectively.”
Translating strategic decisions into company guidelines/policies that allow line managers to make decisions and take action in line with the business strategy is a key way this is done, he said.
“This is where an effective relationship with frontline managers becomes critical as line managers have the most direct influence on employee behaviour and contribution.
“By HR providing frameworks and information in line with business strategy for line managers to implement autonomously, HR directly helps line managers deliver through their people.”
Improving line relationships
The survey also found that 47 per cent of HR directors felt they spend too much time hand-holding line managers, preventing them from conducting more strategic activity, while 30 per cent of line managers felt HR processes block them from making decisions.
An additional 38 per cent of line managers felt that they would be empowered to make better, faster decisions if HR shared more information.
“HR in many organisations, aspire to be ‘true business partners’ with the line, however the relationship aspiration falls short,” said Marshall.
A major frustration and barrier in the relationship between HR and line managers is that both camps lack a clear understanding of exactly what the other does.
Similarly, he said HR doesn’t always understand the detailed business issues facing the line.
“By better understanding the business strategy and specific business unit/divisional implementation issues, HR can provide line managers with the relevant training and information they need to perform their everyday tasks without having to constantly refer to HR,” said Marshall.
The research found that more than one third of HR directors estimated that their teams spend between 25-50 per cent of their time dealing with routine transactional requests/queries from line managers.
A further four out of five HR directors considered the line managers in their organisation to have a low level of understanding about HR policies and procedures.
Global comparisons
The Hay Group research revealed two areas where local HR and line managers in the Australasian region differ to the global average.
HR managers in the local region rate the enthusiasm of line managers towards their people management responsibilities as low – only 28 per cent believe line managers make people management a priority, compared with 56 per cent of global respondents, said Marshall.
Local HR managers find that improving these skills through HR training was not always successful with more than half (54 per cent) of Australian and New Zealand HR managers admitting they were frustrated that line managers do not integrate learning points from HR training in their day-to-day role.
“Globally, the issue affected only a quarter (26 per cent) of HR managers,” he said.
