Human Resource Management for Service Industries

TASK 1

1.1 Role and Purpose of HRM in British Airways

The concept of human resource management concentrates on keeping healthy relationships with employees. It is gaining popularity because every business organization understands that they cannot achieve their targets until the company gets workers' support. British Airways signed an agreement that allowed them to start flights between Heathrow and Madeira. These operations can achieve success if the HR division understands its responsibilities.

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The role of HRM in British Airways is mentioned below:

Planning and Forecasting: At the time of commencing new operations, an organization has to recruit or transfer people to manage the workforce in a better way. The HR team of British Airways has to plan the total number of candidates which they have to select in the upcoming time (Unger et. al., 2011). They have to play an important role in planning and predicting the requirements of human resources in the forthcoming time. The issues of excess and shortage of employees can be avoided in the company if HR makes the right prediction and effective plans.

Recruitment Process: If an enterprise has to hire an employee, they have to follow a lengthy process which starts from finding eligible candidates and ends when the applicant is selected/rejected for a post. At British Airways, this procedure involves seniors of respective departments because they check the technical knowledge of the interviewee. But, besides this, all the work is the responsibility of the HR team. Their role is crucial in coordinating interviews, screening of candidates, and background checks.

Employment Contract: Human resource management makes and explains employment contracts to all the selected applicants (Storey, 2014). This document contains various terms and conditions, like the salary of workers, leave policies, etc. The HR department of British Airways is responsible for getting the signatures of workers on these contracts and they are accountable for any flaw that is present in it.

Monitoring of Employees: The tasks of evaluating the performance of workers are done by their seniors as well as the HR department. As mentioned earlier, human resource management is related to strengthening relationships with employees. This work cannot be done without keeping an eye on the performance of personnel.

Training and Development: In monitoring, the HR team of British Airways identifies the training and development needs of workers. Their role is not limited to finding and analyzing flaws in employees; they also arrange complete training and development programs for personnel.

Budget Monitoring: The resource division has to manage the money that is allotted to them. It is the role of the HR manager to ensure that the budget covers all the major and significant expenses.

Purpose of HRM in British Airways

There are two approaches to HRM, hard and soft. The purpose of human resource management differs according to the model which is present in the organization.

Hard Approach: A business enterprise consists of resources and employees, but they should not differ from each other (Sparrow, Brewster, and Chung, 2016). They should be treated like all the available assets like money, machines, etc. This approach concentrates on three elements, i.e. hiring, moving, and firing. Little or no power is given to employees if a company has adopted this point of view. British Airways does not use this model.

Soft Approach: When an organization sees employees as more than an asset and they treat them like human beings, then it means that they have adopted a Soft approach. British airlines concentrate on the needs of workers and they give rewards to workers to motivate them. The key purpose of this HRM approach is to start a two-way communication process regularly. The main reason behind the existence of the human resource department in British Airways is that it works as a bridge between management and employees. HR managers communicate the demands of workers to the employer.

1.2 Creation of a Human Resource Plan by Analyzing Supply and Demand

British Airways is starting 4 new flights for peak season and 3 for the rest of the year. They have to recruit around 20 flight attendants and 4-5 Airline administrative support staff to maintain a balance between demand and supply. Below is the human resource plan based on the identified requirements:

Source of Recruitment: There are two sources of recruitment, internal and external. For hiring new flight attendants, British Airways has to go with a later option. They can choose methods like Walk-ins and campus placement. This will allow them to locate fresh talent, which will be available to the company at a decent cost (Sheehan, 2014). Management consultants can be used to find Airline administrative support staff with the desired experience. This method is appropriate at the time of selecting an employee for a job post that requires a variety of skills in a single person.

Selection Procedure: The process of hiring will have three steps. The first is to analyze the CV of the applicant and call them for further procedure. After this, the HR team should take a written test of selected candidates, which will also include group discussion. The last stage is a personal interview where communication and other skills of potential employees will be checked.

Determine Compensation: Once an applicant is selected by the organization, the next step is to decide their salary and incentives. If they agree on a remuneration policy, then the company will provide them with a joining date.

Provide Training: An Orientation and training program will be organized for flight attendants and administrative support staff so they can get basic information about the organization's working style and their responsibilities.

Appraise Performance: The work done by recently selected employees will be monitored and analyzed by seniors to check whether new joiners are following their roles. Below are a few responsibilities of flight attendants and Administration support staff:

Flight Attendants

• Assure passengers' comfort, like distributing them blankets at the time of sleeping.
• Keep track of the money which is earned through sold beverages or used headsets.
• Assuring the safety of passengers by providing them with directions relating to an emergency landing.

Airline administration support staff

• Answer queries of customers by managing the desk of a receptionist.
• Resolve the issue of workers.
• Provide training to employees.

Performance appraisal will help the company manage demand and supply in the off-season. Those personnel who fail to meet the organization's expectations may face termination and the time between normal season and peak load will be used for hiring new talent.

TASK 2

2.1 Employee Relations's Present State in Aviation Business

Like every industry, the aviation business also faced issues related to employers ignoring the demand for workers. This problem was not too serious compared to some other sectors like manufacturing but still, regulation authorities and the government made some rules for keeping a balance between distribution of power (Schermerhorn et. al., 2014). Employee relation is known as the connection among employees in an enterprise. Interrelation between employer and workers is also considered a crucial part. The power of trade unions is getting diluted because of recent deregulations.

Role of Unionization

union is a group of people who work as a voice of workers. These units communicate the message of the workforce to management but their position is not strong in the present business era. The role of unions is limited and it is only popular in those industries where blue-collar jobs are present. Labor unions work as intermediates between employees and employers. They communicate the demands of workers to top-level management of an organization like British Airways. A new culture is developing in the Airline industry where the viewpoint of workers in middle- and lower-level positions are considered at the time of making a call. The concept of collective bargaining is becoming popular in this business. It assists an organization in resolving problems related to salary, working environment, etc.

Employee Participation

Employee participation is a tool for motivating personnel. There was a time when workers were not included in the decision-making system. Now the time has completely changed because of the employee participation concept. Instead of receiving direct orders from the highest authorities, staff members of different Aviation sector companies are offering their thoughts to top-level management. They are getting involved in improving different processes which are present in the organisation. When personnel becomes part of a decision, then managing conflict gets easier (Rubery and Urwin, 2011). Many firms in the Airline industry use dispute management so they can ensure healthy relationships between employees and employers. Deciding shift timings of staff members is always a big issue for companies. Airline Corporations run their business for 24 hours and 7 days. Workers normally do not prefer to work odd shifts like 3 am to 11 am in winter and it ultimately creates big disputes among managers and their subordinates daily. This problem is being resolved because workers are getting additional money for working at odd times. This approach presently tastes successful due to the involvement of workers in making plans.       
(Source: Employee Participation, 2017)

Grievance Procedures

A method used for resolving conflicts relating to employees, suppliers, competitors, etc. is known as the grievance procedure. In the Aviation sector, there are many rules and regulations which have to be followed by every individual. If any stakeholder of an organization faces injustice, then they can register a formal complaint against the company. Although there is no necessity for grievance procedures to be always formal, It can be considered as a part of collective bargaining. Employers have issues with employees and disciplinary procedures help them in dealing with the misconduct of workers. Both of these processes play a significant role in maintaining good relationships between companies and their staff. They check disputes at the point of their generation.

2.2 Effect of Employment Legislation on Human Resource Management

Employment legislation refers to all of the acts that are formulated to protect employees in all kinds of scenarios, whether it is related to mental pressure or monetary terms (Renwick, Redman, and Maguire, 2013). It can be said that changes in legislation also impact the management of resource departments, as they have to update their policies to meet the requirements of legislation. It is the responsibility of the Hr manager of British Airways to evaluate the working environment of the company effectively so that they can identify actual problems of employees.

Employment Relations Act: The act mainly protects relationships between employees, unions, and employers. According to the act, employers must provide fair judgment towards employees as well as unions. It also protects the rights of employees whether they want to remain part of the union team or not.

Employment Rights Act: It states that all the basic rights of employees are protected under this act. This act has its impact on human resource management, as it is the responsibility of the HR manager to ensure that all employees who work in their company should remain safe (Messersmith et. al., 2011). Along with this, the management team of British Airways is required to develop their policies and procedures according to the latest updated version of this act to apply all the mandatory things at the workplace.

As per the employment legislation, employers must provide equal opportunities to every employee so that they can place their best output for the organization. It also contributes to building positive relationships between employer as well as employee, which helps achieve targeted goals and objectives of the company in a shorter period.

Contract of employment: It is a legal contract that is made between the employer and employee of an organization. It entails a description of the date of joining, induction period, type of training, joining and termination procedure, employee rights, appraisal procedure, and more. The contract protects both employer and employee from various circumstances that might take place in the organization in the future. In the context of British Airways, this contract includes different situations of termination too, such as resignation, ill health retirement, dismissal, maternity and paternity rights, and parental leaves. Some of them are described below:

Redundancy: It is considered a form of dismissal that might happen in a company when employers need to reduce their workforce. Therefore, a contract made between employees and owners of a firm includes some major rights that protect from unfair dismissals. It includes redundancy pay, options to move from a given job, notice period, and more (Marchington et. al., 2016). As British Airways is a large online organization in the UK, therefore, before making any type of job employment contract, its managers are required to seek the concept of redundancy procedure.

Maternity and paternity rights: In the UK, it is amendable for every organization, whether small or big, to give maternity and paternity rights to employees. As per this right, male workers can take paid leave of two weeks to care for their children. While female employees can take paid leave till 12 weeks after delivery. Thus, in this regard, staff members of British Airways get the right to take maternity or paternity leave in per own manner.

Few more samples on Human Resources Management:

• Case Study on How Service Industries Manage Their Human Resources
• Human Resource Management For Service Industries on British Airways

TASK 3

3.1 Job Description and Personal Specification 

Human resource managers of a company carry out activities to hire the best employees at the workplace. In context with British Airways, its management team, which includes five expert members, uses some effective internal and external approaches to recruitment for the cabin crew in the human resource department (Alfes et. al., 2013). In this regard, they have prepared some documents to give advertisements on print media and the company's websites. It includes a job description, personal specification, job analysis, and more. This would help in raising awareness among desired people about its vacant position. Some documents in this manner are mentioned below:

3.2 Difference Between Recruitment Process of British Airways and Transport for London

It is very essential for both companies to hire candidates who are efficient in their work and who possess the passion towards the job they are applying for, However, recruitment process of British Airways and Transport for London have a few differences depending on their job requirements. These differences are mentioned below:

• While there are multiple eligibility criteria for being a part of cabin crew in British airlines, Transport for London provides the candidates with fewer options, which indicates a rigid requirement to fill a post, driving out many potential candidates at the very first step.
• The application form design of Transport for London differs from that of British Airways. British Airways uses more interactive videos, guiding the candidates at every step and helping them know more about the firm before further assessment. Transport for London, however, weighs on a simple, detailed description of their needs and requirements from the candidates.
• British Airways recruits its candidates through online applications, while Transport for London, in addition to online applications, uses the services of recruitment agencies. The selection process of Transport for London is better as it is less time-consuming. TFL does not require applicants to go through psychometric tests, as in the case of British Airways.
• The assessments of both companies are quite complex for average candidates to succeed. While there are many other tests included in the assessment, the main focus of Transport for London is on written and mechanical assessments for engineering schemes. Whereas British Airways tests the candidates on different verbal and spatial reasoning along with numeric abilities.
• While Transport for London provides a portal at the very first stage, British airlines provide a log-in to those who meet their requirements after the submission of online application forms.
• There are vast differences in how both companies organise their assessment days. While Transport for London focuses on the personal interview, British Airways focuses on situational multiple-choice questions, role play, and group exercises.
• In British Airways, the applicants who pass the background and medical check are offered their training place. They are given a week-long safety course. Also, there is a six-week cabin crew training course that they have to go through. While the selected applicants are given their job roles after filling out a detailed medical questionnaire. Also, references are taken from them for background checks.

British Airways recruits its candidates through online applications, while Transport for London, in addition to online applications, uses the services of recruitment agencies. The selection process of Transport for London is better as it is less time-consuming. TFL does not require applicants to go through psychometric tests, as in the case of British Airways.

TASK 4

4.1 Assessing Contribution of Training and Developing in Operation of British Airways

Training and development sessions are considered the main part of every organisation related to every industry as they contribute to developing the skills of working staff. It directly enhances the working capability of employees, which helps in achieving targeted goals and objectives of the company.

Different Types of Training

Online Training: It is the latest type of training used by most organizations, as it helps them train employees by using computers. It can be said that online learning is best among all the training types, as learners take the training any time according to its own suitable time.

Apprentice Training: This type of training is conducted for those workers who work under the observance of superior. Apprentice training is conducted for a limited period of time. In relation to the management team of British Airways, its superior manager provides this training to new employees as they require a high level of guidance.

Induction Training: Induction sessions for new employees are also considered a type of training as they help employees understand the rules and regulations of the organization. It also familiarises employees with existing employees and codes of conduct, which helps them perform their work in the future.

Role and Need of Training Program

Training session's play crucial roles in every organisation as they improve the level of knowledge and skills of employees (Budhwar and Debrah, 2013). That is helpful for the company to gain a competitive advantage in the market. In relation to British Airways, the airline company deals in service, in which its employees have to interact with a huge number of passengers on a daily basis. In order to satisfy each and every passenger, it is mandatory for its HR manager to train all the existing as well as new staff so that they can perform their task in effective manner. Training sessions needed as it helps in upgrading the knowledge of working staffing so that they perform their job responsibility effectively without facing any trouble.

Difference between Training and Development

Benefits of Training and Development:

Training and development sessions are beneficial for British Airways as it helps in developing skills and knowledge of overall staff. This supports employees to perform all of the assigned tasks in an effective manner within a shorter period of time. Some of its main benefits are described below:

• Training and development motivates employees as it gives them opportunities for their career growth. It is also beneficial for the company as their staff is eligible to complete difficult tasks in less time.
• Overall training and development sessions provide monetary gain to British Airways, as ultimately the development of employee's skills invites innovation for the company. This can be used to attract a larger number of customers.

As per the above observation, it can be said that training and development sessions are beneficial for British Airways, as its employees are now able to perform all the operational activities in an effective manner (Chelladurai and Kerwin, 2017). This can be done easily because the HR manager of British Airways conducts training sessions for employees on a regular basis, which motivates them to perform the work with their best possible output. These training sessions also guides them the ways through which they can satisfy customers. As it is the only ultimate goal of the organisation for sustaining longer at the market place.

Conclusion

From the above-mentioned report, it has been evaluated that human resource management is considered an essential component of organizations. It has been identified that the main purpose of human resource management is to maintain positive relationships between employers as well as employees, as it is beneficial for attaining targeted goals and objectives of the company. It can be said that there are numerous employment laws that influence the management of the HR department and also help the organisation to protect themselves from legal issues. It has been observed that firms now use online tests for recruitment, and the final section is done further through interviews. Training and development sessions contribute equally to enhancing the skills of employees, which is ultimately beneficial for both employees and the employer.

References

Books and References

• Alfes et. al., 2013. The link between perceived human resource management practices, engagement, and employee behaviour: a moderated mediation model. The international journal of human resource management. 24(2). pp. 330-351.
• Budhwar, P. S., and Debrah, Y. A., eds., 2013. Human resource management in developing countries. Routledge.
• Chelladurai, P., and Kerwin, S., 2017. Human resource management in sport and recreation. Human Kinetics.
• Huselid, M. A., and Becker, B. E., 2011. Bridging micro and macro domains: workforce differentiation and strategic human resource management.
• López-Nicolás, C., and Meroño-Cerdán, Á. L. (2011). Strategic knowledge management, innovation, and performance. International journal of information management. 31(6). pp. 502-509.
• Marchington and et. al., 2016. Human resource management at work. Kogan Page Publishers.
• Messersmith, J. G., and et. al., 2011. Unlocking the black box: exploring the link between high-performance work systems and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology. 96(6). pp. 1105.
• Renwick, D. W., Redman, T., and Maguire, S., 2013. Green human resource management: A review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews. 15(1). pp. 1-14.
• Rubery, J., and Urwin, P., 2011. Bringing the employer back in: why social care needs a standard employment relationship. Human Resource Management Journal. 21(2). pp. 122-137.
• Schermerhorn and et. al., 2014. Management: Foundations and Applications (2nd Asia-Pacific Edition). John Wiley & Sons.
• Sheehan, M., 2014. Human resource management and performance: Evidence from small and medium-sized firms. International Small Business Journal. 32(5). pp. 545-570.
• Sparrow, P., Brewster, C., and Chung, C., 2016. Globalizing human resource management. Routledge.
• Storey, J., 2014. New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.
• Unger, J. M., and et. al., 2011. Human capital and entrepreneurial success: A meta-analytical review. Journal of business venturing. 26(3). pp. 341-358.
• Welch, C. and et. al., 2011. Theorizing from case studies: Towards a pluralist future for international business research. Journal of International Business Studies. 42(5).

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