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Line management refers to the management of employees who are directly involved in the production or delivery of products, goods and/or services and may be referred to as the supervisor. As the interface between an organisation and its front-line workforce, line management represents the lowest level of management within an organisational hierarchy (as distinct from top/executive/senior management and middle management).[1]
A line manager is an employee who directly manages other employees and day-to-day operations while reporting to a higher-ranking manager. In some retail businesses, they may have titles such as head cashier or department supervisor.[2][3][4][5] Related job titles are supervisor, section leader, foreperson, office manager and team leader.[1] They are charged with directing employees and controlling that the corporate objectives in a specific functional area or line of business are met.[1]
Despite the name, line managers are usually considered as part of the organization's workforce and not part of its management class.
Responsibilities
Line managers are tasked with implementing organizational policies through direct supervision of staff and ensuring alignment with business objectives and core values.
Key responsibilities include:
- Recruitment and selection
- Training, mentoring, coaching and staff development
- Performance management and appraisal
- Employee motivation and well-being
- Team building and achievement of departmental goals
Typical duties may involve:
- Setting and communicating objectives and priorities
- Allocating and managing resources (e.g., staff time, budgets)
- Ensuring compliance with internal policies and legal requirements
- Providing leadership and operational direction
- Conducting regular meetings with team members
Line management also plays a role in facilitating organizational change, often in collaboration with senior management.[6] Additionally, line managers are increasingly involved in functions traditionally managed by specialized departments, such as human resources, finance, and risk management. In many organizations, line managers are directly responsible for operational risk and the implementation of HR policies.[7][8][9]
See also
- Staff management
- Project management
- Performance management
- Staff and line
- Employee engagement
- Management by objectives
- Operations management
References
- ^ a b c Ferrell, O. C.; Hirt, Geoffrey A.; Ferrell, Linda (2019). Business (6e ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN 978-1-259-92945-8.
- ^ "Cassell's New Popular Educator: A Cyclopaedia of Knowledge and General Information". 1920.
- ^ "Classified Index of Decisions of the Regional Directors of the National Labor Relations Board in Representation Proceedings". December 1979.
- ^ "Administration of the Labor-management Relations Act by the NLRB: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on National Labor Relations Board of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, Eighty-seventh Congress, First Session, on General Study into the Procedures of the NLRB and Its Administration of the Labor-management Relations Act of 1947, as Amended". 1961.
- ^ Role and Challenges of a Line Manager[dead link]. F. John Reh, February 4, 2017
- ^ "The Scope of Change". PMHut. 2010-02-11. Archived from the original on 2012-09-08. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
- ^ Harris, Hilary; Brewster, Chris; Sparrow, Paul (2003). International Human Resource Management. CIPD Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85292-983-4.
- ^ Barton, Thomas L.; Shenkir, William G.; Walker, Paul L. (2002). Making Enterprise Risk Management Pay Off. FT Press. ISBN 978-0-13-008754-6.
- ^ Hewett, Rebecca (2024). "Answerable for what? The role of accountability focus in line manager HR implementation". HR Management. 63 (2): 165–185. doi:10.1002/hrm.22189. ISSN 1099-050X.
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