Human Resource Management Analysis for British Airways

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) within British Airways, a major player in the service industry. It begins by outlining the fundamental roles and purposes of HRM, emphasizing its critical impact on organizational success and growth. The report delves into the strategic planning aspects of HRM, particularly in relation to the launch of new flight services, such as the Madeira route, detailing the process of determining staffing needs, formulating recruitment strategies, selecting employees, and developing effective training programs. Furthermore, the report examines the current state of employment relations within British Airways, exploring the influence of employment laws on HRM practices. It also includes a detailed job description and person specification for cabin crew roles, comparing the recruitment and selection processes of British Airways with those of Transport for London. The importance of training and development in the service industry is highlighted, along with discussions on performance management and employee compensation strategies. The report underscores the significance of HRM in ensuring customer satisfaction and maintaining a skilled workforce in the competitive aviation sector.

Human Resource
Management For Service
Industries

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1. The role and purpose of human resource management in British Airways.......................1
2. Creation of plan for Human Resource to deliver the new flight service to Madeira..........3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
1. Current State of Employment relations in the British Airways Company.........................5
2. Employment law influence the management of human resource within British Airways. 7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
1. Job Description and Person Specification of Cabin Crew of British Airways BA CityFlyer.
................................................................................................................................................9
2. Comparison of selection process of British Airways and Transport of London..............10
Transport of London..........................................................................................................11
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................12
1. Training and development in service industries businesses.............................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Human Resource management is the most important department in an organisation
operating in all type of industries. Human resource management is the modern approach of
maintaining people at workplace which focuses on acquisition, development, utilization as well
as maintenance of human power in power (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). It is development
oriented and it is for all levels. They provide space for engagement of employees, performance
as well as growth. HRM plays a crucial role maintaining quality team of working experts. This
report is based on British Airways company which is one of the largest company in United
Kingdom which was founded in 1974. British Airways was established by the government of
Britishers. International Airlines Group is the parents company in the parent company of British
Airways. Its headquarters are located in Waterside, Harmondsworth and United Kingdom.
Company recently have 45000 employees. This present report will provide a detailed
understanding on human resource management in service industries. Addition to this, this
assignment will also cover the role and purpose of human resource management in service
industry. Moreover, the effect of employee relations as well as employment laws will also
illustrate in this assignment. The process of recruitment and selection and importance of training
and development in service the business of services industries will also include in this study.
TASK 1
1. The role and purpose of human resource management in British Airways.
HR manager has significant role to play in an enterprise. Success and growth of an
enterprise is completely based on the performance of Human resource department. Important
role of human resource management team is to make plans for driving firm towards success and
growth. It is the duty of Hr manager to fulfil the human resource requirement of an organisation.
Human Resource management is the most essential department of all type of companies as well
as of British Airways company. The service industries now account for over 70% of employment
in the industrialized economies of the world (Role and Purpose of HRM, 2017). The managers of
British Airways in human resource is the most essential elements of a successful business as it
provides a productive thriving manpower in the company. HRM is basically a systematic
procedure of planning, acquiring, managing and training and development workforce in the
company. In order to maximize the profitability and efficiency of company, HRM plays a vital
role. As transport in service sector, it is very important to deliver quality of services to customers
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in order to make sure the optimum level of satisfaction to customers, and this is only possible if
company have skilled and knowledgeable employees (Marchington and et.al., 2016). Thus, there
are numerous roles plays by human resource in British Airways which are as follows-
Planning of Human Resource- The department of human resource in British Airways is
responsible for planning the workplace for company like pilots, crew members, air hostage,
avionics technicians, airborne sensor operator, navigator, radio operator, flight attendant and
some other requirements for employees in managing the entire organisation. On the other hand,
HRM planning is based on some techniques of forecasting like number of workers retiring from
job or they are going on leave. Addition to this, HRM planning is also based on the nature and
size of company. British airways have a very big operation, thus it is very important for the
managers of human resource to identify the needs of current and future workforce in British
Airways. If planning is not effective than it is not possible to achieve goals and objectives of
company in effective manner (Bratton and Gold, 2017). Planning of HR is a continuous process
in order to achieve optimal utilization of a company's most valuable assert which is human
resource. Human resource department bin British airways influences all employees by
developing policies. Role of human resource manager in British airways is to formulate
strategies for motivating employees to improve their performance and inspiring them to increase
their participation in business activities. This department is mainly response for employees’
costs.
Recruitment and Selection- This is the critical success factor for all companies as well as
for British Airways. The entire success of company is depending on employee's performance and
skill and knowledge. Human resource department plays a vital role in achieving success by
effectively recruiting and selecting employee's. Recruitment is the process of identifying the
vacancy of job, de terming the requirements of job, reviewing the applications, screening, short-
listing and after than selecting the right candidate for right job post. The main intention behind
recruitment is to attract employees towards the desired job vacancy. Recruitment is the
fundamental function of HR managers of company. The policy of British Airways company in
recruiting and selecting employees is very effective and efficient as they include job
specification as well as nature, qualification, experience, skills needed for the performing the job
role. They follow both internal and external source of recruitment in order to hire employees
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within organisation. British airway's organisation consists of approx. 44000 employees including
16500 cabin crews and 3800 pilots.
Employees Training and Development- This is also one of the most crucial role that is
played by Human resource management of British Airways. In service sector, training and
development plays key role in achieving desired goals and objectives of British Airways. The
HR department of British Airways company is playing effective and efficient role in order to
ensure that the skill and knowledge of the employees are as per to the recent trends. For example,
On the job and Off the job training. Thus, the managers of HR in British Airways company
organize training and development for employees to make them trained in present market
(Collings, Wood and Szamosi, 2018). On the other hand, the department of HRM in British
Airways company also provide training making them technically skilled as well as competent to
achieve success in the next position. In the British Airways, new candidates are provided with
on the job training which enables them to develop skills and core competencies which is required
for performing specific task. In the on the job training method, an employee learns or gain
knowledge about job while performing it within the actual work environment.
Performance Management- This is also the most important role played by HR manager
of British Airways. They are accountable for developing a systematic system for performance
management. By developing this system, employees in the organisation remain motivated and
they put their efforts to present quality of work at workplace. It is also important that there
should be a care planning for employees to keep them motivated which HR managers of British
Airways company do.
Employees incentives and Compensation- This is also one another role played by
Human Resource management of company. They are responsible for designing as well as
implementing attractive incentives and compensation for employees in the organisation. It will
aid company to get better employees for the job as well as it also keeps them motivated. Human
resource manager in British Airways has introduced a reward system for encouraging employees
to improve their performance at workplace. (Boella, 2017). Both monetary and non-monetary
incentives are provided to workers those who make significant contribution in achievement of
goals by an organisation. This is the reason why employees are happy and satisfied with
company's operations and functions.
All the above roles are played by Human Resource Management of British Airways company.
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2. Creation of plan for Human Resource to deliver the new flight service to Madeira.
Human Resource planning is the most essential function of Human resource management
of British Airways company. The planning of Human resource is done on the basis of goals and
objectives of company. The main aim of planning human resource is to develop a plan to ensure
the right employees are selected for right job at right position. British Airways is going to start
some new flights to Madeira from Heathrow. The duration of flight will be four hours than there
will be four flights returning from Madeira per week in the peak season and three flights from
Heathrow and three from Madeira per week. Thus, it is required to create a plan which is based
on an analysis of supply and demand of human resources such as total number of employees,
roles played by them and working hour). The plan of HRM include the following:
 Determine the needs of human resource
 Determining the strategy for recruitment
 Select employee's
 Develop training program
Determining the needs of human resource- This is the part is heavily involved with the
strategic plan. This is first step which the HR manager of British Airways will follow. They will
make a plan according to the need of the project. Company is going to start a new flight service,
thus, HR have to recruit one flight attendant if company is going to start an air-plane of capacity
more than 19 but less than 51 passengers. On the other hand, if British Airway company is going
to start an air-plane of capacity more than 101 and less than 50 passengers than they have to
recruit two flight attendants (Ross, 2017). Other than that, they also have to hire many employees
like one pilot and one co-pilot and many other at back office and managers that manage other
activity at Airport.
Determining recruiting strategy- Recruitment strategy is also the most important when
company plan to do any new thing or to start any new project. The manager of company has to
make strategy that help them to recruit right person at right job at right position. There are many
strategies that HR manager of British Airways company have to formulate in order to
successfully start the air-planes and provide flight services to people. First they have to plan a
cost that what costs will be required in hiring staff and employees for the new project of British
Airways like the flight attendants get paid hourly ranges from $28 to $44. The demand and
supply of human resource from both external and internal sources. Thus, they have to select
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employees if company can pay. On the other hand, some another strategy that HR managers at
British Airways need to formulate are hiring employees for long term, treating applicants like
best customers. By making strategies company can implement their new project effectively and
efficiently.
Select Employees- After determining the needs of human resource and strategies for
recruitment, then HR managers of British Airways have to start the process of selection. It is
very expensive and critical process because company needs highly skilled employees as well as
long term employee's (Jackson, Schuler and Jiang, 2014). In British Airways, HRM follows three
tier interview because it is very critical job. Salary, benefits, leaves, compensation are all discuss
by HR manager in the process of selection.
Develop Training Program- Once HR manager have planned staffing, recruiting people,
selected employees and after then compensated them. It is very important to ensure that
employees who are working or who will work in British Airways Company. It is the duty of HR
managers to organize training and development programs.
A plan of human resource is entirely based on forecasting of demand and supply in British
Airways company stands justified because if offer some advantages like-
 Human resources are more efficiently used.
 Offer formal and proper approaches for planning human resource.
 Estimates the future trends for employee's demand and supply.
 Aim to improve the efficiency of all the workers as well as profitability of
company.
 Decreases the time taken to fill job vacancies.
TASK 2
1. Current State of Employment relations in the British Airways Company.
The legal link between employees and employers is known as Employment relations. It is
fact that every individual at the workplace shares a certain relationship with the other members
of company. Relationship exists when a person performs under conditions in return for
remuneration. It is the co-operation and understanding among the employees of company. The
employment relation in British Airways company is very effective and efficient. Conflicts and
confusion are reduced if employment relations are good and effective. In order to achieve the
desired goals and objectives, employment relations play vital role. British Airways provide a
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good as well as fail and equal treatment to all workers (Brewster, Chung and Sparrow, 2016). It
is not possible that employees work alone as human beings are not a machine that will start
working by pressing a button. Employees need to talk, discuss their thought, ideas and issues. If
the environment of company is isolated than there will be negativity in the atmosphere and even
not comfortable to work. It is very essential that employees share healthy relations with each
other. A good employment relation makes the work east as well as effective. The current state of
employment relations in hotel industry are demonstrated in various context which are as follows-
In 1945, The World Federation of Trade Unions was constituted that has main intention
to bring together the trade unions of the world. There is a group of individual that is called union
and they all unite or come together for a common goal to protect their safety and interest
standards, acquiring high benefits or incentives, developing a good working conditions etc. The
trade union of British Airways company works to unite the staff in order to save the interest
while working in the company and assist them to resolve these issues and difficulties. For
examples: human resource manager in British airways has fails to address the change in sales
and wages act, due to which a company has not increases the salaries of workers which has
negative effect on relationship between management and employees. During such time trade
union has helped both the parties in improving their relationship with each other. Human
resource management in an enterprise keep watch on amendments which has assisted firm in
maintaining strong relationship with workers.
Culture- The culture of British Airways company is very good and effective as the
members of company are very happy and satisfied with the culture and atmosphere at workplace.
The dress code of British Airways is formal attire and uniforms.
Collective negotiation and bargains- It is the process where all the employees of
company and employer (managers) negotiate upon the orbit of relationship of employment in
British Airways. The employees have power to make their managers agrees on their demands
such as hours, salaries, wages, promotion, other benefits or any other things which shows that
there is good and effective employment relation in the British Airways company.
Consultation as well as Reconciliation- It is the process where company follows to solve
the battles and conflicts in British Airways. This is the process which is done with the assistance
or support of companies like conciliation, arbitration services, Citizen's Advisory Office,
advisory and many other firms (Aryee and et.al., 2016). These are very important companies as
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these help to make a good working culture within organisation and it also improves the relation
of employees and employer.
Disciplinary Process-The disciplinary mechanism in the British Airways are addresses
through informal and formal meeting of employer(managers) with employees. It is very
important to organize meeting so that employees can speak about these issues and difficulties in-
front of managers. In British Airways company, they used to organize informal meeting within in
a month so they employees feel good and happy.
Employees Involvement and Participation- This is also a most important way to
maintain a good relationship with employees working in the organisation. The employees in
British Airways and all members of staff are allowed to participate in the decision making
activities of company or management. Addition to this, British Airways also allows their
employee's to participate in process of planning the roles and responsibilities of them so that any
changes will be made at that time. By involving employees in decisions making activities, it will
motivate employee's, reduces battles and conflicts, there will be productivity in their work etc.
There are so many advantages of taking employee's involvement (Lusch, Vargo and Gustafsson,
2016). In British Airways company, employees have given empowerment by assigning them the
responsibilities related to customer satisfaction at airways by their knowledge and skills.
It is recommended to company to offer career development opportunities to employees,
as this strategy will help firm in developing strong relationship with staff. British airways
company can hire external consultant for analysing the relationship between employees. In
addition to this internal audit can be conducted for examining the opinions of workers about each
other.
2. Employment law influence the management of human resource within British Airways.
The practices of human resources involve all the rights and activities which are protected
by the law of employment that confer the rights of employees as well as impose legal
responsibilities of employers. Human resource department of British Airways is also affected by
various type of laws of employments. It has both positive and negative impact. There are various
laws in employment laws that affects human resource management of company such as anti-
discrimination, wages and hour, leave provisions and medical and disability and many other laws
that influenced the HR decision of company.
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Employee Rights – There are some rights which saves the interest of employees in
effective manner like right to privacy, free from discrimination and fair compensation and these
affect global competition in the airline industry. Addition to this they also have rights to refuse
those work which are not safe for health or any things.
Here are some legislations and laws that affects HR decision and management of British Airways
company are as follows-
The Fair Labour Standard Act- In 1931 this law was enacted and was revised many
times. According to this law, it is mandatory for all organisation that they must pay minimum
wages or any overtime pay to employees that work over 40 hours in a week. It also forbidden
most employment of minors in oppressive child labour. This act also states that man or woman
both should be paid the same for same jobs (Deery and Jago, 2015). The government of UK has
set a minimum wage to £6.31 per hour. The human resource management of British Airways is
influenced by the law and these affect global competition in the airline industry. As they have to
plan their wages according to the act. They are not able to hire candidate who are under the age
of 18 and maximum is 30. HR manager should have to pay for overtime jobs.
Health and Safety Act- In 1974 this law was passes by government and was revised by
many times. According to this act, it is the duty of employer to protect the health and safety as
well as welfare at work of all the employee's working in the company. It is not limited up to only
customers but employer should have to protect the health and safety as well as welfare of
customers, clients, causal workers, visitors, passengers and all public who are attached to the
company. Thus, it affects the HR management of British Airways as they should have created a
plan to encourage health and safety at work place (Laszlo and Zhexembayeva, 2017). They
organize campaigns and programs to demonstrate a good health and safety within organisation.
They should provide proper training to employees at British airways that how they can safe here
life if any incidents or accidents happen at air-plan and these affect global competition in the
airline industry. Addition to this, they should have to inspect at the work place on regular basis.
The Civil Right Act- In 1964, this law was passed by government and was revised by
many times. According to this law, employees are protected from discrimination on the basis of
race, caste, colour, region, sex or religion. If in the case, BA does not follow than it is forbidden
to discriminate any person or employees to discriminate any employees on the basis of race,
caste, colour, region, sex or religion. If any company do so, serious action will be taken on the
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company. Addition to this, no company can refuse to recruit or select or dismiss candidate on the
basis of race, caste, colour, region, sex or religion (Nankervis and et.al., 2016). The human
resource management of British Airways company do not discriminate any employees on the
basis of race, caste, colour, region, sex or religion and they hire all people. They hire employees
on the basis of education, qualification and skill instead of watching this information of
employees. This legislation is not applied to those companies who have less than 20 employees.
British airways have to face legal issues, as employees are decimated in the organisation on the
basis of age, religion, gender etc.
The Equal Pay Act- In 1973, this act was enacted and was revised by many times.
According to this act, it forbidden if British Airways pay different pay or salary on basis on
gender or anything to employees of the same position. If company might not penalise against an
employee for making a charge of inequality under The Equal Pay Act. This act was passed
because of women as they are facing discrimination in pays (Lovelock and Patterson, 2015). HR
managers of British Airways is following this act as they did not pay different wages or salaries
to employees working at same position. They hire employees on the basis of qualification,
experience, skills and pay them according to that rather than any other things. Addition to this,
they also pay equal salary or wages to men and women if they are working at same position
(Brewster and et.al., 2016). They never bias to women, major flight attendants are women's in
British Airways and there are so many other staffs of female gender such pilots and other
managers. British Airways has to face some legal obligation for not providing equal wages or
salaries to workers and these affect global competition in the airline industry. This factor have
negative impact on the performance as well as reputation of an organisation.
Some Amendments are done in the Employment Rights Act 2002 and by Employment
right act 2004 to the employment right act 1999- There are new rules and regulation are provided
which are related maternity, adoption and paternity leave as well as charges that are pay along in
Tribunal system in the Employment Act 2002. In the existing labour law in UK. The of Act of
Employment 1999 was entirely reformed by the amendments in the Act 2002 and 2004 and these
amendments in laws affect the entire operation as well as function of British Airways and
employee feel secured and they are avail to right to be pay.
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TASK 3
3.1. A discussion of the job description and personal specification for Cabin Crew, BA found in
Appendix 1. You may use an alternative job description and person specification from
British Airways to complete this task. If you choose to do so, you must include a copy of
both documents with your assignment
Recruitment and selection process: Recruitment and selection process plays an
important role in HR. For selecting a right and skilled employee for CityFlyer company, it is
important to have a knowledge and importance of recruitment and selection process. It is a
procedure of identifying a potential candidate in order to recruit or apply for the job role.
Job Description is a document that describes that general tasks and other duties or
responsibilities that are related to position. In the context of service industry, it is important for
providing an excellent customer service. For customer service representative job role in service
industry there is a requirement for an individual to perform some tasks such as: listen customers
complaints and provide them appropriate solutions. To help customers in understanding all
details about services and products in order to use them in an effective manner. As it is stated
that there is a vacancy of Cabin Crew in CityFlyer company, so for them there is a requirement
to have skills to make all their passengers safe and secure before, after as well as during a flight.
Purpose of the Job
A fantastic opportunity exist to join over-expanding London City Dream of Cabin Crew where
you will deliver outstanding customer service. The British Airways CityFlyer is completely
owned subsidiary of BA.
You will be eager as well as ablaze about our goods and services and focus on putting the
customer at the heart of everything you do. As a member of the Cabin Crew with British
Airways CityFlyer.
You’ll have the great opportunity to evolve new skills as well as take control of your career
path and be recognised and rewarded for your outstanding contribution.
Principles Accountabilities
 To make sure about the safety and security of operations and health should be performed
at greatest standard.
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