Human Resource Planning and Employment Relations in British Airways

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
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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 justification
of the staff roles and numbers of staff and hours of work required to deliver the new flight
service to Madeira........................................................................................................................4
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................7
2.1 Assesses the current state of employment relations in the airline industry...........................7
2.2 Discusses how employment law affects the management of human resources within British
Airways........................................................................................................................................9
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................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...........................12
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................14
4.1 Assess the contribution of training and development activities to the effective operation of
a selected service industry business...........................................................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
References......................................................................................................................................17

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: HR Plan.............................................................................................................................4
Table 2: Cabin Crew Job Description............................................................................................10
Table 3: Person Specification........................................................................................................11
Table 4: Selection Process Comparison........................................................................................12
Table 5: Training and Development Difference............................................................................15

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: HR Functions and Activities............................................................................................3
Figure 2: Training and Development.............................................................................................14

Introduction
Human resource management is essential in airline industries as it helps to acquire talents staff
for the availability of different job positions in order to gain productive output of the business.
The below report will be explained by taking the example of British Airways which is a leading
airline organisation focusing on offering appropriate and attractive services to their passengers
for having a competitive advantage. Job description and person specification for the position of
cabin crew because of changes in staff will be highlighted in this report along with the methods
of selection.
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Task 1
Introduction
British Airways is introducing a new flight service and planning to expand it is business and
growth. For this, the HR officer is required to prepare a well-organised HR plan to minimise the
gap between supply and demand for human resources.
1.1 An analysis of the role and purpose of human resource management in a selected service
industry with reference to British Airways
Definition of HRM
Human resource management is a systematic process of providing adequate motivation, training
and rewards to the manpower working in any organisation to maintain healthy relations and
positive work environment within the workplace. This function is equally important in the
service industry like British Airways as it helps in recruiting and managing trained and skilled
staff for the job roles like Cabin Crew and other staff to providing qualitative services to their
customers (Chelladurai and Kerwin, 2018).
Role and purpose of HRM
HR officer in British Airways is responsible for managing the people at work and plays an
essential role in solving the issues which are hindering the achievement of business objectives.
HR officer plans to recruit efficient staff and implement appropriate strategies so that they can
fulfil their purpose of gaining the competitive advantage for the success of the business and to
increase their sales by attracting more customers for purchasing their services and products.
Along with this, the significant roles and duties of HR officer in British Airways is to analyse the
jobs in the organisation, conduct HR planning, hire competent staff, provide the required
compensation, managing the rewards and to develop positive relations among employees and
employers of the organisation.
Functional activities of HRM British Airways
HR strategy: HR department of BA are responsible for forming the strategy and plans which are
adequate to attain the objectives of the business. The strategies are related to recruitment and
selection, reward and performance management, training sessions, employment relations so that
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the trust of employees can be gained for contributing efficiently in the accomplishment of
business purposes (Dhar, 2015).
Recruitment and selection: by conducting HR planning, BA identifies the need for manpower to
perform various tasks and activities. The HR officer adopts an appropriate process of recruitment
to attract a large pool of skilled candidates. After that, a systematic selection process takes place
which includes interviews and some job knowledge tests.
Performance and reward management: this motivational technique implemented by the HR
officer of British Airways to enhance the performance of an employee and increase
organisational efficiency. The example is performance feedback approach of 360 degrees for
managing work performance in BA (Gabriel et.al, 2016).
Training and development: this function in BA focus on proving training to their employees
every month whereas the development process of employee takes place twice a year for
improving business performance.
Figure 1: HR Functions and Activities
(Source: http://fosybyhovexixudic.polkadottrail.com, 2019)
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1.2 The creation of an HR plan, based on an analysis of supply and demand, with justification of
the staff roles and numbers of staff and hours of work required to deliver the new flight service
to Madeira.
HR planning in British Airways
Human resource planning takes place within the organisation to analyse the need for future
manpower along with the identification of current manpower so that the gap between them can
be fulfilled and business objective of gaining more profits can be accomplished (Baum, 2016).
The HR officer of British Airways is required to form an appropriate HR plan so that the
recruitment of new staff for the new airline service introduced by BA can be fulfilled. The flight
is from Heathrow to Madeira. The staff like Cabin Crew, Admin staff, cleaning staff, engineers
and pilots, etc will be required. Along with the team, the plan must include the working hours
and skills needed in the new staff members. It is difficult to produce an HR plan because its
success may get affected by various factors. To avoid the negative effects of internal and external
environmental factors, the HR plan must maintain flexibility in the supply and demand of new
required staff. The supply of staff includes the existing employee for the new service while
inviting other candidates for the job role will involved in the staff demand.
HR plan
Table 1: HR Plan
Roles of
Employee
s
Skills
Required
Job
Type
Number of
working
hours per
week
Number
of
Current
employees
The
current
ratio of
employee
turnover
Staff
demand
Cabin
crew
Customer
handling skills
and polite
communication
, delivering
efficient
Full
time
32 158 21% 160
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services and
must have
management
skill (Sharma
et.al, 2015).
Admin
staff
Required
equipment
handling skills
along with
managing,
appropriate
communication
and self-
motivation
skills
Full
Time
28 100 10% 200
Staff for
Luggage
handing
Skills for
Luggage
management,
problems
handling skill
and
communicating
skill.
Part-
time
33 160 31% 310
Pilots Must have an
attractive
personality
along with
adequate
knowledge
related to flight
functions
Full
time
29 890 25% 90
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(Chen, 2016).
Cleaning
staff
The candidate
is required to
be polite, must
have hygienic
factor along
with
knowledge
about health
and safety
principles.
Part-
time
31 170 35% 160
Engineers IT sector
knowledge,
understanding
about the
functions and
operations of
flights.
Full
time
34 220 17% 180
Justification of the HR plan
The above plan of HR in BA will support in fulfilling the staff needs for the success and growth
of the new service. Cabin Crew for the flight must have adequate knowledge of flight functions
and operations. The pilot must have a pleasant personality. Engineers are required to be efficient
in handling IT problems. Cleaning and luggage handling workers are needed to have problem
handling and communication skills. On the other hand, Admin Staff must be self-motivated and
have proper communication skills. Fulfilment of the identified staff requirement shown in the
plan will lead to gain success (Choung, and Hwang, 2018).
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Task 2
Introduction
The HRM function of BA can get affected by the negative impacts of employment relations
which are currently prevailing in the organisation as well as by the laws and regulations of UK
government formed for securing employee rights and interests.
2.1 Assesses the current state of employment relations in the airline industry
Employee relations in BA
Employment relations and its management in BA is the major responsibility of the HR officer as
it helps in gaining the commitment of their employees by creating a positive work environment
and providing them timely rewards and incentives. They must focus on implementing
appropriate motivational plans to reduce the turnover of employees and increase their retention
rate. For example, the Trade unions within the workplace help the employees to resolve the
problems and issues of BA employees which they are facing to avoid conflicts (Poole, 2017).
The current state of employment relations
British Airways have a large number for employees who are providing qualitative services to
attain the satisfaction of their customers. Thus, it is the responsibility of the HR officer to take
necessary steps regarding the management of employee relation to increase their employee’s
motivation level. For instance, to minimise the employee turnover rate, the organisation has
implemented adequate plans like offering lucrative rewards, benefits and incentives to boost their
morale for efficiently performing their job role. To avoid the conflicts and critical issues faced
BA, it is essential to develop a positive and healthy work environment within the workplace. On
the other hand, because of the non-fulfilment of employee’s rights and interest, the trade unions
have supported the employees to implement strikes so that their issues can be resolved
(Arrowsmith, 2018). HR officer is also required to resolve the affected relationship with the
current cabin crew which can affect another employee because of changes planned in the staff of
airline firm.
Employee relation Act, 1999 and its impact
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This act and its application in BA include the rights and amendments related to labour law
involving the role of trade unions to manage labour relations. For example, a trade union in BA
for providing support to employees and become a mediator is selected through voting basis. To
manage the work culture and avoid conflicts and labour problems, unionisation plays the most
important role. As per this law, employee relations in BA are needed to be maintained positively
by engaging them in decisions so that they can give their suggestions and can share their issues.
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