How HR Staff Can Have a Great Relationship with Managers

If you wish to build a good HR reputation, your organisation's HR department will need to have a positive relationship with the managers first. If the managers are not satisfied with HR, it is likely that they are spreading that attitude to their employees. There are managers who go out of their way to avoid HR.

So, how can we improve HR’s relationship with managers?

 

1. Establish open communication

Open communication is the base of a good relationship. Managers need to feel comfortable talking to HR about anything. If managers feel uncomfortable with HR, they will sit on issues until the situation gets so bad that HR has to get involved. When this happens, problems will be harder to solve.

When a manager comes to HR with an issue, listen carefully to them and don't be judgmental. Managing employees is not easy, even for the best leader, so be receptive even when a manager admits they made an error. Doing this will help you work with that manager to find a solution.

A partnership between HR and managers will ensure the success of the organisation.

2. Coach, instead of condemn

Managers have to abide by many policies, complete lots of paperwork and oversee their employees. These are key responsibilities, and sometimes they make mistakes. There are HR staff who use these mistakes as a chance to condemn and even yell at the manager. If a manager is afraid of the HR's response every time they come forward with a mistake, they are less likely to speak up.

Use the mistake as a chance to coach the manager. An underrated part of HR is being an educator. Teach and coach the manager on the right process, give them tips such as how to conduct performance reviews on time or walk them through the details of a policy and why it is in place. When you do this, you are giving them the tools to work through similar problems on their own in the future.

Sure, sometimes disciplinary action is needed when a manager makes a mistake or fails to complete certain duties. It is still not a reason to yell at them. Concentrate on supporting the manager by giving them the tools to improve.

 

3. See the relationship as a partnership

Instead of seeing the HR/manager relationship as one where one party has more power than the other, see it as a partnership. This means HR is solving problems and completing projects together with managers.

One of the main complaints from managers is that HR has too much control over the hiring process. An easy way to solve this issue is by working with hiring managers. For instance, instead of relying on a job description, the manager can meet HR to find out what they are looking for. HR can review the screening criteria with the manager, so they know the process of filtering candidates. Once the manager sees how the early screening of applicants was saving them time, they will become more invested in HR’s responsibility when it comes to the hiring process.

 

HR professionals need to approach the relationship with managers not as enemies, but as partners. It can be easy to become jaded in HR, especially because we often see the worst of employees and have to manage unsavoury situations. It is imperative that we keep this out of our relationships with managers because working with them will ultimately help us in improving the workplace.

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Source: Workology

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