It’s time to end the conflicting priorities, old-fashioned protocols, and overall broken-down communication that have hampered relations between HR and the line. Accelerating globalization, technological and demographic shifts, and cross-border expansion are rapidly transforming the organizational landscape, and HR departments increasingly are being called upon to help drive ever-more-complex company strategies.
These challenges require HR professionals to change their mindset, and redefine their traditional roles and responsibilities. In the global war for talent, aligning HR and the line is no longer optional. Fortunately, these converging macro trends offer the opportunity for a radical new relationship, one in which line managers can act autonomously but within the framework of a company’s business and HR strategy, and HR is freed to offer increasingly critical strategic support.
Conflicting Viewpoints
In light of this growing organizational complexity, the increasing pace of innovation and change, and the threats and opportunities presented by new technologies, Hay Group recently examined the sources of tension between HR and the line in an effort to identify how the relationship—and, consequentially, HR strategy implementation—can be improved.
In “Bringing the Line to Life: How Activating the Relationship Between HR and the Line Can Impact Organization Performance,” Hay Group determined that HR and line managers have starkly different views on the causes of the disconnects that stifle organizations’ ability to design and implement appropriate, consistent workforce strategies.
The poll of 750 HR directors and line managers across the U.S., UK, and China found that HR professionals often feel overburdened by everyday requests and queries from line managers. One-third of HR directors estimate that their team spends up to one-third of its time dealing with such matters. And nearly half, 43 percent, agree too much time is spent “hand-holding” the line, which prevents them from taking a more strategic role within the organization.
Additionally, an overwhelming majority of HR professionals—88 percent—agree that empowering line managers to make autonomous people-management decisions should be a key goal.
Line managers, on the other hand, have a different view, with half saying they feel unempowered, and 75 percent believing HR keeps information and data close to their chests.
Further, 42 percent of line managers describe HR teams as slow to respond to requests for information. As a result, line managers seem to be turning to external sources to gather key talent management data: Some 39 percent of line managers indicated that Google was a better source of information than their HR team.
“Activate” the Line
The data indicate that HR professionals are mired in day-to-day processes and implementation that prohibit them from stepping into the more strategic role that will be critical to future success. The solution to this conundrum is “activating” the line—relinquishing control over day-to-day activities while providing line managers a framework within which they are empowered to implement HR strategy. The keys to doing so are:
- Letting go: HR teams cannot be constantly available to handle a stream of everyday queries and requests—nor is this the best use of their resources. Line managers, who are closer than HR to their employees and in a better place to develop and reward them, need to be given the authority to make talent management decisions on the spot. To effectively empower line managers, HR teams must relinquish some of their control, giving managers the freedom they need to access information quickly and act decisively.
- Providing clarity: At the same time, letting go requires increased collaboration and depends on HR setting up a framework that guides line manager actions. The delegation of people-management decisions must be accompanied by clearly set expectations and context regarding the overall workforce strategy, and how it’s designed to drive business results.
- Leveraging new technologies: HR also must provide line managers with the tools and resources required to make informed talent management decisions—as well as guidance on when and how to use them. New technologies can provide managers access to the HR-strategy-informed support they require at their fingertips—as fast as the Internet resources to which some currently turn. But they’re only effective if the recipient understands exactly what responsibilities come with them.
As global trends converge and hierarchies evolve into flatter organizations, information and authority will flow in all directions. Line managers need to be entrusted more than ever with the tools to act on their own initiatives within the context of their organization’s strategy. By activating the line, HR can overcome old-fashioned protocols and broken-down communication and transition from spending too much time on tactical, day-to-day operations to making more strategic contributions. At the same time, they’ll ensure that policies are implemented and executed consistently.
In the end, activated line managers should start seeing HR as a strategic, not just an administrative, resource; policies will be executed more consistently across increasingly complex organizations; and the return on HR effort will go up as new tools and resources regularly support HR messages across the enterprise.
There’s a perfect storm brewing between emerging technologies, changing demographics, and globalization. If they work together, HR and the line can do more than hunker down against it—they can build sails.
Iain Fitzpatrick is a vice president at Hay Group (http://www.haygroup.com), a global management consulting firm that works with leaders to transform strategy into reality. With more than 16 years experience at the firm, Fitzpatrick specializes in data-driven rewards issues, leading teams responsible for implementing and managing Hay Group’s suite of products that help organizations develop talent, organize people to be more effective, and motivate them to perform at their best. Contact him at Iain.Fitzpatrick@haygroup.com or 215.861.2320.
