HR professionals are so concerned about line managers’ ability to supervise staff, they believe management training should be compulsory.
HR professionals are so concerned about line managers’ ability to supervise staff, they believe management training should be compulsory.
According to the 2010 IRS Line Manager Training Survey by XpertHR, eight in 10 HR practitioners think training people managers is a must.
Nearly two-thirds of those polled (60 per cent) said they do not rate line managers in their organisation and felt line manager training was hampered by poor organisational backing (53 per cent), financial constraints (50 per cent) and poor attendance (45 per cent).
Charlotte Wolff, author of the report and training editor for XpertHR, said: "Line managers are increasingly expected to take on more responsibility in some crucial areas of people management, yet it appears that the training is not evolving at the same pace.
"In areas such as absence management, where good practice can directly help the organisation save on costs, I would have though that investment in the relevant training would be clearly worthwhile."
The study found that line managers are being expected to perform challenging people management tasks without the relevant training.
Training gaps in staff development, recruitment and retention, absence management and grievance handling were just some of those identified in.
The report, which quizzed 123 HR professionals, also found that half the organisations (48 per cent) that give sole responsibility to line managers for recruitment and retention do not offer specific development in this area.
And almost one-quarter of employers (23 per cent) failed to provide adequate training in absence management, the study showed.
Gaps were also uncovered in staff development (47 per cent), grievance handling (35 per cent), disciplinary procedures (27 per cent), and appraisals (19 per cent).
