Do line managers’ have ‘linking pin’ in HR roles?

Abstract

Purpose: The present article aims to identify the possible line managers’ involvement factors in human resource (HR) initiatives and its ‘linking pin’ to the HR roles. In this regard, few factors have been considered pertinent to line managers’ involvement factors in HR initiatives which are desire, self-efficacy, and HR support. Whereas, the considered dimensions of HR roles reviewed are strategic partner, change agent, employee champion, and administrative expert. Design/methodology/approach: The paper intends to provide a conceptual review of the past literature in the areas of HR roles and line managers and further justify the proposed conceptual framework that will move this work further. Findings: The review also showed that HR devolution to line managers will boost line managers’ participation and responsibility to practice HR roles at the workplace. Research limitations/implications: The main limitation of this review is no empirical evidence provided by the authors to support the literature of the article. All the provided literature is written based on the findings gained from the previous studies. Practical implications: Line managers’ involvement in HR Initiatives can increase the competency diversity among line manager. This in turn can help the organization to operate at high efficiency. Originality/value: There is a notable lack of research conducted to identify line managers’ involvement in HR. Therefore, this article contributes to the literature on the relationship between line managers and HR roles.

Keywords

• line manager, Human Resource initiatives, Human Resource roles, Human Resource devolution