Analysis of Human Resource Management Practices at British Airways

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Human Resource Management for Service Industries

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................2
TASK 1...................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Analysing the role plus purpose of human resource management with regard to
British Airways......................................................................................................................3
1.2 Justify a human resources plan based on an analysis of supply and demand for British
Airways.................................................................................................................................6
TASK 2...................................................................................................................................... 9
2.1 Assessment of the employment relations' current state in the airline industry
including British Airways...................................................................................................... 9
2.2 Discussion on effects of employment law on the human resources management
within British Airways.........................................................................................................11
TASK 3.................................................................................................................................... 12
3.1 Discussion on the job description and person specification of cabin crew of British
Airways............................................................................................................................... 12
3.2 Comparing selection process of British Airways and Transport for London.................16
TASK 4.................................................................................................................................... 17
4.1 Assessing the contribution of training and development activities to the effective
operation of British Airways...............................................................................................17
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................... 19
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 20
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INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is one of the strategic and rational approaches used by the
organization to manage their most valuable assets that are the people who work
individually and collectively contributing to the achievement of the business objectives. It
consists of all the activities involving in acquisition, utilization and management of human
resources (Birasnav, 2014). Human resource management is much crucial in the service
industry as compared to the manufacturing industry as in service industry as the employees
interact directly with the customers. The performance of the employees and members of
the service organization is essential to provide quality services and also achieve business
objectives within the service industry.
This assignment focuses on understanding the management of human resources along with
managing the employees’ relation. It is equally essential to have knowledge about the
employment laws as it alters the HR policies at the workplace. The recruitment and
selection process in the service industry can be effectively done through good job
description and specification including particular skills and abilities distinct for each service.
HR management must also focus on providing training plus development programs which
significantly vary among the service organizations depending on its type and size.
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TASK 1
INTRODUCTION
This report is prepared by trainee human resource and presented to line manager at British
Airways with the aim evaluate the human resource management within the organization
and also create an HR plan based on supply and demand analysis. An agreement is
successfully gained by British Airways for the flights between Madeira and Heathrow for
peak season and rest of the year.
1.1 Analysing the role plus purpose of human resource management with
regard to British Airways
Human resource management is defined to that strategic and functional approach used by
the organization whether it is service or any other industry to manage its individuals.
CONCEPT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
In the service industry, HR management at British Airways is based on the management of
personnel in order to deliver potential customer satisfaction with effective communication
and service skills (Hoque, 2013). The HR management concepts are:
Planning and forecasting: the human resource is planned and managed by the HR unit at
British Airways. It includes the projection for demands and supply of personnel considering
the requirement for long-term and short-term (Sarwar and Abugre, 2013).
Recruitment process: staff recruitment at British Airways is a crucial process as it is essential
to select the eligible candidates who are able to serve the guests efficiently through
effective communication skills.
Contracts of employment: it is an important and legal document as an agreement between
the employee and British Airways on the different terms and condition related to
employment are agreed between them (Sarwar and Abugre, 2013).
Deployment and monitoring of employees: the work of HR unit at British Airways is not
only to recruit and select eligible candidates but also place them to the positions according
to their capabilities and skill (Tang and Tang, 2012). They continuously monitor the staff
performance to ensure the desired performance is achieved.
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Training and development: British Airways offer training and development programs so as
to enhance the skills and potential of the staff for better performance in their job role as per
business objectives (Tang and Tang, 2012).
Budget monitoring: the HR unit of British Airways must consider the budget allocated by the
finance unit so as to ensure the costs and expenses incurred on the processes to manage
the staff does not exceed the budgeted costs (Tang and Tang, 2012).
Relationships: HR management also helps in managing the cordial relationships among the
staff and other members and also focus on avoiding conflicts and resolve any problem or
grievance (Riley, 2014).
ROLE AND PURPOSE OF HR MANAGEMENT
Managing human resource is crucial especially in the service industry. Its main purpose is to
ensure the availability of highly capable and competent individuals who are willing to
support the organization such as British Airways in their goal achievement through their
performance (Riley, 2014). HR management majorly focuses on effective selection and
recruitment of the competent individuals as they are the face of British Airways that serves
the customers by fulfilling their demands. The success of British airways depends on the
contribution of its staff towards the achievement of customer satisfaction by establishing
good interrelations with them and delivering required services (Riley, 2014).
SOFT AND HARD HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Storey in 1989 differentiated the HR management into two forms: hard and soft which were
symbolized by Michigan as well as Harvard models respectively. Hard HR management is
the task-focused in which the employees are treated as resources similar to the other
assets. It is based on a traditional approach towards HR management (Deery and Jago,
2015). It focuses on managing the headcounts to keep the workforce-related with the
requirements. Soft HR management is people-focused in which the employees have treated
as the most important resources and also the sources of competitive advantage. It stresses
the human aspects concerning communication and motivation.
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Figure 1 Storey’s Hard and soft HRM
Source: Author’s work, 2019
In the service industry, it is not wise to select hard HR management approach as employees
are more than just the resources and contribute to services organizations to survive in an
intensely competitive market (Deery and Jago, 2015). Soft HRM approach is selected by
British Airways to utilise the best skilled and competent employees through effective
training mechanism. The HR unit at British Airways must possess specific knowledge related
to concepts and approaches used in HRM.
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HRM APPROACHES
BY STOERY (1989)
THEORY X
MICHIGAN / HARD
HRM
THEORY Y
HARVARD / SOFT
HRM

1.2 Justify a human resources plan based on an analysis of supply and
demand for British Airways
HR PLANS FOR BRITISH AIRWAYS:
BRITISH AIRWAYS’ OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS:
The formation of an HR plan for their new flight services between Heathrow and Madeira is
the objective of British Airways. There will be four flights from Heathrow and Madeira every
week during peak season and three flights from both locations during the rest of the year
with the flight duration of 4 hours each.
DEMAND AND SUPPLY FORECAST:
The demand and supply of the staff requirement can be considered by using Markova
analysis (David Mc A, 2013). It will help in identifying the human resources required and cost
to procure the human resource for British Airways for new routes between Madeira and
Heathrow.
BRITISH AIRWAYS’ PRESENT STAFF OBJECTIVES:
The current objective of the HR unit of British Airways is to recruit and select the staff for
their new flights between Madeira as well as Heathrow.
MANPOWER GAP ESTIMATION:
The demand and supply of the human resources are determined by the HR unit of British
Airways so as to gather the information concerning the surplus or deficit of the human
resource (David Mc A, 2013). HR deficit refers to the requirement of the additional staffs
whereas HR surplus refers to the requirement to deploy the staff.
HR ACTION PLAN FORMATION
The HR unit at British airways develops the HR plan to identify the surplus or deficit of
human resource so that the decision can be taken regarding new recruitment and
deployment lest resignation, voluntary retirement, or termination (David Mc A, 2013).
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CONTROL, MONITORING AND FEEDBACK:
The HR unit of British Airways develops the HR plan to be updated with the information
related to staffing at regular time duration. This ensures them to take necessary actions to
monitor and control the employees and analyse the availability of staff for different job
profiles (David Mc A, 2013).
HR PLAN FOR BRITISH AIRWAYS
Job
profile
Presen
t
Requir
ements
(dema
nd)
Employe
e
Turnove
r rate
(%)
Continui
ng
employe
es
(supply)
The gap
between
demand
and
supply
(staff
required
)
Working
hours in
peak
summer
season
(per
individual
)(in
weekly
hours)
Working
hours
during the
rest of the
year (per
individual
) (in
weekly
hours)
Pilots 8 15 7 1 55 48
Flight
attendants
15 20 12 3 65 55
Aircraft
Cleaner
15 20 12 3 65 52
Air Traffic
Controller
3 33.4 2 1 55 48
Airport
Baggage
Handler
10 20 8 2 65 52
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS INFLUENCING HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING:
Changes in the organization, employment, technology or geographic environment affect the
HR planning at British Airways. The government compels the organizations to recruit
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individuals in case of increased unemployment rates (Dhar, 2015). British Airways are
required to either deploy or train the individuals in case of occurrence of any technological
or geographical change to manage the business operations effectively.
CONCLUSION
Thus it summarises that the role of HR management is crucial in any organization including
British Airways in order to effectively recruit, manage and control the workforce through
their HR plan and deliver the effective customer services as per their requirement and attain
the organizational objectives.
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TASK 2
INTRODUCTION
This report is prepared by the trainee HR officer and presented to the line manager with the
aim to judge the current condition of employment relations in the airline industry including
British Airways. It also includes a general discussion on the impact of employment law on
the management of human resources in British Airways.
2.1 Assessment of the employment relations’ current state in the airline
industry including British Airways
Employee relations are defined as the degree of association between the employees and
the management of British Airways. British Airways have a strong history of service
disruption due to employee issues as it continues to be established in unions. The past and
recent strikes have disrupted the operations of airline services and the travellers were
compensated in some instances due to flights cancellation (Katz and Milligan, 2018). The
company British Airways must focus on innovative approaches to develop industrial
relations and invest in the employees’ skills.
The diverse contexts related to the present conditions in the airline industry are highlighted
below:
UNIONISATION: unionisation is the groups of the employees for a common goal under trade
union. The trade unions such as British Airline pilot Association, GMB and Unite work for the
betterment of the employees by protecting them from any unfair treatment and affect the
operations at British Airways (Katz and Milligan, 2018).
STRUCTURE: the structure of service organization in early times was hierarchical that would
structure and inform its employees and were not allowed to participate in decision-making
and communication (Eaton, 2017). However, flexibility and two-way communication are
offered by the majority of service organizations such as British Airways.
CULTURE: according to the trade union, British Airways have adopted the culture where the
employees are disconnected from the success of the airline. This resulted in the majority of
service disruptions leading to a negative effect on the company operations (Geppert et al.,
2016).
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COLLECTIVE BARGAINING, NEGOTIATION AND CONSULTATION: with the support from
trade unions, the employees at British Airways are able to negotiate and consult with the
terms as well as conditions regarding their employment (Geppert et al., 2016). The demands
for increased compensation and benefits by the employees and representatives of the trade
unions may lead to increased cost and expenses on British Airways.
EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION, INVOLVEMENT AND EMPOWERMENT: the employees actively
participate in the decision-making of British Airways. It helps in defining the roles and
responsibilities to accomplish the objectives (Geppert et al., 2016). Employees are also
empowered with the responsibilities and authorities to use their abilities for improved
customer satisfaction.
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES AND DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES: formal and informal meetings
are arranged by the managers with the employees and trade unions to address the issues
and grievance and disciplinary through mechanisms (Lange et al., 2015). British airways
implement the disciplinary procedure and follow the code of conduct in case if any
employees fail in behaviour or attitude.
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2.2 Discussion on effects of employment law on the human resources
management within British Airways
The HR management at British Airways is bound by the legislation and acts enforced by the
government of United Kingdom. It clarifies the terms and condition for work to British
Airways to ensure fair and secured treatment at the workplace:
CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT: the HR management issues a written document that is the
employment contract which covers and states all the terms and conditions regarding work
and minimises the chance of uncertainty or ambiguity (Lange et al., 2015). It includes
various measures such as redundancy procedures, resignations, parental leaves, maternity
and paternity leaves, terminations, resignation, ill health retirements dismissal and so on.
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS ACT: compulsory rights of recognition were introduced in 1999
and strengthen the employees’ protection by amendments in 2004 subjecting to
detrimental actions in diverse conditions related to union membership (Evans et al., 2012).
The trade unions and HR unit of British Airways may bargain and enter into the collective
agreement.
EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT: the employer that is British Airways must issue a written
document including terms and conditions related to employment to each employee not
beyond 2 months of the beginning of the employment of the employee (Karami, 2017).
TRIBUNALS PLUS ADVISORY CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION SERVICE (ACAS): the legal
disputes between the employees and service organization such as British Airways is decided
by any of the three forums such as Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service,
employment tribunals and the common laws (Karami, 2017). The claims such as unfair
dismissal, contractual claims and any discrimination under the employment acts are heard
and dealt with by the special employment courts.
CONCLUSION
Thus, the summary is that British Airways must focus on maintaining healthy employee
relationships with the employees and trade unions. The terms and conditions of the
employment and also employment-related decisions must be taken by HR unit of British
Airways while considering the employment legislation by UK government.
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