The degree to which Line Managers are empowered to be responsible for People issues
HR Responsible
Line Manager
Responsible
Positioning
Factors
Of all of the six dimensions, this one is most clearly a balance between two alternative but equally potentially valid approaches:
On the one hand, Line Managers hold the responsibility for looking after their teams and so need to be provided with the right tools, training and support to be able to execute their role effectively. On the other, HR provide these tools, training and support and can set the balance between these and decide how active or passive HR teams are in day-to-day and strategic management of staff.
Progression
The nature and culture of the business will be the biggest factor in determining where an organisation sits on this dimension. Drivers for moving more people-management activities on to Line Managers are likely to be technology-related: current HRIS systems provide increasingly efficient Self Service tools that support prompting and then processing decisions from the decision maker (e.g. the Line Manager) with minimal further intervention.
Moving the other way, taking activities away from Line Managers is likely to be for the less automated and homogenous organisations following a standardisation and centralisation agenda such as bringing previously relatively self-managed teams into the corporate fold.
Either way, it should be noted that engagement with initiatives in either direction will only be achieved if a clear case is made and widely communicated regarding why this is beneficial to the business.