Exploring the Strategic Aspects of Devolvement of HRM to Line Managers The Case of an Irish Semistate RIKON Group

The notion of line managers accepting a degree of people management responsibility is not a new phenomenon. However, a key trend in the contemporary management literature has been to increasingly assign formal responsibility for people management to the line management function (Harris et al., 2002; Whittaker and Marchington, 2003; Mesner Andolsek and Stebe 2005 and Cascon-Periera et al., 2005). The rationale for involving line managers in HRM is derived from a strategic approach to align HR strategies with the business needs and to address factors from both the internal and external environments which impact on HRM requirements. The practice of devolution has increasingly received recognition in the management literature, to the degree that it “is now received wisdom” (Holt Larsen and Brewster, 2003:228). The aim of this paper is to explore, from a strategic perspective, the devolvement of HRM to line managers in a semi-state organisation. This includes identifying what role line managers play in the execution of HR strategy and exploring how, and to what degree, devolvement of HRM is occurring. The results of this study suggest that developing line managements HRM capabilities has fostered more collaborative relationships between HR professionals and line management and has positively impacted on line managers approach to managing their human resources.