Strategic HRM: A Case Study of British Airways' Flight Operations

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes HRM in the service industry, focusing on British Airways.

Human Resource Management in
Service Industry

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................2
An analysis of the role and purpose of human resource management in a selected service
industry with reference to British Airways (AC 1.1, M3)...........................................................2
Justify a human resources plan based on an analysis of supply and demand for a selected
service industry business (AC 1.2, M3).......................................................................................4
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................6
Assesses the current state of employment relations in the airline industry (AC 2.1, M1)..........6
Discusses how employment law affects the management of human resources within British
Airways. (AC 2.2, M3)................................................................................................................7
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................9
Discuss a job description and person specification for a selected service industry job (AC 3.1,
M3)..............................................................................................................................................9
A comparison of the selection processes of British Airways (Cabin Crew) and Transport for
London (TFL) (e.g. role of Customer Services Assistant in Victoria Coach Station) (AC 3.2)11
Assesses the contribution of training and development activities to the effective operation of
either British Airways or Transport for London (AC 4.1, M1).................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
References......................................................................................................................................16

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Functions of HRM............................................................................................................2
Figure 2: Training Methods..........................................................................................................12

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: HR plan..............................................................................................................................4
Table 2: Job Description..................................................................................................................9
Table 3: Person Specification........................................................................................................10
Table 4: Comparison of the selection processes of British Airways and TFL..............................11
Table 5: Training and Development..............................................................................................13

Introduction
Human resource management can be defined as the management of employees for raising the
overall efficiency and productivity of the organisation that contribute towards achieving defined
goals and objectives. The report will highlight the role and purpose of Human Resource for
appropriate operations of the new airline services from Heathrow to Madeira. It will also focus on
importance of employee relations in British Airways (BA) along with various employment laws. The
organisation for its new services needs to hire cabin crew and therefore the following report focus on
person specification and job description. Training and development of employees will also be the
part of the report.
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Introduction
Human resource management plays an important role in managing the employees of the
organisation and therefore the task will highlight the importance of role and purpose of human
resource management in the airline industry. Human resource is also responsible for analysis of
supply and demand so that appropriate number of employee can be employed for the functioning
of new flight services offered by British Airways and therefore the task will formulate the HR
plan.
Task 1
An analysis of the role and purpose of human resource management in a selected service
industry with reference to British Airways (AC 1.1, M3)
Human Resource Management can be defined as the process that contributes towards
management of staff members or employees in any of the organisation for its betterment. British
Airways operates as an airline service industry and HRM has major over recruitment and
staffing, defined appropriate roles and responsibilities to employees, compensation and benefits
along with the motivation to enhance the overall performance of the employees (Bratton and
Gold, 2017). In context to service industries like British Airways (BA), Human Resource must
focus on appropriate arrangement of staff members for providing satisfaction to customers by
using appropriate communication and skills and for these functional activities of HRM in context
to BA are as follows:
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Figure 1: Functions of HRM
(Source: Kelly Max, 2016)
HR strategy: The function aims at integrating culture of the organisation, existing systems, and
its employees by maintaining co ordination between certain set of activities for attaining business
goals and objectives. HRM in context to BA must focus on aligning organisation goals, mission
and vision.
Recruitment and selection: As per the given scenario there is need of recruiting new staff
members for the functioning of new flights, and therefore HRM must focus on identifying skills
of candidates as per the business standards so that travellers boarded on the new flights can be
served in the most appropriate manner (Kelly Max, 2016). Selection is the process to ensure an
appropriate number of employees at the right place and time.
Rewards: HRM in British Airways focuses on motivation of employees that puts positive
influence on their overall performance. As per their performance, employees are provided with
financial and non-financial benefits for enhancing their motivation so that customer services can
be improved.
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Performance Management: This can be define as the process used by the HRM to make sure
that all the employees within the organisation are aware about expected level of performance as
per their role. As per the new airline services, HR focuses on aligning the entire workforce,
improving performance of the employee, building competencies for driving the better outcomes
of the business.
Training and Development: The need for improvement is identified by observing the
performance of employees as well as by comparing the expected and actual business outcomes.
By such comparison, there is greater need of arranging training and development sessions for
enhancing the skills of employees in both professional and personal manner so that new and
existing customers of BA can be served in a better manner (Larsen, 2017).
Therefore it can be said that HRM plays an important role as their main purpose is to arrange the
most appropriate human resources for BA so that new flight services can be provided to
travellers in the most effective manner. The main motive is to recruit the individuals with
appropriate communication skills as customers associated with airline industry demands
fulfilment of their needs without any interruption.
Justify a human resources plan based on an analysis of supply and demand for a selected service
industry business (AC 1.2, M3)
Human Resource plan plays an important role in determining the current and future needs related
to human resources in the organisation so that set business targets can be attained. The plan
successfully establishes link between strategic plan and HRM processes. In context to BA, The
HRM plan will identify number of staff members required for performing activities and
functions for new flight services and will identify the methods on how to recruit the employees
(Ramdhani et.al.2017). The development of plan is important as it helps to adopt the changes by
predicting the future needs of human resources. The plan is significant as it connects operational
strategy with business strategy of BA.
The plan will analyse the supply and demand of human resources as it is one of the most
important part of the HR plan. There is greater need of analysing demand and supply as it
identifies existing number of human resources along with added cost spend by the organisation
while procuring new staff members. The current plan is related to new Madeira services that will
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identify the number of staff involved such as admin staff, engineers, cabin crew, and pilots for
both peak and off peak seasons.
Table 1: HR plan
Staff Roles Part-
time or
Full
time
Desired Skills Required
number of
staff needed
(demand)
Hours of
work
(Per
week)
Current
Number of
employees
Staff
turnover
Pilots Full
Time
Attractive personality along
with excellent knowledge of
functioning of flights.
70 28 hours 80 27%
Engineers Full
Time
Must possess technical skills
so that issues within the
flight can be resolved
without any interruption.
180 30 hours 220 16%
Cabin Crew Full
Time
Must be confident while
serving travellers. Excellent
interpersonal,
communication and
problem-solving skills.
170 33 hours 160 22%
Cleaning
staff
Part-
time
Posse’s knowledge related to
health and safety standards
and must be self-motivated
in taking initiatives for
maintaining the cleanliness
of airport premises.
140 31 hours 180 36%
Baggage
Handlers
Part-
time
Must be quick in their work
with an ability to resolve
customer queries.
320 32 hours 150 32%
Admin staff Full
Time
Communication skills, self-
motivation skills are
important for admin staff.
260 33 hours 130 22%
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Conclusion
Based on the above task, it can be concluded that various functions of human resource
management are effective for the functioning of service industry. Recruitment and selection of
the employees in the most appropriate manner by analysing demand and supply which is
effective in attaining business goals and objectives. Therefore the report has successfully
identified the required staff roles along with staff turnover so that appropriate number of staff
members can be employed.
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Task 2
Introduction
Employment relation within the airline industry plays an important role in avoiding conflicts so
that goals and objectives of the business can be attained effectively. Relationship between
employer and employee will result in minimising conflicts, and therefore the task will focus on
assessing the current state of employment relations within the airline industry. In addition to this,
employment legislation also play an important role in maintaining the relationship between
employer and employee, and therefore the task will discuss on how employment laws influence
the management of human resources in the service industry.
Assesses the current state of employment relations in the airline industry (AC 2.1, M1)
Employment relation is referred to as understanding among the employees of the organisation
that support them to work with mutual understanding so that conflicts can be avoided. Enhanced
relation between employees and higher authorities of the organisation will further contribute to
attaining desired goals and objectives.
Employment relation is highly influenced by various factors such as global competition, low-cost
airlines, changes in technology and nature of jobs. With the increased competition within airline
industry, the successful organisations have led to decreasing the cost of airlines for increasing the
overall sales. It has also encouraged the organisations to adopt the technology which eventually
has increased the unemployment within the airline sector (Troy, 2016). This result in conflict
between employer and employee within airline industry which can be resolved with the help of:
Trade Unions: This can be defined as a group of workers who work in unity for attaining
common goals to protect their rights in terms of safety standards and interests, for gaining higher
compensation, to improve working conditions, likewise. Trade Unions also help to resolve the
grievances. Functioning of trade unions is highly influenced by various factors that include
working environment and culture of the organisation. For instance, the culture of British Airways
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expects the staff members to dress in professional manner which might result in conflicting
situations.
In addition to this, dissatisfied or unequal wages will lead to actions such as strike that will
influence the profitability and productivity of the organisation. To resolve such issues, collective
bargains are the process under which workers negotiate with employers for their demand in term
of promotions, wages, and employment terms. Reconciliation and consultation are also effective
in resolving disputes among employees.
Employee participation and empowerment: Staff members within the airline industry are
encouraged to participate in decision making and planning process of various activities as well as
involve them while assigning roles and responsibilities that contribute towards attaining
organisational goals and objectives (Kim and Fernandez, 2017). Such type of involvement will
result in fewer conflicts among employees. Empowerment is one of the important processes that
support that encourage them to work as per the assigned responsibilities for providing higher
customer satisfaction by using their skills.
Discusses how employment law affects the management of human resources within British
Airways. (AC 2.2, M3)
Employee rights are concerned with an employment contract that is being formulated by the HR
of the BA by assuring that employees work in a healthy and safe environment. The employment
contract ensures that employees are provided with appropriate training, and can successfully
access their personal information.
In addition to employee rights, employment laws are formulated for protecting the employment
rights such as The Equal Pay Act, which highlight the equal pay policies for both the genders in
the organisation by considering the criteria’s of equal jobs, timings and etc. In addition to this,
Employment Relations Act states the appropriate relationship amongst the employer and
employee (Barrow and Lyon, 2018). To protect the rights of employees within BA, the act is
effective in formulating some rules and regulations to identify the reasons for conflicts.
Employees Rights Act is to protect the rights of employees in terms of minimum wages, flexible
workplace practices as well as other terms and conditions included in the contract. Equal
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