Employee Relations: British Airways, Semester 2 Report Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of employee relations within British Airways, focusing on various aspects such as unitary and pluralistic reference frames, the impact of trade unionism, and the roles of different players in employee relations. It delves into conflict resolution procedures, examining key features and the effectiveness of these procedures in addressing disputes. The report further explores the role of negotiation in collective bargaining, assessing the influence of negotiation strategies. Additionally, it investigates the impact of the European Union on industrial democracy in the UK and examines various methods of gaining employee participation, as well as the influence of human resources on employee relations. The report concludes with critical reflections on the work and the responsibilities for managing activities. The document provides insights into the intricacies of maintaining a positive and productive work environment at British Airways.

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Unitary and pluralistic reference frames...............................................................................3
1.2 Influence of changes in trade unionism on employee relations ...........................................4
1.3 Role of players in employee relation ...................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
2.1 Procedures follow by organisation when dealing with conflict situation.............................6
2.2 Key features of employee relation in conflict situation .......................................................6
2.3 Analysis of effectiveness of procedures used in conflict situation .....................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
3.1 Role of Negotiation in Collective Bargaining :.....................................................................7
3.2 Assessing the impact of Negotiation Strategy .....................................................................8
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
4.1 Influence of EU on the industrial democracy in UK...........................................................10
4.2 Various methods that gain Employee Participation in Organisation .................................10
4.3 Impact of human resource in Employee Relation...............................................................12
D1 Critical reflection to evaluate own work.............................................................................12
D2 Responsibility for managing activities................................................................................12
D3 Demonstrate Convergent and Lateral Thinking..................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
The relationship between an organisation and its employees is very complicated. It is
necessary to maintain healthy relations between them. Employee relation deals with the
relationship between the employee and employer. It is the interaction between the top
management and staff members of an organisation. A healthy relationship among the employees
helps in maintaining positive environment at workplace (Afshan Naseem, 2011). It also assists in
increasing the productivity and success of company. Main aim behind maintaining good
employee relation is to eliminate work related issues and increase the level of motivation among
employees. Providing positive environment to employees at workplace supports in
accomplishing goals and objectives of an organisation. The present assignment is based upon
British Airways which operates in the aviation sector of UK. It offers a range of services to its
target market. Main aim of company is to administer the quality services to its customers. For
this, company provides good surroundings to their employees and various opportunities by the
help of which they can take initiatives towards the welfare of business (Bal and et. al., 2011).
Some topics which have been covered in this assignment are pluralistic and unitary reference
frames, industrial conflicts and resolution, negotiation processes, effect of negotiation strategy,
employee involvement and participation, etc.
TASK 1
1.1 Unitary and pluralistic reference frames
Misunderstanding between employee and employer directly affects the productivity of
organisation. It highly influences the performance of business. Healthy relationship between the
top management and employees assists in maintaining positive surroundings at workplace. If the
working environment is good, employees would stay motivated and work in a better way
towards attaining goals and objectives of British Airways. The manager needs to motivate
employees so that they will be able to accomplish organisational as well as individual goals.
Unitary perspectives: According to this approach, the business is a unified group of
individuals which shares common interest, objectives and values. They work together for the
success of company. Main reason of conflict in the firm is communication gap. Conflicts are
perceived negatively in the organisation as they lead to breach of trust. The vitality of this
perspective is that it wants to combine the interests of company and its staff in order to increase

individual’s loyalty and commitment. It asserts the role of administrator in achieving win-win
state where the interests of both are aligned. The weakness of this perspective is inequalities of
power which creates conflicts among employees.

Pluralistic perspective: This approach believes that the organisation is made up of
distinct set of values, behaviours and beliefs. It defines that the management plays a role of
mediator between clashing interests. The power of this approach is that by the participation of
stakeholders, conflicts can be easily managed. This perspective is appropriate for the information
retrieval system because it does not neglect appearance of trade union in handling conflicts
between employers and employees (Bari and et. al., 2013). For responding towards conflicts, the
administration can use a consultative technique. Trade union plays an important role in control
and coordination of different departments.
1.2 Influence of changes in trade unionism on employee relations
Changes in the laws and regulations of trade union highly impact on worker's relations.
Trade union is formed by workers that works for the common purpose. Main purpose of labour
union is to give a healthy and safe working environment to their team members. Trade union
works for improving and maintaining their employment conditions. The union on behalf of its
team members negotiates with the employer and handle labour contract. It includes the
bargaining of work rules, wages, firing, hiring, complaint process, benefits, policies, worker's
promotion and workplace safety. The workers present in firm joined labour associations with an
aim of getting wages according to their work. Several associations have been identified who
perform their functions in the UK (Bova and et. al., 2014). Youth worker union and trade
association congress community are also involved in it. The impact of changes in trade unionism
on employee relation have been identified in British Airways. The variations in association take
place because of changes in environmental components. These factors are:
Legal and political: In British Airways, the execution of new policies and laws in
economy influence directly to relationship of employees. For example, if the government
introduced various policies which are related with providing opportunities to team members, in
this situation, conflicts arise between the association and employer. The issues would arise when
the firm does not assemble with the laws introduced by governing authority. Because of this, the
relationship will get affected badly.
Technological: Because of the emergence of new technologies, demand for workers goes
down. Due to this, British Airways focuses on compiling with the laws related with retrenchment
of staff. In this situation, labour association acts as a protector and protects their staff from being
retrenched. It hampers the relation of association and British Airways.

1.3 Role of players in employee relation
In any organisation, there are many players who play different roles in the growth and
success of firm. It also plays a vital role in maintaining the relationship of employees. In British
Airways, main players who are responsible for maintaining good relations among employees are
government, workers, manager and trade union. They all help in maintaining strong relations
among employees (Chen and et. al., 2016). Top level management plays an important role in
motivating the staff to work together without conflicts.
Government: British Airways strictly follows the laws and policies formulated by
government in its company. These regulations include some acts such as amendments in the
health and safety act, minimum wage act and child labour law. By the help of these acts,
government builds a strong relationship in between employees and employers. It supports in
increasing the engagement of employees towards company.
Workers: Workers have to compile with the rules and policies made by top
administration of company. Their main responsibility is to complete the tasks assigned by
management. Besides this, they should have to take participation in various programmes
organised by British Airways. It helps in maintaining better relationship between employees and
employer.
Manager: Administration plays important role in building kinship between company and
workers. It is the duty of the manager to provide good surroundings to employees at workplace in
order to increase the performance of the workers. In British airways, the managers play crucial
part in managing conflicts(Deenadayalan, 2011). For enhancing the performance, the manager
should have encourage strong and healthy competition in the organisation and increase
motivation among employees.
Trade union: In British airways, trade union plays vital role in maintaining the
relationship between the company and its employees. They protect their workforce and negotiates
with the employer in terms of rules, policies, wages , safety, promotion etc.

TASK 2
2.1 Procedures follow by organisation when dealing with conflict situation
It is necessary for the organisation to have better relationship between employer and
employee. Good employee relations is is beneficial for the company in terms of growth and
productivity. The employees work together to accomplish common purpose. The role of manager
is to motivate employees and assign the tasks or activities to subordinates. In an organisation, the
chances of arising conflicts is very high. The managers of British airways should have to follow
various processes for dealing with conflicts such as collective disputes and strikes etc.
(Demerouti and Cropanzano, 2010). In order to reduce conflicts, the procedures that manager
should have to follow are -
Understanding difficulties: It is necessary for the company to determine the problem that
arise at workplace. There are many day to day issues that can arise conflicts among employees. It
is the responsibility of manager to identify those issues and search for solutions.
Collecting necessary information: By using various sources, the company gather all the
needed information and data. Without information, they cannot be able to determine the
difficulties and take better decisions regarding the issues.
Analysis of data and information: After collecting information, the manager evaluate the
information and takes out the necessary data required in resolving the issues.
Devising imperative phase: In this step, managers use necessary sources and information
and devise solution in order to resolve the conflicts. It provides the way by which managers can
able to reduce the issues arises at workplace (Joo and Lee, 2011).
Execute the modifications: It is the step in which managers implement the modifications
done by him regarding policies, wages, work rules, safety etc. After implementing all variations,
the company is able to obtain better outputs.
2.2 Key features of employee relation in conflict situation
Employee relation is essential in every organisation. It helps in maintaining effective
work culture in the firm. It highly contributes in improving the motivation level of employees
and results in the growth and success of the company. It is necessary to have better link between
the workers and the entity. By providing safe and healthy working environment to employees, the
company can able to reduce conflicts among the staff members. It will help the firm in

accomplishing its objectives and goals. In this task, the condition is linked with collective
disputes. There are some key features which are defined here -
Communication: Lack of communication may arise conflicts between the employer and
employee. The information conveyed to the employees should be transparent or clear. For this,
British airways should have to follow proper communication channels.
Trust: Any misunderstanding or disloyalty creates conflicts in between the company and
workers. Mutual trust and loyalty will help the firm in reducing conflicts.
Cooperation: There should be a mutual cooperation or coordination among both. Lack of
cooperation may create conflict and dissatisfaction among workers. It is necessary for the
management to take appropriate steps in regard of conflicts(Kim and Scullion, 2013).
Mediation: In this, manager conduct meeting or conference to invite trade union. Labour
association is the main player in resolving workplace issues. All the parties come together and
give their suggestions towards problem and the solutions of those problems.
2.3 Analysis of effectiveness of procedures used in conflict situation
The conflict condition is of collective dispute type. The effectiveness of process is
measured by this. The procedures used in the conflict situation should be very effective. With the
use of appropriate process, managers can easily resolve the conflicts between the employer and
employee. Proper understanding of issue is necessary in order to resolve that issue. Conflict
handling process gives the correct platform to the managers for this. The organisation, British
airways need to use proper communication channels. It helps the company in solving the
disputes of employees in proper manner. It provides the authority to the employees that they are
free to communicate openly and share their difficulties with the management and give their views
in context of the problem and their solutions. The problem of ineffective allocation of work
between females and males can be solved by using proper procedure (Mowday and et. al., 2013).
The whole conflict condition can be solved if the workforce are satisfied with the reason given by
the administrator of the company.
TASK 3
3.1 Role of Negotiation in Collective Bargaining :
Collective Bargaining refers to the process of negotiation where workers carries out
activities with employees such as salaries, working condition, training, benefits, compensation,

health and safety etc. related to terms of employment. This generally takes place between trade
union and management of the organisation. British Airways has employed large workforce which
carries out their operations. In order to avoid conflict between them, they have opted for
Collective Bargaining which solves the problem faced by them. Through this, employee can
easily represent their point of view, give suggestions which helps them to grow personally and
professionally (Naseem and et. al., 2011). Following are the different roles of negotiation in
collective bargaining which are discussed below :
 Enhance the quality of work : Negotiation helps to raise the standard of work. At
British Airways employees states their needs and wants in front of their employer. For
instance if their employees are not feeling motivated, trade union are required to arrange
proper training session for their development so they feel motivated. British Airways are
required to cover the area of strength and weakness of their workforce first and then
provide constructive feedback related to their problem.
 Improves the effectiveness : Collective Bargaining focuses on resolving the conflict
management between employees and employers . If employees are facing any issue
related to allocation of work, they are required to tell their employer so that they can
rectify it. Work should be given to the personnel on the basis of their skills, ability which
helps in increasing their performance level effectively and efficiently. Also, company can
critically evaluate the prevailing issues which in turns help to improve overall
performance and effectiveness.
 Act as a support system for the organisation : British Airways are required to take care
of their employees necessities such as relevant working hours, flexible pay scale,
compensation, benefits in terms bonus, adjustable shift, working environment, rights of
the workers, conflict management, health and safety measures etc. If the employee is
satisfied then only they will further satisfy the target customer (Oeij and et. al., 2012). It
is very important for British Airways to motivate employees by rewarding them for their
performance, which helps in maintaining better relation with them. This also enable their
worker to maintain continuity with the company.
3.2 Assessing the impact of Negotiation Strategy
It is the process where employee agree with each other point of view so as to avoid
conflict or issues between them. Such decisions are acceptable by both parties including labour

union and workforce. It helps to achieve the best possible outcome related with the problem.
British Airways uses negotiation to resolve the point of differences in their organisation. For
instance, employee can negotiate for better appraisal and compensation benefits, more vacation
time, higher pay, flexible working hour and improve the conditions of contract etc. This help
enterprise to raise the standard of their work environment and satisfied their workers. Following
are the various strategies of Negotiation which are mentioned below :
 Accommodating : These are the one who solve the issues of the other individuals. They
are considered as Pro-social which means voluntary behaviour to benefit other without
any purpose (Parvin and Kabir, 2011). Such as sharing, helping, coordinating among
other personnel. British Airways can adopt such strategy in order to enhance their
productivity and performance. Accommodates help the organisation in avoiding the
situation of high turnover rate which impact the rate of termination in the following
company.
 Avoiding : British Airways adopt such strategies in order to deal with people who don't
like to negotiate and adopts the theory of “wait and see” hoping that issues will solve their
own without putting any effort, which impacts negative behaviour on other workers as
well as on company.
 Collaborating : They are the one who solves issue in their creative and innovative way.
They are good in handling the concern of other workers. British Airways also have
Collaborators who identifies the underlying problem in the firm and tries to solve it by
satisfying both parties at their ow end.
 Competing: Competitive negotiators are the one who negotiates to win something. They
usually seek their own benefits while dealing with the issues of the company. As airline
sector is having such great competition, such negotiators help them in every aspect and
provide optimal solution to them (Reb and et. al., 2014). British Airways has adopt this
strategy in order to gain competitive advantage over their rivals. They are having their
unique style of overlooking bargaining process as they see conflict as a win lose situation.
 Compromising : British Airways also have Compromisers who deals fairly in the issues
and give the solution which is appropriate at the end of both parties. Such strategies
critically analyse the problem and employee's opinion so to as provide better result which
affects worker performance and productivity.

Apart from this, Negotiation tends to increase the profitability of British Airways by providing
them better decision making process, solve problem in creative and innovative way, higher
confidence, personal development, willing to take risk, providing benefits to the company
without seeking own opportunity. It has raise the standards of work environment in British
Airways.
TASK 4
4.1 Influence of EU on the industrial democracy in UK
Industrial democracy defines the relationship that exist between employees and employer.
EU has a direct influence on the organisation which operates under them. British Airways has to
adopt the framework consisting of various strategies that comes under the control of European
Union. As the working environment and cultural dimension are different from one organisation
to another, these policies determine the level of various aspects in context of political, social or
economical that influence directly on industry relation (Shaheen and Rainayee, 2012) . Union are
recognized as institution which are required to educate administration and their worker towards
better judgement making process. This has increase the performance and contribution of
employees towards the organisation. The role of council is to discuss about the long term
objectives and forecast the available opportunities and suggest measures to improve upcoming
potential which gives British Airways to achieve overall objectives effectively and efficiently.
There are various laws and legislation created by the EU should be followed by each and every
enterprise. In the context of industrial democracy, different provision has been provided which
promote such approach and build a healthy relation with them in the longer run. Furthermore, it
lead to increase the skilfulness of British Airways workers which contributes in generating
revenue for them (Silva and et. al., 2010).
4.2 Various methods that gain Employee Participation in Organisation
There are various method by which employee can participate in the process of decision
making that creates value for the organisation and enhance the working environment that lead to
accomplish the goal of the business enterprise. Following are the methods which has adopted by
the British Airways in order to improve the participation of their employees which are detailed
below :

 Participation at Board Level : Employees at Board Level works on protecting the
interest of other employee's. They first analyse the problem of the employees at their own
end and then put in front of the management and guide them to provide solution in the
best possible way so as to satisfy their workers.
 Participation through Collective Bargaining : This includes collective participation of
employees so that they can mutually decide the rules and standard which gives them
higher satisfaction level (Snodgrass, 2012).
 Participation through Ownership : British Airway can make their employee as the
shareholder of their company so as to provide them ownership and involve them in the
process of decision making which helps them to grow personally and professionally.
 Participation through Control : British Airways have self-management groups, which
deals with issues or the problems faced by their worker on the behalf of administration
and provide optimal feasible solution to them which as result, enhance their performance
level.
 Participation through Quality Circle : British Airways have several Quality circle
which comprises of five to ten people who are specialist in a particular job area. They
meet often to identify the problem and then evaluating them so as to give effective
solution related to their respective operation area (Sonnentag and et. al., 2013). It refers as
a constructive approach which deals in improving the work environment of the business
firm.
 Participation through Job Enrichment : British Airways are required to appraise
employees for their good performance by giving them additional benefits in the form of
incentives, bonus which motivates them. They are required to give freedom to their
workers in context of utilizing their experience, knowledge and judgement while handling
the day to day operations of the Organisation.
 Participation through Suggestion Schemes : British Airways are required to offer
various schemes to their potential employees in context of safety measures, cost cutting,
reward measures in terms of incentives and bonus, retirement payouts etc. which helps in
improving the work culture and environment.

4.3 Impact of human resource in Employee Relation
The main objective of HRM is to reduce the rate of labour turnover ratio. The success and
failure of any business enterprise is directly relative to the relation, shared among their workers.
British Airways are required to maintain healthy relation with their employees and bind them
together in order to get best out of them. They can also provide various training and development
sessions to employees which improves their performance and work attitude effectively and
efficiently towards the organisation and also motivates them to retain for longer period. British
Airways believes in “put people first” theory which enables their staff to change their attitude
and behaviour towards the customer. HR team is required to organize small get together at the
workplace which ensures that employees are interacting with each other (Tangthong and et. al.,
2014). Also they can celebrate birthdays of their personnel falling at the end of every month.
They can also arrange extra curricular activities which gives them break from their hectic
schedule and fresh up their minds. Warm welcome should be given to new joining. It is very
important in airline sector that their female employees should know basic knowledge of how to
do make up, so the HR of British Airways can also provide training to their female staff members
in context of doing make up, dressing, hairstyle etc.
D1 Critical reflection to evaluate own work
Employee relation generally defines the relationship that exist among the workers of the
organisation. As a HR Manager, I would recommend that British Airways should focus more on
providing adequate training to their staff in context of grooming them. I came to know that they
believe in theory of “Putting People First” which changes their attitude and behaviour towards
the client which are the key essential part of such sector. Satisfied client, will increase the
chances of their contribution in generating revenues for the firm (Van derand et. al., 2011).
Therefore, British Airways are required have efficient workforce and make strategies that
enhances their profitability.
D2 Responsibility for managing activities
As a HR manager of British Airways, my responsibility is to satisfy the employee's by providing
them healthy work environment and culture. It is essential to know your employees first, their
pros and cons so that company can work on it and make them more effective. Also to motivate
them, HR team is celebrating the birthdays of their employees falling at the end of every month.
It is very important for any organisation to involve their workers in the decision making process.

British Airways is also doing the same job in context of involving them and listening their point
of view which might help the enterprise to end with something creative and innovative.
D3 Demonstrate Convergent and Lateral Thinking
British Airways can consider employee's as their shareholder so to provide ownership to
them and include them in the process of decision making, thus motivating them to grow on both
personal and organizational level. They can also rethink their recruitment and selection process.
Also they are required to identify the specialised skills and capabilities of their staff which help
them in making Quality Control Group of their organisation.
CONCLUSION
As per the above mentioned report, it has been concluded that the relationship between
the employer and employee is very important in increasing the productivity and profitability of
the business entity. It assist in the growth and success of the company. It has become essential for
the company to build an effective relationship between them so that functions can carried out in
an efficient manner. Moreover, this type of relationship act as tool in accomplishing goals and
objectives of the firm. By the retention of staff members, deliver effective services to the
customers will become easy for British airways. Furthermore, by analysing the pluralistic and
unitary frames of perspectives, effectiveness of trade association can be identified easily by the
firm. Some key players such as government, labour union, manager and workers, are also defined
in the report. Their engagement is important in maintaining good employee relation. Apart from
this, the organisation follow effective procedures for reducing conflicts. Negotiations also plays
an important role in maintaining relationship.

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