Line managers oversee individual employees or teams, and they are assessed on the performance of those they oversee. 

The term ‘front-line manager’ or ‘first-line manager’ refers to those who manage employees with no supervisory responsibilities. Employees may have management responsibilities even if their job title does not have ‘manager’ in it.

Typically, management responsibilities include:

• Day-to-day people management.
• Managing operational costs.
• Providing technical expertise.
• Allocating work and rotas.
• Monitoring and quality assurance work.
• Measuring operational performance.
• Developing people.
• Recruiting and inducting new people to the team.

Managers are also responsible for supporting the wellbeing of their teams. Working conditions affect people's health and managers need to monitor workloads and ways of working to support wellbeing. They can seek support from occupational health services if required. Our Health and wellbeing survey found that the number of sick days recorded by employers is the highest in a decade. In addition, ‘presenteeism’, where employees feel the need to work when unwell, is still widespread. ‘Leaveism’, where employees work while on holiday, is also widespread. The organisation's and team's culture inform these attitudes. Managers play an important role in shaping culture and can therefore help change attitudes. 

People management processes are usually designed by HR, L&D or OD specialists within the organisation. However, it's managers who implement them and bring them to life. Such processes can include: performance management and recognition, employee engagement, creating and maintaining a learning culture, and supporting employees to achieve a work-life balance. Our report Professionalising Learning and Development identified traditional views of line managers as a blocker to improving organisational performance practices.

Relationship between HR and line managers

The relationship between the HR function and line managers has evolved in recent years. Managers are now more involved in activities like recruitment or objective setting. Trends like performance-related pay, for example, have also increased managers' responsibilities in this area. 

Many organisations have outsourced transactional HR activities. This has shifted more tasks onto managers, such as employee data management, training requests, and payroll information. Outsourcing can be implemented successfully. However, it can hinder the accuracy of data if managers don't have the appropriate skills or time to complete these tasks accurately. 

Relationship between L&D and line managers

The relationship between L&D and line managers has also seen a shift. Managers were always expected to support the embedding of learning in work practice. Now, they are also expected to support their team’s development through coaching and learning on the job. L&D’s role in this relationship is to upskill the line managers so that they can develop their teams. Our research with Towards Maturity on the link between learning and performance highlights the important relationship between L&D professionals and line managers. See also our factsheet on a range of learning solutions to fit individuals’ and teams' needs.

Line managers can make a significant difference in:

• Enabling HR, OD and L&D policies and practices and bringing them to life.
• Identifying learning needs and embedding learning in the workflow.
• Managing the workflow by supporting and guiding the work of others.
• Collaborating with the people profession to support change.

Line managers and individual performance

Research carried out at Bath University found that front-line managers play a pivotal role in implementing HR policies and practices. When employees have a positive relationship with their line manager, they are more likely to have better job satisfaction, commitment, and loyalty. This, in turn, is associated with higher levels of performance and behaviour beyond the requirements of the job.

The managers' role is also critical in assessing and recognising performance through setting specific and challenging goals, monitoring progress, and providing feedback.

Line managers and employee engagement

Line managers' behaviour can also affect employee engagement. Our report on the relationship between line management and employee engagement and wellbeing highlights the role of managers in providing motivating challenges. When these are supported appropriately, stress is reduced and wellbeing increased. It’s therefore important to provide line managers with the skills, tools and support they need to make sure they can, in turn, support their own team. The CIPD has developed a series of practical tools to help line managers support employee engagement, health and wellbeing.

Managers need support themselves from their own managers. They also need development to ensure they have the right skills and self-confidence to fulfil their role. This is especially important for new managers. But support and development need to be available at all stages of managers' careers. If managers are the ’face’ of the people profession to employees, the people profession must be part of ensuring this support is in place.

Developing line managers

A general overview on all aspects of management development can be found in our factsheet. As an example, the Bank Workers Charity and Mind developed a training programme to help managers support employees struggling with mental health in the UK banking sector. A shift to more hybrid and remote working since the COVID-19 pandemic has raised new challenges for managers. Our podcast ‘Managing the wellbeing of remote workers’ offers suggestions for line managers on how to best support staff working remotely.  

Good managers will have specific qualities and skills. However, organisational culture is crucial to encourage and reward positive management behaviour. Our report Leadership: easier said than done outlines the key barriers to management and leadership within the organisational environment. L&D professionals have recognised the importance of this and are focusing more and more on this cultural impact area. 

In our Good Work Index survey, we regularly track employee satisfaction with the different aspects of line management. Our report Real-life leaders: closing the knowing-doing gap provides further information on the gaps in line managers’ skills. 

The role of business partnering

There's a growing emphasis in both HR and L&D teams on business partnering, where people professionals work closely with managers to deliver the business strategy. This has enhanced the people management aspects of the line manager’s role. Line managers can develop responses and solutions to HR issues together with their HR business partner with more immediacy and alignment to business strategy. The ability of L&D business partners to promptly respond to line managers' need for their team makes their role more effective too. 

The ongoing relationship between business partners and line managers allows for better, long-term solutions. In this way, HR and L&D are not only involved to solve specific issues as they arise. This proactive approach offers better support to operations and impact on the bottom line.

Leading line managers

Well-managed line managers are more likely to lead high-performing teams. Senior management support in developing line managers is critical. A good relationship between managers and their own managers makes a significant difference to their motivation. 

Generally, line managers lead high performing teams if they experience:

• good working relationships with their own managers;
• good career opportunities;
• a positive work-life balance;
• participation and involvement in decision-making;
• an open organisational culture that enables them to air a grievance or discuss matters of personal concern;
• a sense of job security.

Contacts

Chartered Management Institute

Books and reports

Acas. (2016) Managing people. London: Acas.

Lopez-Cotarelo, J. (2011) HR discretion: understanding line managers' role in human resource management. In: Academy of Management annual meeting, 12th-16th August 2011, San Antonio, Texas.

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (2016) Workplace health: management practices. London: NICE.

Journal articles

Hassan, F. (2011) The frontline advantage. Harvard Business Review. Vol 89, No 5, May, pp106-114.

Hewett, R., Sikora, D., Brees, J. and Moelijker, R. (2023) Answerable for what? The role of accountability focus in line manager HR implementation. Human Resource Management. In press.

Kilroy, J., Dundon, T. and Townsend, K. (2023) Embedding reciprocity in human resource management: a social exchange theory of the role of frontline managers. Human Resource Management Journal. Vol 33, No 2, April. pp511-531.

Knies, E., Leisink, P. and Van Der Schoot, R. (2020) People management: developing and testing a measurement scale. International Journal of Human Resource Management. Vol 31, No 6, March. pp705-737.

Lopez-Cotarelo, J. (2018) Line managers and HRM: a managerial discretion perspective. Human Resource Management Journal. Vol 28, No 2, April. pp 255-271.

Trullen, J., Stirpe, L, Bonache, J. and Valverde, M. (2016) The HR department’s contribution to line managers’ effective implementation of HR practices. Human Resource Management Journal. Vol 26, No 4, October, pp449-470. Reviewed in Bitesize research.

Truss, C., Soane, E. and Alfes, K. (2013) The relationship between line manager behaviour, perceived HRM practices, and individual performance: examining the mediating role of engagement. Human Resource Management. Vol 52, No 6, November/December 2013, pp839-859.

Kurdi-Nakra, H., Kou, X. and Pak, J. (2022) The road taken and the path forward for HR devolution research: an evolutionary review. Human Resource Management. Vol 61, No 2, March/April. pp239-258.

Whitehouse, E. (2019) Will we ever build better line managers? People Management (online). 25 April.

CIPD members can use our online journals to find articles from over 300 journal titles relevant to HR.

Members and People Management subscribers can see articles on the People Management website.