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CHAPTER 4

Human Resource Activities and Managers

Overview

HR, unlike many other staff departments, performs a great variety of tasks

Divide HR into three categories :

Common HR tasks

Less common HR tasks

Uncommon tasks for HR department

Common HR Tasks

Nearly universal HR tasks:

Employment and recruitment

Compensation and benefits administration

Employee relations

Not quite as common:

Labor relations

Less Common HR Tasks – 1

Employee health and safety

Training and development

Security

Child care

Award and recognition programs

Equal Employment Opportunity / Affirmative Action

Less Common HR Tasks– 2

Risk management

Executive compensation administration

Organizational development

Employee assistance

Outplacement services

Payroll

Outsourcing

Alternative Perspective of HR

Employee acquisition

Employee support or maintenance

Employee retention

Employee separation

Intersection: Managers and HR

Most routine HR activities: employee hiring, evaluation and discharge

Employee compensation and benefits administration

When HR provides basic information to managers, future interactions and relations tend to be easier

Employment

Procedures

HR provides guidance

HR may screen applicants

HR usually processes documents for the selected applicant

Benefits

Minimal to no role for departmental managers in benefits administration

Managers should have knowledge of basic policies

Such knowledge will save HR time and reduce employee frustration

Compensation

Line managers should know basic organizational policies and guidelines

HR should assist with writing or reviewing position descriptions

HR should conduct wage and salary studies; deviations should be undertaken only after discussion and permission has been granted

Employee Relations

Line managers must know their limits and boundaries before becoming involved in employee problems

HR should administer an employee appraisal program

HR should coordinate discipline issues

Personnel Records

These must be maintained by HR

The exception are informal brief notes about recent activities or issues maintained by a supervisor

These should be transferred to HR within a reasonable time (commonly each year)

Personnel records MUST be secure

Access must be restricted

HR: Background and Qualifications

Now, many HR personnel have specific training

All managers benefit by a formal course in HR with periodic reading to refresh and update knowledge

Formal training is helpful to both individuals and organizations

Staff Managers

Tend to rise from thee ranks of the people that they supervise

Begin with specific expertise

As advance in an organization, employees supervised become diverse

HR departments tend to be smaller, making supervision easier

Management Style and Approach

Reflects the background and experiences of individuals as they rose to supervisory and managerial positions

Reflects organizational culture in which they have worked

Expectations

Usually clear for line managers

May be confusing for HR managers

Individual expectations influence the responses that they anticipate receiving

Orientation and Training

Line managers think experience and selection are paramount

HR managers tend to believe in development of individuals

Participation

Line managers value results and tend not to delegate responsibility

HR managers value process and training, therefore tend to delegate and create learning opportunities

Control

Line managers tend to value organizational goals and objectives

HR managers feel that the line approach stifles creativity and impeded learning and growth

Staff Performance

Line managers usually supervise people with a wide range of skills, backgrounds and experience

HR managers tend to supervise other HR specialists

Line managers tend to be better at providing guidance to employees

Reward Assumptions

Line managers tend to believe that monetary compensation has the most motivating potential

HR managers tend to favor opportunities for personal development

Change

Line managers tend to believe that change occurs slowly, over time and in relatively small increments

HR managers tend to believe that change can be rapid and occur in brief periods of time

The rate of change can be accelerated when it is supported by top executives

Outlook

Line managers tend to view success or failure as short-run phenomena

HR managers tend to take a longer view of assessing success or failure

Note that most line managers are closely tied to financial cycles and forecasts

HR managers tend to be free of such financial cycles and constraints

Reconciling Differences

Line and HR managers must understand each other

Both must respect the position of the other

Patience, tolerance and respect are helpful attributes

Communications are important

When revenue generation enters a conversation, HR, by definition becomes subordinate to line departments

Chapter Summary

HR and line operations are required by all organizations

Managers must understand the objectives of each organizational component

All managers must remember that they are not adversaries but players on the same team

Questions

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