You should. Traditional thinking might have convinced you that upper management should take that role, but the fact is that they're too busy forwarding joke emails or learning to type to perform that function.
(Extra for experts - who should fire managers/employees in New Zealand? Answer: No one! Tthe writers of the Employment Contracts Act clearly don't want anyone to be fired in this country, no matter how incompetent they are. Hire with care people, it's a jungle out there)