MANAGING WORKFORCE ENGAGEMENT AND COMMITMENT
The case of the British airlines and the UK trade Union Unite
Introduction
Correctness and suitability of a rewarding or remuneration structure is usually determined through its capacity of enhancing job performance. Adequate remuneration motivates employees to increase their output because their percentage of their salaries and wages has the capacity of meeting their living standards unlike inadequate remuneration. The rationale and controls method used in any business environment to promote morale, increase motivation, as well as foster team cohesion (Shuck et al, 2011).
With respect to the case of the British Airways and the UK trade union Unite, the cause of their numerous strikes is pretty obvious. As any business organization desiring to efficiently manage its human resource, there is the need of having a sense of direction which in turn will assist in the developing of reward strategies which are much meaningful, relevant, and beneficial to the organization (Shuck et al, 2011). By having a sense of direction it means that it will help in filtering all the opportunities which have the possibility of supporting or hindering its progress.
Thus, reward management will ultimately determine the direction through which reward management innovations as well as development will follow in supporting the strategy of the business, the manner in which it will be integrated, the kind of priorities to be given to the initiatives as well as the pace at which it will be implemented (Mesmer-Magnus et al, 2013). This is to say that an approach to be used for rewarding employees should be based on some set of coherent principles which supports the objectives of the organization. Conversely, the reward strategy should then be taken as the way of thinking developed by the organizations to any issue dealing with reward. Creating value from them should also be in line with the set objectives of the business.
Although at some point, both the companies might have perceived reward as being the most critical aspect of human resource management, the reason for its failure could have be caused by their failure of embedding part of its holistic approach to human resource (McClean & Collins, 2011). This is then to imply that, the particular strategy that was to be employed should have been influenced by various external and internal factors. Despite that, the role played by reward is the only strongest internal factor which was to be taken into consideration. The figure below illustrates the general nature of the continuum of such beliefs. It is then to be believed that the role of reward on performance and behavior is………..
Considering this diagram, whenever an employee was to be affected by the rewarding strategy developed by the British Airlines, it should be noted that the rewarding policies that was employed as well as how the workers were to see their relationship with other influencing factors was to the one to engage them in executing their duties efficiently. This is to imply that whether the employees’ union was to see the rewarding strategy to be neutral or very proactive, the reward policies which was or was initially employed should have been based on the objectives the firm desired to achieve (McClean & Collins, 2011). This is because they are the ones which have the ability of carrying stronger messages unlike other portions of the workers’ deal.
Nonetheless, employee motivation is a key tool to any organization. This then means that monetary rewards might not have the capacity of motivating in the long term. It will just symbolize the value which comes from organization-employees attachment to certain behaviors. An example of this entails rewarding workers long term services, interpreted as being part of loyalty or any other forms of performance rewarding above other human resource management attributes.
In connection to that, as a way of eliminating such persistent strikes from the workers’ unions, the British airlines needed to ensure that the nature of their rewarding system is that which has the ability of running on an annual cycle i.e. annual bonuses, annual pay review, or financial year. This implies that in case the company might have missed making changes at the right time, the system had to be reviewed after a whole year (Bogaert et al, 2013). Often, there was a need of taking a long term view, which of course will be relied on the sense of direction, which was to result into the making of rewarding changes for the proceeding years. Although this one could have not been a practical issue to implement, the stakeholders could have been of much influence in this.
Nevertheless, despite the fact that such rewarding strategies could have moved the enterprise neatly in a certain direction with an ideal pace, all that will remain to be influenced by internal factors for instance (human resource management readiness, budget, changing priorities etc) and external factors like (markets, economic, legal etc). Any of these factors has the capacity of throwing the objectives of the organization hence the evolution of multiple strikes. Being that that is the real world we are still living in, it must not put the company off whilst developing rewarding strategy. This is because it is the rewarding strategies which will enable it develop or determine the appropriate approach in light of the unavoidable changes along the way (Bogaert et al, 2013).
In accordance to that, there are a number of key questions that had to be answered prior to developing the rewarding strategy. Because of that, as a means of developing a rewarding strategy, it is essential for the union to challenge the entire organization simple questions for instance; what were the different elements of its rewarding system?, what message is carried out by its rewarding system?, Does it means all the messages carried by such a system are in conflict?, how cost effective is that rewarding system, how does it fit with the employees’ lives and so on. In case the management of the two firms could manage to answer such questions, it means that each party could have developed a solid foundation through which the rewarding strategy was to be built on (Manroop et al, 2014).
In respect to the above rewarding evaluation, what will result to employee motivation is first considering the main components of the rewarding strategy. This is because, in our current competitive business world, which is usually driven by brutal competition as well as demanding consumers, business organizations are always looking for other means of engaging their employees. In so doing, they end up vacillating two approaches. The first one is changing the culture of its rewarding system and the other on is changing the rewarding system with the hope that everything else will run smoothly.
Multiple strikes as the ones witness b y the company is because of the longstanding belief arising from such debates that the business organization can either change its reward or culture but not both of them. Such a business organization cannot have the ability of handling too many changes at once. Unfortunately, its reward management authority will be missing the point. Basically, there is the need of enquiring from workers whether they will be motivated working or increasing quality or productivity once their returns have been reduced (Manroop et al, 2014). The massage which ought to come out loud and clear is the manner in which the companies will be inducing such changes.
The British Airlines is of course to be blamed for such strikes because of its failure to take different approach in changing it culture as well as reward at the same time. Culture, in this context, signifies the nature or manner in which individuals do execute their duties as well as how they are organized within their enterprise, how constructive the levels of respect and trust are developed, by whom the decisions are made and so on (Kryscynski & Ulrich, 2015). Typically, what this suggests is that rewarding system goes beyond any form of financial returns which includes other issues related to work and working conditions that is employees’ were to find much rewarding for instance, career development, recognition, feedback as well as meaningful work.
This equally implies that by the company not ensuring that the altering its culture is in line with the rewarding system, it had the possibility of running the risk of sending its workers with terribly mixed signals hence remain to be less likely to sustain any long term gains. In connection to the same consideration, by simply changing the company’s rewarding system with the hope that such a system was to change or solve its cultural problems, was not to be precise solution. At the end such a motive was going to throw money to the problem itself.
On the other hand, since the company could have increased its focus on the business teams and units, the costs ended up reducing through improving the quality of the flight services and accidents. However, since the British Airlines did not fully align its rewarding system with its current working system, there was a sense from the employees that they were to be forced to hit the wall through such strikes. They needed to receive their pay which is aligned with the working hours and with the annual profit sharing award which equally had to be based on the profitability of the entire corporation performance that is far beyond the walls of this enterprise (Kryscynski & Ulrich, 2015). The UK trade union Unite might have then decided to carry out a series of industrial actions against British Airways because managers and operators were already frustrated by the absence of the link between the ways individuals were being required to work in meeting the goals of this enterprise.
Considering that, what can be highlighted from this case is that the management of this firm needed to consider the fact that employees how has broader views can equally be included in decision making. This is because they have knowledge and skills of pleasing their customers as well as working more efficiently. Nowadays, employees in any business environment often do welcome opportunities that assist their colleagues, their respective teams, and overall operation of their business enterprise. That is why it will make sense in case workers were to be given the opportunity of learning multiple parts of their operations.
Moreover, it was realistic to hold a strike ballot by the Unite the Union (Unite) among the British Airways (BA) members. Typically, it wasn’t realistic for them to continue losing their jobs, freezing of their rewards or because of the uncertain changes made on the work practices of the cabin crew. Therefore, although the airline sought an injunction against the workers’ union because of the views that Unite did not follow the right balloting procedures, still the they were to remain to be the cause of all that (Broedling, 1999). This is because; always employees do work together in achieving the complex goals of a business organization. Thus British Airlines, as any business enterprise, need to consider using some other approaches in motivating its workers other than using financial approaches.
Usually, by focusing on the clients of the British Airways, there was the need of coming up with newer rewarding system which was also to assist in measuring the performance of the workers. With it, financial performance will still remain to be important just the same way operational measures are. In avoiding such conflicts which kept on fostering strikes, it is the one which was going to be linked with the efforts of the workers as wells as the needs of their clients. So as to ensure that new measures remained to be more efficient to the overall performance, the best step was to ensure that they were efficiently translated to the terms and conditions of the workers union (Broedling, 1999).
From the perspective of employees and reward accountability, an increased level of empowerment of workers is the biggest change which can occur in their organization, British Airways. Workers can confidently make decisions which were originally developed in a far-off executive suite or from the office of the plant manager. A clear example of this are such strikes which of course are aimed at correcting problems associating with the loss of their jobs, freezing of their salaries and so on (Ijigu, 2015). In such an environment, the essence of hierarchy or even the hierarchy itself will end up fading in case the move of the organization was flattering rewarding structures.
Such changes which were induced on the rewarding accountability and the kind of duty to be executed by each employee will of course put the two into broad bands to further boost mutual accountability. The firm needed to develop or smoothen the present rewarding approaches to employee and career motivation. This focus will assist in shifting the focus from the position a person holds to the result produced.
Conclusion
One of the various advantages that come from employee empowerment is basically their inclusion in the designing and implementation of the rewarding system. The mistake that the company might have done is the failure to use the broad approach of including large segments of the entire work force at some critical points. Such an involvement is the one which will result into a higher quality plans as well as greater worker buy-in- and wider acceptance of such plans than ever before (Kryscynski & Ulrich, 2015). In any case, workers frequently continue resenting that thrust upon their organization. They were only to be in the position of embracing the rewarding change if only they were to be part of the process. This at least could reduce or eliminate chances of the workers union establishing or holding the strike ballot in favor of defending the rights of the workers.
On the other hand, what the case of the British Airlines and the UK trade Union Unite signifies is that their system is becoming inefficient in a long-term motivation. Therefore, in order to ensure that the reward that the workers may opt to demand through their trade union is in line with the objectives of their enterprise, job evaluation is one of the controls that can be used by the firm (Shuck et al, 2011). In association to that, factor comparison, point rating, ranking, and grading are also other examples of systems which can be used for evaluating the work of employees. Each one of them can be for establishing an internally consistent system that not only differs but has the ability of ranking different tasks on its own scale that is high to low. This will in the long-run aid in ensuring that there is no frequent or uncontrolled freezing of their salaries, loss of the jobs and so on.
Recommendation
Nevertheless, harmonizing the terms and conditions of the workers’ trade union and the reward structure as well as creating a new framework for job categorization can also be used as a tool for controlling the such undesirable strikes (Ijigu, 2015). This is to mean that all the workers, regardless of one’s position, need to feel that they are always rewarded adequately and efficiently for the job that they do. In return the reward will be shared fairly and equitably. In case their organization fails to observe that, it will be risking ending up with severe morale as well as job performance related problems. In normal circumstance, an employee who will be properly motivated has the likelihood of achieving a lot for their organization.
Regardless of such controls, it should be noted that some controls like the ones already induced by the British can end up becoming more relevant than others. From the illustration of this situation, we can say that although the workers can manage to be given various types of monetary and non-monetary forms of remuneration, for instance promotional opportunities, medical allowance, recognition and salary increment, they will still remain to be dissatisfied with their rewarding system (Mesmer-Magnus et al, 2013). Various aspects of their work for example absence of commitment, little time spent at work station, poor quality of their work, and bad conduct whilst at work will still remain to be affected by the inadequate rewarding system with time wasting and poor quality being the most affected. This is to say that the airline should ensure that the type of rewarding system and job evaluation should be in line so as to increase the workers’ morale, motivation, and consequently giving them the capacity of executing their duties efficiently.
References
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