Travel and Tourism Management: HRM Practices at British Airways

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UKCBC
TAVEL AND TOURISM MANAGEMENT
hUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT FOR SERVICE INDUSTRIES
Assignment
Mihaela Mihalachioaei
May, 2019

MIHAELA MIHALACHIOAEI
17002232
BATCH CW-T-D12
UNIT Human Resources Management for Service Industries
COURSE Travel and Tourism Management
LECTURER Maryam Hamedi
ISSUE DATE 04/03/2019
SUBMISSION DATE 28/05/2019
COLLEGE UKCBC
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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................2
Task 1:....................................................................................................................................3
1.1: Role and purpose of human resource management (HRM)......................................3
1.2 Justify a human resources plan based on an analysis of supply and demand HR
Planning..............................................................................................................................5
Task 2:....................................................................................................................................8
2.1: Current state of employment relations in the airline industry..................................8
2.2 Discuss how employment law affects the management of human resources in a
selected service industry business........................................................................................9
Task 3:..............................................................................................................................11
3.1: Discussion of job description and personal specification for Cabin Crew..........11
3.2: Selection processes of Cabin Crew and Transport for London...........................13
Task 4:......................................................................................................................................15
4.1: Guidance notes for trainee managers............................................................................15
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................18
References................................................................................................................................19
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Introduction
This report aims to discuss human resource management, employee laws and employee
relations and their impact on human resources management at British Airways. The report is
also outlines recruitment & selection process and training & development programs in Airline
industry.
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Task 1:
1.1: Role and purpose of human resource management (HRM)
HRM is an essential department of the organizations, which is responsible to manage the
human resources in proper manner and maximize the organizational performance.
Planning and forecasting: In an organization, HRM plans and forecasts the needs of human
resources and makes efforts to fulfill these needs and wants in proper manner. British Airways
considers planning and forecasting as a principle function of HRM in establishing and
pleasing the business strategies (Nickson, 2013). Proper planning and forecasting is also
helpful in recruiting a correct number of employees as per requirement of the company (Noe
et al., 2017). In this concern, the purpose of HRM in British Airways is to fill up the gaps
between the required numbers of employees.
Recruitment procedures and Contract of employment: In service industry, HRM is
considered as a major function of recruitment and selection of the employees to manage the
business operations of the organization (David, 2013). HR department of British Airways tries
to recruit skilled and experience professionals to provide the excellent services and to be
competitive in the associated industry. In addition, the human resource department of the
company also plays an essential role in making employment contracts with the employees and
retain them for long-term with the company (Wright, 2018).
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Training and development programs: The training and development programs are essential
for the organizations to enhance the knowledge and capabilities of the employees at the
workplace (Wright, 2018). The HR managers of British Airways has responsibility to provide
appropriate training and development programs for the employees from time to time to enable
them accept the business challenges and resolve these challenges with innovative approaches.
Maintain relationship among the employees: HRM department is responsible to maintain
healthy and strong relationship between the employees of British Airways. In this concern, the
HR managers try to have high-quality communication at the workplace between the
management and employees to bring prosperity in the business (Harvey et al., 2013).
In order to accomplish above roles and purposes, the human resource management of British
Airways considers both Soft and Hard HRM approaches. Both of these approaches are
different from each other. The Soft HRM approach mainly focuses on maximization of
interests of the human resources while Hard HRM focuses on betterment and expansion of the
organization ( Ihuah, 2014). British Airways considers Soft HRM practices to have focus on
emotions and feelings of the employees at the workplace to motivate them and increase their
satisfaction at the workplace. On the other hand, the company considers Hard HRM approach
to maximize the utilization of existing resources in business operations. The organizations
cannot achieve the business objectives in proper manner with use of a single approach (Ishak
et al., 2011). Therefore, HRM considers both Hard and Soft HRM approaches for growth and
productivity of the British Airways.
1.2 Justify a human resources plan based on an analysis of supply and demand HR
Planning
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HR planning is defined as a process of identifying current and future human resources needed
by the organization to achieve the strategic objectives. HR planning is essential for an
organization to maintain the business operations in proper manner.
In peak summer season, British Airways increased four flights from Heathrow and four
returning from Madeira per week and three flight from Heathrow and three returning from
Madeira per week, the rest of the year. In order to manage the operation of these flights, the
company will require additional human resources with proper analysis the demand and supply
of the services. In this concern, the HR plan for these operations is prepared as below:
Employees Employees
number
Average salary
per year
Total expenses
per year
Pilots 2 83,000 pounds 166,000
Copilots 2 65,000 pounds 130,000
Fly attendants 16 23,000 pounds 368,000
Coordinator ground
operation
10 20,300 pounds 203,000
Baggage handler 8 21,900 pounds 175,200
Cargo agent 2 20,400 pounds 40,800
Forklift operator 2 30,000 pounds 60,000
Cleaners 4 18,400 pounds 73,600
TOTAL 1,216.600 pounds
Identify the main positions: It is the first step of HR planning of British Airways, where the
HR managers identify the required positions to manage flight services to Madeira in proper
manner. After the analysis of required position, the HRM department conducts recruitment
and selection process to fulfill these positions (Nagendra and Deshpande, 2014).
Recognize the qualities and skills required: At this step, the required skills and capabilities
of the employees are recognized openly. It is identified by the British Airways what all the
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skills and qualities are compulsory in the individuals and what the company is trying to find
the employees to provide an edge to airline services.
Recruit competent employees as per the suitability of the identified positions: It is the
third step of HR planning, where the organizations recruit maximum number of employees
who have required skills and capabilities for the available positions. For this, recruitment
advertisement is given by British Airways as well as, the management also recruits employees
from the hospitality management universities to manage the flight services in better manner
(Anca-loana, 2013).
Selection of most excellent suitable candidates on the basis of interviews and aptitude
tests: At this step, the company selects most excellent candidates through interview and
aptitude tests. This process enables British Airways to select skilled and qualifies candidates
to fulfill the identified vacant potions.
Evaluate and monitor the plan: It is the last step of HR planning, where the HR plan is
evaluated for checking of the efficiency of developed plan. In this step, it is analyzed that
whether the organizational objectives are achieved or not with implementation of the HR plan
(Momin and Mishra, 2015). The gaps are identified and filled by British Airways to improve
the effectiveness of HR planning.
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Task 2:
2.1: Current state of employment relations in the airline industry
In an organization, the management of employment relations refers to co-operation and
understanding of the organization among its employees. The management of employment
relations supports or co-ordinates the employees at the workplace and avoids conflicting
situation at the workplace (Bakker et al., 2012). Generally, the employment relations are at
satisfactory level in airline industry. It is analyzed that the airline industry has made the
employment relations through unionization, which is a process of arranging the employees in
proper manner. In airline industry, the unionization works as a liaison between management
and employees to resolve the existing issues such as health and safety issues at the workplace
in easy manner (Poynter, 2013). In addition, the unionization administers the working
environment and develops effective and healthy communication between the top, lower and
middle management. Under the unionization, a union leader is selected by different
employees. The union leader collectively bargains for the employees of the airline
organizations and negotiate for better working environment protect the employee rights at the
workplace. In addition, a clear organizational policy is also an effective example of
relationship between the employees and management. Clear organizational policies such as
leave policies, code of conduct, discrimination policies and privacy policies in Airline
industry presents that there is better relationship between the organizations and employees
(Imangulova and Kolesnyk, 2016).
The employment laws are considered as principles that determine the operational activities of
the airline organizations and how the policies must be shaped for human resource
management in the airline organizations. The employment laws are stated to protect the rights
of individuals at the workplace and maintain strong relationship within the management and
employees. The employment laws also state minimum wage for the human resources who are
working in the airline industry (Hepple, 2013). It would be necessary for the airline
organization to pay according to the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 in which the fixed
working hours beyond which the employees are not allowed to work. This act is covered
under the Working Time Regulation 1998 and other laws such as right to leave and flexible
working hours. It is essential for British Airways to consider these laws while developing
employment policies for the employees.
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2.2 Discuss how employment law affects the management of human resources in a
selected service industry business
The management of human resources of British Airways is affected by the employment laws
in big manner as the employment laws forces the management to achieve the organizational
goals and objectives in disciplined manner. British Airways considers different employment
laws such as Health and Safety Act 1974, Equal Pay Act, Working Time Regulation 1998,
Equality Act 2010, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), Fair Credit
Reporting Act (FCRA), Family and Medical Leave Act and employer’s liability Act 1969
towards the employees (Felstiner, 2011).
These employment laws provide rights to the employees to keep the employment contract to
work in a healthy and safe working environment (Barnard, 2014). In this concern, the
employment laws are related to the protection of employee rights at the workplace. The
Health and Safety Act enables British Airways to develop a healthy and safe working
environment, where the employees can work intentionally. Equal Pay Act contains
information regarding the same wage for men and women for same position and the Working
Time Regulation provides information regarding maximum working hours for the employees
at the workplace (Wintemute, 2016). As per the Equality Act, British Airways cannot
consider any type of discrimination of sex, age, race or disability among the employees at the
workplace as it is illegal for the organizations. As per this Equality Act, all of the employees
must be treated in similar manner (Kyriakidou et al., 2016). British Airways provides similar
opportunities for all of the employees without considering any discrimination based on sex,
age, race and physical disability. In addition, paternity and maternity leaves are allowed for
the employees as soon as the children are born. Employment Act 2002 has provided new
legislations related to the paternity, maternity, adoption leaves and pay in company with
amends in the Tribunal system (Bhorat et al., 2014). The changes are reformed the existing
labor laws in United Kingdom. These amendments also transformed the employment policies
of British Airways to improve employee satisfaction at the workplace. In this concern, it is
analyzed that employment laws have influenced the employment policies of the organization
in favor of the employees and develop a safe and healthy working environment for the
employees.
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Task 3:
3.1: Discussion of job description and personal specification for Airport Operations
Manager.
Meaning of Job Description
A job description can be defined as a document that can help in providing an outline of the
job duties and tasks of the job roles for which applicants are applying. This description is
prepared by the such employees of the organization who is responsible for carrying out the
selection process either with the help of external recruiter or Hr department of the
organization.
Importance of Job Description
Job description is an important part of the process of job application as it can help the
applicants in a positive manner to know that if they are capable to perform the required duties
and have sufficient skills for the same or not. In ad be addition to this, It is beneficial for the
organization as recruiter can be assured that applicants having related skills required the job
itself. It also helps the recruitment and section department to restructure the selection process
and to pay high degree of concentration to the suitable applicants (Hannah, 2019).
An airport operations manager is responsible to find out the overseas requirements and
facilitates is the implications regulations and rules within the airport. This position plays an
important role in running the functions at airport in a smooth manner. Thus, It is required to
have a job description before applicants to know the duties and responsibilities for the job role
for which they are going to apply. This would help them to discover a lot about this profile
and analyse the skills and their appropriateness to meet the requirements.
The job description for Airport Operations Manager for British Airways can be defined as
follows:
Qualification Requirements:
An airport operations manager is required to have a number of management skills in addition
with a wide knowledge of airport systems. This qualification can be gained if an applicant has
some experience from management as well as technical background that can help him to
know about the technicalities of planes and aircraft etc. Thus, minimum educational
requirement for this position is a bachelor's degree in the field of business administration. In
addition to this, candidates having degree in the field of aviation can also apply for this job
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position. Applicants having minimum number of five years experience in the field of aviation
can also apply for this job.
Skills Required
here are some important skills that are must while working as an airport operations manager:
 He /she must have reflective management skills that are required to maintain the
policies and standards of the airport and also helps in the implementation of new
approaches and methods (Ishak et. al., 2011).
 He/she should also possess some knowledge of organizing and managing the
equipments and also to contribute the customer satisfaction.
 He/she should have knowledge about how to communicate with the clients as well as
the customers to make effective and profitable business deals.
 Knowledge of management practices and principles that are applied in the airport
operations.
 Knowledge of different weather conditions.
 Capability to develop and manage effective professional relationships at workplace.
 Ability to handle a team and to improve the productivity of employees.
Job Responsibilities of an Airport Operations Manager
 To ensure the well functioning of all departments and proper coordination among all
departments of Airport.
 To coordinate with the clients and to make beneficial deals for the organization.
 Looking after and maintenance of equipments and operational staff members.
 He/she will also supposed to arrange as well as attend the training sessions for
employees and staff members working as customer support executive within the
airport.
 To ensure the implication and enforcement of regulations and policies in airport to
meet the state level and central level legal requirements and to ensure the safe
operational environment in airport.
 He/she is also responsible to decide the budget in order to provide benefits in long
term by implementing new projects and up gradation of new airport facilities.
 Airport Operations Manager is also responsible to carry out inspections on the
periodically basis to ensure that all policies and regulations are followed or not along
with the proper functioning of all equipments (David, 2013).
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