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Life is never easy in the airline industry… then again,it’s never dull
HRD INTERVIEW: Jill Brady Director of HR - Virgin Atlantic Airways
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Issue 83
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Also featured in this issue:
Special report: Employment tribunals were devised to simplify workplace disputes. So why do so many fail to achieve this singular goal? Equality law The changes brought about by the Act highlight the need to review employment policies, practices and procedures Managing remote workers Is it working? The jury’s out as remote, flexible working becomes widely-embraced culture for everyone Health & safety… what next? A raft of major changes in health & safety
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It’s very similar for the HR team and I found that what I knew from managing the legal team could help me in leading the HR function. An airline is a complex, highly regulated and very commercially volatile organisation. The HR team has to understand the business and the challenges it will face, getting the right people in place and knowing what skills and capabilities those people will need in the short, medium and long term. I know there is a lot of debate in HR circles about HR’s seat on the board, and it baffles me that there has ever been need for such a debate. What could be more important in any organisation than its people? I already had my seat at the board, but when I took on HR, I knew I could use that seat to get the right conversations going about our people, and what we needed to do to make sure we could deliver a successful business through our people. Commercial airline business is arguably the toughest sector of all, and in recent times, it has been rocked by so many challenges. Life is never easy in the aviation industry but then again, it’s never dull! When I took responsibility for HR we were just coming out of a very tough time in 2008/9, it was probably only the second time we had had to downsize the business significantly, and many people and managers in the business had never been through that kind of
Given the culture these days of “No Win - No Fee” solicitors, the majority of employers have legal expenses cover that allows them to be guided through all employment issues by professionals who have the expertise in employment law. Owners/managers are advised to use this service for even the smallest employment issue as not following due process can prove costly for employers. In addition, these experts and the advice they give are non-biased and in accordance with current employment legislation.
-Create an environment where team members can identify and solve problems on their own, delegating real power and responsibility - Demonstrate and articulate the values of the organization -Look for ways to use staff's interests and strengths in directly supporting people - Share decision making
The health and safety at work act 1974 and management of health and safety at
Arc of the Ozarks is a local human service organization providing help to people in the local communities with physical and mental disabilities. The main local offices for the Arc can be found in Springfield, Joplin, and Monett, Missouri. Interviewing someone from the Arc could have been done over the phone, by e-mail, and an in-person interview. The in-person interview seemed to be more appropriate because it would allow me to interact with the people who work for the organization and possibly see interaction with clients. Interviewing one in person also helps to show the kind of dedication put into the work provided by the organization.
I feel that involving the board in devising a new strategic plan and allowing them to communicate with the
Ensure that a highly qualified executive team is managing the company by The Hiring, Firing and Assessment of Management. Apart from what has been stated above one very significant and active role played by the board is in terms of "the hiring, firing, and assessment of management". This is one role that is typically ascribed to directors is control of the process by which top executives are hired, promoted, assessed, and, if necessary, dismissed. Assessment can be seen as having two components, one is monitoring of what top management does and the other is determining the intrinsic ability of top management. The monitoring of managerial actions can, in part, be seen as part of a board’s obligation to be vigilant against managerial malfeasance.
Steve Barrett is the Executive Director for Human Resource Operations for the Minneapolis Public Schools District. According to S. Barrett, he has worked in his current position for seven months (personal communication, January 20, 2015). Previously, Barrett worked as an adjunct professor at the Metropolitan State University for 25 months, and as an Executive Director for Employee Relations at Minneapolis public schools for 20 months. Later, he worked as the Labor Relations Director at Osseo Area Schools for three years and four months, and Labor Relations Specialist at the City of Saint Paul for six years and one month (S. Barrett, personal communication, January 20, 2015). Barrett earned his master’s degree at Hamline University, where he graduated with a Masters of Arts in Public Administration. In this report, I document the interview I had with Barrett on January 20, 2015 to discuss human resources management in the school district.
This report will examine and criticise three sources discussing the NHS dispute in relation to employment relations. Looking at the different opinions presented in the articles, from the BMA, The Health Secretary Jeremey Hunt and an article in the Guardian titled `The Observer
The report is based on responses collected from more than 1000 employers and 2000 employees, considered UK workforce only and was conducted in early January 2012. The report presents an in-depth view of the types of flexible working provisions offered by employers including part-time working, working from home, flexitime, compressed hours, career breaks/sabbaticals, mobile working, term-time working, secondments, annual hours and time off work in the community.
Additionally, this affirms that the current law on unfair dismissals lets the employer make his own informed decision and allows flexibility on their reasons for dismissal, as where medical reports may help, it is not actually
The past decades have witnessed a great deal of workplace change in Australia and worldwide, for some this change has been an advantageous one, whereas for others not so much. Many of these changes have been of an innovative nature, where terms such as “high commitment’, “high involvement’ and “high performance’ work systems have entered the world of employment relations.
Have a clear focus on vision and aims. Understand where the organisation/team is and wants to be.
The aviation industry, due to its fast paced and extremely performance oriented nature, is an ideal example of how proper organizational behavior lends to the growth, and ultimate success of a company. Often, mitigating operational hurdles and constraints becomes the focus of leadership in this industry as problems such as financial limitations continually arise. This unfortunately can result in employers neglecting the most essential part of their company, the employees. The ability for an employer to recognize and resolve threats to employee job satisfaction and security, conquer lack of employee motivation, and proactively negotiate internal and external conflict allows for a company to thrive.
The board will help set strategies, direction, vision, hire/fire top management, monitor and supervise top management, oversee the use of resources, and care for shareholders' interests (Wheelen & Hunger, 2006, pp. 36-37).
After the Civil Aeronautics Act created the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) in 1938, which was responsible for safety programs and economic regulations that included route certificates, airline tariffs, and air mail rates, and the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, where the congress believed that fares would drop based on the record of intrastate airlines, where fares were 50 to 70 percent of the Civil Aeronautics Board, (Rodrigue; Cusick), the commercial aviation industry took off in a very rapid manner. It grew up to the point where some of them starting competing internationally. But, as we look back, none of that success would have been possible without the implementation of effective human resource management, whether it was on the national or international standpoint. Human resource management (HRM) consists of numerous activities, including equal employment opportunity (EEO) compliance, Job analysis, human resource planning, recruitment, selection, motivation, and retention, performance evaluation and compensation, training and development, labor relations, safety, health, and wellness. Throughout this paper, we will be talking about how some airlines apply all these human resources management activities to be more competitive, and people’s best choice today.