HR and line management research 2025

Author: Hannah Mason

Line managers play an important role in shaping the employee experience of their reports, as well as implementing HR processes and policies. Strong relationships between line managers and HR departments are key to success. This report explores how employees in the two roles can work together and collaborate effectively, as well as reflecting on the challenges that HR professionals face when working with line managers.

The relationship between HR professionals and line managers is critical to organisational success. However, poor line management can increase the HR workload, harm employee experience and ultimately impact overall business performance. This report explores how line managers are recruited, assessed and their skills developed, and explores opportunities to strengthen collaboration between HR and people managers. Drawing on real-world insights from HR professionals, it highlights practical ways to improve this vital partnership.

This HR & Compliance Centre research is based on our HR and line management survey, which collected insights from 167 HR professionals, that work at organisations that collectively employ 124,269 employees.

Recruitment of line managers

How line managers are recruited can influence the quality and experience of hires. Three-quarters of organisations (76.6%) recruit for line manager positions by assessing a balance of technical and people management skills. Where this isn't the case, most often technical skills are the main focus of the selection process, as indicated by 16.2% of organisations. The remaining respondents either indicated that people management skills are the main focus, or they were unsure, both reported by just 3.6% of the sample respectively.

Previous management experience is largely required for middle and senior manager roles, however few organisations require first line managers to have previous experience. It can prove difficult for employees to get their first experience managing a team and can be frustrating for employees whose development is stalled unless their organisation creates development pathways for first-time managers. It is promising that the majority of organisations are supporting aspiring managers to get into positions that will allow for career development. However, it can also mean that those with the technical and organisational knowledge get line management responsibility without the people management skills and experience required to be effective in these positions, highlighting the necessity of training and development for those in post.

Chart 1: Proportion of organisations that require line management experience for positions, by job level

Typically, first line manager positions are filled by a mixture of internal and external candidates, as indicated by around half (50.3%) of the sample. Where this is not the case, just 4.2% of organisations stated that external candidates are mainly selected for these vacancies, while the remaining 45.5% of organisations indicated that generally internal candidates are generally offered these more junior management roles.

By contrast, one-third (31.7%) of organisations indicated that senior manager roles are predominately filled by external candidates. This perhaps reflects the different skills and experiences needed between management levels - while lower-level management often benefits from internal candidates with deep internal knowledge, senior roles may demand broader, more diverse experience, qualities that are often found in external hires. Alternatively, this pattern could indicate a lack of internal development programmes within these organisations, to allow employees to move through the management levels.

Just half (52.4%) of respondents indicated that they feel the recruitment process for line manager positions is suitable to hire the right people for their organisation. The remainder of the sample was either unsure whether the recruitment process was adequate (13.9%) or did not think the process was suitable (33.7%).

When exploring why some felt the recruitment process was not suitable, a key theme that emerged is that it is difficult to assess line management capability effectively - specifically, it can be hard to measure the ability to effectively manage a team within an interview setting. Some organisations felt that some form of personality or psychometric testing could be beneficial to help inform the decision-making process.

Line manager skills and assessment

Once in post, the majority (88%) of organisations assess line managers on their management capability, which can be used to identify those who may need additional support or training. Forms of assessment used by organisations include via the annual/regular performance review process (84.4%), employee opinions surveys (40.1%) and through key performance indicators such as employee satisfaction and business outcomes (34.7%).

There are a range of areas that HR professionals feel that line managers need further training or support in. This ranges from resolving conflict and challenging situations before they escalate, to coaching employees and giving feedback, both as reported by the vast majority of respondents (81%). Areas that fewer respondents thought line managers needed support with included pay and reward conversations, delegation, recognition and employee engagement, where less than half of HR professionals felt line managers at their organisation would benefit from additional support in these areas.

Chart 2: Top five areas line managers need further training or support with

Mentoring or coaching is one of the key ways that training is delivered to line managers, as well as through management development programmes. A minority of organisations (7.8%) do not offer any training to line managers.

Chart 3: Line manager training delivery method

Line managers supporting the HR function

Respondents were asked to rank the responsibilities that they would most like line managers to support the HR team with at their organisation. The standout responsibility was performance management, which was ranked as the top priority for 42.7% of organisations.

Performance management is a theme that emerged multiple times throughout the research, with it also being a priority area for upskilling managers.

Chart 4: Top priority area where HR would like support from line managers

Striking the right balance between general job responsibilities and people management is essential for effective leadership, yet many organisations find this balance difficult to achieve. A minority of organisations (13.2%) reported that they felt line managers effectively manage both their general job responsibilities and line management responsibilities. The majority (71.9%) felt that line managers spend too much time on their general role, while just 1.8% felt that managers spend too much on their management duties. The remaining respondents were unsure of the split at their organisation.

The challenge of line managers not effectively balancing both elements of their responsibilities appears to be only part of the picture. In our 2025 HR departments research, we found that less than half (44%) of HR professionals believed that the appropriate amount of people management activity is delegated to line managers. This highlights a broader organisational issue - where insufficient delegation from HR as well as managers not balancing their role effectively may be preventing employees from fully stepping into their people leadership roles.

The most common factors perceived to be behind the imbalance in responsibilities are line managers' workload and a lack of resource, meaning managers are required to pick up additional work. Another theme was that people management is not seen as an essential part of a line manager's role by some managers.

HR and line manager collaboration

Strong collaboration between HR and line managers is essential for delivering effective people management practices. The vast majority (85%) of respondents believe that HR and line managers work well together at their organisation, however fewer than half (41.9%) felt that line managers engage with HR at the right time. This indicates that while working relationships are positive between the two, they are not always as effective as they could be.

Managing employee conduct and behaviour is one area that HR professionals were less likely to feel confident that line managers were managing appropriately.

Chart 5: Perceptions of line managers from HR professionals

We asked HR professionals what one thing line managers could be better at doing in order to support their HR team. Common themes included:

• having effective and honest conversations with their direct reports;
• resolving conflicts and issues before they escalate; and
• taking ownership of their management responsibilities.

Improving the HR and line manager relationship

Having regular touchpoints and building positive relationships through more informal conversations is seen as key to improving relationships between the HR department and line managers. One HR professional noted that "HR needs to have a face - it does not work if managers get different HR people every time they call", highlighting the importance of the visibility of the HR team. Having stronger working relationships may also mean that line managers feel comfortable reaching out with questions, boosting their understanding of HR-related issues that can upskill them and reduce the dependency on HR. Another organisation shared that with line managers putting off some people management responsibilities, "it often leads to HR stepping in reactively, which can make the relationship between HR and line managers feel strained or transactional", demonstrating the importance of positive working relationships between the two roles.

Another important factor that is seen to have the potential to improve relations is continued training and reinforcement of management principles for line managers, with support from HR. One organisation shared that they are currently trialling a new process with the HR team leading a management peer support group, which they reported as having worked well so far. Another shared the following statement, which highlights the importance of moving from isolated responsibilities to a cohesive and joined-up approach between the two roles:

Our research

Related resources

• Training guides and PowerPoint presentations: The complete list 
• Introduction to line management - line manager training
• Employee motivation - line manager training