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HRMN 406 Assignment 1- Analyze Training Needs-The British Airways Training Needs Assessment

The Training Issue in the Company

The training issue that will be discussed here is the reduction in the operation costs of the company through redundancy and reduced benefits of the employees. This has been going on for sometimes but the company expects to actualize redundancies occasioned by the reduction in travel in the face of the Corona Virus pandemic. The training needs that the company employees require is the balance on the realities on the ground regarding the profitability of the institution and trying not to affect the level of motivation of the employees.

Group of Individuals that Require Training

Cabin Crew

These are members who work for short hours or sometimes they do their works for long hours especially during the long haul flights of the company (Gibertini, 2020). They include the flight attendants and other workers who work inside the plane during the flight from one place to another. These people ensure the comfort and relaxation of the customers are assured during the flight. They require training on how to handle any potential job losses and any existing reduction of contract. In British Airways for example, as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, employees who have been with the company for less than 10 years face a greater risk of being redeployed or their contracts facing a termination (Gibertini, 2020). These people constitute the largest part of the employees in terms of total employee statistics. Due to the nature of their work, they live close to the airport. Over twenty thousand cabin crew members require this type of training.

Pilots

Pilots form an important part of the flight crew. They should be attentive at all times and highly motivated. High motivation ensures that they deliver top-notch services to the company customers by navigating the plane properly, with expertise, and with minimal risks. Pilots are the engine of the company and any negative issues that they may face can seriously dent the reputation of the company (Ba.com, 2020). When a pilot is given a –plane and a uniform during flight, the person is not only transporting the passengers from one corner of the world to another (Ba.com, 2020). The person is acting as an important representative of the company, who is also a role model for the company. When dealing with pilots, they should be carefully trained on any expected looming reorganization of the company. Caution and tact are required so as not to face legal challenges and a dip in the morale of the pilots. Pilots work for long hours and their sacrifice to the company is something that should not be taken for granted.

Airport Staff

These are people who work tirelessly to ensure that the airport is clean, up and running and there are seamless operations that ensure everything goes to plan when the passengers are boarding or disembarking from the plane. Some of the airport staff performs the duty of issuing boarding passes to the customers (Gibertini, 2020). There are security guys and the check-in staff that ensure all passengers' documentation is accurate during the travel period. At the airport, there are also the customer service agents that ensure all the queries that customers have regarding service are answered. Airport staff also has the groundsmen that carry out many functions, key among them being the maintenance of the premises. Lack of shared goals and duties among the airport staff can lead to an extremely low sense of morale and this will affect the work output of the airport staff.

Management Staff

The particular group of people that require training on redundancy and proper reduction of employees is the members of the Human Resource Team and the Operations Team.

Training Issues

When there is looming news that some employees are going to be fired or their overall benefits are going to be slashed, it is usual for the employees to be worried. They do not know whether their new salaries will be enough to cover their expenses. They are worried about the procedure of finding a new job. In the face of global pandemic, these issues can be stressful. The training seeks to guide how employees can still seek for jobs but also try to perform at the usual high level in their current job.

The human resource and the workers in the management need to refresh their understanding of balancing between the company profitability and the welfare of the employees. The redundancy of employees comes with its unique challenges and legal issues that management should consider. For instance, some of the employees, particularly the pilots belong to the pilot union. This will make it quite difficult to just fire the workers without following the due process of the law (Corporate Staffing Services, 2020).

Training of the Human Resource Workers on Redundancy will ensure the following is achieved: proper discussion of the benefits that employees should receive contractual issues for a unionized employee and a non-unionized worker, proper notice of layoff, and techniques needed to communicate to the employee on the reasons why he is being let off from the company (Corporate Staffing Services, 2020). This training will also assist the organization in determining the organizational impact of redundancy. For instance, if the workers are being laid off, will this activity affect the motivation of the workers? What are the projection on the productivity levels and the need to achieve the key performance indicators of the employees that remain?

Training of the cabin crew, the airport staff, and the pilot staff will make them realize the following key issues: It is possible to have a smooth transition from one job to another. The company has a network of employers and related organizations so it can refer to some of the employees to be retrenched to those organizations. Training will give these employees any channels that they can use for clarification, asking questions and redeployment and retraining. For instance, in the British Airways company, retraining of the cabin crew to handle cargo instead of just passengers was vital in ensuring that a few members of the cabin crew were now involved in ensuring the successful transportation of cargo especially medical supplies sourced from one region to another.

Utilization of the Questionnaire

The questionnaire will be used in getting to know the key management issues that should be included in the training program. It will be a way of seeking consent from the employees to include them in the Training Programme. This is quite important for budget-related activities. The questionnaire will be used to gauge the attitudes of the employees towards the training and whether they think there is a problem or not.

References

Ba.com. (2020). British Airways - Pilots. Retrieved 6 September 2020, from https://careers.ba.com/pilots

BA. Company information | British Airways. Retrieved 6 September 2020, from https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/about-ba/company-information/headoffice

BritishAirways.com. (2009). British Airways Annual Reports and Accounts. Retrieved 6

September 2020, from https://www.britishairways.com/cms/global/microsites/ba_reports0910/pdfs/Workplace.p df

Corporate Staffing Services. (2020). Redundancy Training - Corporate Staffing

Services. Retrieved 6 September 2020, from https://www.corporatestaffing.co.ke/training/redundancy-training-for-hr-in-kenya/

Gibertini, V. (2020). British Airways Marches On With Its Staff And Cost Reduction Plans –

AirlineGeeks.com. Retrieved 6 September 2020, from https://airlinegeeks.com/2020/08/09/british-airways-marches-on-with-its-staff-and-costreduction-plans/

Appendix

Training Needs Assessment Questionnaire

1. How have you been affected by the Corona Virus pandemic especially about your job as a member of the British Airways Workforce?

2. Do you think your job is at risk? What is the greatest risk in your job?

3. Would you leave the company and seek greener pastures if the opportunity presented itself?

4. What do you think the organization can do better to protect its employees from the negative effects of the pandemic?

5. Do you support the idea of firing some of the employees as a key strategic decision of reducing the workforce?

6. We are putting in place a training program to help HR and employees deal with the issues of redundancy of the workforce of the organization, what do you think about it?

7. Should the organization support employees it has fired until they receive a new job?

8. Out of ten how do you rate the management personnel respond to the increasing low number of customers and reduced business for the organization?

9. How would you describe it?

10. Moving forward what can be done to ensure employees are protected during low sales and a decline in economic activities?