Virgin Atlantic Human Resources Practices - Essay Example

Human resource practices By Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Virgin Atlantic Human Resources Practices 3  Learning and Environment 4 Rewards 6 Conclusion 7 Introduction Human resource management is a vital component for achieving employee satisfaction in any company or institution and this department is inclusive of all employee areas. Without good human resource management, any organization cannot have an cooperative and productive team to work with. Virgin Atlantic is a global corporation whose approach on strategies of human resource is impressive. The company seeks to improve employee potential and boost their effectiveness in work. Virgin Atlantic was established by Sir Richard Branson and is the second largest airline in the United Kingdom. The company has a total of 37 aircraft, and more than 9000 employees. Annually, Virgin Atlantic serves 4.5M passengers to major cities globally. The company has grown rapidly. Now serves 31 destinations worldwide, and has a made its mark in pioneering many innovative services packages and has gone ahead to set new guidelines in its industry. The company has continued expanding with the same vigour it began. Although the company has a massive growth streak, Virgin Atlantic is considered customer oriented, with more emphasis on their money value and has offered uniqueness in service delivery and high quality service. The enterprise faces an aggressive competitor in the airline business, British Airways. Virgin Atlantic is one of the most successful business venture taken up by the vast Virgin Group of companies. Virgin Atlantic Human Resources Practices This report seeks to address in detail, the aspects of some of the concepts and human resources strategies which Virgin Atlantic airways has implemented to achieve such success in employee satisfaction and subsequently in their business field. They seem to have perfected all the five models of Human Resource. These include teamwork, organization culture, performance management, learning, development, and leadership. This report however focuses on how two practises have help improve their employee and system as well as critically analyzing Virgin Atlantic on the these bases of the theories.  Learning and Environment Virgin Atlantic is passionate about exploration, taking risks, challenging conventions and looking for solutions and that made it the company it is presently. That is how it has developed its perfect brand. An innovator established the brand and made it such a perfect setting to developed ones career. Virgin Atlantic has taken the creativity and innovation seriously and it is considered a place where great service is of concern. The company establishes a comprehensive framework for the career of the employees from the very beginning. Induction to the company gives them a clear mapped out path of their career enhancement, where they are given support by their supervisors in enabling them to be a successful organization. The various areas of operation in the business provide an intense technical training for the recruits that join the company. Even if the recruit plans to join another area of the business, they will get the training needed to place them in a higher position within the industry. Wherever they start in the induction process, they are assured of the best possible start. Moreover, the airline’s C.E.O. positions his love for adventure as the reputation for firms within the Virgin Group. This way, the owner of the company encouraged a superb leadership style that need implementation in the company’s management level. Following unprecedented growth period, Virgin Atlantic has been forced to introduce a leadership development programme that is geared more towards achieving business objectives than Human Resource processes. This leadership program is bound to assist organisation achieve its long-term goal of attaining a 7% increase in profits. The human resource department began first flagging out the traits that are believed to be contributing the success of the company over the years, followed by a total appraisal of the company’s weaknesses and strenghths of the management teams. The company’s leadership and development department, Andy Cross, explains how Virgin Atlantic wants to develop a result-oriented team of leaders that could exploit the opportunities at a very short period. The company is intending to have a strong management that will respond to new opportunities in the business without affecting the main business,” he says. Virgin sends the entire managers for personal development sessions at Roffey Park, costing up to 3000 pounds per manager. Coming up to 4,000 to 5,000 pounds. The two day workshop sessions began in the fifth month of 2006, and a total of 90 managers participated in the process. The workshops are conducted annually. The two day workshop began with coaching sessions for the supervisors and the managers that creates the objective during the development in relation to outcomes from the personality and appraisal test. The next stage is activities to instil the leadership principles for the company into the behaviour of the new employees. Subsequently, they produce the personal development scenario for the company and the later splitting of the group into six managers. The managers then meet a couple of time to evaluate the project’s progress and come up with ideas over the third quarter of the year. Virgin Atlantic also evaluates its leadership development process plans and implements additional or more refined development programmes. This exercise of passing on transformational leadership style to its leadership on all levels has helped Virgin Atlantic to increase its market share. The regular meetings by managers have been the basis for most innovations in various business ventures. Rewards Virgin Atlantic looks after its employees as well as they do their passengers. The company’s pioneering spirit gives its employees the rewards they rightfully acknowledge to help brand come up with tremendous success. Just as their employees performs their tasks objectively, therefore, during remuneration, the company extend the benefits to their employees in such a way to enable them to feel appreciated. For instance, the workers get atleast 7 flights annually, to their global destinations. The Virgin Atlantic Group offers Personal Pension Plan for its employees. The main objective of providing them with pension plan is to help their employees save their money. This pension plan is flexible and portable so that if they want to shift jobs before they take their pension. Life assurance and Spouse & dependants benefits suited for their loved ones in case they die in service. The company also offers Income Protection benefits incase that they succumb to illness or injury and are unable to work. Air share – profit benefit share allows them have a special chance to enjoy the company’s success. The Private Medical Plan benefit pays the subscription payment for their health care and their family members. The Company has voucher scheme for the childcare through sacrifice of their salary for all Briton employees with children below 16 years. It also lends their employees Season Ticket Loan that helps the employees get to and from work interest free but it is deducted from their income. Their VAA branches have a wider choice of low priced beauty products and cosmetics, salon offers and leisurewear. Conclusion We have discussed two vital models of effective human resources, employee motivation, and learning and development in relation to Virgin Atlantic in this report. I have identified that Virgin Atlantic management has put in place a various tangible and intangible instruments to fuel the satisfaction of workers, further encourage, and motivate them. The evaluation of the learning and development within the firm on the other hand, reveals how closely the company attaches their success in business with nurturing its recruits especially for leadership positions. Satisfying employees at workplace surely goes a long way in creating a good working environment in organisation and serves to ensure the employees reach their ultimate potential. References Aamond, M.G. 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