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HR and the line: The distribution of HR activities in Australian organisations

University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, ckulik{at}unimelb.edu.au

Hugh T.J. Bainbridge

University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

Results from a national survey of Australian Human Resource Institute members and CCH subscribers document a trend within Australian organisations to devolve people management activities to the line. Results indicate that human resource (HR) managers and line managers have different views of the trend, with HR managers being more optimistic that the trend has had positive organ-isational outcomes and anticipating more devolution to occur in the future. We identify several important issues for organisations wishing to transfer people management activities to the line: the awareness of people management ‘hot potatoes’ that are ineffectively performed by both HR and the line, and line manager scepticism around the reasons for HR-to-line transfer of people management activities.

Key Words: Australia • human resource management • line management

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