HRM Strategies and Practices: A Case Study of British Airways

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Human Resource Management for
Service Industries

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................2
1.1 Analyse the role and purpose of human resource management in a selected service
industry........................................................................................................................................2
1.2 Justify a human resources plan based on an analysis of supply and demand for a selected
service industry business.............................................................................................................4
LO2..................................................................................................................................................6
2.1Assess the current state of employment relations in a selected service industry....................6
2.2Discuss how employment law affects the management of human resources in a selected
service industry business.............................................................................................................8
LO3................................................................................................................................................10
3.1 Discuss a job description and person specification for a selected service industry job.......10
3.2 Compare the selection process of different service industries businesses...........................13
LO4................................................................................................................................................15
4.1Assess the contribution of training and development activities to the effective operation of
a selected service industry busines............................................................................................15
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................17
Reference.......................................................................................................................................18

Introduction
Human resource management is a significant part of an organisation for managing the human
resources. With effective HRM practices the organisation can attain proper resources utilization
and competitive advantages. In this current report, British Airways is considered for
understanding the Human Resource Management Service Industry. Here, functions and purpose
HRM will be discussed. Selection process of two organizations is compared along with
discussion regarding the process and importance of training and development for business
growth and expansion.
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LO 1
1.1 Analyse the role and purpose of human resource management in a selected service industry
HRM function and operations are one of the most important parts of any organisation, as it is
responsible for effective management of the human resources available within the organisation
for attaining the pre-determined goals and objectives. HRM or Human Resource management is
all the activities that are executed by HR managers of an organisation for managing and
establishing coordination among all the resources.
Purpose of HRM: British Airways or BA offers Airline services. The organisation provides
services to more than 570 destinations serving thousands of customers. The operations and
functions of the organisation need thousands of employees to attain the aims and objectives of
BA. The HRM of British Airways needs to work effectively for developing employee relation
and for developing a high skilled team with proper management to gain competitive advantages
(Analoui, 2017). Main HRM purpose in BA is to hire, select and recruit proficient, experience
and skilled employees for the organisation for executing various functions to serve customers.
The function of the HRM in the organisation includes various activities like planning,
forecasting, training, and development and so on.
Role of HRM in business organisation: One of the most important tasks performed by the
Human Resource Management is to perform different activities including creating strategic and
operational plan for the organisational business for accomplishing its goals and objectives. In
BA, the manager are responsible for developing strategic plans to improve the employees in
terms of their skills and proficiency for performing their role and responsibilities more efficiently
Few HRM role of the BA is discussed below:
To plan and forecast: HRM works to develop or creates operative plans for the organisation by
estimating all the possible requirements of human resources in advance. Forecast of the HRM
department is mainly associated with the available Human Resources which involve creating
appropriate business strategies and recruiting skilled employees in the organisation for
minimising the gap among necessity and requirement of human resources (Armstrong, and
Taylor, 2014).
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To recruit employees: Selecting and hiring the employees of an organisation is one of the
significant functions performed by the HRM department. The employees are the important asset
of a services industry to serve the customers as per the business standards to competitive benefits
according to the market demand.
To provide training and development program: The next step after completion of the
selection process is to provide session of training and development. The training must be offered
after analysing the employees in terms of their performance and efficiency while working as per
their job specification. Performance analysis helps the manager to provide suitable training to the
employees with a motive to enhance their knowledge and skills according to business
requirements.
To develop employee relationship: The HRM also has the responsibility to maintain and
develop healthy environment in the organisation for encouraging proper employee-employer
relationship. The managers must introduce various policies and strategies like reward system to
motivate the employees for their efforts toward the organisation.
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1.2 Justify a human resources plan based on an analysis of supply and demand for a selected
service industry business
The business organizations in the sector of service industry requires an operative HR plan with a
motive to identify and understands the organizational need regarding Human Resources for
performing various tasks and activities to serve the customer in an un-interrupt manner. HR plan
for BA has been discussed below according to which the HR manager can opt to recruit new
candidates as per requirement.
Table 1: BA HR Plan
Employee’s
Roles
Skills needed Working
Hour
(weekly)
Existing
Employees
in number
Staff
requireme
nt
Employee
turnover
Job
specificati
on
Engineering Knowledge
REGARDING
flight
functionalities and
operations,
possible issues
and ways to
mitigate them.
30 260 280 15% Full Time
Cabin Crew Proper leadership
skills,
Communication
skills, customers
handling,
attractive
personality with
interpersonal
skills
36 180 250 32% Full Time
Pits Proper skills and
knowledge
regrading flights
24 55 75 30% Full Time
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handling.
Cleaning
staff
Alert regarding
health and safety
values. Energetic
to clean the airport
premises.
36 90 150 27% Part time
Administrativ
e staff
Equipment
handling,
Customer service,
communication
skills.
32 180 200 32% Full Time
Baggage
Handlers
Good decision
maker,
Communication
skills and
customer handling
36 120 240 25% Part time
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LO2
2.1Assess the current state of employment relations in a selected service industry
Presently, the industry offering Airline services is growing rapidly at international level. The
rapid development is due to technological advancement and competitive market. Thus, to survive
the present fluctuating business environment and for proliferation in the profit margin, the human
resources are the significant assets that are responsible for offering services to the customer as
per the present market demand for attaining competitive advantages (Belobaba, et al 2015). The
organisation hence needs to maintain good employment relationship for sustaining the
continuous growth and development. The organisation with effective employment relationship is
beneficial for the business for enhancing productivity, communication and quick responses.
BA is an International Airlines organisation and is effective in carrying over 33 million
passengers globally covering 570 destinations. The organisation presently has a team of 40,000
employees that are working for serving organisation to offer services to the customers as per
their demands. Therefore, British Airways put efforts over maintaining healthy employment
relationship within the organisation for enhancing the productivity. This strategy will be helpful
for BA to minimizing the percentage of employee turnover and to stabilize the overall business
functionality with the skilled and trained employees (Bratton, and Gold, 2017). The HRM has
the responsibility to create and maintain balance between employees and employers.
British Airways must focus upon providing a positive and healthy work environment for
increasing the employee’s efficiency. The organisation should conduct training and development
programs for the employees to make them efficient and developing their skill in personal and
professional level. This helps in maintaining healthy employee relationship and attaining their
trust for the organisation. However, this function is not a part of BA’s business process. But it
indirectly supports the organisation to increase the performance and production. In case of BA,
the organisation has positively maintained healthy and friendly employment relationships.
But, a distress situation has come across in recent time where the British Airways is having a
disturbed affiliation with the team of its cabin crew because of changing situations and market
demands. This crisis is responsible for reducing the number of job opportunities even in the
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global market. British Airways in insisting in adopting various factors that helps in endorsing
healthy environment in the organisation for the workers. The organisation should offer
prominence in work practices in create healthy environment. For enhancing the performance and
to reduce the effort required for performing various tasks the organisation put emphasis on
implementing innovative tools and technology (Brewster, and Hegewisch,2017). In BA, the
overall process of Employment engagement in the organisation is offered mainly by enhancing
skills and knowledge of the employees to delivered high performance.
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2.2Discuss how employment law affects the management of human resources in a selected
service industry business
Employment laws also known as labor laws are assortment of different laws which are created
and applied in an organisation for maintaining and controlling effective relationship among
employees and employers. Irrespective of name, size or values of organisations some or other
kind of employment laws are applied for safeguarding both employees and business. The
Employment laws contain number of rules and regulations which are considered to be very
important to reduce conflict and for maintain harmony and peace in organisation (Brewster et al
2016). State and federal laws are considered by an organisation before designing their
employment laws to offer different benefits and rights to the employees.
One of the significant reasons for encouraging the employment laws of an organisation is for
reducing any kind of injustices done by the organisation to its employees on the basis of race,
caste, age or gender. Proper implemtation of employment laws ensures that all the employees of
the organisation will be provided with equal opportunities and benefits minimising any kind of
discriminations. The employees can be makes sure that the organisation is offering them with a
healthy and safe working environment.
The most important and toughest acts implemented in an organisation are employment relations
act and employment right act (Harvey, and Turnbull, 2016). These acts are effective in providing
guidelines to the organisation as well as the customers concerning policies, grievances, roles and
responsibilities, trade unions, and termination, etc. Both the laws are very significant for the
service industry acting as a assistance for performing various operations and functions of the
organisation for business growth and expansions. These laws mainly cover the management of
available human resources, considering factors like social, economic, and politics.
Health and safety work Act, 1974: As per this act, organisation must uphold proper
fundamental structure for determining the rule and regulations regarding health, welfare and
safety of the employees working in organisation of UK. This act states that, organisation is
responsible for giving safety and security training to the employees for avoiding any kind of
accidents or misfortune in workplace. Example: In BA, the technical team should be provided
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with proper regarding various safety measures and tools that must be implemented in case of
emergency.
Equal opportunities Act: According to this Act, the organisation is restricted to encourage any
kind of discrimination or inequality in the workplace amongst employees. The organisation
requires providing equal opportunities to the employees regardless of their sex, religion, race,
caste, etc. In case of British Airways, employees are given effective training for improving their
present knowledge and skills considering the present market trends (Holloway, 2017). The ideas
and opinions of HR officers are not considered during the process of employee recruitment. The
employees must be offered with equal opportunities to eligible candidates according to their
skills, work experiences and knowledge.
Employment right act: According to this, an organisation should be focusing on various factors
like salaries, working hours, etc. Organisation should be concern regarding the satisfaction level
among employees in the workplace for attaining high efficiency and production. The HR
department is responsible for identifying the need and demands of all the employees. And
accordingly training programs are held for the employees for improving their performance and
efficiency as per the organisational need. British Airways consider applying this act for reducing
any kind of conflicts among the employees and for enhancing the business environment.
The human resources management is an important function of British Airways for gaining
competitive advantages in the present competitive market. But the overall process is quite
complicated and complex including various activities for creating a friendly and healthy relation
between employees and employers (Marchington, et al 2016). The organisation with proper laws
and Acts will be effective in developing effective brand image amongst customers related to
work satisfaction.
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LO3
3.1 Discuss a job description and person specification for a selected service industry job
Both selection and Recruitment process in an organisation is an important tasks as this function
is responsible for determining and identifying the most suitable candidate for the available or
vacant post. Identification of prospective candidates with appropriate knowledge and skills is
referred as recruitment. This process assists the HR managers of BA for selecting the most
suitable person in the organisation for performing their job as per the specification and
description prevailed.
Job Description: This is referred to a document which defines all the roles and responsibilities
along with the tasks to be performed by an individual hired for a particular position. Job
description is also known as internal statement that has detailed description according to which a
task is performed maintaining the set organisational standards (Noe et al 2006).
In case of British Airways, the job description discussed below is of a cabin crew. Cabin crew or
flight attendants are employed basically ensures comfort and safety to the passengers traveling in
the c flights. In the table below portfolio of job is offer along with other relevant information
such as job location, qualifications, etc.
Table 2: Job Description of the Cabin Crew
Name of the organisation: British Airways
Name of the post: Cabin crew
No. of post: 57
Age Limit: 18-25 years
Salary: £15,000 -£25,000 a year (non-negotiable)
Purpose of the job:
To retain good relationship and understanding with customers for offering them a safe and
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