Staff Selection in Virgin Atlantic Airlines - Case Study Example

Staff Selection in Airlines Student’s Name: Institutional Affiliation Outline Outline 2 References 12 Staff Selection in Airlines The paper addresses the issue of staff selection with particular interest to selection of pilots and cabin staff in Virgin Atlantic. There are documented rules and regulation to this effect but none is strictly being observed. This being the case, issues of staff discrimination and gender biasness are common in Virgin Atlantic airline. The paper also puts across past studies that have discussed the idea of staff selection and biasness that is often involved in the process. This being an actual research paper, the paper highlights the research design to be used in the process of data collection. Various findings have been documented with regard to airline and the whole issues of staff selection particularly issue related to biases and discrimination. Research findings and recommendations are also stated. Lastly, the paper gives a brief conclusion that concludes that the right culture, a clear understanding of service and service individuality and qualified staff is a must have to a smooth running of any system and in this case airlines. Executive summary The issue of service superiority is both inconspicuous and indefinable. Customers are keen on the services that they receive, and they are aware of when these services are not being delivered. When customers are furnished with high quality services, there tend to harbor strong and positive attitude about the organization in question. The function and the underlying factor in service delivery and customer satisfaction are largely the company employees. By extension, proper service delivery becomes hardly a thing that can Running airlines gainfully has always been a great confront. The continuous lack of regulation and slow liberalization of the airline industry in the recent past years, has, inter alia, resulted in the exclusion of fare restrictions and have further altered the competitive scenery by encouraging the access of new competitors in the market (Ford, Heaten & Brown, 2001). In essence, relatively cheap‐cost carriers have become a motivating element in this competitive countryside. These recent advancement have had extensive repercussions on the worldwide airline industry’s customers tastes and preference, and by extension this has caused heightening price competition among various companies in the industry. If the process of staff selection is not approached with objectivity, it may lead to company retardation and by extension limit both profit level and chances of growth. As we stand, most airlines around the world are having serious challenges related to profit making with some even experiencing bankruptcy and threat of possible closure. In other words, the issue of customer satisfaction should be given an upper hand. This is an aspect that is only achievable if the process of staff selection is one that is transparent and free from any possible discrimination. The airline industry is today one of the most profitable business in the world (Martin, 2004). In 2000, the industry itself was worth more than US$1000 billion, employed more than 22 million people, and it was the chosen means of transportation for around 1.25 billion people. It is a fiercely competitive industry, where only the airlines who can adapt to the ever-present Changes, transitions, and the environmental happenings can compete seriously (Grunberg & Greenberg, 2001). Triumphant airlines must be prepared to handle turbulence not only in the skies, but also on the ground. The revolutionary attacks of September 11th 2001 is just one event over recent years to hit the airline industry hard, leading to the downfall of world`s airlines such as Swissair and Sabena, and 200,000 airline staff being laid off. This paper gives a wide coverage into the areas of the existing literature review on this topic, the research design and findings and implications. It further looks the conclusions and recommended areas where further studies can be ventured. Report aims and scope This report is setting a platform to enhance staff selection and minimizing the issue of biases and discrimination in the process. The report tackles the existing literature review on this topic, the research design and findings and implications. It further looks the conclusions and recommended areas where further studies can be ventured. Setting the scene, Virgin Atlantic employs over 8000 employees from all over the world and is one of the biggest companies in the airline industry. The organization takes up the belief that not just its products but also its service, culture and style are all directly absorbed by the people it hires. This being the case, hiring the right people is a truly planned imperative (Sartein, 2000). Some of the recruitment challenges that the organization usually face include among others the intense competition for skills and manpower in the airline industry which can in the softest terms be referred to as intense. To serve in this kind of industry, employees must show traits of being gifted, self-driven, passionate and customer-centric. This by and large serves to make sure that the airline customers and in this case Virgin Atlantic customers get the very best the industry can offer. In addition to that, they also recognized that the candidates experience could be enhanced, and their processes ore joined-up (Ford, Heaten & Brown, 2001). They recognized that e-recruitment would help deal with the whole recruitment process: not only that the Group scales up recruitment into its overseas operations. It was also handling rising numbers of new hires. On the other hand, it is not all shady and downbeat in the industry. It appears some of the success stories from the airline industry can be attributed to having a well functioning staff selection procedure and process most remarkably what has been practiced in Virgin Atlantic Airways. It is important to note that the airline industry is today one of the largest service industries in the world. From when it was established at around1984, Virgin Atlantic Airways has become one of the world`s biggest carrier serving the world’s major cities. Virgin Atlantic has enjoyed enormous fame, winning top business, and consumer and trade awards from around the world (Miles & Mangold, 2004). The airline has pioneered a variety of innovations setting new principles of service. In spite of Virgin Atlantic’s growth the service still remains customer driven with an accent on value foregone, quality, fun and innovation. Virgin Atlantic has carried around 58m passengers since it began operations. More to that, computerizing the management of candidates from enrollment through on boarding and induction was seen as serious to reducing the Group’s overhead, at the same time as ensuring the business hired the strongest applicants for each post. Earlier on, their recruitment procedure was paper-based and very labor intensive. They receive over 120,000 applications for around 2,200 vacancies every year, and the managerial building block alone meant by then to hire around two months, which was a huge nuisance, not just for them, but for the applicant, as well (Hamann, 2001). Overview the airline industry is today one of the largest service industries in the world. In 2000, the industry itself was worth more than US$1000 billion, employed more than 22 million people, and it was the chosen means of transportation for around 1.25 billion people. It is a ferociously bloodthirsty industry, where only the airlines who can adapt to the ever-present changes, transitions, and the environmental happenings can compete critically (BrandKeys, 2004). Flourishing airlines must be set to handle commotion not only in the skies, but also on the ground. The Fanatic attack of September 11th 2001 is just one event over current years to smack the airline industry hard, leading to the collapse of the world airlines. Research review Employee selection as a foundation of planned competitive gain has been a foundation for debate in recent years. While practitioners focused on the significance of employee selection and its positive outcomes, their dialogue often lacked focus because they did not agree on the term’s definition or its conceptualization (Ford, Heaten & Brown, 2001). Clearness was added when their 2004 Journal of Relationship Marketing article defined employee selection as bathe process by which employees internalize the desired image and are motivated to plan the image to customers and other organizational constituents. The conceptualization presented along with that definition provided insight into how organization should achieve a bloodthirsty advantage by deliberately utilizing the employee selection process. In that work, they extend their previous conceptualization by presenting a contextual analysis of Atlantic’s Airlines’ use of the employee selection process to gain an organizational position in the minds of customers. Their extension also acknowledges the key role the organization’s mission and values played in the employee selection process, and recognizes that employees must have familiarity of the preferred image if they are to project that image to others (BrandKeys, 2004). That psychoanalysis will lead to a better understanding of the use of employee selection as a positioning implement, and will clarify the manner in which the employee selection process can be used as a source of competitive advantage. In the world, Atlantic Airlines has, by most measures, been the most flourishing airline in its industry. Their success is mainly due to the competitive advantage Atlantic has gained by efficiently positioning the organization in customers’ minds.  In addition to that, the receipt of the mid 2003 Award for selection excellence and awards that came later in 2004 dubbed Performance through People Award provides evidence of the efficiency of Atlantics’ positioning and employee selection strategies. From an abstract point of view, however, it may be more accurate to say that Atlantic’s success appears to be mainly founded on a composite process by which the company motivates its staff to internalize and deliver the preferred image. This motivational process is chiefly entrenched in the perception of the employee. The result is readily experiential by those who get in touch with the Atlantic employees, and contributes a lot to the position Atlantic holds in customers’ minds. Research design The organization has subsequently been scaled to hold up the entire company providing a single record for every job candidate contacting the organization. The solution from Lames’ deals with all aspects of candidate management, from online candidate application management, combination with online job boards, and ‘self-service‘ elements such as psychometric testing and appraisal centre scheduling, which candidates can carry out by themselves (Gittell, 2003). Airline soars ahead of world’s second largest airline, cuts time to hire by half, overheads by 19 percent following worldwide talent acquisition roll-out. Out of the competition for talent Formerly Step Stone Solutions Customer insight Virgin Atlantic Candidates can also sign up for email job alerts, instantly guaranteeing a ready audience for every new post that the airline intends to fill. Job alerts have already converted into hires, and strong unproductive candidates can register to be updated with future vacancies as they arise. Fantastic cut comes Implementing the talent acquirement solution transformed the group’s approach to enrollment. It facilitates enhanced admittance to excellence candidates and pinpoints the most victorious sources of hire. Findings and implications Various findings have been documented with regard to airline and the whole issues of staff selection particularly issue related to biases and discrimination. Among them are various positivity that arises from implementation of systems that can possibly reduce instances of discriminations and improve transparency in the hiring process (Freiberg & Freiberg, 1996). Generally the average time required to employ new staff has considerably reduced. Successful candidates can use Virgin Atlantic’s jobs offer area, which links to its on boarding services, including job descriptions, health and safety guiding principle and company information. the big number of talent acquiring related programs puts the company at a higher platform particularly is aspects such as job alerts. These also tend to create an extensive platform from where the company can get efficient employees and refer ineffective ones for future appointments (Bass, 1990). Lumesse has malformed their approach to enrollment: they can deliver a recruitment experience which fully reflects Virgin Atlantic’s selection to all their applicants, whilst making sure they never lose sight of the strongest candidates. This capability, alongside the forceful directorial and cost savings they have seen, is a clear sow of how effective the recruitment and staff selection has been. However, the most significant advantage has been the ability of Lumesse Talent Acquisition to help them grow rapidly with no concession on safety and security, modernism, customer services, value for money, and above all, fun (BrandKeys, 2004). It is a testament to the capabilities of Lumesse Talent Acquisition that they are able to recognize and move toward the right talent and offer them the recruitment knowledge they deserve. In short Solution: Talent Acquisition Industry: Airline Country: international Employees: 10,000 Virgin Atlantic has implemented Lumesse Talent Acquisition across all of its businesses, which jointly receive some 130,000 applications for 2,200 vacancies advertised yearly. With Lumesse Talent Acquisition, the organization has introduced an enterprise-wide enrollment folder for the first time, considerably tumbling time to hire, and delivering predictable cost reductions of around 19% in the next year (Stein, 2000). The airline has also delivered a broad range of top up benefits, from improved suppleness to nurturing better partnership between its intercontinental offices. Conclusions and recommendations Despite its success, managers know they can’t afford to be complacent. Every single opportunity that comes by in Virgin Atlantic airline is utilized to improve employees system so as to meet customer widening needs and preferences. They adopt a holistic approach, creating a ‘wow’ effect by constantly benchmarking against the best in all relevant industries. The airline has proved to be of absolute good in providing excellent services and focus on individual customer needs (Freiberg & Freiberg, 1996). Such a plan is only possible because of the company commitment to not only customers but also the keenness in staff selection process. The airline management makes deliberate attempt to listen to and address complains from all areas in the process particularly in biasness and staff discrimination in employing. The organization just like any successful organization has invested in staff training with an aim of seeing to it that all employees that are selected are capable of providing (Rousseau, 1995). From the outset, it is actually more accurate to say that Atlantic’s success appears to be mainly founded on a composite process by which the company motivates its staff to internalize and deliver the preferred image. This motivational process is chiefly entrenched in the perception of the employee. At the end of the day much is achieved particularly is changing the position that customers hold on an airline company and in this case Virgin Atlantic airline. In a nutshell, other airlines can possibly use the example of the selection process of Atlantic employees in forming benchmark for excellent company performance. Employees’ selection process if well structured and biases and discriminations are set aside can possibly be used to give an organization competitive advantage. Employees are picked on merit and on the grounds of the input they are likely to input in the country. Staffs are by all means important assets in any organizations, and the selection process should embrace transparency and bedone on basis of merit. Similarly, employees should not be seen as the cost to be controlled but rather as investments to be taken care of so as to reap maximum benefits and increase company productivity. In conclusion, there are two key lessons that can be learnt from Virgin Atlantic. First, service superiority requires a total approach i.e. tremendous customer service is the result of all of the components being in place; the right culture, a clear understanding of service and service individuality, good people, along with good systems and processes. In addition to that, it does not necessarily need to be luxurious. The actual way forward is gradual and consistence in improving all aspects that pertains to employees selections in organizations. It is of utmost importance that a company particularly an airline follows certain important guidelines in the staff recruitment and selection process. Although much research has been conducted in the field of staff selection in airlines, much more ought to be done. The relationship between customer loyalty and staff selection should be established. Further studies can be advanced particularly on the issue of gender bias and other related discriminations in employment of airlines cabins and other staffs. References Bass, B. M. (1990). Handbook of leadership. New York, NY: Free Press. BrandKeys. (2004). 2004 Brand week customer loyalty awards. Retrieved from http://brandkeys.com/awards/index.cfm Ford, R. C., Heaten, C. P. & Brown, S. W. (2001). Delivering excellent service: Lessons from the best firms. California Management Review, 44(1), 39-56. Freiberg, K., & Freiberg, J. (1996). Nuts. Austin: TX7 Bard Press. Gittell, J. H. (2003). The Southwest Airlines way. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Grunberg, L., & Greenberg, E. (2001). Differences in psychological and physical health among layoff survivors: the effect of layoff contact. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 6(1), 15-25. Hamann, K. (2001). The Resurgence of National-Level Bargaining: Union Strategies in Spain. Industrial Relations Journal, 32(2), 154-72. Martin, J. (2004). Dancing with elephants. Fortune Small Business, 14(8), 84-90. Miles, S. J., & Mangold, G. (2004). A conceptualization of the employee branding process. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 3(2/3), 65 – 87. Rousseau, D. (1995). Psychological contracts in organizations: Understanding written and unwritten agreements. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Sartein, L. (2000). Internal branding at Southwest Airlines. Presented at the Society for Human Resource Management International Conference, Las Vegas, NV. Stein, N. (2000). Winning the war to keep top talent. Fortune, 141(11), 132-136. Read More