Line and Staff Aspects of HRM

FOR MY EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY

“After studying this you will be able to give at least eight examples of how managers can use HR concepts and techniques.”

NOTE: "This post is meant for my own use"

All managers are, in a sense, HR managers, since they all get involved in activities like recruiting, interviewing, selecting, and training. Yet most firms also have a HR department with its own top manager. How do the duties of this HR manager and his or her staff relate to “line” managers’ human resource duties? Let’s answer this question, starting with a short definition of line versus staff authority.

Authority: The rights to make decisions, direct other’s work, and give orders

Line manager: A manager who’s authorized to direct the work of subordinates and is responsible for accomplishing the organization’s task.

Staff manager: A manager who assists and advises line mangers.

Authority is the right to make decisions, to direct the work of others, and to give orders. In management, we usually distinguish between line authority and staff authority.

Line mangers are authorized to direct the work of subordinates –they’re always someone’s boss. In addition, line managers are directly in charge of accomplishing the organization’s basic goals. (hotel managers and the managers for production and sales are generally line managers, for example.)

Staff managers, on the other hand, are authorized to assist and advise line managers in accomplishing these basic goals. HR managers are staff managers. They are responsible for assisting and advising line managers in areas like recruiting, hiring, and compensation.

Line Manager’s Human Resource Management responsibilities

The direct handling of people has always been an integral part of every line manager’s responsibility, from president down to the lowest-level supervisor. For example, one major company outlines its line supervisors’ responsibilities for effective human resource management under the following general headings:

1. Placing the right person on the right job.

2. Starting new employees in the organization (orientation)

3. Training employees for jobs that are new to them

4. Improving the job performance of each person

5. Gaining creative cooperation and developing smooth working relationships

6. Interpreting the company’s policies and procedures

7. Controlling labor costs

8. Developing the abilities of each person

9. Creating and maintaining department morale

10. Protecting employee’s health and physical condition

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