Are managers hiding behind HR?
Who really makes the decisions in the civil service, HR or managers? Too often, unpopular calls are brushed off as “HR’s decision,” but the truth is different. PCS argues that hiding behind HR corrodes trust, disempowers managers, and hurts staff. It’s time for policies that support managers to lead, not outsource accountability.
We’ve all heard it — “HR advised us to…” or “This is an HR decision.” It can be a convenient phrase, usually dropped when something unpopular is about to happen - rejecting reasonable adjustments, a missed promotion, giving an attendance warning, etc. By feeling disempowered and invoking HR, some managers distance themselves from the fallout. It becomes their call, not ours.
Here’s the truth: HR doesn’t run the civil service. HR can advise, highlight risks, ensure legal compliance, and support managers in understanding policies. HR doesn’t, however, have the final say on who stays, who goes or who gets that job. Managers should feel empowered to lead their teams and make those decisions.
Members in PCS Home Office Group, be they line managers or frontline staff, won late last year when we secured an extension to the absence trigger points for all Home Office staff and ensured that line managers now need only progress to formal attendance meetings when there is a cause for concern.
This rightly saves line staff from undue stress defending themselves from misapplied policy, but also importantly empowers line managers.
PCS will continue to campaign for policies which consistently enable line managers to best support their staff. But unfortunately, this is not yet seen across the board.
As a PCS rep, I know when the usual management rebuttal is coming out of the pocket and delivered on cue. All too often, managers are outsourcing tough calls and then quietly blaming the “process” or are incorrectly following the “policy.” Rather than feeling empowered to explain and own their decisions, they feel they need to turn to HR as a sort of risk management.
Of course, HR can be powerful. In some organisations, it can be too powerful –dictating culture, influencing operations, inserting process into every corner. But more often, HR is used as a buffer, especially when managers lack either the courage or proper training to lead from the front.
This dynamic corrodes trust. Employees don’t feel heard. Decisions feel opaque. Accountability gets blurred and managers feel powerless and everyone loses out.
PCS supports policies where managers can find their true courage. We demand a system where there is no more cowering behind the line “I have taken advice from my HR BP, and based on that advice, they have made that decision.”
Because when everyone blames HR, no one leads.