However, the Michigan model with a harder, less humanistic approach, suggests that employees are resources in the same way as any other business resource. And, therefore, should be, according to Human Resource Management Guide (2007): “Obtained as cheaply as possible, used scarcely and developed and exploited as much as possible.” BA () stresses that: “Recruitment is closely monitored to ensure that it is only authorised if the company is confident that the business need is critical, and there are no suitable internal candidates available.” Moreover according to BA Annual Report (2006: p 35): “The British Airways Training Department delivers in excess of 200,000 training days per annum worldwide. The majority of our expenditure is on mandatory and job essential training to ensure that we continue to meet our objective of being the safe and secure airline of choice.” Therefore, the company would rather invest in training and development compared to acquiring and investment in recruitment and selection of new workforce. Additionally, British Airways are continuously monitoring the employee performance, as shown on Graph 1, by customer surveys in order to be able to reward and promote the staff operations which benefit the “flying experience” the organization aims to achieve.
Graph 1:
The main business goal for the majority of the companies is to maximize profits and minimize losses. Therefore it is reasonable that BA involves both Harvard and Michigan models to reduce expenses associated with recruitment and selection process with as little negative impact on quality of workforce as possible.
Furthermore, BA financial investment, such as funding of implementation of recruitment system as well as investment in training and development programs, continues to dominate among the strategies for successful employment. Table 1 visually represents the BA expenditure towards main requirements of operation the company. Although the British Airways does not provide the actual costs of the recruitment and selection process, based on the knowledge that employee costs do include expenditures towards recruitment and selection, the outcomes could be made. Employee costs increased by 5.0 per cent compared with financial year 2005. The average number of employees in the British Airways, in manpower equivalents, fell by to 47,012 and productivity improved, which favours the improvement in employment strategy. However, in addition to online recruitment procedures and maximally simplified employment process, British Airways () emphasises that: “Recruitment is closely monitored to ensure that it is only authorised if the company is confident that the business need is critical, and there are no suitable internal candidates available.” Therefore the company aims to spend as little as possible on employment procedure (excluding executive and strategic managers) and, as a result, the cost of incorrect decision is minimised.
Table 1:
Human resource related characteristics, which directly impact recruitment and selection efficiency, of British Airways according to the Corporate Responsibility Annual Report (2005: p 3) are: “Relatively high turnover, an emphasis upon fairness, the presence of an employee assistance program, an orientation toward the needs of employee benefits and pensions and the presence of an employee wellness program.” The company turnover, according to BBC () has reached 8 billion pounds by the end of 2006; therefore more funds could be accumulated to recruit and carry out candidates testing procedures. An emphasis on fairness includes trust, honesty, diversity in employee demographics and ethical behaviour. Hence, BA strongly promotes equal, fair and legal means of choosing the suitable candidates irrespective of gender, race, colour, nationality or ethnic origin. Employee orientation involves the regular activities designed for employee participation as, for example workshops which aid employees to develop the skills and allow potential workers to find out about positions available. Moreover, the sufficient benefits, and increased pensions designed to attract staff to recruit for positions available.
Consequently, British Airway aims to recruit individuals with sufficient academic background, and experience in field of work applied for. Moreover the company () is extremely concerned with creation of “… binding people together…” atmosphere and, therefore is looking for staff that is able to “realise their full potential that we can achieve our broader business goals.” Hence, personal qualities are of significant importance as well including confidence, ability to work under pressure, analytical thinking, and interest in BA operations. In condition that both the company and the candidate match the requirements, the selection process commences. A variety of assessment methods, each carefully designed to measure the skills and capabilities necessary to be successful in the British airways organization are developed by HRM department. The format of selection procedure and the stages involved will depend upon the job applied for, generally consisting of combination of classroom based tests, group exercises, presentations or interviews.
The selection techniques of the BA could be based on either one of the following methods: self-assessment, application forms, testing, group selection centres, and interview. However, generally the combination of selection methods above is assessed to carry out final decision towards the most suitable candidate for the position. Self assessment is the stage that mainly involves the candidate for the position. According to ( ), self assessment refers to: “The process of gathering information about yourself in order to make an informed career decision based on value, interest, and personality inventories, skill assessments, and computer-assisted career guidance assessments.” Consequently, the individual acquires the understanding of career path and, therefore, kind of job to apply to and skills required to accomplish the goal. There is no direct involvement of BA to applicant’s self assessment, however, according to Corporate Responsibility Annual Report (2005: p 15), the company conducts quarterly workshops, which educate local communities with processes carried out in the organizations and provides with the understanding of skills required to apply for job. Hence the selection technique is not useful to the British Airways in decision aspect.
Application forms are associated with written document which summarises the information about candidate. British Airways proceeds with application on the basis of the information provided. The successful applications, as stated by BA recruitment department () should be: “Well-organised, logical and easily understandable. Experience, education and qualifications should be listed in reverse chronological order.” Therefore, the paper should be brief representation of personal accomplishments, as for example volunteer activities, jobs, projects, assignments, travel and team activities, and personal qualities. The precise understanding of the job applied for and skills required are essential. British Airways examine the application critically; analysing educational background and work experience as well as the ability of candidate to present abilities in written form and afterwards make decision upon the document. Thus BA could use application procedure as rather efficient, fast, especially with current e-recruitment option, informative and convenient way of differentiating candidates and, as a result, narrow the amount of applicants.
Tests are extremely important for British Airways when assessing candidates on ability and potential. The tests used most often focus on verbal and numerical skills, yet may also include a personality assessment. The process of testing provides the company with understanding, whether individual would be appropriate for the position. Nevertheless testing is not the sole basis of a decision and only used in combinations with portfolio assessment and interview. Normally the applicant would sit two tests, but for senior roles there is a requirement to participate in more.
Group selection centres, according to University of Kent (2007): “Consist of a number of exercises designed to assess the full range of skills and personal attributes required for the job.”, and as a result, considered to be as fair and one of the most reliable methods in assessing candidates. Group selection would provide BA with as much information as possible about candidates and assess what candidates will actually do if selected. However, the selection method is rather expensive to run. Therefore although group selection centres could be rather useful, British Airways are trying to minimize costs associated with recruitment and selection, thus there is small possibility to be implemented.
Finally, Wikipedia (2003) states that: “Interview is a process in which a potential employee is evaluated by an employer for prospective employment in company.” During the interview, British Airways investigate whether the applicant is capable of and suited to the position while analysing the confidence in the area of academic knowledge and potential work. Usually interviews are the last stage of selection process as before the actual meeting it is essential to identify the background and experience of the candidate and use current selection method in order to know the personality and thought of the applicant. For BA the interview method is one of the most favourable and suitable, especially for the higher rank positions as not only the actual knowledge and experience are important, but personality which would fit in the “binding people together” atmosphere count significantly.
In conclusion, British Airways considers successful recruitment and selection of crucial importance for success of the company. Therefore, Human Resource Management models, used by BA in order to ensure that company strategies are achieved through suitable recruitment and selection involve both Michigan and Harvard models in order to maximise employee motivation and satisfaction, which in return leads to better service provision, and at the same time minimizes expenses. Moreover, as the company intends to spend as little as possible on recruitment and selection procedure the cost of incorrect decision is minimised and the most suitable and useful methods for selection for British Airways would include self-assessment, application forms, testing, group selection centres, and interview. Hence, the recruitment and selection processes are essential for British Airways in order to benefit customers in terms of quality of service provided.
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