The Line Managers in organisations play an important role in the development of its employees’ professional careers and encouraging their positive attitude. The organisations have recognised the advantages of the Line Managers’ involvement in learning and development process of its employees. Yet, most organisations have not worked towards educating human resource (HR) practices to them. It is becoming increasingly important to acknowledge that the Line Managers possess the potential to help change organisational environments for the better.

Educating HR practices to Line Managers

The Line Managers should be educated on HR policies and HR functions such as performance appraisals, training identification etc. They should have the authority to track HR activities and report the same to the Human Resource Department (HRD). Correspondingly, the role of the HRD should be to make the Line Managers competent by providing communication training so as to help them communicate better with their subordinates. So, close interaction between the HRD and the Line Manager and giving them the authority is vital.
 

Further, the Line Managers should be briefed on conducting appraisals effectively. Performance appraisals must be conducted to help employees maximise their respective potential for mutual benefit. For this purpose, it’s imperative that the Line Managers receive behavioural and communication training.
 

Management Review Meetings

The organisations must give due importance to management review meetings for the Line Managers. They are an important part of educating the Line Managers as they get to hold discussions with the management boards. This process helps taking timely and appropriate actions required for organisational development.
 

Job Description for the Line Managers

Developing guidance is another important aspect which helps the Line Managers perform better. The HRD must make them realise the importance of the organisational team. The relations between the HRD, Line Managers and other employees must complement each other. The inclusion of HR responsibilities in the Line Managers’ job description and coordination with the HRD for the employees’ performance enhancement would help formulate effective HR related activities. A complaint mechanism also needs to be developed as it can work as the reflection for change requirement.
 

Counselling and Training

The Line Managers have to work closely with the employee so they must understand their human needs. For instance, an employee may be experiencing grief, tension or a personal problem. It may influence his end performance and weaken his retention prospect. In this scenario, the Line Manager’s counselling can influence the employee positively. A Line Manager’s positivity can rub on to the team and enhance its overall capability.
 

The ability to inspire is not the easiest of qualities to develop. The Line Managers must be provided trainings, periodically, on people management and enhancing competencies of their team members. Such trainings can help them learn to be more competent to achieve common objectives.
 

The Line Managers’ Leadership Role

Leadership plays an important role for a team to accomplish a common task. The Line Managers should lead the group of people and work towards enhancing their capabilities without getting insecure. The HR personnel cannot reach each employee most of the times. So, the Line Managers should be given adequate authority to make decisions, to a certain extent. When the Line Managers are given authority and responsibility, there is a tremendous possibility of increased productive output.
 

The HRD should have a system which identifies the employees’ expectations from the organisations. It can then design the desired format and address it to the Line Manager. As a result, the Line Manager takes pride in the positive changes happening to his team members. The Line Managers play a vital role in ensuring that employees are mentored, motivated and feeling competent. The HRD can consider itself successful if employees are productive and contribute towards overall organisational growth. The employees’ successful careers within the organisation are a healthy sign of things to come.
 

(The write-up is based on an ‘HR Kurakani’ discussion on “Educating HR to the Line Managers”, on 29 December, 2010 conducted by Real Solutions Pvt Ltd. The participants at the discussion included Ayush Shah, ICTC Group; Robin Shrestha, Caritas Nepal; Sarika Amatya, Freelancer; Sharda Rana, Sipradi Trading Pvt Ltd; Shraddha Joshi, Standard Chartered Bank Nepal and Sujata Rijal, Echo Advertising Agency. Shailendra Raj Giri, the Managing Director of Real Solutions acted as the moderator for the discussion.)