Achieving results through people. A call for each line manager to be a people manager.

Job roles in an organization are broadly classified into two categories, line and staff functions. Line functions directly drive the core work of the business such as production whilst staff functions support line functions through advisory and administrative duties such as Human Resources Management. When organizations are starting up and small, line managers usually handle both line and staff functions. As the company grows in size and scope it adds staff functions. Staff functions derive influence from expertise, and knowledge vital to line managers. For example, Finance Management function gets closer to executive leadership and the Board as it handles financial information that is important to shareholders.

Because staff functions play advisory role, line managers may choose to ignore the advice. This sometimes strains relationship between line and staff functions. The situation gets bad when staff functions accuse line workers of avoiding and ignoring their advice whilst line functions accuse staff functions of lack of expertise in the company's core work. This is familiar accusation leveled against Human Resources practitioners that they don’t know the business and they lack commercial acumen. As such they get relegated to peripheral activities of Human Resources administration and left out of strategic planning and decision making.

Some line managers dislike Human Resources duties. The rationale given being Human Resources duties are time consuming, and line managers are too busy with core business. Consequently, line functions abdicate their people management responsibilities. We often hear line managers referring their team members to the Human Resources Department whenever there are Human Resources related matters to be dealt with. Sometimes they give an excuse that if they perform Human Resources duties that will render Human Resources Managers obsolete.

Line functions should manage both business operations and people. Some companies arrange Human Resources Management for Non-Human Resources Managers program to equip line managers with skills and knowledge on people management. Some of the fundamental Human Resources Management skills that line managers should have are:-

·       Recruitment and Selection

·       Induction and On-boarding

·       Training and Development including Coaching & Mentoring

·       Performance Management

·       Reward Management including compensation and benefits

·       Employee relations including disciplinary and grievance handling

·       Employee engagement through teamwork, communication and leadership

·       Health and Safety

Managers depend on their people to achieve results. “For a manager to be successful, she needs to know her people; their needs, aspirations and challenges. The only way to do that is to own her team’s engagement, motivation, learning and career development.” Rattan Chugh, Chief People Officer, Times Internet. Ideally, the rule of thumb regarding HR to employee ratio is there should be one HR practitioner for every 100 to 150 employees. Therefore, it is important for line managers to possess knowledge of handling HR matters in order to become effective people managers and ultimately achieve results. We often hear or say, “The best boss I ever had.” The quality of daily interactions and decisions separate great bosses from bad ones. Great bosses demonstrate the following characteristics as they get the best out of their people and win their commitment to achieve results:

·       They possess functional and business knowledge. Knowledge is power so it is said. They are passionate about continuous learning, attention to detail and have impeccable analytical skills.

·       They are professional even under pressure. Integrity and transparency are key values in their conduct.

·       They delegate and empower others to excel. They take pride in assisting others to grow. They don’t take advantage of people but respect people. As a result they trust people and in turn they earn trust from people.

·       They communicate clearly with no hidden agendas. They are patient to clarify issues. They state their expectations upfront.

·       They have a high degree of self-awareness and they invest time to know and understand others.

·       They are generous in their gratitude and recognition. They praise, thank, acknowledge people’s contributions. They don’t compete for attention with the people they manage.

·       They are decisive even if the decisions are not popular but fair.

·       They are ‘people’ in any case and they have emotions to belong. They empathize with other people regardless of status, and position in society. They are humble and unassuming.

·       They discover what is unique about each person and then capitalize on it. They believe in strength from diversity. Together everyone achieves more (TEAM) is their mantra.

·       They practice management by walking around and not just spend time in their offices. They observe, listen, and interact with people.

·       They are astute and disciplined planners. Management is about planning, organizing, leading and controlling. They lead by example.