Human Resource Management Project

This project examines the role of Human Resource Management in British Airways, a global airline company. It analyzes key HR functions, including workforce planning, recruitment, training, and employee relations, and their impact on business objectives. The project also includes a case study demonstrating the application of HR practices in a real-world scenario.

Human resource management
for service industries

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Analyse roles and purposes of HRM................................................................................4
1.2 Preparation of human resource plan.................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
2.1 Assessment of current state of employee relations...........................................................7
2.2 Employment laws affecting the management of human resources..................................8
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
3.1 Job description and person specification:.......................................................................10
3.2 Selection Process..............................................................................................................4
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is concerned with managing the people in an organisation.
Human resources are concerned as the lifeblood of every organisation, hence efforts are made to
manage them properly through proper planning, recruitment and training so as to improve their
efficiency as well as effectiveness. HRM is very important in service industry as it helps in
maintaining workplace culture and environment. British airways, a global airlines company
which is owned by international airlines group has been founded on march 31, 1974. The
company has around 45000 employees currently employed with them. It is one of the largest
airline in UK. The report will include roles and purposes of HRM in airline industry, creation of
HRM plan, assessment of current employee relationship as well as employment laws that affect
the management of human resources(Anderson and Caldwell, 2017). Apart from this, job
description and person specification of cabin crew would also be discussed and comparison of
selection processes would also be done. Furthermore, guidance notes for trainee managers would
be prepared.

TASK 1
1.1 Analyse roles and purposes of HRM
Human resource management may be defined as a system within an organisation which
has been established in order to manage the performance of employees by training and
developing them in so as to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the employees.
Furthermore, human resource management helps in smooth running of the business,
maintaining harmony at the workplace and improving the productivity of employees.
Roles of HRM in British Airways
These are the 3 major roles of HRM
Working together - In British Airways, all the top level managers and HR department work
together in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of employees by assigning the
employees different roles in an organisation as well as by shifting them in different functional
areas so that they can increase their area of work(Analoui, 2017).
Commitment building – one of the important role of HR managers of British airways is to
improve the commitment of employees by motivating them to retain into the company for a
longer period of time. Furthermore, HR department should take care at the time of hiring
employees by selecting the right candidate at the right position.
Building capacity - HR department of brutish airways is laying down emphasis on building the
capacity of the company as well as its employees so as to gain the competitive advantage by
providing specialised services to its customers and being in a better position than its competitors.
Purpose of HRM in British airways
The 3 major purpose of HRM are:
To improve productivity - the main purpose of HRM is to improve the productivity of
employees(Bratton and Gold, 2017). British airways has layed down emphasis on improving the
productivity of employees, so that they work better towards the achievement of organisational
goals effectively and efficiently by serving the customers well.
To improve quality of work life – efforts have been made by British airways to improve the
quality of work life so that employees remain motivated and retain in the company for a longer
period of time.

Comply with legal regulations – British airways follow all the legal regulations that has been
imposed on the company by the government so as to reduce the complexities that may hinder the
smooth running of the business.
Functional activities of HRM
Recruitment and selection – one of the major functions of human resource department is to
recruit and select the best qualified employees from within as well as outside the organisation for
the job vacancies within the British airways.
Performance management - it helps in managing the performance of the employees with the
objective of increasing the productivity of the employees of British airways, so that they
contribute more towards the achievement of organisational objectives.
Training and development – human resource management includes training and developing the
current as well as new employees in order to improve their skills and abilities(Budhwar, 2016).
1.2 Preparation of human resource plan
Human resource plan may be defined as a systematic and efficient plan regarding the optimum
utilisation of human resource of an organisation so as to achieve organisational objectives
effectively and efficiently.
Human resource plan is very important as it helps in reducing the risk by providing competitive
advantage to the company. Apart from this, it also helps in identifying the demand and supply of
staff at a particular point of time in the company. Moreover, it also helps in smooth running of
the business.
It is difficult to produce an accurate HR plan because
·Forecasting HR requirement is a very challenging work and needs lot of efforts.
·Even gap analysis is not an easy task that is determining the current position as well as where
the company wants to be in future needs to be calculated(Daniel and Daniel, 2017).
·Furthermore, identifying the future need of human resources is very difficult.
Supply of labour means amount of employees required in order to run the business
smoothly. Human resource planning helps in determining the shortage of employees. It helps in
determining whether the shortage of staff could be overcome by improving the skills and
capabilities of existing staff members by training or there is a need to recruit more employees.
This decision is very helpful because if the shortage could be fulfilled by improving the skills of
the employees than it will help the company in reducing the cost of hiring new employees.

On the other hand, demand of labour means number of employees that the employer is
ready to hire. Human resource planning is very essential for labour demand in order to determine
wage rate, cost of capital and selling price of output.
Human resource plan for delivering new flight services to Madeira
Peak staffing may be defined as a time period when the requirement of employees would
be very high because of high demand for services. On the other hand, off peak staffing may be
defined as a time period where the requirement of employees would be least due to lower
demand of services.
In airline context, during peak period around 100 employees have to be recruited by the
airlines so as to meet the high demand of that period and around 50 employees during the off
peak time so as avoid excess cost(Harvey and Turnbull, 2016).
basis pilot Cabin crew engineers Admin staff
roles · Operation
of aircraft· safety of
plane and
passengers· all the
decisions
of the
flight after
its take off· Providing
services to
customers
such as
serving
refreshme
nts· ensuring
comfort
and safety
of
passengers· Planning,
designing
and
testing the
flights and
airports· resolving
issues and
reporting
problems· Handling
office
tasks· preparing
time
scheduling· making
travel
arrangeme
nts
Working hours 75 hours per
month approx
100 hours per
month approx
140 hours per
month approx
130 hours per
month approx.

Staff turnover in airline industry is usually very high that is around 11%. The main
reasons behind employees leaving the job were stress and less pay. This has created a need to
recruit more employees every year so fill the vacancy(Holloway, 2017). During peak period
large number of employees would be recruited in order to fill the place of job leavers as well as
to meet the high demand in the market.
TASK 2
Employee relation may be defined as a relation between the company and its employees.
Management of every company focusses on building strong employee relation so as to motivate
its employees and retain them in the company for a longer duration as well as to create job
satisfaction in the mind of employees.
Importance of employment legislation for employers
Employment legislation help the employers in reducing the complexities at workplace
and encourage smooth running of the business. On the other hand, it also helps in improving the
image of the company in the mind of public as a company which follows employment legislation
is viewed as a reputed company.
Importance of employment legislation for employees
Following all the rules and regulations in employment is not only beneficial for
employers but also benefits employees as it helps in protecting the employees against the treats
such as discrimination, health and safety, etc. In other words, it helps in protecting the employees
by preserving their rights and duties( Malik, 2018).
2.1 Assessment of current state of employee relations
Maintaining good employee relation is very important in airline industry. Current state of
employee relation in airline industry are not satisfactory as the employee relation crisis have
arisen in the present world.
The key trade unions in airline industry are· White collar trade unions - This trade union expressly represent the white collar
employees of airline industry. White collar employees are those employees which work
in the office such as clerical, administrative and technical employees. They carry out
strike because they are concerned regarding well being of white collar employees such as
maintaining good working environment, reducing the work load and increasing the pay.

· Airline pilots trade union - are also very famous in airline industry and they are formed
in order to maintain and improve the conditions of pilots such as negotiating in order to
improve the pay scale.
According to staff members of airline industry, the employee relations were not very
good as the trade unions formed in order to achieve common goals of staff members usually
carry out strikes in order to protect the interest of the employees of the airlines. This has
negatively affected the employee relationship and spoiled the harmony at the workplace(Momin,
2018).
Changing nature in aviation industry has affected a negatively affected the employee
relationship because· With the increase in global competition airlines have to cut down their air fare, which has
resulted in generating lower revenue. Hence, in order to maintain the stable profits,
companies have decided to lower the cost by reducing the pay scales of employees.
Hence, this have affected the employee relation adversely as the employees' satisfaction
level deteriorated.· Changes in technology also had a huge impact on spoiling the employee relationship, as
it is a human nature that changes are not easily accepted by the society because the
employees have to learn about new technology and will ultimately resist change because
of extra efforts.
2.2 Employment laws affecting the management of human resources.
These 5 are the major employment laws affecting the management of human resources· Equal employment opportunity act – this law was adopted by British airways to
provide equal employment opportunities to all the individuals(Robinson and et.al., 2016).
The basic motive was to reduce the discrimination at the workplace on the basis of
gender, caste, religion, pregnancy, etc. This will in turn also benefit the company as the
company can get the best talent from the available options.· Minimum wage – all the employees of the British Airways are covered under the
requirement of minimum wage, so that rights of employees does not get violated. This is
guided by the Fair Labour Standards Act which suggests that minimum wage should be
given to employees of the company. This has helped in effective management of

employees as the employees feel much more secured and retain in the company for a
longer period.· Overtime pay – this law has been adopted by british airways so as to compensate the
employees who wish to earn more by working more. This law suggests that overtime pay
sould also be given if the employee work for more than 40 hours per week. The basic
motive for providing overtime pay is that it will help in motivating the employees to
work more towards the attainment of the companies' success. Many employees of British
Airways are also covered by the Railway Labour Act(Shaw, 2016).· Family medical leave act – this law has been especially made to provide benefits to
those employees who have certain medical issues or their family members who need
some time to rest from the work. British airways has considered this employment law for
managing human resource of the company so as to create job satisfaction in the mind of
employees as well as developing the sense of belongingness in the mind of employees.· Managing disputes act – this law was adopted by British airways in order to keep the
employees satisfied by resolving disputes at the workplace. As this law provides the
employees benefits to sue the company for the breach of contract directly into the court if
the airlines break any employment contracts.
TASK 3
Purpose of Recruitment & Selection in British Airways
Recruitment and selection used to find right person for right place at right time(Simmers
and Anandarajan, 2018). Purpose of recruitment and selection of British Airways is to attract a
wide selection of candidate pool to fill a job vacancy. This is used to add new staff to the British
Airways. Purpose of recruitment and selection is to determine present and future requirements of
British airways. It helps to increase success rate and decrease employee turnover. By using
recruitment & selection quality, efficiency and transparency is created in organization.
These steps are followed in recruitment and selection:
Identify vacancy and evaluate needs: This is the first step of this process in this vacancy type
is identifies that this is newly created vacancy or replacement vacancy after that tasks, budget
and need of that role and others that will be done in this job is evaluated and according to that
requirement of knowledge or skills of candidate is decided.

Advertisement of the job: In this Vacancy which is created is advertised through different
channels or portals such as online portals (naukri.com, indeed, linked in etc.), newspaper mass
media and others to create a job pool.
Resume Screening: When a applicant pool is created then in this stage candidates are eliminated
who definitely do not fit for job.
Interview: After selecting resumes interview is conducting or candidates to select a right
candidate. For different jobs different interview methods are used like telephonic interview,
logical test, psychological interview, face to face interview, medical test etc.
Assessment: After interview assessment tools are used to select a right candidate such as
measure criteria, personal choice and others. By using these tools manager identify that which
candidate is more talented or suited for job(Wikhamn, 2019).
Reference Check: In this stage job related capabilities and attributes of candidate is checked by
interviewer according to requirement of job.
Job Offer: This is the final stage of recruitment & selection in this stage job offer letter is given
to the selected candidate which includes salary information, compensation plan, rules and
policies, working hours and official information.
3.1 Job description and person specification:
Job description: This is a document that clearly states the essential job requirements, job
duties, job responsibilities, skills required to perform specific job and salary details. It specify
functionary specifications such as qualification required, salary range, experience details etc. that
an individual applying for job needs to possess. The job description is used in recruitment
process to inform the applicants about job profile and requirements. Job description is most
important thing which a candidate gets about a job listing. Because it gives all necessary and
relevant information about job, which help to decide whether a job is relevant or not.
Person specification: This describes personal attributes that a job candidate must have in
order to complete the task of a position offered by British Airways. Attributes which included in
person specifications are qualifications, experience, skills, competencies, knowledge and other
personal attributes(Anderson and Caldwell, 2017). This helps to potential candidates to
understand the job's requirements and self-select accordingly. When a person specification is
write than it must be identify that it will be justifiable, measurable and non-discriminatory for

candidates. Person specification is derived from job description and used in selection decisions at
short listing candidate and interview stages.
Characteristics Job Description Person Specification
Meaning It is a descriptive statement
which describes roles and
scope of a particular job.
It States the minimum
qualification required to
perform a particular job.
Elements Job titles,duties, tasks,
responsibilities of job.
Candidates qualification, skills
and abilities.
Derived from It prepared from job analysis. It prepared from job
description.
Summarize It expresses what a employee
must do when he will selected.
It express what a candidate
possess for getting selected.
Job description and person specification of Cabin crew:

Job Title Cabin Crew Trainee
Reports to Human Resource
Roles & Responsibilities Ensure user the satisfaction
Check before to take off to safety regulations.
Pay attention to passengers with special needs.
Qualification Good secondary education
A degree on relevant field.
Title of the job Cabin Crew Trainee
Date: 28/03/2019
Person Specification
Qualification required Essential Desirable Met
Degree in hospitality
management/ languages/
tourism management/
leisure.
Good secondary
education
Advanced course in
languages.
Degree in public relation/
business/ social science.
Yes
Yes
Need of Experience
1

1 or 2 Year experience
may include customer
service, hotel.
Yes
Personal characteristics
& conduct
Candidate must be
helping, persuading
and organizing.
Fluency in English.
Candidate must have
good communication
skills, decision making
skills, attentive and
problem solver skills.
Yes
Yes
Roles and
Responsibilities
Maintaining per-flight
briefing.
Completing paper work
of flight report.
Responsible for
information transfer to
passengers.
Yes
2

3

3.2 Selection Process
Selection process is method of short-listing right candidate with required capabilities
from pool of candidates. Different selection methods are used by organizations according to job
roles such as interview, test, online application etc.
Comparison of British Airlines and Victoria Coach Station selection process:
Characteristics Cabin Crew (Interview) Customer Service
Assistant(Personality Test)
Meaning A interview is a meeting of
British Airways at which
someone is asked questions in
order to find out either a
person is suitable for job or
not.
Personality test is
measurement of personal
characteristics through
standardized series of
questions and tasks.
Nature Interview is an Formal
meeting.
This is an informal assessment.
Question type In this open ended questions
are asked to candidates by
British Airways.
In this assessment is done
through closed questions by
LTF.
Area of assessment In this method interviewer of
British Airways can assess a
candidate according to its
requirement and if want to
expand area of its assessment
then he can do this during
interview process.
In this method of LTF a
particular area and questions
are there on which a candidate
is assessed.
Similarities and Differences between interview processes
Screening: Both methods are used to identify capabilities of a candidate according to job. In
both selection methods a person is screening by interviewer in first stage(Human resource
management in service organisations, 2016). In both selection process. Difference in both stages
4

is that in interview method a candidate is assessed on several factors according to requirement
but in another method a candidate is screened only on one aspect.
Test: This is the main stage of selection process in this a test is conducted for candidate by
interviewer in form of questions. In this stage difference is that personality test have structured
question where interview is unstructured in nature.
Finalize: In this stage in both method a capable candidate is shortlisted but difference is that in
personality test a candidate is finalized on a single aspect where in interview method a candidate
is finalized by analysing various characteristics.
Use of Interview:
Interview method is useful to increase face to face interaction between two or more individuals.
It is used to predict future performance based on candidates oral responses. It is helpful to assess
the culture of British Airways and make a strong impression. This method is best for discuss
career goals.
Documents of interview:
Interview Questions
1. What is cabin crew responsibility according to your perception?
2. While flying, what you should do in an emergency case?
3. Explain what passengers can do to ensure safety?
4. What things you should not do on while flying?
TASK 4
Role and benefits of training and development: When employees receives necessary
training then they more able to perform their job so in British Airways training is used for
improved employee performance(Strategic human resource management in world airline
industry, 2017). As well as it plays role to improve employee satisfaction and morale. Many
employees have some weaknesses in their workplace skills in that training and development
plays an important role to addressing them and improve there skills. It helps to increase
productivity and quality of British Airways. Training helps to employees of British Airways to
increased innovation in new strategies and products. In British Airways training and
development important to reduced employee turnover.
5

Purpose of guidance notes: Purpose of providing guidance notes to share best practice
and experience with employee. It relates to specific points that should be considered when
applying the standards in different situation of British Airways. Purpose of guidance notes to
provide employer because it provides practical knowledge to employers by management for
risks, safety and health that may arises in British Airways during working period. Guidance notes
is a hard copy of rules and guidelines. This is provided to employers so they can understand all
upcoming critical situations and in that situation they can use safety terms and guidelines which
mentioned in guidance notes.
Training and Development
Training: Training is a learning procedure by which people learn knowledge and skills.
Training helps to members of British Airways to acquire and apply knowledge, skills, abilities
and attitudes in a particular job or work.
Development: Development is the process in which someone or something grows his
skills and abilities. It is used to meet specific objectives of British Airways.
Difference between Training and Development:
Characteristics Training Development
Term Training is a short term
program for employees, and
focus on present needs and
prepare program according to
that.
Development is long term
program and it is based on
future needs, develop an
employee for future.
Objective To improve the work
performance and efficiency of
the employees.
To develop skills of employees
to compete future challenges
for professional career.
Aim Main aim of training is to
provide knowledge of specific
job related functions and areas.
Main aim of development is to
develop conceptual and
general knowledge and
concept of employee for
future.
Number of persons Training is a group activity. In Development is an individual
6

this process skills or
knowledge is provided to a
group.
activity in this process a
professional skills is provided
to a person.
Need and Importance of Training in British Airways: Specifically the need of training arises
in British Airways because of environmental changes, organizational complexity, to maintain
good human relations, to match employee specification with job requirements, changes in job
assigning to employees and others. The need of training raised when some unknown changes are
occurred in organization and for that employees need some skillSimmers, C.A. and Anandarajan,
M. eds., 2018s or knowledge to work with that changes.
Training of managers and employees are important for British Airways in this changing
environment. Because it gives a lot of benefit to employees such as improvement in efficiency
and effectiveness, development of self confidence and assist everyone with management. The
stability and progress of British Airways always depends on the training imparted to the
employees. Only training can improve the quality and reduce wastage to the minimum.
Types of Training:
2 types of training methods are used in British Airways
On the Job Training: On the job training method is where training is provided to
employer during or while he is on working. It has many methods such as mentor training, hands
on training, coaching, video training, internship and others(Analoui, 2017). This method is used
by British Airways to increase job satisfaction and efficiency of employees.
Off the job Training: Off the job training means when training provides to employee
from outside to workplace. It included methods such as case study, incident method, role play, in
basket method, business games, lectures and others.
Summary: From the above study it has been summarized that training and development
are essential parts of British Airways they help to increase productivity and moral of employees.
Training is an official short term process conducted by management of British Airways for
employees. This study describe that on the job training methods are used by British Airways to
train its employees.
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CONCLUSION
From the above study, it has been summarised that the current employee relationship in
the aviation industry is quite satisfactory and the key trade unions in maintaining employee
relation are white collar trade union and the airlines pilot trade union. It was also found that
various employment laws such as equal employment opportunity, minimum wage and overtime
pay were affecting the management of employee relation in the company. Apart from this,
commitment building and building capacity were found as the key roles of human resource
management and improving productivity and quality of work life were found as the main
purposes of HRM of company. Moreover, a systematic human resource plan was prepared for
starting new flight services to a new destination as well as study reveals that interview method
was adopted by the company for effective selection process.
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REFERENCES
Books and journal
Analoui, F., 2017. The changing patterns of human resource management. Routledge.
Anderson, V. and Caldwell, C., 2017. Strategy, Competitive Advantage, and
Performance. Competitive Advantage: Strategies, Management, and Performance (C. Caldwell
and V. Anderson, eds.). New York: NOVA Publishing. pp.1-12.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice.
Palgrave.
Budhwar, P.S., 2016. International human resource management. Edward Elgar
Publishing Limited.
Daniel, P.S. and Daniel, S.P., 2017. Analysis of the factors affecting service deliverance
in service industry. In International conference on technology and business management (Vol. 4,
pp. 10-12).
Harvey, G. and Turnbull, P., 2016. Human resource management and industrial
relations. Air Transport Management: An international perspective. p.307.
Holloway, S., 2017. Airlines: Managing to make money. Routledge.
Malik, A., 2018. HRM and ER: A Strategic Perspective. In Strategic Human Resource
Management and Employment Relations (pp. 13-21). Springer, Singapore.
Momin, M.M., 2018. ROLE AND RELEVANCE OF HUMAN RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT IN CONTEMPORARY PROFIT-CENTRIC ERA. Sinergi: Jurnal Ilmiah
Ilmu Manajemen. 8(1).
Robinson, P. and et.al., 2016. Operations management in the travel industry. Cabi.
Shaw, S., 2016. Airline marketing and management. Routledge.
Simmers, C.A. and Anandarajan, M. eds., 2018. The Internet of People, Things and
Services: Workplace Transformations. Routledge.
Wikhamn, W., 2019. Innovation, sustainable HRM and customer
satisfaction. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 76. pp.102-110.
Wilkinson, A. and Wood, G., 2017. Global trends and crises, comparative capitalism
and HRM.
Online
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