Line Managers Knowledge in HR

Line Managers Knowledge in HR
Emmanuel Guobadia, HR Consultant, Nigeria, Member
Line managers are supervisors having subordinates, this implies the management of people. It is therefore imperative that line managers have a basic understanding of how to deal with his/her subordinates in terms of target setting, performance management, motivation, putting the right pegs in the right roles, and an element of emotional intelligence in managing these subordinates. Thus, the need for basic knowledge of HR.

Employees are Biggest Resource
k.venkatesh, Student (MBA), India, Member
HR management is the process which deals with humans and treating them as one of the biggest resource for an organization to function in a smoother way. Hence it is not a bad idea to have the knowledge to understand the use of the major chunk of the available resources.
Moreover, knowledge of HR will enable line managers to analyze the potential of the employee, his/her training needs and eventually help the line manager to extract the best of the employee.

Fair Treatment of Employees
David Wilson, Manager, Canada, Premium Member
Line managers should be accountable for how their employees are being treated by the organization. By understanding HR, they can ensure that their employees are being fairly treated. The line manager can also take care for changes in HR services and programs.

Resolve Industrial Peace
Binayak Shankar, Student (University), India, Member
Line managers are the representatives of the organization for workers. They are the person who's behavior is treated as employer's attitude. Thus line manager's must have HR skills to resolve industrial peace at the lowest level in the organization.

Essential HR Knowledge for Line Manager
AMIT KUMAR CHOUDHARY, Manager, India, Member
We all know that the work of a line manager is concerned with worker's labor attitude, motivation about work, perception about the firm, working environment, culture, benefits, compensation package, health & safety, his needs & desire, development...
All these things of the worker depend on his line manager's behaviours such as his perception, motivation power, his attitudes about his worker...
That's why some HR knowledge is essential for any line manager: training & development skills, handling skill, communication skills, emotional skills, organising skills.

What If it Was Considered as Management Knowledge?
David Wilson, Manager, Canada, Premium Member
Perhaps this will be controversial. But, what if HR knowledge was really management knowledge? In this case, the line manager would be expected to have and use the knowledge. Is this any different than a manager requiring a knowledge of contracts, purchasing, budgets, etc.? Perhaps the problem is when we try to categorize management knowledge as HR, Purchasing, IT, or Finance, when it should all be management knowledge. This does not mean that specialists in the topic areas are not needed for advice and guidance.

Manager's Knowledge
Maryam Bidmeshgipour, Student (Other), Malaysia, Member
Do you think a manager needs to have management knowledge or technical knowledge (engineering) to handle projects in the best way?

Smart Manager's Knowledge
David Wilson, Manager, Canada, Premium Member
Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things" (Peter Drucker). I believe a manager should be both a manager and a leader. However, the manager/leader needs technical and project management knowledge, but should also have the smarts to utilize the knowledge of business or technical experts (i.e. project manager, cost accountant, HR advisor, design engineer, etc.).

Manager's Knowledge
Maryam Bidmeshgipour, Student (Other), Malaysia, Member
So I think David, you are more toward a manager with MBA degree rather that an engineer manager. Am I right?

Manager's Knowledge
David Wilson, Manager, Canada, Premium Member
It would depend upon the project, the organization, the leader and the people working on the project. There is no right answer and no wrong answer.
If I was building a dam I would probably go with an experienced engineering construction manager, or if I was developing a new financial system I would probably use an accounting manager (i.e. CA, CMA, CGA), or if I was reorganizing a business, I would probably use a HR manager or a business manager (or both). Basically, I would pick the best qualified person for the project based on their experience, education, past performance, etc. To favour one over the other could be problematic.
Now if I could have an experienced and successful senior engineering manager with MBA and broad business experience, then I might have some bias, but it would depend upon the project. The use of multi-disciplinary teams is typically the answer for many corporate or enterprise-wide projects.

Handle Employee Problems
maahi, HR Consultant, India, Member
I think all line managers should know the basics of HR; if they don't then they can seek help from colleagues from the HR department to handle employee problems, grievances and issues well and quickly. Because employees won't wait for us to learn and come back to them. Timely support to them is very important.

Being Strategic Partner and Follower
suresh, Professor, Nepal, Member
A line manager is very much responsible to implement the strategies within their departments as the follower of the organizational policy so, identifing the problems of the HR under his command and regulating the strategies to the grass root level is next to impossible with out the knowledge HR strategies.

Balance Business Goals with People
Ashish Shenoy, Partner, India, Member
A line manager is expected to possess the level of understanding business/organizational goals and pursue his actions in link with the same. At the same time he/she should be balance minded to take concrete decisions when given a choice for people or the organization that his goals are aligned to.

Lines Managers to Be Conversant with HR Knowledge
D P BABU, Strategy Consultant, India, Member
Line managers carrying out business-oriented functions need to deal with the human workforce to get resourceful services from them. The human workforce feels and reacts to all types of managerial actions. Unless a line manager is conversant with basic human behaviour at work, he can't properly plan, organize and communicate with human workforce for getting the desired output.

HR is Every Manager's Job
PETER SIBANDA, HR Consultant, Zimbabwe, Member
I believe that the value of HR managers in a company is measured by the extent to which they make themselves redundant.
There are two sides to this;
- On one hand we can only be satisfied about how well we are utilising our human resources if line appreciates the basic HR functions for ease of decision making in people management.
- On the other hand, we are scrutinising the concept of devolvement of HR functions to line, making HR practitioners increasingly becoming unnecessary. Now I have reservations on the extent and magnitude of line management's involvement in HR issues.

Every one should have basic HR knowledge
Saranya
Every individual who is heading another group of employees should have basic HR knowledge. Not just leaders. Also every individual who works in a team. Todays work is so much interdependent. In order to work effectively as a team / unit, basic HR knowledge is important.

Line Managers are Responsible for Managing Human Capital
Barata Pitso, South Africa, Member
The line managers are directly involved with the human capital of the organisation and that makes them full time HR managers.
The internal HR division provides the necessary platforms and support to enable line managers to deliver on their targets.
If you want the line managers to fully embrace the management of HR, keep it simple for them.

A Manager's Job
J Jayanthi Prasanna, Student (MBA), India, Member
An organization solely depends on human resources for its survival. It is the job of every manager to bring forth the best out of each and every member under his supervision. A team with a positive attitude and good spirit can achieve wonders!

Why Line Managers Should Have a Knowledge of HR
Vinay Gunputh, Manager, Mauritius, Member
Line managers are very often people having worked in a company for years so we promote them according to their technical skills. But we forget the aspect of people management which is new to him. I think we have to give such promotion according to our retention plan but bearing in mind to give that person a minimum of training in the HR field.