1. Cooperative Line and Staff HR Management: An Example
Exactly which HR management activities are carried out by line managers and by staff managers? There’s no single division of responsibilities we could apply across the board in all organizations, but we can make some generalizations.
For example, in recruiting and hiring, it’s generally the line manager’s responsibility to specify the qualifications employees need to fill specific positions. Then the HR staff takes over. They develop sources of qualified applicants and conduct initial screening interviews. They administer the appropriate tests. Then they refer the best applicants to the supervisor (line manager), who interviews and selects the ones he or she wants.
Some activities tend to be HR’s alone. For example, 83% of firms assign responsibility for pre-employment testing exclusively to HR, 75% assign college recruiting to HR, 86% insurance benefits administration, 84% exit interviewers, and 88% personnel/HR recordkeeping. But employers split most activities, such as employment interviews, performance appraisal, skills training, job descriptions, and disciplinary procedures, between HR and line departments.
In summary, you should see that HR management (as discussed in this book) is an integral part of every manager’s job. Whether you’re a first-line supervisor, middle manager, or president; or whether you’re a production manager, sales manager, office manager, hospital administrator, county manager (or HR man- ager!), getting results through committed people is the name of the game. And to do this, you’ll need a good working knowledge of the human resource management concepts and techniques in this book