Unit 16 Assignment 1
P1
For this assignment I will be compiling a report to describe the internal and external factors to
consider when planning the human resource requirements for British Airways. I will also describe the
skills that employees need to carry out their job in the organisation and explain the importance HR
planning within British Airways.
British Airways is a global airline company that was formed in 1974. It offers a low fare including a
wide global route network flying to and from centrally located airports. British Airways have job
roles such as Pilots, Cabin Crew, engineers, software, trainers, production, baggage handlers and
flight planners.
Human Resource planning involves looking at the workforce of a company, the skills and motivation
techniques needed for the people that work within the organisation. Before doing this the
organisations must consider what is happing inside the organisation and outside the organisation. An
organisation such as British airways will need to figure out the skills their employees are required to
have to operate efficiently and effectively. HR planning is extremely vital as it helps the business
meet the aims and objectives and enables the business to meet its goals easily. An example of how
HR planning is carried out by British Airways is that they ensure that the business is regularly up to
date with its competitors and technology. They are making customers experience more simpler and
faster by providing online self-check in and self-check in machines at the airports which makes the
process much easier for its customers. Human resource planning is divided into three sections
internal planning, external planning, and employee skills.
Internal Planning Factors
Internal planning is the things that going on within the organisation which can have an impact on HR
requirement particularly numbers and skills that is a requirement. An example of an internal factor
would be the needs of the organization. Needs constantly change within the organisation which
means that the HR needs to be adapted to manage the constant of organisational needs. For
example, during summer there is a lot of travel and British Airways are very busy which means that
they will need to ensure they have enough staff to accommodate to the high volume of passengers.
Some business may decide that they want to expand to a different county and will need a workforce
that can work in different countries and speak their language to ensure they can communicate with
customers. Technology has massively impacted the airline industry. For instance, now passengers
can have a self-check in service in which they can check themselves in without a BA staff.
Organisational Needs
All businesses need to plan for new products and services as well as make adjustments by reducing
or increasing the number of employees. The benefit of analysing your organisational needs is that it
helps you compare the skills staffs need to meet future objectives. In 2019 British Airways decided to
expand its service between Heathrow and by operating two daily return services from Monday to
Friday, and three return services on weekends from summer 2019 which results in more weekly
flights. This may mean that British Airways had to recruit more staffs. In the same year they also
decided that they would invest £6.5 billion for customers over five years including new aircraft, new
cabin crews, catering, loungers WIFI and new routes. Organisation needs encourage British Airways
to develop human resources plans which actually fulfils BA’s aims and objectives which will lead to
, more profit and a successful business. It is vital that the hr department plans effectively so that the
business needs can be met. Therefore, high skilled staff can be recruited so that BA can improve
their services.
Skills Requirement
It is important to assess the skills of the current workforce as all businesses need to plan training for
their staff. It is important for all business to train their staff especially if the business involves heavy
use of machinery or labour intensive where the business relies heavy on people. Businesses are
constantly amending its products and services. Therefore, keeping a log enables them to identify if
they need to recruit new staff or use their current workforce to carry out the changes. Evaluating
and assessing skills of current workers in BA is an essential part of human resource planning. This is
because it enables the business to build up a profile of the training, experience as well as
qualifications that employees already have. It is also important because it is labour intensive. People
of different departments would need different skills as there is different roles and responsibilities. As
part of the hr planning, it is crucial that BA keeps as eye on the skills required for different job roles
within the organisation. It also makes BA aware of its employee’s strengths and weaknesses. When it
comes to job rotation, they can place staffs in areas which are best suited to their strengths which
means that the business operations will be carried out to the highest possible standards. This has a
positive impact on their staff as it will increase their motivation which means that they will be able to
carry out their job well.
Workforce Profile
A workforce profile is completed by all firms and it helps them identify who works for the
organization. The business looks at information such as age, gender, religion, and ethnicity. The
information is gathered to ensure that the workforce has a good mix, and that no discrimination
takes place. The equality act 2010 is out in place to monitor and protect anyone who feels that they
are being discriminated against based on who they are or what they believe. British Airways needs to
ensure that they do not discriminate and need to make sure hat they have people of another the
backgrounds in the organisation. An example of workforce profile being used in Ba would be to show
the age of all staff that work within the organisation. Workforce profile helps the manager know
when they need to recruit especially if people are coming close to the age retirement. It also helps
the managers to identify the gender of their workforce which helps with equal opportunities. This is
because the managers will be aware of the people they are employing. The benefit workforce profile
is that it helps BA become more of a successful organisation as decision making will be made
efficiently and effectively. As part of the hr planning, it is vital that BA updates their workforce profile
regularly as it helps managers see things such as race, gender, and religion in the organisation. This
helps with human resource planning as they will be able to focus on recruiting people of different
backgrounds. As I already said people should not be discriminated because of their disability. BA
takes disability seriously and accept applicants from people with all sorts of disabilities as well as
supporting individuals with disabilities by making reasonable alterations for them in the workplace
such as building ability strategy for disables workers and customers, all employees are provided with
training to increase their knowledge about disabled customers and employees.
External Planning Factors
