Human Resource Management in British Airways: A Comprehensive Report

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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FOR
SERVICE INDUSTRY
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Contents
LIST OF FIGURES..........................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................4
TASK 1: REPORT...........................................................................................................................................5
1.1 ROLE AND PURPOSE OF HRM IN BRITISH AIRWAYS.....................................................................5
1.2 HUMAN RESOURCE PLAN OF BRITISH AIRWAYS................................................................................7
TASK 2: REPORT.........................................................................................................................................10
2.1 CURRENT STATE OF EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS AT BRITISH AIRWAYS............................................10
2.2 EMPLOYMENT LAW AFFECTING HRM IN BRITISH AIRWAYS............................................................12
TASK 3: REPORT.........................................................................................................................................14
3.1 JOB DESCRIPTION AND PERSONAL SPECIFICATION OF CABIN CREW...............................................14
3.2 COMPARING SELECTION PROCESS OF BA AND TFL..........................................................................18
TASK 4: TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT IN BRITISH AIRWAYS...................................................................20
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................22
REFERENCES:.............................................................................................................................................23
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1: HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS...................................................................................7
Figure 2: RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS...................................................................................14
Figure 3: JOB ANALYSIS..............................................................................................................................15
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INTRODUCTION
Human resource is the heart of every business. No business can operate without any person.
The human resource is an asset of the organization. Thus, it is very important to manage the
human resource for the optimum utilization of other resources and achievement of business
objectives. This report will focus on human resource management at British Airways, the factors
affecting employee relations at the workplace. The other part of the report will take into
consideration the process for recruitment and selection of workforce at British Airways and it
would be compared with the process followed in Transport for London. In the last part of the
report, the benefits of training and development at British Airways would be explained.
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TASK 1: REPORT
INTRODUCTION
Being a trainee HR officer, the role of HRM in British Airways is elaborated in the following
report and an HR plan is made to explain the role and number of staff needed and work hours
to be spent for delivering new flight services to Madeira.
1.1 ROLE AND PURPOSE OF HRM IN BRITISH AIRWAYS
Human resource management is a strategic plan which focuses on the management of people
in the organization to achieve competitive advantage (Noe et al., 2017).
The HR manager at British Airways tries to maintain good relations with employees, considers
the welfare of employees, focus on training and development of employees, analyze the need
of employees and recruit them in order to provide best services at British Airways. The role and
responsibilities are as follows:
RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION: It is the primary responsibility oh HR at British Airways to
ensure the adequate amount of workforce to give its best services by ensuring that the right
people are placed at the right job. If there is a requirement of staff, HR manager at British
Airways engage themselves in the process of recruiting the right personnel for the business and
then select the best ones out of the available applicants (Noe et al., 2017).
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT: British Airways is focused on training of the newly recruited
staff to make them understand the work that they have to perform and development of the
existing staff in order to maintain the accuracy of work and improve their efficiency.
REWARD MANAGEMENT: British Airways provide standardized pay to every worker an also
individual performance pay to workers who perform better than expected. It provides tax-free
shares to all its employees, gives bonus and rewards which increase the performance level of
employees and they try to give their best to the organization (Eaton, 2017).
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PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: The HR manager at British Airways measures the performance of
its employees and gives rewards like recognition, appraisal, etc. for good performance. This
motivates the employees to perform with higher enthusiasm and give better results.
The main purpose of HR at British Airways is to analyze and fulfil the requirement of staff at the
workplace, train the staff with the help of effective training methods which simplifies the
understanding of task for new staff. The HRM department in British Airways has to formulate
strategies which guide the team to reach their targets (Eaton, 2017). The HR team also has to
handle any conflict arising between people or managers of the different department giving a
fair judgment to the conflict.
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1.2 HUMAN RESOURCE PLAN OF BRITISH AIRWAYS
British Airways invest exclusively in the planning of human resource in the industry. The human
resource planning is a process which helps in identifying the requirement of people at work by
assessing the demand and supply of manpower in the industry and forecasting the future
requirement and ensures availability of workforce as and when the need arises (Karami, 2017).
FIGURE 1: HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS
(Source: Kispal-Vitai and Wood, 2018)
HR planning is very important in British Airways as it helps in:
FORECASTING DEMAND: The quantity and quality of people needed at British Airways are estimated by
the HR manager. The forecasting of demand for manpower is affected by internal and external factors
like budget, economic conditions, technological factors, etc.
FORECASTING SUPPLY: The need for the workforce for providing the services of new flight Madeira is
estimated by the HR department of British Airways and thus, the supply of manpower would be done
with the help of external and internal sources of the service industry (Eaton, 2017).
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FORMULATE PLAN: A plan is formulated HR manager at British Airways to analyze the requirement of
people and balance the demand and supply of manpower by filling the gaps created through employees
leaving the organization or filling people for the new service flight Madeira.
IMPLEMENTATION OF HR PLAN: The HR manager in British Airways implements the activities of HR plan
by recruiting, staffing, selecting and placing the new or existing people at right place.
EVALUATION AND CONTROL: It is the last step in the planning process. In this, the evaluation of
shortage and excess of the workforce is estimated and controlled by HR in British Airways (Karami,
2017).
British Airways follow planning process of human resource at four levels:
1. Strategic plan
2. Tactical plan
3. Operational plan
4. Forecasting
The HR plan of British Airways to render its service to the new flight Madeira would take into
consideration the following assessment:
Current
job
Position
Present
employees
Estimated
employee
turnover
Demand for
employees
to deliver
service to
Madeira
Estimated
hiring
staff
Working hours
In
summer
season
Rest
of
the
year
Business
manager
6 2 3 2 95 80
Cabin
crew
20 4 6 6 550 480
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engineers 4 1 2 2 85 70
Pilot 6 2 4 3 90 85
Admin
staff
6 2 3 3 500 400
The above HR plan explains the need for sourcing for the workforce in British Airways to provide the
service in its new flight Madeira.
CONCLUSION
The new flight Madeira would require a good number of service staff for its customers to satisfy them.
There should be no shortage in the workforce as British Airways is a well-known service provider with a
good reputation amongst its customers. Starting new flight should affect its goodwill adversely, that is
why the HR team has made a plan to assess the requirement of staff at British Airways and fulfil it in
order to provide best services to its customers (Karami, 2017).
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TASK 2: REPORT
INTRODUCTION
Employee relations in HRM refer to the industrial relationship between employees and
employer of the organization, its management by the heads of the HR department to increase
the level of performance (Conway et al. 2016). This report will also explain the importance of
employment laws to be followed in British Airways to work efficiently.
2.1 CURRENT STATE OF EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS AT BRITISH AIRWAYS
EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION: British Airways focus on the participation of employees in the
decision making processes of the organization. The managers encourage the participation of
employees by asking for their ideas and opinions in a particular situation, which boosts the
morale of employees.
EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP: Underemployment relation at British Airways, the relationship
between employees, trade unions and departments of the organization are focused upon to
avoid arising of conflicts between them, solving their issues, etc. the staff of British Airways also
participates in giving their ideas regarding issues like making changes in cabin crew, customer
satisfaction, scheduling the flights, etc (Conway et al., 2016).
GRIEVANCE HANDLING: The industrial relations at British Airways focus on resolving the
conflicts among cabin crew members, working with the trade union to create a new framework
in British Airways for employment relations.
British Airways have a clear human resource management structure where all the employees of
the organization are treated equally and with respect. The employees are encouraged to work
together as a team which results in an increase in employee morale.
The TRADE UNION of British Airways consists of a combination of skilled and unskilled workers
that work together to achieve the set goals and provide good services in British Airways, also
aiming at cost-cutting and profit maximizing (Moore and Taylor, 2016). The people in trade unions
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join together to get job security through higher wages, short working hours, good work
environment, etc.
The trade unions play a significant role in British Airways by providing advice to employees
facing issues, respecting the rights of the members of the organization, eliminating
discrimination on the basis of caste, age, gender, religion, etc., try to influence policies to
support the workforce of British Airways (Moore and Taylor, 2016).
In 2017, CABIN CREW members announced they would go on a strike if they don't get a hike in
their salaries as they were paid less for performing the same duties as their colleagues. It
created immense pressure on British airlines.
The trade union in British Airways is British Airways Pilots Association (BALPA) that considers
23 organizations, 10000 pilots in the UK to ensure their safety and prevents the rights of pilots.
The current state of employment relations in British Airways are affected by the rising
competition level, the emergence of low-cost airlines and constant up gradation in technology.
For example, the introduction of autonomous flights is replacing the need of pilots for flying the
aircraft which may help in cost reduction and saving billions of dollars for British Airways if it
implements this technology (Lyddon, 2015).
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2.2 EMPLOYMENT LAW AFFECTING HRM IN BRITISH AIRWAYS
The employment laws set by the legislation guides actions in British Airways and are very
helpful in the management of the human resource in the organization. These laws work in
favour of both, employers and employees of British Airways. Various employment laws are as
follows:
EMPLOYEE RELATIONS ACT, 2004: British Airways follow this act to work in favour of its
employees and boost their morale. The Act undertakes to make of provisions for recognition of
trade unions, the rights of trade unions, employees and workers of the organization, widen the
means of voting in ballots under Trade Unions and Labour Relations Act, 1992. Under this Act,
the interest of employees is safeguarded against any discrimination towards them from their
employers (Lyddon, 2015).
MATERNITY AND PATERNITY RIGHTS: The British Airways follows this Act as it makes provision
about annual leaves provided to workers at the time of maternity/adoption so that they can
take care of their children and also the rise in their payment for the period of 26-52 weeks
considering the flexibility at work. The workers at British Airways feel motivated with the
freedom and rights provided by the industry by considering their issues and solving them. Thus,
the performance level of employees at British Airways improves which leads to better results
(Moss and O’Brien, 2019).
DATA PROTECTION REGULATION ACT 2018: This law ensures the safety of the data of
employees at British Airways by protecting any illegal access to the data of clients at the
workplace and also avoids manipulation of information and personal data of employees
working in British Airways. The organization has to ask for individuals’ permission before
gathering data related to them. This law is helpful in the management of the human resource in
British Airways (Sivris and Leka, 2015).
WAGES AT WORK: British Airways follow Fair Labor Standard Act to pay minimum wages to the
workers in the industry. Under this legislative framework, the HR team of British Airways
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verifies the minimum wages being paid to its employees and also pays overtime to employees
working for more than 40 hours a week.
THE EQUALITY ACT 2010: British Airways follows this act in its service industry as it helps in
achieving the satisfaction of employees at work (Bryson, 2017). This Act ensures that everyone is
treated equally in the organization without any discrimination on the basis of caste, gender,
age, race, disability, marital status, religious belief, maternity/pregnancy, etc. Thus, British
Airways motivate its staff by encouraging them to be themselves without any pressure. This
helps in the success of British Airways.
British Airways follows the employment law which also takes into Civil Aviation Requirements
that provides standards which British Airways tries to meet. This includes giving advice to
employees and solves the issues faced by them and also, handle conflicts arising between the
members of the industry (Bryson, 2017).
CONCLUSION
The above report signifies the importance of industrial relations and employment laws in British
Airways. The organization follows these regulations for better performance of employees and
improvement in work which leads to the effective management of the human resource.
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