Human Resource Management in British Airways: A Comprehensive Analysis

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Travel and Tourism Human Resource Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................3
Task 1 (LO1)...................................................................................................................................4
Task 2 (LO 2)..................................................................................................................................8
Task 3 (LO 3)................................................................................................................................11
Task 4 (LO4).................................................................................................................................15
Conclusion....................................................................................................................................18
Reference list................................................................................................................................19
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Introduction
The study analyses the importance of human resource management. The study includes four
sections. The four section analyses the roles and responsibilities of human resource
management in different aspects. Human resource department plays a very important role in
the growth of an organisation. The department directly deals with employee welfare. The
British Airway is chosen here for the analysis.
British Airways is said to be the largest airline in the UK based on the size of the fleet. The
Airline is considered the second largest airline measured by the number of passengers
carried by them. The airway was established in 1974 by the British government in order to
monitor the two nationalized airlines. The airline has a main base at London Heathrow
airport. The human resource department of this aviation industry plays a key role in
establishing their brand name around the world (Britishairways.com. 2019).
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Task 1 (LO1)
Introduction
The section of this study analyses the role and purposes of human resource management.
The human resource department plays a very important role in the aviation industry. The
British Airline is a very common name in the aviation industry of UK ( Taylor and Moore,
2014). The human resource department has helped the organization to set the recruitment
and training plans.
An analysis of the role and purpose of human resource management in a selected
service industry with reference to British Airways
The human resource department is responsible for the employee management in an
organisation (Brewster et al., 2016). Some of the roles and responsibilities of the Human
resource department are discussed below.
 Recruitment planning and training- The key duty of human resource management
personnel is to recruit and train the employees. The British airline deals with the
latest technologies so that the organisation will need more such people who are
familiar with the latest knowledge and technological trends (Ślusarczyk and Golnik,
2014). The department has to make a decision upon choosing such employees who
will be able to participate and contribute to the growth of an organisation. The human
resource department of BA plans the recruitment process and the job roles so that
they can recruit the most suitable candidate for a designation. The personnel also
conduct a training session for both the new and old employees to make them
understand their job requirements, customer demands, and the latest technological
trends.
 Resolving internal conflict- The changing need of the customers and the
technological trend forces the human resource department of BA to recruit new
employees (Flouris and Yilmaz, 2016). The variation in salary and the promotions
can affect the relationship between the employees of the airways. The human
resource department plays an important role in curbing the chances of rising
conflicts. The department arranges events for the employees and encourages them to
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participate in that event together so that the bonding of the employees becomes
better.
 Preparing contracts- The human resource department of the organisation prepares a
company standard for their employees. The company standard helps the employees to
know about their rights and limitations. The personnel also provide an employee
handbook and contract to their freshly recruited employees. British airline can
regulate their employee behavior towards the organisation by following the rules of
the company standard (Mills, 2017).
 Performance appraisals and employee records- The British airway has achieved
customer trust by providing them with good service. The human resource department
plays a very important role in managing employees. The department keeps a record
of the health condition of employees (Van De Voorde et al., 2015). They provide the
employees with the leaves and the health schemes so that the employees can go for
treatment. This has helped BA to achieve employee satisfaction the department also
tracks the attendance of those employees. The personnel encourages the employees
to work by providing them with the performance appraisals, bonuses and others.
 Compensation- Compensation and preparing payroll is one of the most important
duties of this department. The department is responsible for employee compensation
and extra bonuses. The department is responsible for reducing the extra expenditures
of the company by terminating such employees have not been able to perform their
job role.
The creation of an HR plan, based on an analysis of supply and demand, with the
justification of the staff roles and numbers of staff and hours of work required to
deliver the new flight service to Madeira.
The human resource department of BA is responsible for planning the management strategy
for the company. The HR plan is described here by analysing the supply and demand of the
business.
Roles
Creation of an HR plan
HR plan for peak season
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Key Position Staff Required Working hours
per day
Preparation
time
Projected staff
turnover
Pilot 30 10 4 5
Engineers 21 9.5 6 2
Administrative
staff
20 12 2 0
Cabin Crew 28 10 3 4
Table 1: The HR plan for peak season
(Source: created by the learner)
HR plan for the off-peak season
Key Position Staff Required Working hours
per day
Preparation
time
Projected staff
turnover
Pilot 22 8.5 4 2
Engineers 21 8 6 1
Administrative
staff
20 8 2 3
Cabin Crew 12 8.5 3 0
Table 2: The HR plan for the off-peak season
(Source: created by the learner)
Justification
The need for staff may vary according to the peak and off-peak season. The peak season is
considered the busiest season in the peak season the customer's travel. In this season, the
airlines company require more number of employees as the demand becomes high in that
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season (Papatheodorou, 2016). The requirement for staffs increases during this time. The
working hour may also be increased. The human resource department needs to plan an
effective strategy for the season to tackle the increasing demand. The off-peak season has a
lesser demand of customers so that the work pressure is very less in that time. The airline
will require fewer amounts of pilots, engineers, staffs and cabin crew. The working hours for
the employees is reduced. The human resource department is responsible for the different
planning strategies in both the seasons. The BA has been able to handle the customers’
demands in peak season by following the strategies made by the department.
Conclusion
The section of the study concludes that the human resource department is responsible for the
recruitment and training process of this organisation. The study has has further provided
effective HR plans for the peak and off-peak seasons for handling the demand of customers.
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Task 2 (LO 2)
Introduction
The section of the study analyses the employee relation and employee legislation. The
employee relation can affect an organisation favourably or unfavourably. The human
resource department plans strategy to maintain the employee relation so that BA can exploit
from the employees growth.
Assesses the current state of employment relations in the airline industry
The current state of the employee relation is discussed here. The demand for air
transportation is increasing day by day. The HR department of this industry needs to set a
strategic plan and work according to that in order to protect them from the competition in
the market. The employee relation plays a major role in maximizing the growth of
employees, which benefits both the company and employees in long run.
The human resource department is involved in the employee welfare factors from many
different angles. The well-maintained employee relation between employers and employees
helps the organisation to maximize the working power of the employees ( Godard, 2014).
The employers of BA grant the leaves of employees without risking their job. This has
helped the employers to maintain the employee relation in an organisation. The human
resource department also wishes the employees with the performance appraisals. That has
led the employees of BA to the job satisfaction and the organisation has been able to ensure
the growth of the employees. The well-being and the satisfaction of employees are essential
for an organisation to achieve their growth and the human resource department has
maintained the employee relation, which has benefitted the company (Conway et al, 2016).
It is very important to have well maintained employee relation. The employees are the key
reason behind the growth of an organisation. The British airway has a tangible working
environment for their employees, which has helped them to achieve them the growth. The
employee relation is very important for maintaining the environment of the workplace. The
collaboration among employees is very much needed to designing new features, equipment,
models or infrastructures. A good employee relation can bring the innovation in the service
quality of an organisation. The human resource department should try to some events or
activities, which will help to strengthen the relation among employees ( Zukauskas and
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Vveinhardt, 2015). The British airway has a working environment where every employee
cares for each other; this has affected the employee relation of the company favorably. The
organisation has been able to avoid toxic cause behind a conflict, which has helped to
enhance the employee morale.
The human resource department can follow some other steps to ensure a well-maintained
employee relation. The personnel needs to ensure that the relationship among employees is
respectful. They should try to set the relationship boundaries for the employees. The
department should set a common lunch tie and possibly common working time for the
employees so that the employees get to know each other for collaborating on further projects
(Amankwah-Amoah, 2015). The hierarchy between the employers and the employees should
be transparent so that the employees can feel comfortable while working with each other.
The transparency in the employee relation will lead BA towards their goals.
Discuss how employment law affects the management of human resources in a selected
service industry business
The category of this section analyses the employment legislation and the impact of
employment legislation on BA. There are multiple laws, which affect the working process of
the human resource department (Dhondt et al., 2014).
The Civil Aviation Regulations 2004- This act is used by the industry to monitor the health
and safety of the crewmembers of British Airways. The human resource department is
responsible for taking care of the employer’s health and safety. The human resource
department of BA should take care of the fact that they are not violating the rules. The
department should instruct the aircraft operator to take measures for risk management
(Stolzer, 2017).
Working time regulations 1998- The working time regulation of UK is being implemented
by the civil aviation authority. The act gives the right to enjoy the employees 28 days paid
holiday (Goux et al., 2014). British airway provides their customer with the transportation
facilities in holidays also so that the crewmembers would not be able to access the holiday
leave. The human resource department of BA prepares job duties for the employee so that
they can avail the leave. There is one more thing, which affects the human resource
department is the working hours. The human resource department needs to play the
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employees for exceeding the working hour. This has affected the decision making the power
of the department.
The employment rights act, 1996- The employment rights act covers the rights of
employees in the workplace. The law includes the leaves of employees for the childcare and
others. This has affected the HR activities, as the department has to grant the leave. The
one-day leave of employees can slower the process (Rogers, 2016). The HR department of
BA must follow the rules to maintain the employee relations. The employee has the right to
complain against the management of the company if the rules are violated.
The equity act, 2010- The equity act refers to the common rights of the employees. The law
has given the employees to raise their voice against the discrimination. The HR department
of the BA should focus upon the factor that no employees are being discriminated based on
their race, age, gender, complexion, and others. The woman in some industry gets a
comparatively low salary then man. The law has helped to fight against that discrimination.
The organisation should not violate the rules as that may ruin their corporate image ( Conley,
2014).
Conclusion
The section of the study concludes that British Airways need to achieve a healthy employee
relation in order to accomplish their goals in long run. The human resource department of
BA should abide by the employment laws and keep an eye on the activities of employees
according to that.
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Task 3 (LO 3)
Introduction
The section of the study includes the job description and person specification. The section
outlines the guidelines for the human resource departments, which will help the human resource
department of British Airways to select the suitable candidate for their organisation. The second
category of this study includes a comparison between the selection process of British Airways
and the transport for London.
Discuss a job description and person specification for a selected service industry job
The primary and key duty of the human resource department is to design the job description
for the vacancies. The job description is very important to make the employees understand
their own job role. The job description is the written statement of a job, which depends upon
the outcome of an analysis of the job. Listing the specified job duties will lead to a better
understanding of the job roles. The employees will be able to work according to their job
requirements.
British Airways
Title of the job Cabin Crew
Department of the Job British Airways, International transport
Job descriptions and responsibilities
 To greet the passengers while they board and exit.
 To offer customers meal and refreshment
 To show the customers their seats
 To provision the emergency tools for the customers and others
 To administer the first aid for any medical emergency
 To produce the written report after every flight
 To make quick decisions on any kind of medical emergencies
Table 3: Job description for the post of cabin crew
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(Source: created by the learner)
The job description is created above for the post of cabin crew. The job description has
made the roles and responsibilities of the cabin crew transparent. The Job description can
also be used in evaluating the performances of employees. This will help the human
resource department in setting the payroll and compensating the employees. If the job
description is used to manage the performances of employees, it will help the personnel to
nominate any employees for the reward, bonus and performance appraisals. The employees
will get recognition easily. The personnel can also use the job description to outline the
employee behavior limitations. The job description specifies the job role, which helps the
organisation to attract a suitable person for a certain designation. The duties of a cabin crew
are specified above (Bradshaw, 2014). The job description also includes the other important
things such as the department of posting and their designations and others. This will help the
applicant to understand the requirements of a cabin crew post before applying for the job,
which will reduce the chances of misunderstanding later.
The human resource department of BA should focus on creating such job descriptions,
which will emphasize more on the expectations and other attractive factors than the job
roles (Wehrmeyer, 2017). It will encourage the employees to focus on the outcomes of their
performance in long run. There is another person specification performed for better
understanding.
Essential Desirable
Skills  Must have good
communication skill
 Has to be capable of
working in a team
 Has to make quick
decisions on any
emergency
 Good confidence and
flexibility is required
 The energetic
communication and
interpersonal skill
 The energetic
behavior towards the
team members and
develop a bonding
with the co-workers
 The person must have
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