Define the Role of Line Manager and Staff Specialist. Where is the line?

Objective: To clearly define the difference between the role of line managers and staff specialists.

Line managers have the formal power to direct and control immediate subordinates.

Staff specialist: Job duties are narrower than line managers and include the right to advise, recommend, and counsel in the staff specialists' area of expertise. It is a communication relationship with management. It has an influence that derives indirectly from line authority at a higher level and takes a human resource manager as an instance

A Human Resources manager has line authority over the staff of the HR department and staff authority to support, assist, and advise mangers of other Departments in matters related to HR management.

 

ROLE OF LINE MANAGER

1. The first area of involvement is for the line manager to set clear expectations with their staff, both in terms of what they need to deliver (job responsibilities, targets etc.) and how they are expected to deliver these things (approach, behavior at work, etc.).

2. The next area of involvement is conducting performance appraisals and agreeing personal development plans, i.e. Measuring the “gap” between what an individual delivers (and how they do it) and what is needed.

3. In agreeing personal development plans line managers should not just ask “What are this persons weaknesses?” but should also ask “Where will learning and development add the greatest value to their performance?”

4. Line managers should understand the breadth of learning and development interventions that are available to them.

5. Line managers should also take on more of a coaching role with their staff. Significant relationships exist between the effective provision of coaching and guidance by the line manager and levels of employee satisfaction, commitment and motivation.

6. Finally, to be truly effective line managers need to understand their role as a “sponsor” of an individual’s or team’s learning and development. For example, it sends completely the wrong message to someone if a manager asks them to attend a management training course but then prevents them from attending some or all of it.

As a sponsor, the line manager should:

v   Invest time, energy and enthusiasm in their employees’ development.

v   Demonstrate public commitment to management training and development by “walking the talk”.

v  Sanction any hindrance or blocking behavior from employees reference their learning and development.

v  Be clear with their teams the importance of management training and development in raising standards and performance.

v   Recognize successes.

Too often education and development is the province of HR or the training department but by becoming more involved in their managers training and development, line management will have a greater impact on their teams performance and capability, which will ultimately impact the performance of their organization.

STAFF SPECIALIST

A great example of staff specialist is department heads. Their job duties will encompass providing departmental supervision to faculty and staff, guiding teachers; developing and implementing curriculum, course objectives, and outlines for courses taught in the department; providing advice and support to members of the department concerning their teaching; planning and coordinating school department related activities; preparing students for participation in competitions; participating in the appointment of new teachers for the department; managing informal and formal assessment within the subject to support pupil progress and high standards of achievement; being aware of subject developments outside the school and bringing them to the attention of colleagues; being part of the Academic Leadership Team and attending “Heads of Department”, and “Academic Leadership Team” meetings.