Unit 14 working with leading people Assignment – Airlines

Program	Diploma in Business
Unit Number and Title	Unit 14 working with leading people
QFC Level	Level 5

Introduction

Unit 14 Working with leading people assignment is one of the most important aspects which require a proper set of learning. With the help of this topic information related with how to lead people will be gathered. In this Unit knowledge is gained from Easy Jet which is a leading Airline company in UK.  It is a British low cost airline carrier based at London Luton Airport. Domestic and international scheduled over 820 routes in 32 countries are operated by the company. A rapid expansion is being seen in Easy Jet after its establishment in 1995. Revenue earned by the company in 2015 was £4.686 billion. There are 10,104 employees working with Easy Jet at present time. For such a huge company it becomes necessary to manage the human resources. I am working for a Human Resource department of the company for which I have to recruit a new member for the position of cabin crew. This report will help in developing the understanding with various aspects related with recruitment and selection process and the legal and regulatory frameworks attached with it. Information related with the roles and responsibilities of  human resource management  at the workplace will also be discussed in this report.

Task 1

1.1 Prepare documentation to select and recruit a new member of staff.

Human Resource is one of the key factors for every organization. Success of every organization is dependent upon the skilled, innovative, creative and committed workforce. So it becomes necessary for every organization to focus on the workforce. In the same manner Easy Jet also focuses on the human resource and believes in managing them accordingly (Cook, 2016). To manage the human resource Easy Jet is recruiting a new staff member for a cabin crew. So, recruiting a new member requires a proper documentation, needs to obey all the statutory laws, go beyond the process which is sequential for the selection of the candidate, etc. Certain that are required to be made to support the process of recruitment and selection are:

Job Description

• Job Title: Cabin Crew
• Reporting: Cabin crew manager
• Roles and responsibilities: Role of a cabin crew member is to provide excellent services to the customers who could ensure their comfort and safety throughout the journey of the flight. Needs to deal with the security and emergency situations which can arise for which member could administer first aid to the customers (Andersson, et. al., 2016).

Job Specification

• Qualification: Good secondary education, with requiring above than grade C in math and English.
• Skills: Communication skills (Being able to speak in more than two languages), Training Skills, pleasant appearance.
• Experience: 0 to 1 years experience in the respective field.

Recruitment method: Recruitment method selected by the company is to advertise for the vacancies available in the print media and on internet. Advertisements are posted in the newspapers related with the vacancy and on the online job portals.

Selection Process

Face to face interview will be conducted and some questions will be asked to the interviewees which are as follows:

• Tell me something about yourself?
• What you know about the duties of a cabin crew?
• What are your interests?
• Why do you want to join this Airline?
• What are your strengths?
• Tell me about your areas of improvement?
• What is the customer care policy of this Airline?

There will be 4 panels who will be judging the candidates on the basis of the answers provided by the candidate. Finally selected candidate will be given the appointment letter having the date of joining for the position (Jet Edge, 2016).

1.2 Assess the impact of legal, regulatory and ethical considerations that are needed for the recruitment and selection process.

• Legal and Regulatory Considerations: All the acts related with the recruitment and selection process of the employees will be involved and taken into consideration. Legal and regulatory frameworks make sure that the recruitment and selection of the candidate should be done fairly. There should be no biasness and discrimination while recruiting or selecting the candidates. Here are some of the acts that should be taken into consideration while recruiting and selecting the candidate for the job:
• Equality Act 2010: This act came into existence on 1^st October 2010 and replaced all the other acts. The acts which are replaced with Equality Act, 2010 are Racial Discrimination Act 1970, Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Employment Equality Regulations 2013 and Race Relation Act 1976. This act has the focus on the unlawful activities adopted by the employer while recruiting the candidate. Interest of the employees is being protected by the law. This act ensures that the employees could remain protected from all kind of discrimination, like sex discrimination, age, beliefs, culture, religion, race, etc (Bergman, et. al., 2015). Equality Act, 2010 helps in framing the ethical standards which are required to be followed by an employer while recruiting the candidates. According to the act it is necessary that an employer should make decisions on behalf of the skills, abilities, qualifications and experience of an individual rather than judging him on behalf of race, culture or religion. In any kind of discrimination, candidate has right to file a case against the employer in the tribunal.  

There are various discriminations that are not required to be practiced in the organization because discrimination at the workplace is an unethical as well as unlawful activity. Direct discrimination is the discrimination in which individual is treated differently from others at the workplace. On the other hand indirect discrimination is the situation in which all the employees are treated equally, except some of the groups working in the organization. Victimization is the situation in which employees raise voice regarding certain unethical practices for which they are treated unfavorably by the employers. Last but not the least harassment is the situation which argues about the bad conduct of the behavior with an individual under the protected characteristics.

1.3 As part of personnel selection, write how did you take part in the selection process and evaluate your own contribution in the selection process.

As an HR of Jet Airways there are certain roles and responsibilities that are to be followed by me (Validov, et. al., 2016). There are certain roles that are necessary to be played by me. As working in the human resource department of the company I have given a task to hire a candidate for a cabin crew. Hence, there are certain roles and responsibilities discussed below which are to be followed by me while hiring a candidate:

Roles and Responsibilities of a human resource department

• It is necessary that HR should identify the hiring needs, develop the description for position, plan the recruitment, prepare the organizational chart and gather the recruitment related documents.
• HR has to conduct recruitment showing the good faith efforts, should have the understanding of collective bargaining agreements and the provisions related with the job.
• HR should work with HM so as to prepare the job description and should ensure proper set of procedure so as to review and approve the departmental level criteria.
• HR indulged in the recruitment process should not only consider the people who are selected for the job but also notify the interviewees who are not selected (Yahaya, et. al., 2016).
• Should adopt all the ethical and legal aspects while recruiting the candidate and select the candidate on the basis of the skills, and qualification rather than choosing on the basis of caste, religion, culture, gender or race.

1.4 How have you contributed to the selection process to make it more effective?

Easy Jet has a set selection process which is instructed to all the HR executives working in the organization. It is necessary that every individual indulge in the recruitment and selection process of Easy Jet should follow the instructions and the process of selection provided by the company. As an HR executive of Easy Jet it is necessary that I should adopt a proper selection process in which I will check the CV of the candidate and will analyze the whole CV, then I will check the reference from whom reference the candidate has came, then I will take the interview in which I will ask several questions, interview questions will also aspects related with the CV so that O could gain information related with how much prepared an individual is. Then I will check the potential and patience level of the candidate as for the prescribed role it is necessary that a candidate should remain calm and have patience so that he could manage the passengers’ properly (Chang, 2016). Then I will provide him a scenario for which he will have to perform. Then on the basis of the evaluations I will make the judgment of whether to select the candidate or not.

Task 2

Speaker Notes

Slide 1- Title: Understand the styles and impact of leadership

Slide 2- Nokia is one of the leading mobile manufacturing companies. It is dealing in the market which is highly competitive. Apple and Samsung are the biggest competitors of Nokia. In present time it was noted that sale of Nokia got reduced due to change in the technology and lack of leadership. Nokia is a Finnish Multinational Communication and Informational Technology Company. Nokia was founded in 1865. Its headquarters is in Espoo, Uusimaa in the greater Helsinki metropolitan area. With the change downfall in the sale of the products was noticed by Nokia. With the in depth analysis of various aspects it was discovered that there was lack of leadership at the workplace due to which quality of the product got affected which had a negative impact on the market of the same. Hence, make to develop better set of understanding the PPT is prepared regarding leadership so that Nokia could get helped from the information and move on the path of success and sustainability.

Slide 3- For Nokia it is suggested that it should adopt effective leadership.  Working in partnership  will help Nokia to grow in the market. Leadership will help Nokia to manage the employees with the effect of which production will increase which will lead to increase in the supply. Increased supply will help in enhancing the sale of the mobile phones of Nokia.

Slide 4- These are the qualities that a good leader should have to manage the workforce. A good leader should be a shaper, culture creator, perspective maker, influence mobiliser, should know how to build effective team, should be able to facilitate coaching, emotional caretakers and change designer.

Slide 5- These are some of the skills and attributes that are required for leadership. There are 5 skills and key attributes that a good leader should have these are:

• Passion: It is necessary that leader should have passion to achieve the goal. A good leader should remain passionate to motivate the employees and manage the work.
• Communication: A good leader has the skills to communicate effectively with the staff members. He should deliver all the work related information accurately to the people working under him so that work could be processed in an effective manner.
• Commitment to Staff: Commitment to staff is another aspect that should be there in a good leader. It is necessary for a leader to show his concern towards the staff members and should try to influence them and motivate them at every stage at the workplace.
• Team Building: It is the skill that every leader should have. A leader should have the quality to bring all the employees together and make an effective team so that conflicts at the workplace could get reduced.
• Decisiveness: A good leader should have the quality of making the quality decisions. It is important for a leader to make the decisions which could help the workforce as well as organization. Such skill will help in managing organizational functions and delivering quality services to the workplace.

Slide 6- These are some of the differences between leadership and management. It could be seen that Nokia should not rely on management rather it should work on developing the leadership at the workplace so that quality could be brought to the workplace and employees could remain attached with the workplace and help the organization to recover the losses. 

Slide 7- This is the diagram showing differences between leading and managing. Understanding this diagram will help Nokia to take effective decision and to move on the path of sustainability.

Slide 8- These are some of the leadership styles that could be adopted by the leaders. While adopting the leadership style, it is important that a leader should make a wise decision and adopt the style because managing the workforce solely depends on the style adopted by the leader at the workplace.

Slide 9- These are some of the leadership styles these are autocratic, democratic, laissez faire, transformational, and transactional.

Slide 10- These are some of the differences between the leadership styles which will help Nokia to make appropriate decision in the adoption of the appropriate leadership style for the workplace. In the situation from which Nokia is passing it becomes necessary that a wise decision should e taken by Nokia in adoption of the leadership style with the effect of which organization could recover from the losses.

Slide 11- Understanding the differences between various leadership styles it could be concluded that Nokia should adopt Bureaucratic leadership styles with the effect of which organization will be able to overcome from the losses and could build its position in the market. Decision regarding adoption of bureaucratic leadership style is being made because this is the leadership style which consists of various rules and laws with the effect of which internal decorum of the organization will be developed and fair treatment will be provided to the employees. This will help in building positive relationship between the employees and the organization which will help Nokia to sustain in the market.

Slide 12- Understanding the theories of motivation will help a leader to understand the importance of motivation at the workplace. Leader should work on the Maslow’s motivational theory and should try to fulfill the needs of the employees. It is necessary that leader should help the employees in remaining motivated. Motivating the employees will help Nokia to increase the productivity and build positive relationship and spreading happy and  health and safety  environment  at workplace.

Slide 13- It could be concluded that Nokia should apply affective leadership style.

• It should bring the positive changes
• Should apply the bureaucratic leadership style
• And should apply the Maslow’s theory so that employees working could remain motivated.

Task 3

3.1 Assess the benefits of team working in the airline and the team should be the cabin crew consisting of at least six members.

For the success of the organization team work plays a very vital role. One of the most popular beliefs attached with the team work is that team is the best way to share the skills of the team members and it helps in reducing the burden of the work. Cabin Crew of Easy Jet has 6 team members consisting of 1 supervisor, 1 team leader, 1 advisor and 3 crew members. There are certain points about the way how team work of the cabin crew can contribute to the success of Easy Jet:

• Efficiency Growth- With the help of team work efficiency of the crew members grows as they can manage the work by discussing it by each other. Supervisor of the crew members provides the roles and responsibilities of each individual, team leader keeps the eye on the work process of the members, advisor provide necessary guidance at the workplace and members follow the instructions and works accordingly (SCOTT, 2016). These kinds of activities help in proper division of work and helps in providing effective services to the passengers of Easy Jet.
• Develop Employee Relation- Team work helps in developing positive employee relation. Working in a team provides better opportunity to make bond with one another. This also helps in developing effective relation among them. The cabin crew team which Easy Jet has is really effective as they provide really warm and effective services to the passengers. Coordination among the team members helped them in reducing the conflicts and building effective set of relationship among them. Cabin crew of Easy Jet understands the values and beliefs of the team members and ensures that they should not get hurt and work accordingly (HR-Inform., 2016). This type of activity helps in the smooth flow of work and building positive bond among them.

3.2 Demonstrate working in a cabin crew team as a leader and member towards specific goals, dealing with any conflict or difficult situations that you may have faced of recent.

Recently it was tweeted by a TV presenter that the flights of Easy Jet got delayed for an hour because two cabin crew members had to be hauled off after fighting over water bottles. Fight between the cabin crew members grounded the Easy Jet flight for more than an hour as the staff clashed over packing the water bottles. It was confirmed by the airline company that the EZY835 FLIGHT FROM London Gatwick to Belfast had to return to stand because two crew members were replaced following the verbal disagreement between them. In such type of conflicts leader plays a very vital role. It is necessary that wise decisions should be taken in such conflicts because both the cabin crew members were part of the team (Wu, 2013). Cabin crew members of Easy Jet have a specific goal which is providing effective set of services to the passengers. They have clear roles and responsibilities. In such type of conflict it is necessary that a leader should analyze the situation and gather appropriate information regarding the fault of the crew member.

Leader should provide appropriate direction to the crew members regarding the work and the tasks that are to be managed by an individual. Work should be divided equally among the cabin crew members so that chances of conflicts get reduced. Leader should provide training to the crew members and should provide them the information regarding how to manage the conflict. It is a responsibility of leader to provide the information regarding the dos and don’ts that should be followed by the team members (Noone, et. al., 2011). In this case as a leader I would have taken the decision of suspending the crew members as passengers got affected due to the unethical behavior of the crew members. I would be ensuring work should be divided equally among the team members so that they work on the tasks given to them and do not interfere in the working of others. According to Belbins there are 9 team roles which as a leader I believe in are plant, resource, investigator, coordinator, shaper, monitor, evaluator, motivator, implementer, finisher and specialist.

3.3 As a leader of the cabin crew review the effectiveness your team has achieved in their recent goal of increasing customer satisfaction.  

As a leader of cabin crew I think that the team at present Easy Jet has is really effective as there are 6 members working in a team. Team of the cabin crew of Easy Jet has a supervisor who plays a very role in guiding and showing the right path to the team members. Supervisor is one of the important parts of a team as with his guidance proper functioning of the team is not possible. It is necessary that Cabin crew members of the team should have a monitor and evaluator for which supervisor plays a very vital role. Then the team has a team leader who leads the team and provides a proper set of direction to the team. With the help of the guidance of team leader, team comes in a proper shape (Cook, 2016). Team leader of cabin crew coordinates the team members, plays a role of shaper and plant. Then comes the advisor who helps in motivating the team members, investigates the problems, evaluates the situation and helps in motivating the team members by providing them effective set of solutions to the problems.

Finally comes the team executives who works as a finisher and provides effective set of services to the passengers who travel with Easy Jet. Feedbacks were taken from the passengers which was positive. Passengers were satisfied with the services provided by the cabin crew and were impressed with the coordination they had shown at the workplace. Services provided by the crew members were of quality and were effective. This shows that having a good leader and proper team helps in managing the work and delivering quality services to the target customers (Andersson, et. al., 2016). As the leader of cabin crew it could be said that the performance of the team is up to the market, team coordinates in a proper manner, work is being divided equally among the team members, they respect the values and beliefs of each other, try to complete the work with quality, ensures that conflicts could get resolved as soon as possible and helps each other so that services could get delivered on time.

Task 4

4.1 What factors will you need to consider in planning and monitoring and assessment of work performance for the cabin crew.

Monitoring and assessment of the cabin crew is one of the most important aspect attached with Easy Jet. With the help of monitoring and assessment Easy jet will be able to deliver quality services to the passengers. Easy Jet follows various factors to monitor and assess the work performance of the cabin crew:

• Learning needs: In Easy jet, different employees in the cabin crew have different learning needs. Some wants to learn about the communication skills while other wants to have knowledge about hospitality management. Therefore, difference in learning needs affect the assessment process of the organization. The assessment process should be designed in such a way that can be appropriate for assessing the performance of different learning.
• Cultural diversity: Diversity in culture affects the working style as well as the skills possessed by the employees. This is the reason why employees with different culture have different needs of learning as well as assessed with different processes.
• Age: Age is also an important factor to be considered. Employees with old age have different working style than the employees with young age. Therefore, the assessment process should also be according to the age of the employee.

4.2 How can you plan and deliver the assessment to ensure needs of the cabin crew is developed.

It is necessary that Easy Jet should plan and deliver the assessment so that it could ensure that needs of the cabin crew is delivered. Assessing the needs of the crew members will help Easy Jet to provide proper support to the cabin crew which will help in managing the work process.

Motivation is one of the aspects that will help in delivering support to the cabin crew. It is necessary that cabin crew should get motivated so that they could deliver quality services to the target customers. Airlines Company relies totally upon the services and its services helps in attracting the employees. Motivated cabin crew can only deliver the services which are required by the passengers of Easy Jet (Validov, et. al., 2016). Easy Jet will have to ensure that needs like psychological needs, safety needs, love and belongingness, self esteem needs and self actualization needs should be fulfilled. Development of motivation needs among the employees drives their performance in positive way. This is because motivation needs among the employees influence and force them to work efficiently.

Delegation of the authority is another aspect that will help in delivering the assessment to ensure that need of the cabin crew could be developed. Delegation of authority helps in developing the feeling of responsibility among the cabin crew with the effect of which they will deliver quality services to the passengers who prefer to travel with Easy Jet. Communication should also be taken into consideration and all the information should be properly communicated to the cabin crew so that they could manage the work accordingly. Effective flow of communication will help in managing the work on time (Yahaya, et. al., 2016). Different methods can be used for assessment and delivery of the needs. Role play can be sued to assess the level of development of the needs of the employees by creating an artificial working environment. Another method can be group discussion in which employees can freely discuss about their views regarding their needs and assessment.

4.3 What methods can you suggest that the airline should use to evaluate the success of the assessment process?

Evaluation of the success of the assessment is one of the most important aspects attached with every organization. In the same manner Easy Jet should apply various methods which could help it in evaluating the success of the assessment process. Hence, various methods that can be adopted by Easy Jet are:

• Appraisals are one of the methods which will help in evaluating the performance of cabin crew. Appraisal requires collection of the information and progress report of cabin crew. Comparing the pervious performance with the current will help in evaluating the assessment process. Around 40% of the employees get the appraisal that suggests that the assessment process conducted is very successful.
• Feedback is another aspect that will help in evaluating the success of the assessment process. Taking feedbacks from cabin crew regarding the changes and benefits they get from the changes will help in evaluating the success. The evaluation of the feedback form suggests that most of the employees have given the positive feedback.
• Promotions require analyzing the potential and loyalty of the cabin crew with the company. Easy Jet promotes the cabin crew members who remain attached with the company from long time and provide their valuable services to the company. Promotions show that assessment process is helping the employees to develop and grow. 25% of the attendees got promotions. This clearly defines the success of the assessment process.  (Chang, 2016).

Conclusion

It could be concluded that  working with the leading people  gives variety of opportunities to the people. It becomes necessary for the people to focus on various aspects of improvement like motivation, appraisals and leadership. HR plays a very vital role in managing the people, like in the case of conflict between cabin crew of Easy Jet, HR played very vital roles and made appropriate decision. Identifying the opportunities and working on that helps the organization to manage the people and maintain the internal decorum of the  global business.  Therefore, organizations should use appropriate theories and styles to manage the people.

References