British Airways HRM: Employment Relations, Law, and Training

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Human Resource Management for Service Industries
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................4
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................7
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................10
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
Reference list.................................................................................................................................17
Appendix........................................................................................................................................19
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Introduction
Human Resource stands for the department managing the people in an organization and the
people working for the organisation. The need to understand the need of the employees in an
organisation and to deal with the motivation of the people working there, the term Human
Resource came into being. Human resource Management describes the whole process of
managing employees in a company. It focuses on certain key areas like recruiting, staffing,
training, employee elation with organisation and organization’s development.
The Airlines service is highly dependent on two major factors- the industry is highly safety
sensitive and it has to provide a broad service to meet the demand of consumers. Moreover,
Airline service industry is highly dependent on size, geographical coverage, and market share.
To determine the best candidates to take charge of the highly advanced technology, the human
resource managers have to select ideal candidates for this purpose. To understand the
competitiveness and to develop a strong global image of the brand, the role of human resource is
pivotal role.
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Task 1
Understand Human Resource Management
Introduction
Human resource management has gained momentum over the past few years and when it comes
to the aviation service industries they play a very pivotal role. The role of the human resource
managers includes many duties starting from recruiting, staffing, salary determination, training,
the profitability of the organisation, the development of the employees and what not.
1.1 Analyse the role and purpose of human resource management in a selected service
industry
While discussing the role of HRM in British Airways, what comes first in mind is that the
Airways require a huge safety for which properly fitted candidates are to be chosen to perform
duties of the highly sensitive technology. The human resource managers, here, plays an
important role in choosing the ideal candidates for the role. They help in an enormous way to
develop the culture of the organization. The human resource managers encourage the employees
to work better and provide strengths to the employees. The positive side of the HRM of British
Airways is that they get themselves engaged with the employees and communicate to understand
them and this helps in bringing out the best of the employees (Bailey et al., 2018). They result in
measuring the employee engagement. The HR department has a line of managers who provide
feedback to the HR Department. They regularly monitor the performance and this result in
imparting discipline to the employees. The British Airways have realised that proper
management of the organisation can be managed only through the proper management and
engagement of the employees. Engaging the line managers have shaped up the work of the HR
Managers also they can take effective measures in recruitment, selection, employee relations,
reward management the performance appraisal. British Airways view the planning of human
resource as decisive for two most crucial processes.
Recruitment- The recruitment process in British Airways is given utmost importance. The level
of expertise that is needed for the pilots is very decisive. The quality of service provided by the
front desk and customer care executives should also be very polite as customers are very
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sensitive (Whyte and Bytheway, 2017). The activity of all professional has a huge impact on the
performance level of the organisation.
The training and compliance is where the HR Department’s role is again very important. British
Airways has been subject to many challenges since its inception. Proper training and compliance
help an organisation to perform greatly. The role of Human resource lies in identifying the areas
where training is needed (Kavanagh and Johnson, 2017). Another important role signifies the
duty of implementing proper compliance with state laws and federal laws (Rice et al., 2015).
These are key areas in maintaining workplace regulations and rules and compensation
requirements.
The main purpose of the British Airways service is to assess the requirement of the manpower in
the organisation which further accomplishes the attempts to perform well.
1.2 Justify a human resources plan based on an analysis of supply and demand for a
selected service industry business
The demand and supply of personnel in the market are estimated and then accordingly the future
demands of the company are determined and then the expected availability of the resources is
calculated (Elshkaki et al., 2016). The British Airways is starting a new flight from to Madeira.
For this, the requirement of staff, their roles and their working hours are stated in the report
below.
The activity of the British Airways comprises of a structure that is a continuous process and it
keeps on cycling. The demand of the manpower is assessed and then the demand is forecasted
followed by the forecasting of the supply (Olmos et al., 2017). The demand and supply are
matched and then the action plan is prepared. After completion of this whole process again a new
assessment of the manpower gets started.
With the introduction of a new flight to Madeira, twenty more staffs are required. Among that,
five new pilots would be allotted through the external process of recruitment and they would be
employed based on their expertise. Vacancy for ten staffs has been allotted among them five
would be cabin crew and five would be ground staff. There are five more vacancies which are
allotted for front desk staffs. The British Airways give importance to the safety and service to the
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customers for which the candidates would be properly judged before being employed. the ground
staffs would be responsible in helping the customers as and when need. They will have to keep a
constant track of the checking process and should be very active during the boarding processes.
Hours of work would be ten. The duty hours would be in shifts. The shifts would be from
morning 8am-6pm, 12 noon- 10 pm and 9pm-7am. Ideal candidates would be selected based on
their performance during the recruitment procedures. The selected candidates would be given
proper training. They would be well explained about the need and work procedure of the
company.
Conclusion
Human resource management helps in the development of an organisation. The performance of
the company and their up-liftment depends on the performance of the employees there. The
employees are chosen by the HR manager and so here lies the expertise of the human resource
manager. Since British Airways need an excellent team to work they deploy an expert group of
people and give them a good training so that they can meet the expectation of the organisation by
meeting the expectations of the customers.
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Task 2
Understand the effect of employee relations and employment law on service industries
businesses
Introduction
Employment relationship defines a fine and legal relationship between the employer and the
employee which exists when an individual starts working under certain specifications and
conditions in return of certain remuneration (Denzin, 2017). There are some rights, obligations
and reciprocal demands between the employer and the employee. This employment relationship
continues to be the main arm through which every worker gains access to some rights and
advantages that are associated with the employment in areas of law, security, labour, and
remuneration. British Airways, one of the largest in the aviation industry, has developed a good
employment relationship with its employees.
2.1 Assess the current state of employment relations in a selected service industry
The main issue for all the managers is to focus (Dittmar and Duchin, 2015). The attention of the
managers should be such that should directly affect the performance of the employees in a
positive way. Once the positive psychology starts affecting the employees, the outcome will
result in a better performance. When it comes to the aviation industry the employment
relationship should be very good because that directly affects the performance of the pilots and
the staffs delivering service to the customers. Once dissatisfied with the employers that might
have a negative effect on the service towards the customers which would eventually affect the
organisation in a negative way.
British Airways stands as one of the largest aviation companies in the whole world. It keeps on
recruiting an innumerable number of employees around the world. The recruitment depends on
the basis of best performance and appropriateness towards the work (Halligan, 2017). Trade
union plays an important role while speaking of the staffs of the airlines. BALPA is the trade
union of the pilots of British Airways, BASSA stands for the cabin crew members and Unite the
Union represents the other employees of the organisation. British Airways have built up the
employment relationship through communication, negotiation, consultation with the employees’
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representatives from different trade unions about the changes. They have made the employees
acquainted with the work type and the changes. The company also keeps on making practice
visits in order to monitor the performance of the plans that are launched by the other companies.
They do so in order to develop the best strategy possible for success in the issues of the
employment relationship. Some strikes and disagreements between managers and employees
have resulted in a difficult situation (Rahim, 2017). The company is making changes in staff
contracts and this is creating problems for the Unite the Union to represent the staffs. Jobs are
being cut due to some Global crisis and this affecting the British Airways too but the employees.
But the present employment relationship of the British Airways is almost positive. The incident
in the Heathrow airport had resulted in less communication between the trade union and the
managers to keep the employment relation barrier safe. The company is trying to make a cordial
relation with its employees and this has resulted in nil chaos between managers and employees.
But the job cutting, no payment of wages and restructuring of contracts have resulted in strikes.
BA is expected to adopt further development in technology; it should increase the quality of
working ambience. The Union is still optimistic that a positive outcome will come which will be
advantageous for both the employees and the company (Hirsch, 2017).
2.2 Discuss how employment law affects the management of human resources in a selected
service industry business
There are some issues which have affected British Airways regarding the employment laws and
structure. The Aviation industry is continuously changing the laws regarding the staff
employment and the revised structure is affecting the employment. They are also cutting down
jobs and are not giving proper wages which stand as an obstacle in employing candidates. They
are paying half of the full salary to those who are working part-time but they are compelled to
work for more hours. The contractual shift pattern of British Airways meant that the full-time
employees would have to work for 243 days every year although the actual pattern shows they
have to work for 130 days according to the wage they receive. The recent laws of the Aviation
department show that the parameters to determine airworthiness, the maintenance of the aircraft,
conditions for flying and safety are to be strictly followed. The British Airways has abided by the
rules. They even recruit on the basis of performance who can abide by the rules and who are
highly advanced in taking care of the technology that is coming in for developments. The
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candidates should be competent enough and it is the duty of the HR manager to recruit those
candidates who are apt for the job.
Conclusion
The continuous changes of the laws and regulation in the employment affect the HRM in both
negative and positive way (Korff et al., 2017). The companies sometimes change the structure of
recruitment and even the working procedure of the employees which are not acceptable by the
employees and they keep a pessimistic view on the employer. They feel they are working more
and getting less pay. The employer has to keep in mind all the regulations put forward while
choosing the candidates. In a positive, it helps the company to bring in fresh blood who can
easily adapt the new advancements. Once the candidates are employed according to the new rule
and they have to work in the new pattern they do not feel any regret. Sometimes, the old
employees also accept the new rules and enjoy the changes. But for the British Airways, they
keep in mind all the aspects and recruit accordingly. Sometimes the new laws create problems
but they try to cope up with it.
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Task 3
Understand the recruitment and selection process
Introduction
It is essential for companies in the service sector to apply effective and appropriate recruitment
process. Selection of employees using various screening methods will ensure the company
acquires skilled, honest and hardworking individuals in their work environment. The following
study will provide an extensive understanding regarding the recruitment and selection process
implemented by the HR department of British Airways for recruitment of cabin crews in their
international and domestic flights. The section will also compare the selection process between
the British Airways and Transport for London to understand the various methods used in
different companies operating in the service industry of the UK economy.
3.1 Discuss a job description and person specification for a selected service industry job
The British Airways (BA) has a specific set of requirements for the recruitment of cabin crew in
their London City team of cabin crew for BA CityFlyer. The airlines company demands that their
cabin crew perform their duties keeping the interest of the customers as a priority. Safety and
security of their customers are a priority for the airlines company in their product designing and
service development plans. The primary job role of a BA cabin crew is to ensure the operational
safety, security and maintenance of appropriate health standards within the tourism sector. The
cabin crew has to comply with the norms and regulation set by EASA and the British Airways
CityFlyer. The employee has to follow every legal regulation that apply to their job role and
deliver excellent services according to their service standards and behaviour. The cabin crew are
expected to act as representatives of the organisation and be an ideal role model to other crew
members and customers while maintaining the uniform standards. The crew members have to
follow strict Safety and Equipment Procedures of the BA as well as those of the external
stakeholders.
The person specification that the BA seeks for employment in their cabin crew has to possess
certain basic qualifications. The company is seeking to employ individuals who are 18 years and
over at the time of applying for the post. They need to be fluent in speaking and writing English
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as it will be beneficial during communicating with the customers. The potential candidate has to
possess a valid passport and unrestricted rights to live and work in the UK. The individual must
be capable of unrestricted global travel and be able to perform their duties with the organisation
for 24 hours, 7 days and 365 days of the year for their entire career with the BA. The potential
candidates are required to go through an appropriate criminal record check to ensure the cabin
crew do not have any recorded criminal activity in any of the residing countries they may have
stayed for longer than 6 months (Airways, B. 2019). They should also be able to provide
satisfactory references for the past five years to the employers. The potential candidate has to be
ready for spending long periods of time away from family and home; they need to be ready for
stand-by duties from the closest airport base.
The individuals applying for the role of cabin crew with BA must not possess any visible tattoos
or piercings that cannot be covered by the mandatory uniform of the BA that every cabin crew
within the organisation are required to wear. The potential candidates must not hide tattoos with
plasters and bandages. Following these requirements would allow the candidates gain an
opportunity with the BA as cabin crew.
The organisation also seeks several behavioural requirements of their employees. The candidates
applying for the post of cabin crew must appreciate the causes that the company stresses on
customer safety and security within the organisation. They have to be passionate in delivering
excellent service every time. Enjoyment while interacting with the customers and placing the
customers’ needs and requirements as a priority is demanded of every cabin crew of BA. The
cabin crew members must be able to respect every culture and treat every individual with
equality and deal with any conflictive situation deftly (Careers.ba.com. 2019). The ability to
build professional relationship with their colleagues is another behavioural quality the BA is
looking for while recruiting cabin crew members for their CityFlyer flights.
Refer to Appendix
3.2 Compare the selection process of different service industries businesses
The selection of staff varies in the service sector of the UK economy. The process used by
different organisations in order to accept candidates for different positions in the company are
determined through a variety of job requirements that the candidate has to follow in order to gain
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employment with the particular employer. The following table will compare the selection
process for cabin crew of British Airways (BA) and the selection process of customer services
assistant in Transport for London (TfL), Victoria Coach Station.
Steps of selection BA Cabin Crew TfL, Customer Services
Assistant
Application form The candidates have to apply
for the post from the form
posted on the company’s
official website.
The candidates can apply for
the post after filling the forms
on the official website or
through a recruitment agency.
Filling questionnaires Candidates have to go through
an extensive process of
screening due to the range of
questionnaires present in the
application process.
A short questionnaire is
provided to the candidates in
the official website in order to
screen employees who are fit
for the role.
Job position selection The candidates have no scope
of selecting any particular
position they wish to fulfil in
the organisation since the
company provides vacancies
for particular job positions on
their website at a time.
Applicants have the
opportunity to select a
particular job position they
wish to fulfil within the
organisation. The company
posts every available position
at the same time.
Interviews Interviews are conducted after
several assessments and role
play sessions are done and
candidates have been
evaluated on those.
Psychometric tests and
reasoning tests are conducted
online.
A single interview is
conducted for the job position
after the candidates are
evaluated through online
situational judgement tests.
Medical and background Medical and background Employers conduct a medical
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