Human Resource Management Report: Work-Life Balance for Airlines

This report delves into the critical role of work-life balance in Human Resource Management (HRM), specifically within the context of Philippines Airlines. It identifies the diverse work-life balance needs of employees across different departments, including flight attendants, customer service agents, and pilots. The report analyzes the specific challenges faced by each group, such as the 'spillover' effect for flight attendants, the need for a 'compensatory' balance for customer service agents, and the requirement for 'temporary tradeoff' options for pilots. It proposes practical strategies to improve work-life balance, such as flexible work arrangements, time management training, and family-friendly policies. The report also highlights the benefits of these strategies, including increased employee motivation, reduced absenteeism, and improved retention rates. Furthermore, it provides actionable advice for Philippines Airlines to implement these strategies, ultimately fostering a more supportive and productive work environment.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Facts.................................................................................................................................................2
Ideas.................................................................................................................................................4
Advice..............................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Work life balance plays the most significant role in generating the sense of satisfaction
among the employees. Every organization must promote the helpful work life balance process to
motivate the employees and retain them for the longer time (Nankervis et al., 2017). The case
signifies that in spite of availing flexible work life balance, the employees of Philippines
Airlines have been facing some of the considerable challenges. Especially, employees from
different department seek diverse work-life balance, which is needed to be taken into
consideration. The study would thus propose the flexible work place practices among the staffs
from different department. The study would recognize the different types of work life balance
needs for the diverse workforce. Identifying the different work pattern, the study would also
define the relevant competitive strategy for the airline company.
Facts
Philippines Airlines is associated with the different types of working profiles who seek
the different motivation at the workplace. The profiles and their required work life balance is
described further:
The flight attendants are mainly associated with the passenger services in which they need to
be concerned about the passengers’ safety and their requirements. They can maintain their work-
life balance if they get the opportunity to interact with other passengers and learn from the
practical scenario. While working as flight attendants, they have to deal with the other
passengers boarding the flights from different parts of the world (Stone, 2016). The
communication with these passengers helps them to come across different types of people and

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their needs. It helps them to strengthen their knowledge about the personal experiences and
professional attributes.
The customer service agents maintain the responsibilities of flight check-ins, First Rider,
VIPs, and passengers. They seek the full training and coordination from the management to deal
with the passengers. They are often focused on their responsibility to crate the positive and
flexible work environment. The Pilots play the most important role in the aviation management.
They often seek work life balance as they usually deal with the short-term issues
(Airwaysmag.com 2018). They often face imbalance due to the regular schedule, long work
days, and poor pays. It is thus necessary for them to develop a proper work life balance to
harmonize their life. The major purpose of developing work life balance is to motivate the
workers and providing them the flexible work environment.
If the employees fail to maintain the synchronization in their work life, it would be
difficult to manage the family responsibilities as well (Wright, 2008). The job role of the workers
associated with Philippines airlines demand the diverse work pattern though there are some
similarities as well. A flexible working atmosphere and the synchronized working hours are
much demanding to the workers from different departments. For example, the trainees at their
initial level seek the comfortable and approachable atmosphere that would help them in
acquiring the knowledge about their job responsibility. On the other hand, the flight attendants
receive the opportunity to deal with various passengers from different part of the world. The
major focus is to provide them the fruitful training on the method of utilizing the time in a
sequential and synchronized way.

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Ideas
In this case, flight attendants are in the need of the “Spill over” type of work life balance.
This is due to the reason that spill over type of work life balance refers to the process where
personal and professional life will not get clashed. Thus, it is important for the organization to
take care after the professional life of the flight attendants. They should ensure that the personal
life of the attendants should not get negatively influenced by the professional experiences. This
will in turn have positive implications on the organizational performance of Philippines airlines
due to the reason that the more favorable personal life will be, the more motivated will be the
attendants in their workplace.
Customer service agents are the face of the brand to the customers. Thus, they should be kept
motivated and engaged always in order to provide effective customer service at any point of
time. Compensatory type of work life balance will be the most effective form for them. This is
due to the reason that compensatory work life balance will help in creating the maximum value
of the professional life of the customer service agents. Thus, the more value that can be gained
by the staffs from their work life, the more will be their inclination towards their professional life
over their personal life and they will be more motivated and engaged in their workplace. This
strategy also refers to the providence of the free and spare time to the customer service agents in
between their jobs roles, which will maintain their morale in the workplace.
Pilots are in the need of the temporary tradeoff type of work life balance. This is due to
the reason that pilots are the one who are having the maximum technical knowledge in the airline
industry and they know how to deal with different types of situation. Thus, they should be given
the maximum flexibility compared to others. In this case temporary tradeoff refers to the process

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where pilots will be given the upper hand in deciding their work life balance. Thus, they will
maintain the tradeoff according to themselves. This will have maximum positive impact on them.
In order to acquired the better work life balance between the family and work
responsibilities, it is necessary to develop the flexible work atmosphere for the employees. When
the employees receive such flexibility, it reduces the absenteeism rate and improves the
productivity (Mitra, Gupta & Shaw, 2010). The benefits the company would provide would
influence their work patterns as well. These benefits are structured below:
 The work life balance provided by the company ensures the flexibility in work timing.
 The workers would receive the supports from their supervisors when they seek any kind
of training sessions.
 The flexible timing would be maintained for the workers to ensure work synchronization.
 Re-checking the airline technologies would ensure that the flights would be on time. This
initiative is quite helpful to prevent the delays of the flights (Fairwork.gov.au. 2018).
Therefore, the workers do not require stretching their working hours and they can
complete within their scheduled timeframe.
The above benefits are quite helpful for associated workers. If the company can work on
these initiatives, it would help in reducing the absenteeism and retain them for the longer time.
Moreover, the turnover rate would also be decreased.
Advice
Philippines Airline is widely concentrating on developing the flexible working
atmosphere for the associated workers. In order to provide the workers the fruitful work life
balance, it is necessary to concentrate on the following competitive strategies.

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 It is necessary for the human resource management to arrange a family-friendly working
atmosphere at the time of recruitment and induction.
 Maintaining a scheduled time for the staffs meeting that would be convenient to everyone
(Compton, Morrissey & Nankervis, 2014). The time schedule should be arranged when
most of the workers would be available.
 Creating a meaningful part-time employment opportunities would be much fruitful for
the associated workers. The part time workers can provide help when any full time
workers need supports. It would maintain the time scheduling in a flexible manner.
 The approval of the necessary leaves would be necessary for developing a flexible
working hours (Compton, 2010). If the employees receive the leave facilities for the
considerable periods, it would be much beneficial for them to maintain the
responsibilities in their family and workplace.
 The most helpful strategy is to develop the training session on Time Management Skills.
The expert professionals can provide the employees training on maintaining their time
within the scheduled period. The work division would help them to manage their working
hours and time for their families.
 Adjustments with the long working hours are quite helpful for promoting work life
balance (Stone, 2016). The employees often find the long working hours much stressful
due to which they spend lesser time with their families. Moreover, they hardly cam
maintain their personal times. Hence, reducing the working hours or managing the
activities in according to the schedule would be much effective for the associated workers
in the airline industry.

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The above strategies are quite beneficial for Philippines Airlines to develop the work life
balance among the associated employees. The continuous monitoring of the works and managing
the time as per the schedule is quite helpful, but this requires supports from the senior levels.
Hence, arranging the flexible training session would help the company to promote better work
life balance.
Conclusion
The workers associated with Philippines Airlines are facing the challenges while
maintaining their work life balance. It has been observed that employees from the different
departments have their diverse job demands. Considering their job roles, it is necessary to
provide the fruitful facilities that can help in managing their work life balance. A flexible
working atmosphere and the synchronized working hours are much demanding to the workers
from different departments. The employees often find the long working hours much stressful due
to which they spend lesser time with their families. Moreover, they hardly cam maintain their
personal times. The adjustments on the long working hours would be much beneficial in such
case to promote a beneficial work life balance attribute. On the other hand, the employees need
to receive the helpful training from the seniors regarding the time management skills to divide
their work schedule. If they can work as per the divided schedules, it would develop their work
life balance process in a significant way. They can maintain their responsibilities at their
workplace and in their families as well.

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References
Airwaysmag.com (2018). Philippine Airlines: Asia´s oldest carrier - Airways Magazine. [online]
Airways Magazine. Available at: https://airwaysmag.com/best-of-airways/philippine-
airlines-asias-oldest-carrier/ [Accessed 16 Mar. 2018].
Bray, M., Waring, P., & Cooper, R. (2014). Employment Relations: Theory and Practice
(3rded.). Sydney: McGraw-Hill.
Compton, R (2010). Towards an integrated model of HRM. Research and Practice in HRM,
17(2): 81-93.
Compton, R.L., Morrissey, B., & Nankervis, A.R. (2014). Effective Recruitment and Selection
Practices. 6th ed., Sydney: Oxford University Press.
Fairwork.gov.au. (2018). Welcome to the Fair Work Ombudsman website. [online] Available at:
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/how-we-will-help/templates-and-guides/best-practice-
guides/work-and-family [Accessed 16 Mar. 2018].
Jobstreet.com.ph. (2018). Working at Philippine Airlines Inc. company profile and information |
JobStreet.com Philippines. [online] Available at:
https://www.jobstreet.com.ph/en/companies/493334-philippine-airlines-inc [Accessed 16
Mar. 2018].
Karatepe, O. M., & Vatankhah, S. (2014). The effects of high-performance work practices on
perceived organizational support and turnover intentions: Evidence from the airline
industry. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 13(2), 103-119.

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Kramar, R., Bartram,T, De Cieri, H., Noe, R., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. (2011).
Human Resource Management: Strategy, People, Performance, McGraw Hill: Sydney
Mitra, T, Gupta, N, & Shaw, J (2010). A comparative examination of traditional and skill-based
pay plans, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 26(4), pp. 278-296
Nankervis, A., Baird, M., Shields, J & Coffey, J. (2017). Human Resource Management:
Strategy and Practice, 9th ed., Cengage Learning: South Melbourne.
Stone, R. (2016). Human Resource Management, 9th ed., Wiley: Sydney
Wright, C. (2008). Reinventing Human Resource Management: Business Partners, Internal
Consultants, and the Limits to Professionalisation, Human Relations, 61(8), pp.1063-
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