Improving line management

We’ve set out a clear picture of the current state of line management. Line managers are vital. They can be the difference between enjoying going to work, and absolutely dreading it.

A good line manager:

• Ensures people are able to work flexibly if they want to
• Helps workers to access their rights and entitlements at work
• Creates a supportive work culture that boosts morale
• Manages performance in a way that is fair

But to do all this, line managers need training, time and support. Unfortunately, not all line managers are currently receiving this. The reason behind this is that the UK lacks a people-focused management culture. Organisations are too often badly managed, with too many “accidental managers” who aren’t provided with the skills, times or knowledge to manage properly. There’s too little concern about how this culture impacts on the working lives, rights and health of employees.  

This is an issue affecting our unions. At its 2019 Health Conference, for example, UNISON passed a motion on line management in response to the “alarming proportion of staff with line management responsibility [who] have had no management training, are unclear about how to tackle key workplace issues and are so busy dealing with gaps in staffing that they have little time to fulfil other management tasks”56 .

We want to encourage a culture where employers are incentivised to provide this, so that all line managers can access the training they need. In turn, this will mean that all working people will benefit from a good line manager. We therefore need to look at how we can incentivise the behaviour that would lead to a more people-focused working culture in the UK. To do this, we need action from both government and employers.

Better enforcement of workers’ rights

The first step is for the government to create incentives for employers. As the OECD argues, organisational practices are ultimately decided by the employer, but public policies play a role in promoting the adoption of good management practices57 .  It’s clear that too many workers aren’t aware of their rights, and many aren’t being told them by their line managers. This needs to be addressed. Government can do this by:

Incentivising employers to get better by improving enforcement. There’s currently large-scale non-compliance with basic employment rights in the UK labour market, and existing enforcement mechanisms are failing too many workers58 . Weak enforcement of rights means that employers can currently get away with breaching these rights with little consequence. We can improve enforcement by:

• Increasing the resources of labour market inspectorates, who are responsible for enforcing employment rights in the UK. Our enforcement agencies don’t currently have the resources to respond to complaints from workers and to carry out effective, proactive enforcement in sectors where non-compliance is rife. Compared with other countries in Europe, the UK enforcement agencies are inadequately resourced. For every 100,000 workers, the UK has 0.9 labour market inspectors (excluding health and safety inspectors). In France, there are 18.9 inspectors for every 100,000 workers
• Establishing a system of joint and several liability throughout supply chains for basic employment standards. Parts of UK employment law already provide for joint and several liability arrangements. The TUC has called for this approach to be extended, so that organisations who use strategies to transfer their obligations to other parties, can still be found liable for any breaches of the core employment rights of the people who do work for them
• Promoting collective bargaining as the primary vehicle for raising workplace standards and ensuring compliance with labour standards

Increasing awareness of rights. There’s a few ways the government can help here:

• Working people would be more aware of their rights if it was clear what rights they’re entitled to, and when these rights kick in. Our hodge-podge system of certain rights kicking at certain times for certain workers, or only being available to some workers, creates confusion and unfairly denies basic rights to millions. The government can instantly remedy this by giving all workers, regardless of employment status, the same basic floor of rights currently only given to those who are “employees”. These rights should be available from day one.

• Employers are currently required by law to display the health and safety law poster that has been approved by the Health and Safety Executive (or provide the information in a leaflet to all workers)59 . We see no reason that there can’t be an equivalent legal requirement to display an employment rights poster, or provide the information in a leaflet to all workers.

• 56 2019 Health Conference Guide and Agenda, UNISON: https://www.unison.org.uk/content/uploads/2019/03/2019-Health-Conferenc…
• 57OECD (2018), Good Jobs for All in a Changing World of Work: The OECD Jobs Strategy, OECD Publishing. Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264308817-en
• 58Shifting the risk, TUC: https://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Shiftingtherisk.pdf
• 59Display the health and safety law poster, Health and Safety Executive: http://www.hse.gov.uk/simplehealth-safety/display.htm

(replace with case study)

Usdaw case study: how unions support both the manager and staff member

A member of staff was being disciplined for poor work performance. After the involvement of their union representative, it was established that the individual was covered by the Equality Act 2010, although their disability was not ‘visible’. Reasonable adjustments were made to support the individuals performance rather than disciplinary sanctions.

The manager received further training from their employer on how to deal with such issues where individuals may not automatically be covered under the legislation and/or have a physical disability but are still covered when looking at the facts and therefore need further support. This case highlights the importance of managers having the appropriate training regarding equality issues to help them make judgements in what are often difficult, varied and sensitive situations.

Providing better access to training for everyone

In the UK, we’re clearly not investing enough in training. We therefore want government to:

• Provide all workers with access to a lifelong learning account giving them a personalised budget for training
• Introduce a requirement for a mid-life training/careers review for all workers and a significantly strengthened entitlement for employees to request paid time off for job-related training
• Reverse the cuts to college funding in recent years and to widen access to education and training opportunities that working people can take up in their own time

These changes would allow many more line managers to access the training that they need.

Allowing unions access to workplaces would also help. Unions can support line managers in the workplace to make the case for better line management training, more support from senior leaders, and more time to offer support to those they manage.

We’d also like to see a requirement for business studies courses to have core modules on employment relationships, including employment rights and employer responsibilities, the benefits of positive employment relationships, and the importance of line management in ensuring that these benefits for both businesses and workers are secured. This would help to ensure that those doing such courses were equipped with the knowledge and expertise that would promote their capacity to support development of line managers.

Giving unions access to the workplace

While providing line managers with access to training and support should help, it’s important that workers have someone else they can go to if they feel their line manager is letting them down, or if their line manager is the problem. Our polling shows that too many workers are being let down by their line managers. They’re not being told their rights, and they don’t feel like their line manager has their back and will listen to their problems.

Union representatives in the workplace offer this alternative. They inform workers of their rights, help to ensure these rights are enforced, and give the workers a collective voice that gives them a stronger position when negotiating with their employer. They can also support any workers who have issues with their line manager. It’s therefore important for government to:

• Give unions access to workplaces, so that they can let workers know about the benefits of joining a union and explain the ways in which unions can them
• Give workers the right to be accompanied by a union rep to certain meetings should be converted into a right to be represented by a union rep in all meetings affecting the rights and interests of individuals

Currently, workers have the right to be accompanied by a union rep or a colleague in certain meetings, such as formal disciplinary hearings or where an individual has concerns that their employer has failed to meet their contractual or statutory employment rights. The right does not apply to informal disciplinary or investigatory meetings. Workers also do not currently have a right to be represented by a union when they want to ask for a pay rise and better working conditions. We believe that the right to be accompanied by a union rep to certain meetings should be converted into a right to be represented by a union rep in all meetings affecting the rights and interests of individuals.

Usdaw case study: the importance of line manager training

An Usdaw member was suspended by their line manager without pay pending their application for the right to work in the UK. This conflicts with the legal advice where individuals can carry on working while their application is pending. Following advice from their union representative, the manager was advised that this was contrary to policy and the law and the member of staff was reinstated. This was a genuine case of a manager not being clear on policy or law, and shows the importance of managers having clear advice and training on company policies and legislation, particularly on issues such as this where there are serious repercussions for the business and employee if the correct guidance isn’t followed. 

Fair performance management procedures

We’ve seen that performance management procedures are open to biases and can lead to discrimination. We therefore want employers to:

• Involve unions when writing and updating their performance management policies. Union representatives can help to ensure that performance management systems are fair, and aren’t vulnerable to line-management bias and discrimination. As we saw from the PCS example, they can also organise against performance management policies that are having a discriminatory impact on employees.
• Stop using performance-related pay. It’s a system that has clearly failed. It’s unfair, ineffective, and its vulnerability to line manager bias can lead to discriminatory outcomes.

We believe that the policies set out above will improve line management in the UK. They’ll make it easier for line managers to better perform their role, and improve working life for those they manage. Overall, they’ll help shift us towards a more worker-focused culture, where employers ensure that people know their rights, invest in training for their staff, and enable their line managers to fully support those they manage.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the unions who met with and spoke to us for this report. We would also like to thank the organisations that took the time to talk to us: Chartered Management Institute (CMI), Acas, BeTheBusiness and the Charted Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). All the input from unions and organisations was greatly appreciated and was a big help in the writing of the report.