People Manager and the Project Manager

What is the distinction between a People Manager and a Project Manager??

In recent years, multinational corporations have begun to employ a people manager in addition to the project manager for employees in teams and units. Because of the importance placed on employee enabling and employee empowering strategies, this division of responsibilities between the people manager and the project manager has become necessary. The key point here is that the people manager is in charge of the employee's personal and professional development, whereas the project manager is in charge of work and project-related activities. Furthermore, the appointment of a people manager separate from the project manager is being made due to the organizations' desire to develop their employees a more well-rounded manner, and to allow them to realise their full potential. For example, while the project manager is responsible for project deliverables and other work-related aspects, the people manager is responsible for the personal development of skills, soft skills, and how far the employee is fulfilled in his or her current role. The position of people manager is similar to that of HR manager, who is responsible for the unit, but differs in that the people manager must be a functional individual who understands the functional and operational aspects as well as contribute to the employee's personality development.

In Practice, How Do the Different Roles Work??

In many multinational organisations, such as Fidelity and IBM, the people manager is chosen from a pool of project managers and is typically in charge of two or three project teams. The additional responsibilities assigned to the people manager run concurrently with their core responsibilities of overseeing the project deliverables of their own teams. The idea is to have a separate and distinct individual from the project manager to introduce objectivity and provide an unbiased perspective to the employee and his or her needs for personal development and actualization. Furthermore, some multinational corporations have experimented with having a people manager who does not have any project-related responsibilities so that the individual can fully focus and concentrate on the project the human aspect of project management The key point here is that the people manager would meet with employees one-on-one to find out if they had any issues with the project teams and their role in it, as well as to elicit feedback from them on how the organisation and project managers are allowing them to reach their full potential. At appraisal time, the review is typically conducted by both the project manager and the people manager. Of course, the project manager's inputs are more important because they pertain to the core reason for the organization's existence, namely project deliverables, but the people manager also plays an important role in determining personal development and growth the employee's progress toward personal development goals established at the start of the review period.

Taher Shahen.