“It is not HR tool, not at all.. and there’s no way we want to call it HR tool, because we want line managers to take ownership over it” - Role theoretical approach to devolution of HR tasks in Finnish, white-collar expert work
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
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Authors
Date
2020
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Management and International Business (MIB)
Language
en
Pages
63
Series
Abstract
The way work is conducted, is changing. Expert, white-collar workers are able to work independent of place and time. This development in digital era challenges the current leadership requirements. At the same time, HR tasks are shifting to be done by company line managers. This development is called HRM devolution. The purpose of this study is to broaden knowledge on expectations company line managers face in their position. Focus is on HR managers’ expectations on line managers. This study is carried out by semi-structured interviews. The data comprises of 13 interviews with Finnish HR managers. The focus is on expectations of line managers’ role in HR tasks. All the interviewees have lengthy track-record in their field, and their position allows a good window to peak in to leadership requirements in digital era. One of the main themes in this thesis is to shed light on how digital solutions and technology shape how people act and relate to each other. The key findings from this thesis include line managers’ role as remote work policy maker, holding main responsibility in performance appraisal as well as digital platforms speeding up HR devolution. HR managers perceived that remote work policy making is based on team or unit-level fit. Loose company-level guidelines might exist, but otherwise HR seemed to offer little support for line managers in remote work issue. Trust was seen as a key factor in building a functional remote work practise. Interviewed HR managers emphasized that building work culture where trust is cherished is line managers’ responsibility. According to findings, remote work creates a double-burden for line mangers. Line managers should be able to lead from distance effectively, while offering subordinates a lot of individual freedom to decide how to conduct work. The results further suggest that line managers need to learn skills in goal setting and appraisal of performance. Staying on track of current work content and work load of subordinate becomes crucial. Work well-being was discussed as one theme, as line managers were called to keep regular touch with employees as well as making sure they don’t burn out. Finally, the findings indicate that new digital solutions such as HR platform Workday, might speed up the devolution of HR tasks in near future. These platforms allow to manage and approve data about employees in real-time with the help of smart, cloud-based technology. Thus, results show that centralizing HR tasks to one platform makes some HR admin tasks to vanish and to become responsibilities of line managers.Description
Thesis advisor
Vuorenmaa, HerttaKeywords
HRM devolution, line manager, expectations, digital era, role theory, Finland