Answer:
Maria is a Human Resource (HR) Director at Cloud Zero Inc.
Step-by-step explanation:
Nowadays, in many establishments, HR teams are feeling the bulk of the strain. They are charged with the responsibilities cut across the entire length and breadth of the organisation. From delivering transactional services to engaging employees and fulfilling people’s needs, to supporting long-term business aims, they are juggling a myriad of responsibilities while facing tighter budgets than ever before.
In 2013, Hay Group’s Bringing the Line to Life research showed that 94% of HR Directors’ departments had been reduced as part of company cost savings. At the same time, line managers are increasingly relying on their HR teams to give them the information they need for everyday decision making.
The result is a strain between teams that threatens the peace within organisations and the smooth implementation of people and business strategies. More than one-third (38%) of HR Directors we surveyed agree or strongly agree that their teams spend too long dealing with straightforward requests from Line Managers.
Besides, the same number of HR Directors estimated that their teams spend up to one-third of their time dealing with such matters, which prevents them from playing a more strategic role within their companies as exemplified in the case of Maria, who has a dual reporting relationship with Jose, the head of HRM and Gigi, the head of the line business.
Adding to their woes, nearly two-thirds of HR Directors said Line Managers want immediate responses to queries and “are unforgiving if the process takes longer.” Taking the opposing perspective, half of the Line Managers do not agree that they have adequate support from HR to be good managers. Somewhat alarmingly, four in ten said that Google is a better source of HR information than their HR team.