Analysis of Human Resource Management Strategies at British Airways

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Human Resource Management for Service Industries
British Airways

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................2
TASK 1...................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Role as well as the purpose of human resource management at British Airways..........3
1.2 Creation and justification of the HR plan based on supply and demand for British
Airways.................................................................................................................................6
TASK 2...................................................................................................................................... 9
2.1 Evaluation of current state of employment relations within British Airways.................9
2.2 Impact of employment law on HR management of British Airways.............................11
TASK 3.................................................................................................................................... 13
3.1 Job description and personal specification for Cabin Crew, British Airways.................13
3.2 comparison of the selection processes of British Airways (Cabin Crew) and Transport
for London (Customer Services Assistant)..........................................................................17
TASK 4.................................................................................................................................... 18
4.1 Contribution of training and development activities to effective operations of British
Airways............................................................................................................................... 18
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................... 20
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 21
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INTRODUCTION
The success and survival of the organization whether it is manufacturing or service depends
on the efficiency of its workforce. In order to manage the workforce of the organization, it
uses a strategic approach that is human resource management. The role of HR management
is much more crucial in the service industry as compared to the manufacturing industry as
there is direct interaction among the employees and customers (Hoque, 2013). This
assignment is focused on understanding the management of human resources in the service
industry through the case scenario of British Airways. It also depicts the effect of employee
relations as well as employment law on the businesses of the service industry. This
assignment also represents the explanation of the recruitment and selection process within
the service industry. At last, the importance of training and development in the businesses
of the service industry is explained in this assignment.
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TASK 1
Introduction
This report is presented by the trainee HR officer depicting the role as well as the purpose of
the HR management within British Airways and further creates an HR plan on the basis of
demand and supply of human resources in order to deliver the new flight services between
Heathrow and Madeira.
1.1 Role as well as the purpose of human resource management at British
Airways
Human resource management is one of the crucial functions of the organization that aims to
plan, acquire, train and manage its workforce.
HR MANAGEMENT CONCEPT
In the service industry, customer satisfaction is very crucial and can be determined by the
delivery of customer services (Birasnav, 2014). High customer satisfaction leads to high
efficiency among the employees and maximizes the profitability of British Airways.
Contracts of employment: the HR section of British Airways provides a legal written
document to its employees that comprise of all the terms and condition of the employees
agreed among them.
Planning and forecasting: the HR section of British Airways consistently work on projecting
the demand and supply of the workforces for either long-term or short-term in order to
fulfil the workforces’ requirement (Birasnav, 2014).
Recruitment process: the HR section at British Airways aims to recruit and acquire the
employees who have the potential and capability to manage the business operations
effectively.
Training and development: training courses and development programs are offered by
British Airways in order to upgrade the potential of its workforces through improved skills
and abilities and contributed in achieving business objectives (Bon and Mustafa, 2013).
Deployment and monitoring of employees: apart from the recruitment and selection, the
placement of the candidate is done according to the skills and competency required for
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accomplishing the job profile. The employees are continuously monitored for business as
well as individual development (Bon and Mustafa, 2013).
Budget monitoring: the annual budget is allocated to HR section of British Airways in order
to carry out the activities to manage the workforce by incurring cost and expenditure and
not exceed the budgeted costs (David Mc A, 2013).
Relationships: the HR section is responsible to manage and maintain good relations among
the staff and management and resolve any issues or conflicts which arise.
Role as well as the purpose of the HR section as British Airways
The HR section plays a crucial role in managing the employees in the services industry and
ensures that high competent and reliable employees are recruited and selected to
contribute to achieving the goals and objectives of British Airways. The employees represent
British Airways in front of customers, therefore, it is essential to select and train the
individuals who fulfil the customer requirements effectively (David Mc A, 2013). The
employees contribute to delivering exceptional services to its customers and ensure the
cordial relationship by achieving customer satisfaction for the success of British Airways.
Soft as well as hard HRM
The HR management was differentiated by Storey in 1989 into two forms namely hard and
soft HRM. Hard HRM is symbolised as the Michigan model while soft HRM is the Harvard
model. Hard HRM is based on a traditional approach in which the employees were
considered as resources like other business assets and is task-focused (David Mc A, 2013).
Soft HRM is a modern approach that stresses on the human aspects concerning motivation
as well as communication and treats the employees as the sources for competitive
advantages and the most important resources.
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Figure 1 Storey’s HRM Approaches
Source: Author’s work, 2019
Selecting hard HRM may have a negative effect in the service industry as they are more than
just the resources and contributes their effort in sustaining British Airways in the ferocious
competitive environment. British Airways must adopt a soft HRM approach so that
competent and skilled employees are selected and ensure effective customer service
delivery for the organization's success (David Mc A, 2013). The concept and approaches of
the HRM are the specific knowledge that must be possessed by the HR section of British
Airways.
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STOREY's HRM
APPROACHES
(1989)
THEORY X MICHIGAN /
HARD HRM
THEORY Y HARVARD / SOFT
HRM

1.2 Creation and justification of the HR plan based on supply and demand
for British Airways
HUMAN RESOURCE PLAN FOR BRITISH AIRWAYS:
OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS OF BRITISH AIRWAYS:
The aim behind the creation of an HR plan within British Airways is the commencement of
new flights between Heathrow and Madeira. The number of flight will be 4 during peak
season too and fro between Heathrow and Madeira, while the number of flights will be 3
during the rest of the year to and fro between Heathrow and Madeira.
FORECAST OF DEMAND AND SUPPLY:
The human resources required for newly procured flights between Heathrow and Madeira
will be identified by the HR section of British Airways considering the demand and supply
through Markova analysis (Harvey et al., 2013).
PRESENT OBJECTIVES FOR STAFF AT BRITISH AIRWAYS’: The staff objective is to acquire
the required staff to carry out operations of new flight services between Heathrow and
Madeira by HR section of British Airways.
GAP ESTIMATION OF MANPOWER:
The information about surplus and deficit in the workforce is collected through HR demand
and supply determined by the HR section of British Airways. HR surplus defines the need for
staff deployment and the HR deficit defines the additional staff requirement (Wallace et al.,
2014).
HR ACTION PLAN CREATION:
The staff surplus and deficit are determined by the HR section of British Airways with the
aim to make a decision related to the recruitment termination, deployment, resignation,
succession and voluntary retirement (Yu et al., 2013).
CONTROL, MONITORING AS WELL AS FEEDBACK:
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The feedback is provided over the surplus and deficit of the staff for different job positions
by monitoring and controlling the HR activities and gather information through HR plan at a
regular time interval (Yu et al., 2013).
Job
profile
Current
Require
ments
(deman
d)
Member
of staff
Turnove
r rate
(%)
Remaining
staffs
(supply)
The gap
between
demand
plus
supply
(staff
required)
Operational
hours in peak
summer
season (per
individual)
(in weekly
hours)
Operational
hours during
the rest of the
year (per
individual)
(in weekly
hours)
Pilots 12 17 10 2 50 43
Aircraft
Mechan
ics and
Technic
ians
20 20 16 4 60 51
Flight
Attenda
nts
20 20 16 4 60 53
Aircraft
Fueler
5 20 4 1 50 43
Airport
securit
y
Screene
r
15 20 12 3 60 48
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS INFLUENCING HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING:
HR planning is impacted by the changes in the internal and external business environment.
Advancement or changes in the employment law, geographic environment and technology
affect the acquisition and deployment of the staff (Aebersold et al., 2013).
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CONCLUSION
Thus this report concludes that the HRM of any organization such as British airways
effectively recruits, trains, manages and controls the staff to deliver exceptional customer
services according to the customers’ requirement and accomplish British Airways’
objectives.
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TASK 2
Introduction
This report is produced by the trainee HR officer to present it to the line manager evaluating
the current state of employee relation and also discuss the way employment law affects the
HR management within British Airways.
2.1 Evaluation of current state of employment relations within British
Airways
In the service industry, the organization such as British Airways focus on 3 operational areas
of human resource management that are recruitment and staffing including specification of
roles and responsibilities of each job, employee compensation and benefits, and training as
well as development (Wu, 2016).
The good employee relations build the brand and reputation of the brand through
commendable performance and productivity of British Airways’ employees. The customer
relationships and business operations at British Airways were negatively affected by the
pension issues occurred in 2003 (Karami, 2017). The services at British Airways have been
severely disrupted on various events resorting to strikes over the low pay and allowances.
About 2900 crew members in a mixed fleet of British Airways threatened to strike over the
‘poverty pay' that is low pay and unfair working conditions (Karami, 2017).
The present circumstances of employee relations with reference to British Airways are:
UNIONISATION: unionisation is the employees' group that works for a common goal as a
trade union. The management and employees of British Airways along with the trade
unions must mutually agree on the policies and plans related to the management of the
workforce (Yeh, 2014). The employees within British airways are protected from unfair
treatments are supported by trade unions such as GMB, British Airline Pilot Association and
Unite.
CULTURE: the company operations are negatively affected by several services disruptions as
a new culture is adopted within British airways where the employees are not connected
with the success of the airline as per trade unions (Yeh, 2014).
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STRUCTURE: the hierarchical structure of British Airways earlier restricted the participation
of the employees in communication and decision-making. Due to the recent changes,
organizations like British Airways adopted a flexible structure ensuring effective
communication and participation in decision-making and other business activities.
EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT, EMPOWERMENT AND PARTICIPATION: the participation and
involvement of the employees in the decision-making and other business activities clearly
define their roles and responsibilities according to their job positions (Hawkins, 2017).
Excellent customer satisfaction is ensured by empowering the employees with authorities
and responsibilities.
NEGOTIATION, COLLECTIVE BARGAINING, AND CONSULTATION: British Airways and its
employees negotiate to voluntary agree on the different measures such as promotions,
benefits, pay increment, benefits and other employment terms to handle the disputes
(Helmreich and Merritt, 2017). Citizen Advisory bureau and Conciliation, advisory and
arbitration service (ACAS) are the organization that support in reconciling and consulting to
resolve the disputes and conflicts of employees in the service industry.
GRIEVANCE AND DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES: the company have framed policies and
procedures related to any disciplinary or grievance issue and organises formal as well as
informal meetings of HR section with the employees and trade unions at British Airways.
Code of conduct and protocols are to be followed by each employee in their attitude and
behaviour at British Airways, failing which the disciplinary procedures will be executed
(Hawkins, 2017).
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2.2 Impact of employment law on HR management of British Airways
The employment law is framed and enforced by the regulatory bodies within the countries
and distinguishes between the workers, self-employed and employees. The HR section of
British Airways requires considering the employment law of the UK government while
managing the employees and workers within the organizations.
The different employment laws of the UK government are:
EQUALITY ACT: equality act 2010 is a legal framework that protects individuals from
discrimination in their workplace and also within society. This act came into forces that
include the several pieces of legislation and covers the discrimination including the Race
Relations Act 1976, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Disability Discrimination Act
1995. It protects the individuals from discrimination based on race, sex, age, gender
reassignment, religion or belief, disability, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity and
marriage or civil partnership (Helmreich and Merritt, 2017).
EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT: it protects the employee by conserving the major aspects of
relations under the employment that includes, leaves, particular of employment, training or
study and termination. It also protects the employees in wages and payments. This act
covers the remedial process in case of unfair dismissal (Forth et al., 2013). It obliges the
employer such as British Airways to issue particulars to employment terms and condition in
written format within the 2 months of the start of employees' employment.
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS ACT: It determines to maintain the cordial relationship among
the trade unions, employees and management of British Airways and also treat the
employees with dignity and respect. Any misconduct or discrimination by British Airways
against its employees may impose fine or legal charges (Flin et al., 2013).
CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT: the HR section of British airways issue a formal contract of
employment to all their employees that cover all the relevant terms in more detail and
reduces the risk of disputes, uncertainty and ambiguity (Jackson et al., 2014). It includes the
name and address of the employer plus employees, workplace, terms and conditions related
to work hours, flexibility, job title, date of joining, public leaves and holidays, remunerations,
perks and benefits nature of employment, code of conduct, disciplinary guidelines and
process and much more.
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