Survey reveals people management shortfalls

Todayís manager is expected to be a communications, HR/personnel, budgeting and coaching expert rolled into one, according to research published by IRS Employment Review today (February 9 2004).

With many employers having abandoned their old multi-tiered management structures for a flatter organisation, the burden of responsibility falls increasingly on the front-line manager. Yet HR professionals have little confidence in the first-line managerís ability to handle the crucial people management aspects of the job.

The results of this survey of 62 named companies and public sector organisations are published in the new issue (793) of IRS Employment Review (www.irsemploymentreview.com), published by LexisNexis UK.

The report reveals that the role and responsibilities of first-line managers continue to evolve as they take on more people management duties. In some organisations they are also expected to show wider business understanding.

IRS last looked at the roles and responsibilities of first-line managers in depth nearly four years ago and noted the way in which the traditional supervisory duties of work allocation and progress chasing had changed.

Key findings:

Typically a first-line manager takes responsibility for between three and 10 employees, with very few running to teams of more than 25.

78% of organisations surveyed said that they always or mostly recruited first-line managers from among the employees they manage.
23% of respondents reported that they always did so.

18% said that they mostly recruited from outside, and only two said that they always or almost always brought in external candidates.

Employers who mostly or always recruited externally were more likely to say that leadership qualities and operational experience were essential; and they were less likely to recruit new first-line managers without professional qualifications.

Organisations that promote from within are more likely to say that business skills are essential.

More than two-thirds of respondents said that there had been some change in the role of first-line managers in their organisation in the past three years.

37% respondents said they did not had a deputy or assistant manager to help them run their team
34% said that a minority of managers had help;
23% said that most first-line managers in their organisation had a deputy or assistant; and just three said this was always the case.

Although the list of first-line managersí main responsibilities remains almost unchanged since 2000, there has been a substantial increase in the number of organisations identifying each of these areas as first-line manager issues. There has been an even more marked increase in the number that now say these areas are the sole responsibility of line managers. The following responsibilities are reported as either the sole or the shared preserve of first-line managers:
o absence management
o appraisals
o grievances
o health and safety
o planning/allocating work
o recruitment
o staff deployment
o team briefing
o team development
o ongoing training, and
o welfare.

More than two-thirds of respondents said that there had been some change in the role of first-line managers in their organisation in the past three years.

The most commonly identified change was an increase in first-line managersí overall level of responsibility (identified by almost 60% of organisations), followed closely by an increase in their level of people management responsibilities (52% of organisations). Less than 1% of respondents said that first-line managers now had less responsibility than three years ago.

Change in the role of first-line managers had led to the opening up of a skills gap at 29% of organisations. There had been some reluctance on the part of first-line managers themselves to make the changes expected of them at 28% of organisations, and at 23% there had been generally negative attitudes to change among employees as a whole.

Almost 70% (68.8%) expect the next three years to bring further substantial or some change to the role of first-line managers.
IRS Employment Review managing editor, Mark Crail said:
ìIn the four years since IRS last conducted its research into front-line managers, we have seen a steady increase in the scope of the role and the responsibilities that come with it. The differences in approach to recruiting new managers from within or outside an organisation reveal the somewhat mixed messages that young managers may receive. Many of the surveyís respondents expect first-line managers to become more autonomous, to take on wider responsibilities, and particularly to take on greater responsibility for people management. Yet the trust in their ability does not equal the burden placed upon staff.
ìMany respondents recognise that talent needs to be nurtured, perhaps with training and coaching. This helps to reduce staff turnover because employees can clearly identify ëcareer pathsí and feel ëempoweredí.î

The full survey is published in IRS Employment Review available from customer services on 020- 8662 2000, price 30 or can be found on www.irsemploymentreview.com.