Human Resource Management in British Airways: A Case Study

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes HRM in the service industry using British Airways as a case study.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN
SERVICE INDUSTRY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................2
1.1 An analysis of the role and purpose of human resource management in a selected service
industry with reference to British Airways..................................................................................2
1.2 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......................................................................................................5
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................8
2.1 Assesses the current state of employment relations in the airline industry...........................8
2.2 Discusses how employment law affects the management of human resources within British
Airways......................................................................................................................................10
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................11
3.1 Discuss a job description and person specification for a selected service industry job.......11
3.2 Compare the selection process of different service industries businesses...........................13
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................15
4.1 Assess the contribution of training and development activities to the effective operation of
a selected service industry business...........................................................................................15
Merit points....................................................................................................................................17
M1. Identify and apply strategies to find appropriate solutions................................................17
M2. Select/ design and apply appropriate methods/ techniques................................................17
M3. Present and communicate appropriate findings.................................................................17
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................18
References......................................................................................................................................19

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Cabin Crew Job Description............................................................................................10
Table 2: Cabin Crew Person Specification....................................................................................10
Table 3: Comparison of Selection Process....................................................................................11
Table 4: Difference between Training and Development..............................................................13

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Role and Purpose of HRM...............................................................................................3
Figure 2: Collective Bargaining.......................................................................................................8

Introduction
Human resource management is an essential function of British Airways as it helps in selecting
and recruiting the best-suited candidate for the jobs available in the service firm. British Airways
is a leading airline organization covering around 183 destinations and employing a huge number
of employees which is introducing a new flight service at Madeira. The HR plan required for the
above purpose will be discussed in the report below. The current report will also discuss the
effect of employment laws on human resource management in the service firm. At last, the
management of employee relations for increasing the motivation of employees will also be
discussed. The effective HRM is necessary for the airline industry as the employees are directly
involved in providing services and facilities to the passengers of the airline. The flight attendants
and staff help the passengers to have a safe and comfortable journey.
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Task 1
1.1 An analysis of the role and purpose of human resource management in a selected
service industry with reference to British Airways
Meaning of HRM:
Human resource management in every enterprise is an essential function of managing and
motivating human resources to gain their commitment and loyalty. In context with British
Airways, HR function plays a significant role in recruiting and selecting qualified staff to meet
the business requirements and goals (Quinlan, et, al., 2019).
HRM purpose in British Airways: HRM deals with the planning, recruiting, training, foresting
and development of human resources in the firm. The main purpose of HRM in British Airways
is to gain a competitive advantage so that they can attract more customers to their airline service
industry. It is an important function of the HR manager of the firm to maintain positive employee
relations in the firm.
The functional areas of human resource management include planning and creating the human
resource strategy for British Airways. The recruitment and selection activity of the organization
is also carried out by the human resource management which includes inviting the candidates,
selecting the right candidate and providing them training and development. The employee's
performance is also managed and the best performing employees are rewarded.
Roles of HRM:
Role of compensation management: HR manager of British Airways is required to make
effective compensation plans for their employees along with providing fair and equitable rewards
to increase satisfaction as well as employee trust and loyalty.
Role of job analyst: HR manager is responsible for filling the vacant job positions in business.
For this, the manager is required to collect appropriate data and information regarding the
available jobs to prepare job descriptions and other related documents (Lohmann and Zur
Muehlen, 2016).
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Role of HR planner: British Airways must have an appropriate HR plan to gain business
objective which is the role of HR managers. The plan should be based on the supply and demand
of staff members including other important factors.
Role of management of employee relation: Healthy and positive union-management relations
will increase the efficiency of business as well as the efficiency of the service industry. HR
manager must provide motivation and encouragement to their employees being a specialist to
maintain good relations in the firm.
Role of a recruiter: It is an important role of the HRM department of British Airways to select
the right candidate for the right job with the right skills to enhance business growth and success
in the firm.
Figure 1: Role and Purpose of HRM
(Source: hrlearnersguide.wordpress.com, 2012)
Hard and Soft HRM:
Hard HRM in the firm will focus more on the profit maximization by controlling and monitoring
the activities of British Airways and does not treat employees as valuable resources. Soft HRM
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in British Airways will give importance to motivating their employees to gain their commitment
and loyalty towards the objective accomplishment of the firm (Rahman, et. al., 2017).
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1.2 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.
Human resource planning in British Airways:
Human resource planning in the firm is conducted to analyse the existing manpower position and
the desired manpower position to minimize the gaps between them for achieving the long term
business goals and enhancing productivity and profitability.
An effective HR plan is supposed to implement by the HR manager of British Airways for the
purpose of introducing a new service of flight to Madeira. The plan must include the staff
requirement and their working hours for job roles like Cabin crew, Engineers, Admin staff, staff
for cleaning etc. The supply and demand of the staff included in the HR plan must be flexible as
it can be affected by internal factors and external factors of the environment or by the conditions
of changing the environment (Jekiel, 2016). HR plan helps in fulfilling the recruitment needs of
the organisation and helps in executing the business activities effectively. The supply and
demand of the employees in the organisation may differ. The supply refers to the availability and
willingness of the candidates to apply in the airline industry for the job vacancy. The demand
refers to the organisation inviting the applicants for different job positions. HR plan is given
below:
HR Plan:
Staff job
roles
Skills and
knowledge
required
Part-
time/Full
time
Per
week
working
hours
Number
of existing
employees
Percentage
of
Employee
turnover
Need or
demand
staff
Engineering Appropriate
knowledge about
the functioning
Part
Time
28
hours
200 15% 150
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and operational
activities of the
flight along with
knowledge about
flight issues.
Admin staff Skills required for
Admin staff are
equipment
handling and
managing, self-
motivation skills
and proper
communication
skills (Rey-Martí
et.al, 2015).
Full
Time
29 hours 110 19% 210
Cabin Crew Effective
interpersonal and
interactive skills
and appropriate
leadership skills as
well.
Full
Time
34 hours 170 23% 180
Pilots Pilots are required
to have an
attractive and
pleasant
personality and
must have
knowledge about
various flight
functions.
Full
Time
30 hours 100 29% 90
Baggage Must have Full time 33 hours 170 34% 310
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Handlers quickness and
speed at their job
role and be able to
understand the
customer queries
by having
effective
communication
skills.
Cleaning
staff
Candidates are
required to have
self-motivation for
completing their
job role along with
having the
knowledge about
safety principles.
Part-time 32 hours 190 37% 160
Flight
attendant
Must have
problem-solving
skills to solve the
problems and
complaints of
passengers (Lee-
Post 2019).
Part-time 32 hours 120 21% 190
The above HR plan is showing the requirements of the staff members for the new flight service
at Madeira along with the total working hours so that British Airways can maintain their new
service appropriate with the right kind of skilled and qualified staff for available jobs at the right
time so that the firm can expand their business and can attain profits and success (Jiang and
Zhang, 2016).
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Task 2
2.1 Assesses the current state of employment relations in the airline industry
Meaning of employment relations:
An effective relationship between employees of the service industry with their employers to
jointly accomplish the business objectives is termed as employment relations. British Airways
must provide motivation and encouragement to their employees as they are considered as the
most valuable resources so that they can gain their trust and loyalty (Jacoby, 2018). The key
trade unions are the group of employees who are organized together for the protection of the
rights and interest of the people of the business organisation. The trade union helps the
employees to discuss their job problems and issues.
The current state of employment relations:
British Airways has implemented various methods and efforts to maintain healthy relations at
their firm as it is one of the largest serving airline industries which is covering over 200
destinations by employing a huge number of employees. The turnover of employees in the
service industry can be decreased when the firm has good and positive relations with its
employees. For increasing the opportunities of employees for their growth and development,
British Airways must develop a positive environment and healthy working conditions in the
workplace. The managers of the airline industry must solve the issues and problems which are
becoming hurdles for the enhancement of employee's work performance. Profitability and
growth of the firm can also be achieved if the employers maintain positive and good bonding
with the workforce.
With the increase of strikes in the airline industry, the positive and maintained employment
relations within the firm can be affected negatively. Because of the changes in staff members by
the firm, the relationship of the current Cabin crew with British Airways is disrupted. For
maintaining healthy relations in the organization, the following factors can be taken into
consideration:
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