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Devolved HRM
Devolved HRM responsibilities, responsibilities
middle-managers and role
dissonance
637
Teri McConville
The Royal Military College of Science, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom,
Cranfield University, Shrivenham, Swindon, UK

Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to report a study into the role of middle line managers, in public services,
in relation to devolved HRM. The paper notes that the intermediacy of middle management leads to a
distinct and unique form of role tension. A model is offered to explain that phenomenon, which is
exacerbated by HRM responsibilities, and emphasises the importance of middle line managers within
organisations.
Design/methododology/approach – The paper shows that focused, qualitative discussions
complemented earlier research. The NHS, Armed Forces and Fire Service were investigated to
inform and test an explanatory framework for the phenomenon that is here denoted as role
dissonance.
Findings – The paper found that middle line managers want to be proactive in HRM and are
taking ownership of HRM and are exceeding their job requirements to do so. However, while it can
potentially enhance their role, HRM adds to what is already a substantial workload. Especially,
middle managers need to mediate tensions between strategic planners. That unique function,
formerly shared with personnel managers, exaggerates the middleness of their roles and is a source
of strain for individuals.
Practical implications – The model presented in this paper demonstrates how a range of cultural
and structural factors impact on individual and organisational expectations and behaviours. The
result is a role-based phenomenon, which is a distinct feature of middle-line management, and shows
many similarities to cognitive dissonance.
Originality/value – The paper offers new concepts to explain a well-reported phenomenon that has,
so far, not been adequately elucidated.
Keywords Human resource management, Middle management, Role conflict
Paper type Research paper

Modern organisations are under continuous and increasing pressures to change: from
growing competition in deregulated markets; government policies and legislation; and
from new technologies. Human resource management (HRM) offers a rich array of
practices to allow organisations to adapt and respond to environmental changes. The
key rôle of line managers in the employment relationship is a central tenet of such
practices but the effects of such responsibilities on line managers is an area that
continues to be under-researched.
While numerous studies have offered empirical evidence to describe the means and
effects of implementing this principle (e.g. Cunningham and Hyman, 1995; Livian,
1997; Currie and Procter, 2001) such research has tended to focus on changes within the Personnel Review
Vol. 35 No. 6, 2006
specialist function formerly known as personnel management. Scant attention has pp. 637-653
been paid to the impact of changing responsibilities upon the rôles, functions and lives q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0048-3486
of line managers. DOI 10.1108/00483480610702700
PR Following an earlier study (McConville and Holden, 1999), this paper reports on the
35,6 tensions that arise for middle line managers, in public sector organisations, in
implementing HRM strategy. It reveals that, as part of the human resource, these
managers are bearing much of the strain associated with organisational change.
Mediation in the paradoxical outcomes of HRM gives rise to a distinct form of rôle
tension, which can be distinguished from rôle conflict and rôle ambiguity, that arises
638 from the inconsistencies between the expectations of the organisation and of individual
employees, creating a form of dissonance which here is dubbed rôle dissonance. Such
tensions, although not unique to HRM, are emphasised by it. This paper presents a
tentative, illustrative framework in an attempt to apprehend the phenomenon of rôle
dissonance and to explain its origins and effects.

HRM and the line management function

HRM gained prominence in western management thinking at a time of rapid social,
economic and technological change. As diverse industries and organisations adapted
to environmental variation, they developed cultures where line managers became more
generalist, assuming greater responsibilities for accounting, budgeting and production
processes. Amongst others Fombrun et al. (1984, p. 236) argued, 20 years ago, that:
Any attempt to redesign the rôle of the human resource management function requires the
line’s participation since most of the activities of selection, appraisal, reward and
development are prerogatives of the line organisation.
And throughout the history of HRM, the involvement of line managers has always
been a key feature of the concept.
The devolution of many responsibilities that were once the remit of personnel
specialists was consistent with such movement, for business managers need to control
of all their resources in order to achieve increasingly short-term, measurable targets.
Although personnel, was a staff function, line managers have always had some
responsibility for managing people in the workplace, for their rôle includes
accountability for the performance of subordinates. However, as line managers have
shifted their orientation from production to business, HRM is only one among a range
of initiatives (see, e.g. Livian, 1997), which have commanded their attention and
increasing expertise.
Investigation into how managers are interpreting and operationalising HRM is,
then, a requirement for understanding its true impact. There is a need to examine the
expertise of those who are tasked with managing various facets of labour management;
to discover what line managers gain from ownership of HRM; and to apprehend the
problems and costs associated with its devolution. Unless the questions and paradoxes,
raised by the assertion that HRM is the province of line managers, are addressed,
investigations and appraisal of HRM will never be complete. Nevertheless, an
extensive trawl through numerous literature sources has shown that, with only a few
exceptions (e.g. Renwick, 2003; Harris et al., 2002), the lack of research attention paid to
this matter is almost embarrassing.

Recognising the middle managers

Line management is a feature of large organisations since before the time of Moses and
is evident throughout the history of military, ecclesiastical and public sector
organisations. The term implies a scalar chain of authority from senior managers, Devolved HRM
through the managerial ranks, to individual workers. That chain, directly concerned responsibilities
with organisational output-deliverables, distinguishes “line” from “staff” functions.
In organisations with traditional, hierarchical structures it is a simple matter to
identify the most senior managers as those who define missions and formulate
strategy. Likewise, those who control the daily detail of working practices on the shop
floor can be recognised as first-line managers whatever their title. Middle managers are 639
more difficult to distinguish, as the boundaries between levels of hierarchy are often
blurred. The exercise is further complicated in organisations with organic structures
where demarcation may be ambiguous. As a result few writers have attempted to
define the rôle.
Middle line management is often described in terms of what it is not. It is neither
scaled-down senior management (Torrington and Weightman, 1987), nor an enhanced
form of supervision (Hales, 1986). Middle managers are removed from the shop floor
and are accountable for a range of outcomes beyond detailed work elements. They hold
a vicarious position on behalf of senior managers, playing a co-ordinating rôle, but
with procedurally-limited autonomy (Della-Rocca, 1992). Their “middleness” comes
from their position in the organisational hierarchy (Kanter and Stein, 1979), the
time-scale and scope of decision-making processes (neither strategic nor routine), and
in terms of their impact on the working of the organisation (Livian, 1997). Middleness
also derives from career patterns, for middle management is a place where nobody
really wants to be (Dopson et al., 1992) being either a staging post on the road from
supervisor to executive or an equally undesirable cul-de-sac for those whose careers
will progress no further.
Being organisation-specific, the work of middle-line managers is equally difficult to
delineate, but has been classified into three broad areas (Torrington and Weightman,
1987). Administrative work, the routine, visible and comfortable activities concerning
the collection and distribution of information, is easily identified and quantified.
Technical work relates to a manager’s original trade or profession. It is important, not
only for appreciating and detecting operational problems, but it allows them to be seen
as authorities (although no longer experts) rather than simply being in authority. The
most risky category is managerial work (Torrington and Weightman, 1987),
persuading others into a particular opinion or course of action. It demands confidence
from middle managers to deal with uncertainties, from seniors to delegate appropriate
authority, and from subordinates to follow a manager’s lead.
None of this work takes place in isolation, but especially over the last few decades,
within increasingly turbulent environments. Externally, organisations have been
threatened, by economic difficulties, volatile markets (or quasi-markets), and,
aggressive competition. Internally, change has become the normal state of affairs.
The nature of line management means that middle managers are the agents of change
processes but, as employees, they are often also the foci of change.
As a result of the ambiguity inherent to the rôle, this study took an agnostic
approach, determining that middle managers were the people identified as such within
the organisation, provided that they were part of a clear chain of management and
involved in the delivery of an end service, being responsible for at least two
subordinate levels with the hierarchy, and with at least one superior between them and
the organisational executive.
PR The study
35,6 The initial study, which forms the basis of this further work, was undertaken within
two National Health Service (NHS) hospital trusts. The details of that research, its
methods and findings, are reported in an earlier paper (McConville and Holden, 1999).
Within a case study strategy, structured questions were used to assess the extent to
which human resource management was incorporated into the middle managers’ rôles;
640 how far such incorporation represented change; and its perceived importance in the
achievement of organisational objectives. Richer evidence was collected, using
unstructured questions, to assess attitudes towards HRM and the extent to which
middle line managers were equipped to take on such responsibilities. It was from these
outcomes that the notion of rôle dissonance (see below) emerged, indicating the need
for wider exploration.
During 2000-2002, possibilities arose to advance the original research within other,
uniformed, public services where middle managers were readily identified due to their
codified rank structures. The earlier NHS survey was used as a model. Questions were
put to serving military officers holding the rank of major or lieutenant colonel (or
equivalent) on post-graduate courses at the Royal Military College of Science (n ¼ 64).
As these officers were effectively, if temporarily, non-operational their contributions
were supported by a series of unstructured interviews with ten Royal Air Force (RAF)
and twelve Royal Navy (RN) officers during the formation of the Joint Force (Harrier)
(JFH) programme. Additionally, all participants were asked to comment on the notion
of rôle dissonance and the framework, presented in Figure 1. The means was a series of
focus groups, involving all but five JFH officers. These group interviews began with
discussions centred on comments from the questionnaires and individual interviews.
Next, the framework was presented, with explanation, before groups were asked for
comments.
The framework also further tested by presenting it to officers in the Fire and Rescue
Services. On these occasions, group interviews, of the same format (above), were held
in order to gather a range of opinions from ten fire fighters ranked as sub-officers and
station officers.
The aim was to gather further evidence to support, or otherwise, the 1999 study and
to test the tentative concept of rôle dissonance. The choice to study public sector
organisations was deliberate as it was assumed that recent, politically imposed,
changes in the governance and funding of public services would emphasise the
difficulties and paradoxes of the managerial rôles and functions.
Over recent years, public services have undergone profound and continuing
structural reorganisation with consequences for management processes. Because of
their specialist natures, there is no typical public service. However, in all cases, the
imperative of reducing public spending, and a desire to shed images of vast
bureaucracies have led to dramatic restructuring, tightly controlled budgets, and closer
liaisons with private sector organisations as contractors or as partners.

The organisations
National Health Service
As the original study contributes to this paper, it is appropriate to offer a brief review
of changes that were occurring at the time of that study. Throughout its short history
the National Health Service (NHS) has been subject to numerous reforms and
Devolved HRM
responsibilities

641

Figure 1.
Rôle dissonance and the
middle line manager
PR reorganisations. Notable among such changes was the creation of “internal markets”
35,6 and hospital trusts. As a result the NHS was transformed into a multi-dimensional
amalgam of self-governing units, although most hospital trusts elected to follow
similar patterns of organisational structure and managerial processes (Audit
Commission, 1999, p. 13). Autonomy did not mean carte blanche, however, for
health care is a major political issue. Trust directors found that their objectives were
642 hindered by, often unpredictable, government interventions and constraints, including
the setting of efficiency and quality targets and compulsory competitive tendering for
ancillary services.
While it may be tempting to generalise about the introduction of private-sector
management practices, NHS management is a complex area (e.g. Currie and Procter,
2001; Sheaff and West, 1997). In the face of widespread public and professional
criticism, trust boards have responded cautiously to new opportunities and
uncertainties. They have needed to balance the desire for management control of
resources with long-standing professional syndicalism (Strong and Robinson, 1990).

Armed forces
The Armed Forces also experienced large-scale restructuring during the 1990s. The
end of the Cold War forced reassessment of the nation’s defence priorities while the
so-called revolution in military affairs (RMA), resulting from advances in technology
and informatics, required a re-assessment of procedures and structures. The drive for
efficiency, flexibility, and parsimony in the use of public resources, reduced its strength
by 107,100 over the decade (Alexandrou, 2001). There have been large-scale
movements towards private-sector partnerships and increasing establishment of
joint-service (purple) organisations. A widening range of demands on the Forces (e.g.
peace-keeping, aids to civil powers) and the increasingly expeditionary nature of
operations has led to severe stretching of human resources, compounded by recent
demographic trends.
The forces have tried to be pragmatic in their approach to change but have
maintained that in order to serve society they have a need and a right to be different
from that society (Dandeker, 2000). Meanwhile, the impact of high profile legal
challenges over equal opportunities has threatened many fundamentals of military
culture (Wildman, 2002). The twenty-first century “serviceman” is increasingly likely
to be female or gay; well-educated; and in a stable relationship with a partner who has
a separate career. There is a double rank structure as candidates for commission are
normally selected and trained separately from other ranks. The employment contract is
unique, for service personnel carry the right to external violence on behalf of society.
They cannot leave their employment (without severe financial penalty); they are not
allowed to strike but have no independent representation; and might legitimately be
ordered to their deaths.
Following the Strategic Defence Review of 1998, the Ministry of Defence worked
toward a more strategic approach to the management of service personnel and the
Armed Forces Overarching Personnel Strategy (Ministry of Defence, 2000) was
devised in order to provide an integrated cradle-to-grave strategy to people
management. The fragmentation of functions between numerous agencies, and the
absence of HR representation on the Defence Management Board, suggests that the
Armed Forces are further away from strategic HRM than their rhetoric might suggest.
However, forthcoming changes in the education and careers of officers (Army, 2003) Devolved HRM
identify a definite career path in HRM (alongside combat, defence policy, logistics and responsibilities
technology) suggesting a firm intention toward further developments in this area.

Fire and rescue services

Like the armed forces, the Fire and Rescue services have a strong culture of disciplined,
tightly formed teams. Besides the obvious duties, fire brigades are required to assist 643
with civil emergencies; to conduct safety inspections of buildings accessed by the
public; and to conduct fire safety education. Co-ordinated from the Home Office, 51
individual fire brigades in England and Wales are funded by local government. In rural
areas a system of “retained” (paid volunteer) fire-fighters supplements the full-time
services.
Despite local management of fire brigades, terms and conditions of employment are
determined through a central negotiating body where, unlike their armed services
counterparts, fire fighters are represented by trade unions with retained and full-time
fire fighters belonging to separate organisations. There is a single portal of entry for
recruits into the service and promotion is achieved only after successful completion of
professional training and examination. All senior officers have, then, begun their
careers as first level fire fighters and have experienced working at all intermediate
levels of management.
Because of restrictions on local government spending, fire brigades managers have
had to juggle budgets to maintain an adequate service, and meet performance targets
(Davis, 1997). This has largely been achieved through re-organisation of areas of
operation (the firegrounds) and close co-operation between neighbouring brigades.
Although the Fire and Rescue Services have been praised by the Audit Commission
(1999) for strong governance and good management, it has recently been criticised
(Bain Report, 2002) for failing to change structures, and terms and conditions of
employment, to keep pace with changing demands. During 2002 there was a
high-profile national dispute, involving the Fire Brigades Union, employers and central
government, over this and pay-related issues.
The combined effects of government pressures and financial imperatives have
increased the need for strategic approaches to resource management throughout the
public sector. Attempts to introduce greater transparency and accountability, and the
movement toward private finance initiatives have had far reaching effects on how
public services are run, and on how they are, perceived, to be run, both by the public
and by staff. However, successive failed initiatives have left British public service
managers sceptical about further change, especially where it is perceived to be
politically imposed rather than being essential to service delivery. Managers have been
required to develop new skills and knowledge; to accept new goals; and to support new
standards and values (Virtanen, 2000). Where professional values are compromised, or
when the public service ethos is brought into confrontation with market principles, it is
reasonable to assume that the effects of new working practices will be more marked
than in other, more commercially orientated, settings.
In many respects change can be exciting, presenting new opportunities for middle
managers to broaden their expertise, to take on new challenges and to innovate (Keen
and Scase, 1996). But, it also leaves them vulnerable as they must develop new
competencies (Virtanen, 2000) at the same time that their work is increasingly reified
PR by HRM and other initiatives, and familiar administrative or technical tasks are
35,6 subordinated to riskier managerial work. For those with a strong professional identity,
change threatens their rôle; while a market orientation is seen as antithetical to the
values of public service, and threatens the integrity of the psychological contract
(Dopson and Neumann, 1998). Small wonder, then, that middle managers (and others)
have become resistant to further change and reluctant to give their full commitment to
644 new initiatives.
As change agents middle managers are responsible for implementing new
initiatives, and causing the resulting uncertainty or distress for their staff while, as
employees and therefore a focus of change, they are simultaneously suffering such
effects themselves. The evidence from this study that managers’ resistance arises from
attempts to protect themselves and their staff from the harmful stresses of change
programmes that could prove to be as fruitless as any that have gone before (Colling,
1997).

Outcomes
Although middle line managers had varying degrees of responsibility for HRM issues
it was clear that in all three cases, they were actively involved in the management of
their staff. The findings from these studies suggest that middle line managers wanted
to be involved in the management of their staff but that they were frustrated by lack of
autonomy and resources, especially time; and that, in the isolation of their middleness,
HRM exacerbates the tensions inherent to their rôle.

Ownership
In contrast to other evidence (Rowley, 1999), the middle line managers in these studies
welcome an involvement in HRM, viewing it as a natural part of their rôles. As all of
these services have had traditions of professional groups managing their own staff,
this was possibly less surprising than it might at first appear. Additionally, or
alternatively, it may be an outcome of these particular organisations, which exist to
respond to personal and public crises. All groups reported a belief that being able to
manage their own teams was a basic requirement in building and maintaining group
cohesion:
[Having direct responsibility for HRM] would allow me to develop my staff in line with the
requirements of my department (Major: Royal Anglian Regiment).
The manager is the only one who knows what the team does. She [sic] must be able to develop
the team from the start (NHS Departmental Manager).
NHS managers had some influence over the appointment and training of their staff,
within tight fiscal constraints. They were able to draw up job and person
specifications, select and interview candidates and to influence grading decisions.
These managers welcomed such responsibilities and rated them as important (mean
score 8.51 on a ten point scale) in meeting departmental objectives. Only one of the
managers interviewed claimed to have authority to dismiss unsatisfactory staff.
Within the uniformed services, middle line managers were frustrated by, although
somewhat pragmatic about, institutional constraints:
 If I had responsibility for staffing, it would empower me to make a real difference in the Devolved HRM
interests of the individual and the service. But it would never happen and only adds to an
already over-heavy workload (Lt. Col.: Royal Logistics Corps). responsibilities
Systems of posting personnel to defined positions disrupts established teams, and
takes no account of managers’ needs, or preferences. One fire service Station Officer
told of when a new leading hand (supervisor) was assigned to his watch. The
newcomer was that officer’s next-door neighbour but neither man had been consulted 645
over the posting.
Maintenance of personnel records (leave, sickness and training) proves to be a
time-consuming undertaking, which is often carried out in managers’ own time. One
NHS clinical manager remarked:
I sometimes feel that I’m doing someone else’s job – for their benefit.
This is, however, an exercise that all agreed was important. For at least one RAF
Officer, it was his only source of control over a predominantly civilian staff. Another
Army Officer told of how civilian contractors’ staff were subjected to appraisal only at
the Army’s insistence.

Frustrations
Public sector organisations are, by their nature, labour intensive. The organisations
involved in this study all rely on skilled, motivated professionals for successful
outcomes. Middle line managers are clearly aware of this and endeavour to compliment
staff contributions by careful and competent management. Their efforts, though, are
often frustrated by fiscal and procedural constraints. Organisational restructuring and
financial parsimony have, of late, severely limited the available resources: time, money
and people. Most of the managers interviewed felt that a lack of control over rewards,
financial or otherwise, was a major obstacle in being able to get the best from their staff
and was a factor in recruitment and retention problems.
In the face of increasingly low-trust relations between public service workers and
their senior management, the interviewees felt powerless to exert any real influence.
Time pressures added to their problems as much of their available time was spent on
paperwork associated with performance indicators, ISO 9000 standards and Investors
in People.
Pressure of work was clearly demonstrated during workplace interviews in
hospitals where most sessions were interrupted. Middle line managers were in constant
demand to deal with a range of problems, from broken equipment to clinical
emergencies. Although exigencies of the services demanded that fire fighters and
armed forces officers were interviewed outside of their duty time, both groups reported
constant interruption as a regular feature of their working days. When asked to rate
their workload on a scale of 1 (not at all heavy) to 10 (impossibly heavy), NHS
managers gave a mean score of 8.56, and JFH officers 8.74.
For middle line managers involved in this study, the reality of devolved HRM
tarnishes the visions so often described in the literature.
First, the ways in which services are administered is tightly controlled by initiatives
from central government, in the form of performance indicators, and by financial
targets, which often lead to perceptions of under-staffing and over-stretch:
PR . . . we used to have four pumps at this station. Now we have two, and we are often
short-crewing them. Sure, we get to the fire-ground on time for the targets, but we can’t do a
35,6 proper job when we get there because there aren’t enough of us. If anything needs more than
two pumps or anything special, we have to wait for another station to turn out (Sub-Officer:
Fire and Rescue Service).
This over-stretch also undermines the positional power of managers who are often
646 forced to rely upon the goodwill of their staff in order to get through the daily workload
and/or maintain safe staffing levels:
You have to keep on the right side of your crews because sooner or later you’ll have to ask
them to do something as a personal favour to you (Sub officer: Fire and Rescue Service).
For middle managers, who must be pragmatic in their daily work, the finer points of
managing their staff were simply something to which they aspired – a Utopian goal,
which might never be achieved. Middle managers’ work occurs amid a general
busyness where the imperatives of the moment must take priority over rhetorical and
aspirational ideals:
When people are busy they have to concentrate on the “now” issues. You always lose the
luxuries - HRM is one of them; but when it goes wrong you’re suddenly a bad manager (NHS
clinical manager).
Second, despite their different backgrounds, functions and services, all interviewees
emphasised the intermediate nature of their positions and the resultant stress. For
them, the distinguishing feature of the middle line managers’ rôle is pressure from both
sides, rôle ambiguity and powerlessness:
[Middle line managers are] very much piggy-in-the-middle. They have little power – only
what senior managers are allowed to give them. They have to deal with ‘now’ problems but
are constrained by policies they have no control over (NHS clinical manager).
You get caught from both sides. The men think you’re toadying up to the bosses and the
senior officers say that you identify too much with the men. You can’t win (Station Officer:
Fire and Rescue Service).
While competing theories have been developed about the rôle of middle managers, the
experience of participants in these studies was of being “piggy in the middle”: caught
between the directives of their seniors and the exigencies of the service on the one
hand, and the demands and problems of their staff and ‘customers’ on the other. They
lacked clear rôle definition, adequate training and resources, and consistent support
from seniors. Consequently they felt ill-equipped to take on the demands of continual
change:
If he [the mid-rank officer] is ever to stand a chance of achieving the promotion he seeks then
he must deliver his superiors’ directives. But how does he maintain the support and
confidence of his subordinates throughout what might be a very unpopular change process?
(RAF Squadron Leader: JFH).
This perception was compounded by a logical separation from those with whom they
worked and physical isolation from their peer group. When circumstances prove to be
difficult, middle managers cannot merge into the relative anonymity of “the workforce”
to avoid their seniors, nor can they retreat behind office doors from the animosity of
frustrated staff. Lack of opportunities to share their feelings and frustrations deprived Devolved HRM
these people of an appreciation that they are not alone in their problems, leading to responsibilities
feelings of inadequacy and increasing rôle conflict. The research interviews, it
transpired, were cathartic for most informants. Many ended meetings by thanking the
interviewer for the opportunity to air their problems.
It became apparent that a clear understanding of the middle line managers’ rôle in
HRM (and other initiatives) required an adequate appreciation of their position within 647
organisations, and of the true nature of this under-reported rôle. To be truly effective in
managing their staff, introducing change and maintaining quality of service, these
people needed the training and support which is in the gift of their seniors but so often
absent as features of their day-to-day work. As managers they are the agents of HRM
policy and operations; but they are also part of the human resource so, apparently,
valued by their organisations. Middle line managers, too, need to be managed.

Rôle dissonance
For many public sector workers, who consider themselves to be professional, recent
and on-going changes within their organisations represent a shift in focus – a
movement away from the public service ethos towards commercial interests.
Middle-line managers have been obliged to realise much of this change; to implement
policies dictated by governing bodies, and strategies determined by seniors managers,
while simultaneously being required to conform to standards laid down by
professional bodies and public watchdog organisations, and to meet government
performance targets. The managers themselves had few, if any, opportunities to
influence the decision-making processes, their autonomy was restricted by virtue of
their position within their various organisations, and yet they were held accountable
for the outcomes of those imposed systems, while personal values could be
compromised by shifting standards. Devolution or, indeed, responsibility seem to be
inadequate words to describe such impotent obligation, for both terms imply a degree
of authority; perhaps liability would be a more appropriate appellation.
Like their Civil Service counterparts (Merchant and Wilson, 1994), the middle line
managers in these studies must bear the brunt of change and, because of career
stagnation, they are likely to be involved in several (possibly contradictory) processes.
Responsibility for HRM, possibly more than any other strategic initiative, has the
potential to enhance middle line managers’ rôles and to produce real improvements in
team performance. However it adds to what is already a substantial workload, while
the collation of performance statistics reify their activities.
Often professionally qualified, middle line managers work closely with their staff, to
whom they represent management, and who they must represent to senior management.
Their rôle carries a huge workload and brings increasing conflict at both personal and
professional levels. Trying to achieve government targets and maintain personal
standards, within their departments, means that managers are doing more with less.
Fewer people, tightly controlled budgets and time pressures force middle line managers
to rely on the goodwill of their staff, which undermines their power base.
Compromise is a fundamental feature of the effort-reward bargain and the conflict
between public service ethos and the call to competitive efficiency, faced by latter-day
public services, is a stark exemplar of such rapprochement. In a traditional industrial
relations interface, any conflicts between employers and employees would be managed
PR by negotiation between personnel (industrial relations) specialists and employee
35,6 representatives. In organisations where HRM is being “devolved” to the line, where
personnel specialists are taking an increasingly advisory rôle, or where such services
are out-sourced, that avenue for negotiation and conciliation is becoming eroded and
middle-line managers may be brought into direct conflict with their staff, as one Royal
Navy officer explained:
648 When they brought in Pay 2000 [a restructuring exercise over service pay] – we knew before
it was published that there’d be problems, and the men knew that there’d be problems – but
we were the ones who had to face the men and say “no, it’s all fair and straightforward –
there’s just a few teething problems because it’s new”. We knew we were wrong and they
knew we were wrong. And when it went wrong, we were the one’s still facing a load of angry
Jacks [sailors].
Whether or not they agree with imposed policies, middle managers must convey and
justify directives to their work teams – those individuals whom they might need to ask
for “personal” favours. The result is a moral dilemma, which can only lead to cognitive
dissonance (Festinger, 1957) and increased rôle strain.
Middle line management is a vague term to describe an imprecise set of rôles, which
are complex and often contradictory. The intermediate nature of the rôle leads to a
range of stressors that are well documented (e.g. Miner, 1971) such as rôle ambiguity,
over/under-load and rôle conflict (or rôle incompatibility). Such problems are not,
however, unique to line management and do not adequately explain the nature of the
go-between position so familiar to the middle line managers in this study and which is
heightened by their liabilities for HRM. Within the present day public services,
boundaries of structure, process, responsibility and purpose are in a state of flux.
Change brings new challenges, especially for those who must translate concepts into
practice. Realignment of legal, moral and cultural boundaries are a source of tension
that is not adequately explained in terms of rôle ambiguity, overload or conflict. While
these phenomena are undoubtedly present, this study identified that a particular form
of rôle strain arises from middle managers being caught in the tensions between the
need for change and the continuity of traditional values and systems. For want of a
more precise terminology, that tension is named here as rôle dissonance.
Such rôle dissonance is a distinctive feature of the vicarious, intermediate nature of
middle management which exemplifies, as no other position can, the tensions that exist
between strata of staff within an organisation. As the linking pin (Currie and Procter,
2001) in the realisation of HRM and other initiatives, middle line managers must
translate organisational goals and expectations into terms that are acceptable to their
staff (Dew, 2000); while the requirements and expectations of staff need to be put to
seniors couched in the rhetoric of performance targets and economic achievement
(Thompson and Harrison, 1997). In the process, middle line managers must share both
the public service ethos held by their staff, and the precepts of market efficiency that
drive new policies and strategies within their organisations. Holding simultaneous but
inconsistent cognitions is a major source of discomfort for any individual but unlike
Festinger (1957) concept of cognitive dissonance, resolution in this context is beyond
the capability of the individual, for this dissonance is inherent to the rôle.
To better describe and understand this phenomenon, and the associated
“piggy-in-the-middle” effect so often described by middle line managers within and
beyond this study, an explanatory framework has been developed, and is shown in Devolved HRM
Figure 1. responsibilities
At the top of the diagram is a social mechanism, derived from Poole (1976) work on
industrial democracy. The operations and policies of an organisation are constrained by
two major sets of variables. Cultural, historical and ideological factors combine to
generate its value set (Griseri, 1998); specifically those relating to its services (or
products), to the balancing of various needs among client (customer) groups and to 649
employees.
These factors are, in their turn, affected by the economic, political and technological
context in which the organisation operates. It is these, structural variables that form the
power base for organisational control systems. This is the traditional concept of power
derived from structural legitimacy and control over rewards and resources. The term
cogency is used, firstly, to distinguish organisational power from individual power and,
secondly, to denote that this power has a coercive and domineering potential.
It is the combined effects of its value set and cogency that shape the nature of the
organisation as a specific entity. They are the source of organisational culture,
structure, objectives and its expectations of employees.
The pattern is reflected at the bottom of the figure where a similar mechanism
operates at the level of the individuals. They, too, have some level of power, but this
power derives from their personal worth to the organisation (Mechanic, 1962). Their
knowledge base, skills and professional standing will delimit their status while labour
market conditions will define the degree to which they are disposable. This power differs
from that held by the organisation, for this is the power to command attention and
consideration, to make demands or to convince seniors. Hence, the term potency is used.
Individual value sets derive from a combination of personal factors such as
experience, cultural norms and socialisation, that accumulate through life (Griseri,
1998). The combined effects of individual values and potency will shape an employee’s
expectations of, and behaviour within, the employing organisation.
Between the two is the scalar chain of line management (the Armed Forces insist on
calling this the chain of command). It is through this chain that directives will be
communicated from the higher echelons to the lower, and – depending upon the
balance of cogency and potency – ideas, reactions and demands will be transmitted in
the reverse direction. Much of this exchange could be explained in terms of the
psychological contract (e.g. Rousseau, 1989) but that concept is concerned with the
contractual exchange (albeit implicit) between employer and employee. Here a broader
concept is apprehended – concerning fundamental understandings about why
particular organisations exist, why people work within them and the purpose of
individual rôles and functions. Where there is discrepancy between the expectations
and understandings of organisations and their employees there is a field of conflict
(Boulding, 1964) that is potentially disruptive. This is a dynamic state that is subject to
subtle changes in power and social values. However, if conflict and disruption are to be
avoided, the organisation needs a mechanism whereby opposing sets of expectations
can be held in tension. This is a function that can only fall to line managers.
Within public sector organisations first line managers are normally appointed for
expertise and competence in their technical work. They are part of the teams that they
manage and, being in daily contact, may have intimate working relationships with
team members from whom they might draw moral support and influence. While they
PR will possibly experience some degree of rôle dissonance, they continue to work at the
35,6 customer interface, which allows them to retain their professional ethos. Hence their
own expectations are liable to align most closely with those of the individuals with
whom they are in direct daily contact. It is a contention within this framework that, for
first line managers, dissonance is most likely to be resolved in favour of professional
values, expectations and behaviours.
650 Likewise, senior managers, in order to achieve their position, will need to have
acquired attitudes and skills that are consonant with their managerial, as opposed to
professional, rôles. The criteria for appointment, or promotion, are based on a
managerialist agenda as this example, from a British university demonstrates:
. . . The UWE senior manager will normally require budgetary and resource management
skills and, depending on the rôle, the ability to manage the generation of income for the
university and/or to deliver efficiency savings (UWE, 2003, p. 3).
A further contention is that, as senior managers must be able to act and reason
primarily according to the interests of the organisation, they are able to resolve
personal dissonance in favour of the organisation. This assumption has support
from private sector studies (Van der Velde et al., 1999; Horlick, 2000), although
further research is indicated within the public services.
The point of greatest dissonance will then be at the position, which is furthest from
each of the opposing sources, and in the centre of the managerial chain is the middle
line manager. It has been said that conflict is endemic to the rôle of middle managers
for, within their daily activities, they must deal with “conflicting objectives and
demands from above and below . . . [and] distinct subcultures and sectional concerns”
(Hallier and James, 1997, p. 703). Middle line managers are, therefore, required to act as
buffers between opposing expectations and must bear the strain of the resulting
tension, which becomes a source of rôle strain for the individual manager (see, also
King and Zeithaml, 2001; Frank, 1999).
A positive outcome of such mediation is the potential for middle line managers
to limit the excesses of both organisation and individual. Professional ideals, for
instance, can be moderated through pragmatic arguments concerning equality of
access, while, overly-parsimonious policies can be countered by principled debate.
However this mediating function also undermines middle line managers’ power
bases. It exposes their lack of autonomy and influence, diminishing their cogency
as employers; while their potency as employees is limited by the implicit
requirement that they should align with organisational goals and expectations.
This process is exacerbated by the devolution of HR functions. Within conventional
structures, with a clear distinction between line and staff posts, much of the conflict
that arises from power differentials would be managed through negotiation between
employee representatives and industrial relations specialists – each being empowered
to speak for their constituents. The erosion of that interface shifts the burden onto
individuals and their line managers.
During interviews where this framework was revealed to middle line managers, it
received overwhelming endorsement. A fire fighter gave a typical comment:
. . . because you’re riding on the pumps you have to be able to talk their language so when the
DO [Divisional Officer] comes up with some scheme you have to find ways of selling it to the
watch (Station Officer, Fire and Rescue Service).
although the most succinct was from an RAF Wing Commander: Devolved HRM
Yeah. I’ve been there. responsibilities
Rôle dissonance is a very real issue for middle line managers, who, in many respects
embody the tensions, which exist between the organisation, as an entity, and the
individual workers within it. The framework presented here illustrates this how those
tensions arise and, thus, clarifies the poorly understood “piggy-in-the-middle” 651
sensations that middle line managers so often report. The middle line manager far from
being an intermediate, even luxury, tier to the hierarchy of organisations is a crucial
element for control and co-ordination. Middle line managers are fulfilling a vital
purpose – like shock absorbers in any complex mechanism or the flex in elaborate
structures – in balancing tensions and mediating potential conflict. The added burden
of devolved HRM functions both highlight and exaggerate a problem that was
previously dissipated by the presence of specialist practitioners. It follows that, if
human resource management is to be truly integrated at a strategic level, then the
middle line managers must be able to take ownership of decisions that they must
implement. They, also, need to be strategically integrated.

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About the author

Teri McConville is a lecturer in organisational behaviour in the Department of Defence
Management and Security Analysis, Cranfield University. She is currently involved in research
concerning retention of skilled technicians in the armed forces, and the discourse surrounding
the debate over women in direct combat rôles. Formerly she was a nurse tutor and a middle line
manager in the NHS. She can be contacted at: t.a.mcconville@cranfield.ac.uk

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