Restructuring Qantas' Human Resource Management for Competitiveness

This essay provides an analysis of Qantas Airways' Human Resource Management and offers recommendations for restructuring to enhance the company's competitiveness. It examines the current state of Qantas' HRM across various levels, including corporate, business segments, shared services, and learning and development. The essay highlights the importance of job analysis and design, training and development, and employee motivation, drawing on theories such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Herzberg's motivation theory, and the expectancy theory. The analysis identifies issues within Qantas' HRM, such as biased recruitment and selection processes, and proposes improvements, including revisiting recruitment strategies, focusing on employee well-being, and implementing performance management plans. Furthermore, the essay emphasizes the role of leadership and suggests adopting motivational theories to improve employee satisfaction and job performance, ultimately aiming to enhance Qantas' competitive edge in the marketplace.

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Human Resource Management
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Introduction
Organizational restructuring helps in improving efficiency, keeping up to date with
technology as well as implementing strategic and governance changes that are mandated or made
by the organization’s owners. There are several reasons as to why organizational restructuring is
done. Such reasons include to change the business’s nature, introduce new working methods,
new technology, buyouts, as well as enhancing competitiveness. This essay focuses on Qantas
airline, to offer advise how the company can restructure its Human Resource to enhance
competitiveness.
Task 1
Qantas Airways is considered to be Australia’s largest airline. The company’s Human
Resource operates under four primary areas which include the business segments, learning,
shared services, corporate, as well as the development level. Under the corporate level, the
Human Resource Management is concerned with the staffs’ remuneration and benefits, the
airline’s industrial relations with its rivals as well as management’s development (Careau, et al,
2014, pp.42). Also, at the business level, the Human Resource teams mostly are in collaboration
with other organization’s segments to make sure that there is effectiveness in delivering
strategies that will necessitate competitive advantage. It is observed that the Human Resource
play a crucial role in the organization. Under the shared services, the Human Resource is tasked
with the duty to manage employees’ records, support remuneration, as well as the recruitment
process, management of the workers’ compensation (Firestone, 2014, pp.102). Additionally, in
this level, the Human Resource is entitled to develop strategic schedules regarding the
employees’ traveling schemes as well as the schedules. Lastly, under the learning and the
development levels, the Human Resource Management is responsible for coming up with the
staffs’ training programs to assist them in delivering their work efficiently.
Task 2
The Qantas Human Resource Management’ cornerstone is job design and analysis. For
efficient functioning of any organization, job analysis is considered to be the primary hub of the
activities performed by the Human Resource Management. In the process of job analysis, the
Human Resource Management is tasked with the duty of planning, recruitment, selection,

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placement, as well as inducing the employees (Garavan and Carbery, 2012, pp.151) Some of the
procedures that are anchored by job analysis consist of the selection of personnel, training, task
evaluation, and performance appraisal. Additionally, Qantas organizational strategy is as well
supported job analysis’ process particularly when it comes to dealing with talent crisis as well as
competition. As per the Human Resource Theory, Strategic Human Resource Management aims
at linking all Human Resource functions with a company’s goals.
Qantas Human Resource Management in its process of job analysis focuses on the
different employees’ training requirements. Nonetheless, in the job analysis process, the Human
Resource Management is concerned with determining factors that have an influence on the
company’s behavior. After completing the job analysis process, job design is the next step that
follows in the company (Gumus, Bellibas, Esen and Gumus, 2018, pp.33). The aim is to outline
and organize duties, task, as well as responsibilities in one single unit to attain specific
objectives. Job design is important at Qantas because it facilitates effective feedback.
The company has had numerous issues as a result of its Human Resource Management.
The company has undergone a managerial change which has a result of lowering costs such as
labor costs by the HRM with the intention of enhancing productivity. Nonetheless, there has
been biasness at Qantas which has resulted to complain and strikes from the staff demanding
increase in salaries (Kehoe and Wright, 2013, pp.373). The staff’s unresolved problems have
resulted in scandals in the company. It is clear that in the processes of job analysis and design,
the company’s Human Resource Management has resulted in selecting the wrong candidates.
This is evident from the company’s pilots who are incapable of monitoring their location thus
ending up in the wrong way. Additionally, as a result of specious commands, the company was
involved in an in-flight accident that led to the death of customers. These incidences demonstrate
that the company’s Human Resource Management is inefficient and has resulted in more losses
within the company (Mules and HSIE, 2013, pp.8). The company’s Human Resource
Management can be improved by revisiting the company’ recruitment and selection process to
ensure that only the competent employees are selected. Additionally, the organization should its
strategy and restructure its Human Resource such that it focuses more on the employees.
Task 3

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Aimed at motivating its employees, Qantas has embarked on training with the aim to
develop its employees. Training is considered to be job design’s imperative part. The importance
of training at the company is to ensure that the company’s staff become conscious of the work
demands. Training is inclusive of leadership training during employee orientation. Training and
development are important in determining a company’s success (Moslehifar and Ibrahim, 2012,
pp.531). Qantas Airways invests a lot of capital in ensuring having the beliefs that as a result, it
improves their competitiveness. The Human Resource theory asserts that employees require
maximum HR’s support and that is why Qantas offers staff training with the focus of offering
motivation and enhance Qantas’ competitiveness. This is evident by the fact that the company
opened almost $10 million employee training institutions aimed at building on the economies of
scale. The development process can be improved by restructuring HRD such that it invests more
in training and developing its pilots and other staffs (Nilsson and Ellström, 2012, pp.30). It is
also prudent that the company’s HR develops a performance management plan to monitor
employees’ performance.
Case 4
Motivation refers to the process of creating enhanced enthusiasm in achieving
organizational goals which is accompanied with the satisfaction of individual needs. There are
three motivational theories which are motivational theories namely. They include Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs. According to Maslow, individuals tend to want an item and this want
depends on what these individuals currently have (Pakdel, 2013, pp.243). Maslow went ahead to
propose five distinct levels of needs which individuals require satisfaction for their needs. The
lowest level is the physiological needs. Some examples of these needs include food, water,
shelter as well as clothing. Once these needs are satisfied on an individual, the needs shift to the
next level which I the security needs. In this level, there is desire by an individual to feel secure,
inclusive of their families and society (Parijat and Bagga, 2014, pp.7). They should as well feel
protected against violence. This need is solved through job security, savings, and insurance. The
third level is the love and belonging needs. Individuals require to receive and offer love in this
level, as well as feeling appreciated and maintain healthy friendships. The esteem needs is the
fourth level. At this level, individuals have the need of uniqueness regarding self-respect as

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wellenjoy esteem from other people. According to this theory, the highest level is the need of
self-actualization. Its development depends on the satisfaction of the presiding four levels.
The second theory is Herzberg motivation theory. The theory identifies that what makes
individuals happy is the manner in which they are utilized and what they do, while the manner in
which they are treated makes them unhappy. The theory by Herzberg is of Motivators and
Hygiene factors (Sheehan, Garavan and Carbery, 2014, pp.9). The two factors identified results
to satisfaction among workers but work for different levels. The motivator factors such as adding
responsibility, availing learning opportunities, achievement, advancement, as well as recognition
probably results in long-term satisfaction. Normally, the factors motivate by changing work’s
nature thus challenging an individual to develop their talents as well as fulfill the potential. These
factors are as a result of intrinsic feelings. If the factors are absent, then satisfaction does not take
place while the staffs’ satisfaction improves if the factors are given value. However, the hygiene
factors such as supervision, salary, company policy, working conditions among others results in
short-term satisfaction.
The third theory is the expectancy theory that was originally developed by Vroom. This
theory stands for the probability that an action results in an outcome (Shuck and Rose, 2013,
pp.352). In its perspective, any action taken must yield an outcome. Expectancies are defined
based on their strength. The maximal strength is demonstrated by the subjective certainty that an
outcome presides over an act. The subjective certainty that an outcome will not preside an act
demonstrates the minimal strength.
If Qantas is to gain competitiveness in the marketplace, it should adopt the above theories
of motivating its employees to ensure that they perform their best in achieving organizational
goals (Taboli, 2012, pp.558). Specifically, the company should adopt the Herzberg motivational
which focuses on the short-term and the long-term satisfaction among the employees.
Additionally, the company should also adopt the expectancy theory that indicates a high
possibility of an outcome once an act is performed. This means that if the employees are
satisfied, then there is the possibility of increased job performance.

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Task 5
Many definitions that tend to describe an effective leader. Nonetheless, an effective
leader should possess these features: first, according to the servant leadership model, an effective
leader should be concerned with others’ needs particularly those of the team members before
they consider their own needs (Young, Hugenberg, Bernstein and Sacco, 2012, pp.117). Second,
according to the leadership with the autocratic model, an effective leader should possess god
power as well as control over the other team members. The employees, in this case, have limited
option of suggesting or commenting on the team’s best plans. Last, according to the leadership
with transaction model, an effective leader should at all times assign specific activities to the
staff to perform.
Conclusion
It is evident that Human Resource restructuring is very vital in situations where it has
failed to attain its goals of selecting and recruiting the staff. In so doing, there is assurance that
an organization would gain competitiveness in the marketplace. Additionally, the Human
Resource development is essential in ensuring that the staff is motivated in delivering its core
duties.

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