[DOCUMENT TITLE]

Executive Summary
This report deals with the key issues facing Flyhigh Plc a low cost airline based in UK.
Initially, the key issues are identified carefully based a SWOT analysis. The main issues were
staffing problems, low morale and a proper workforce planning by the new HR manager. Then
the issues are scrutinized further to sort out the areas where improvements can be made. To
address those issues recommendations are made along with the risk and rewards with each
recommendation. Recommendations are made to improve low morale through a formal wage
structure. Also, a positive working culture with enhanced communication within the organization
is proposed so that voluntary turnover in the organization is reduced. Also, a revamp of the
whole recruitment and selection process is proposed so that employees are fit for the
organization are selected and probability of any further discrimination case is reduced. Finally,
the wider implications of the changes to the employees of the organizations are discussed like a
healthy working environment, job satisfaction etc. among others.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary.................................................................................................... 1
Introduction.................................................................................................................... 3
Question 1..................................................................................................................... 3
Current Scenario Analysis:.............................................................................................. 3
The key issues......................................................................................................... 4
Question 2..................................................................................................................... 5
Recommendations............................................................................................................ 5
Low Morale.............................................................................................................. 5
Strategy 1............................................................................................................ 5
Strategy 2............................................................................................................ 6
Strategy 3............................................................................................................ 7
Reduce employee turnover..................................................................................... 8
Risks and Rewards........................................................................................................... 9
Question 3................................................................................................................ 10
Implications of the changes for the employees.....................................................10
Conclusion................................................................................................................... 10
Bibliography............................................................................................................. 11

Introduction
Flyhigh plc is a small low cost budget airline, operating from their headquarters in the UK and
serving several European and Asian destinations. They operate from a selection of second tier
airports in and around London and the Midlands including Gatwick, Luton and East Midlands.
Currently, they are facing several problems with their human resources. This paper will identify
the key issues. Then it will recommend changes along with the risks and rewards. Finally, critical
analyses will be done regarding the implications of the change to the employees (Nickson, 2013).
Question 1
Identify the main HR issues in the case study using relevant theory.

Current Scenario Analysis:

To understand the situation better, a SWOT analysis is performed below:
Strengths
1 Flat decisional structure
2 New HR manager
Opportunities

Weaknesses
1. Damaged Reputation
2. Frustrations among staffs
Threats
1 Shortage within the industry of pilots
and other aircrew

Flyhigh plc has a flat decisional structure with its owner as the only decision maker. They have
also recently hired a new HR manager from their competitor RyanAir. They suffer from
damaging reputation due to cancelled flights. This led to a frustration among the staffs. There is a
shortage of pilots and aircrews in the industry stem from the fierce competition in the industry.
The key areas according the case are as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Shortage within the industry of pilots and other aircrew

High turnover of staff, especially in his senior management team:
Low morale and problems with workforce planning
Recruitment & selection processes - discrimination
No formalized wage structure
Accusations of favoritism
Them and us culture.

The above key areas can be diagrammatically represented as follow:

HR Problem s

Staffi ng

Low m orale

Workforce
planning

High Turnover

No form alized
w age
structure

Recruitment
and selection
process

Shortage in
the industry

Accusations
of favouritism

Discriminatio
n

Perceived
culture

Figure: Key HR Problems

Source: (Gowan et al., 2005)

The key issues

The HR problems can be brought down to the core three key issues. They are:
1. Effective and efficient staffing
2. Reducing low morale of the employees
3. Proper workforce planning in the organization.
The staffing problem has arisen from the fierce competition in the industry which resulted in to
the shortage of the pilots and aircrews. The situation has been aggravated by the high turnover of
the employees, including senior management team. The low morale has been caused by
unavailability of formalized wage structure among other reasons. Also, there are accusations of
favoritism in the recruitment process by top officials. The current culture of them and us
perceived by employees are also aggravating the problem even further. Recently, the firm settled
two discrimination and other irregularity tribunal cases. The new HR manager has to come up
with a workforce plan considering the other two problems, solving the discrimination problems.

Question 2
Recommend changes in light of your analysis to Recruitment & Selection processes. Evaluate
the risks and rewards of what you propose.
To solve the problems, one has to use the concepts from Human Resource Management. Human
resource management is the process of acquiring, training, appraising, and compensating
employees, and of attending to their labor relations, health and safety, and fairness concerns
(Dessler, 2000). The current problems require the company to use the process of acquiring,
compensating employees along with maintaining good labor relations with fairness concerns.
To further analyse the problems, each component can be scrutinized. Probably, the high turnover
of employees in the organization is a result of the low morale which leads to less loyalty. Low
morale has to be addressed initially. This will reduce the high turnover to some extent. But to
focus on turnover reduction, other strategies have to be pursued aiming for it. Also, the
discrimination problems has to be overcome also.
Recommendations

Low Morale
To address the low morale and discrimination problem, the company should consider the
following strategies:
1. Introduce a new formal wage structure for the employees
2. Revamp their recruitment and selection process
3. Increase communication among employees
Strategy 1
The new formal wage structure for the employees will create a feeling of fairness among the
employees. The employees will now able to internalize their performance appraisal system and
thus set a benchmark level of work in their mind (Barnhart et al., 2009).
The payout policy should bring a feeling of equity among the employees to reduce the turnover
rate. According to research regarding the equity theory of motivation, the rate of turnover is less
when the employee feels they are compensated fairly. The employees compare their
compensation in comparison to various factors. They compare their pay with the same level
employees of another organization. They also compare with that of other employees in the same
level or upper/lower level within the organization.

The employees should also be given opportunity to express their opinion regarding a formal
wage structure. This enhances transparency and leads to procedural equity (Eaton, 2001). The
final result will be embraced by the employees since they had a voice in that process. Also, the
elitist view of the aircrew by the lower level employees will be eliminated during the process.
The probability of feeling unfairness that caused recent problem of tribunal case due to
discrimination will also curb.
In order to create the best compensation plan the Flyhigh plc should conduct a fair job evaluation
of the all the employee groups. Job evaluation can be done in several ways like taking intuitive
approach, basing on compensable factors or through job evaluation committee. Of all the
process, job evaluation committee is the fairest process (Dessler, 2000).
Senior Executives compensation should linked considering their psychology. Research suggest
they do well when they are given incentives, in addition to their salary, for higher performance
(Forbes, 2015). This usually comes in the form of stock options and bonuses. For example,
several thousand stock for a desired level of stock price.
Strategy 2
The recruitment and selection process should also be revamped since it is currently creating a
feeling of unfairness favouritism.
The airline needs to evaluate the need of employees regularly and recruit based on that. The HR
manager of Flyhigh Plc needs to create a line of communications among various departments to
gather the necessary information for the recruitment (Gowan et al., 2005). There are many levels
of positions inside airline industry, from senior executives to pilot, air hostess to maintenance
personnel.
Recruitment is the process through which organizations discover, develop, seek and attract
individuals to fill the vacancies. The recruitment process includes the interview, assessment,
screening and selection of most qualified candidates (Harvey, 2007). Effective recruitment
process starts from understanding the companys strategy, vision and values. Once they are
understood, they need to be used to streamline the whole process.
The objectives of the companys recruitment process are several. It helps the management to
forecast the personnel requirements. It attracts a pool of candidates from both inside and outside
of the organization. It ensures the supply of the candidates are adequate. Several methods such as

interviewing, written test, presentations, case solving, etc. are used to select the employees. The
whole process should be conducted quickly, legally and cost effectively.

Figure: Recruitment and Selection process (Dessler, 2000)

First the employee requirements has to be forecasted. Then a pool of candidates has to be built.
The rest is done according the above figure. When the pool of candidates is built, Flyhigh plc
should prepare a policy to prefer the internal candidates during the process currently. This will
increase employee morale since they will feel they are rewarded for their loyalty and competence
(Gowan et el., 2005). The internal candidate also require less orientation in the organizations.
The adhoc process should be eliminated from the organization. Adequate employees should be
recruited, screening people who has the capacity to perform in several roles when required
addressing contingency issue i.e. one employee can perform several roles when required.
Strategy 3
Flyhigh HR manager should facilitate communication and interactions among all levels of
employees regardless of their background, origin, or hierarchy. Participation of the employees
should be encouraged and common ground development has to be done. Flyhigh should resolve
conflicts among employees that value diversity. The top management has to set the new
behaviors and start the increased level of communication within the employees thus setting
examples to follow (Mathis and Jackson, 2003)
To address the issue of staffing, Flyhigh needs to focus on the following: why there is a high
turnover rate, and what to do about retaining employees.

The turnover in the organization increases for several reasons such as, promotion, pay, bad
relationship with supervisors, feeling of unfairness, undemocratic decision making process and
lack of recognition. Poor selection of candidates, inadequate training and appraisals also affect
the turnover rate (Noe, 2006). The airline needs to evaluate the need regularly and recruit based
on that. The HR manager of Flyhigh Plc needs to create a line of communications among various
departments to gather the necessary information for the recruitment. There are many levels of
positions inside airline industry, from senior executives to pilot, air hostess to maintenance
personnel.

Reduce employee turnover

To retain employees, Flyhigh should build an environment which:
1. Offers A Better Work Culture
A better working environment increases the employee engagement. When there is a recognizing
culture in the organization i.e. people recognizing each-others work, work becomes a lot about
goal achievement rather than mere accomplishment and less about competition. For example,
Southwest Airlines have been able to keep their voluntary turnover at less than two percent per
year (Forbes, 2015).
2. Assess Fit of Employees with organization
The right kind of employees has to be taken during the recruitment so that they can properly fit
within the organization. Organization fit increases employee engagement. For example, Sita
the CIO from Alaska Airlines, puts interviewees in a hands-on situation: Sita engages groups of
prospects in an exercise that requires them to solve a problem together and present their findings,
with the overarching goal intended to demonstrate their ability to work with others (Forbes,
2015).
3. Offers A Growth Environment

When the employees know that they have high development opportunity within the organization
they tend to stay with that organization. Self-development in one of the priorities of an employee
other than pay.
4. Gives Employees Direct Feedback
Employees feel more confident in their jobs when they know where they stand in terms of
capabilities. They will be more likely to push the envelope. That is why direct and timely
feedback are very important. For example, Southwest Airlines created an organizational culture
where peer-to-peer feedback is encouraged (Harvey, 2007).
Risks and Rewards
A formal wage structure will increase feeling of fairness within the employees. However, the
unionized employees may create problems since there were previous conflicts between UNITE
& BALPA with Flyhigh plc before. But the silver lining is that recently the relations are
improving.
The recruitment and selection process will reduce staffing problems and bring down the lower
morale and favouritsm view. During the revamp of recruitment and selection process, Flyhigh
plc should be careful when rejecting an inside candidates; conspicuous reasons and feedback
should provide during rejection. Otherwise, it may decrease the morale of the inside candidates
further. Again, Flyghigh should determine what positions if filled with internal candidate are
strategically fit during the process. Since in several positions, maintaining status quo will not
lead required change in the organizations (HRM Online, 2015).
Increased communication will create a positive working environment increasing job satisfaction.
Also, the probability of discriminatory behavior will also reduce. However, the increased
communication may create problems if the all the employees collude for collective bargaining
with the owners.
Positive working environment with feedback, personal growth, etc. can help retain the quality
employees (Dessler, 2000). However, this is costly as change in culture cannot be brought soon.

Question 3
Critically analyse the wider implications for employees relating to the management of
people at Flyhigh in light of the changes you have suggested.

Implications of the changes for the employees

The employees of Flyhigh will feel more confident doing their job in the organization. The low
morale will vanish. The feeling of fairness will be increased due to the new formal wage
structure throughout Flyhigh. There will be an increase in motivation level due to the democratic
process through which the decision regarding the wage was taken.
The accusation of favoritism by the disgruntled employees will also reduce since there will be
a fair and equitable recruitment and selection process existent in the company along with the
formal wage structure and increased communication. Employee promotions will be done in a fair
way according to the company policy. The employee of Flyhigh will get priority regarding the
recruitment in higher position unless that is done to bring a new direction to the companys
existing policies.
Moreover, the new organizational culture that promotes personal growth, direct feedback, and
employee engaging environment will lead to higher employee satisfaction will result in higher
earnings for Flyhigh plc (Mathis and Jackson, 2003).
The them and us culture perceived by the employees will also vanish due to the new increased
communication policy. Success will be shared by all the employees in the organization. The
increased level of communication within the department will also eliminate the elitist view of
the aircrews by the lower level workers.
Conclusion
Flyhigh plc is low cost airline based in UK. It is struggling from some human resource problems
that required them to bring in their competitors HR manager. There were no formal wage
structure in the organization. Also, the employee morale was low along with high turnover. To
reduce the problems recommendations were made such as creating an engaging work
environment, increasing communications, creating a formal pay structure considering various
demands of the stakeholders and keeping the low cost aim of the airline, and - most importantly
a revamp of the whole recruitment and selection process (Mathis and Jackson, 2003).

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