Human Resourse at JetBlue - Research Paper Example

Table of contents Executive summary...............................................................2 Situation audit........................................................................2 Mind map...............................................................................6 Problem statement..................................................................6 Identification of alternatives...................................................8 Evaluation criteria..................................................................10 Analysis of alternatives..........................................................10 Recommendations..................................................................11 References..............................................................................13 Executive Summary The purpose of the report is to attempt to evaluate the improvements that can be made to the recruitment and selection process at JetBlue. It will also analyse as well as assess the leadership programme at JetBlue as well as try to establish the problems that are likely to be encountered in the future in its recruitment. The report will try to evaluate the current competitive strategies that can be implemented in the airline industry. The paper starts by conducting a situation audit where an analysis of the operations of the airline will be discussed followed by an outline of the problem or issue statement followed by industry analysis. The report also attempts to suggest the best possible way of fully utilizing recruitment and selection in a bid to get the best employees that would not compromise the integrity of the organisation. Evaluation of various strategies will also be covered in this section through the utilisation of particularly the human resources strategies and how they can be adopted to fully give the airline the much needed competitiveness. Situation audit JetBlue is a low cost career (LCC) based in New York and it was established in 2000. JetBlue treats the employees as valuable assets. In most cases, the employees are the ones that determine the success or failure of an organisation. Its performance is dependent on them since they are the main drivers of all the operations taking place in an organisation towards the attainment of its goals. Since its inception, this airline has measures in place to ensure that they recruit the right people from the onset and give them the right training to be able to adapt to the culture of the organisation. The recruitment and selection process employed at JetBlue is very rigorous and thorough. To a certain extent, this strategy has got its own advantages to the long term performance of the organisation as a whole. However, there are some shortcomings with this strategy as well. A critical situation analysis of the organisation shows that the strategy it uses has got some strengths as well as weaknesses which need to be evaluated in order for the airline to be better positioned to capitalise on its strengths for long term viability. A SWOT analysis is fit for this diagnosis of the organisation’s internal as well as the external environment. “A SWOT analysis is a useful instrument for helping managers to identify internal strengths and weaknesses of a business and external opportunities and threats facing it,” (Strydom J. p 31). Basically, SWOT stands for strengths (S), weaknesses (W) while on the other hand the external environmental factors are regarded as either opportunities (O) or threats (T). This analysis is very important to the managers as it allows them to focus on key strategic issues based on the notion that an effective strategy fully utilises the strengths and opportunities of a business and strives to minimise the weaknesses and threats. JetBlue is an organisation committed to providing quality satisfactory air services to the customers while at the same time upholding the principle of treating the customer as king. The major strength of the organisation lies in its capability to develop its brand and value which are satisfactory to both the employee and the customer. Through carefully designed recruitment and selection measures, JetBlue is a force to reckon with given that its workforce is committed to the organisation. For instance, it offers 15 % of the pre tax profit to be shared among the employees. This is a major strength of motivating the workers to optimise their performance in the organisation. Motivated workers are likely to stay longer in the organisation which is the scope of employee retention for long term benefits. The major notable weakness for JetBlue is that its success is over reliant on its reputation whereby the employees are given the autonomy to make decisions on their own even without consulting the management. There ought to be clearly defined leadership which is responsible for stamping authority in the organisation. The other weakness is that all the employees are treated as equal regardless of the position held. The weakness is that there is likely to be duplication of duties whereby there will be confusion at workplace. There are likely chances that the aspect of authority will be obscured. The major opportunity for the company is that it is better positioned to attract employees who are disgruntled from the other airlines. These would be experienced and would have some knowledge about the airline industry which will not be the same as recruiting someone who has no knowledge about the industry. The other opportunity is that the organisation is strategically positioned to deliver attractive financial results to its shareholders and it allows employees the opportunity to invest in business successfully. Its stance on customer value is another opportunity behind its success story in the airline industry. The major threat to the organisation is the exorbitant prices paid for recruiting and training the staff. For instance, it costs $30 000 to train each pilot and there will be many pilots. This makes it a bit challenging for the organisation to maintain its viability given that it does not take into consideration the operating costs. There is also risk associated with investing in the workforce where the management may not be able to control the situation obtaining on the ground such that they can leave the organisation even after heavily investing in the whole process. The strategic position taken by JetBlue to be customer oriented is a result of pushing forces in order to remain the preferred airline in fulfilment of its mission which is: “Bring humanity back to air travel.” The need to fulfil the needs of the customers drive the airline to go an extra mile and put measures in place that are meant to ensure that it has a culture which significantly prioritises the interests of both the clients and the employees. Achieving this feat is beneficial to the organisation in different ways. A satisfied employee would mean optimum performance which is good for the viability of the organisation while on the other hand a satisfied customer would mean more business in the future. Loyalty among the customers is always advantageous in that they will continuously use the airline which is very important in building a strong customer base. However, the cost factor can restrain some of these initiatives though JetBlue does not seem to take these into consideration. The situation discussed above operates as a system mainly involving three categories namely; the organisation (JetBlue), the employees and the customers. As illustrated diagrammatically below, it can be seen that this system is circular and each stage involved is beneficial to the parties involved. It is a twofold process whereby there is a benefit between the parties involved. For instance, if the employer treats the employees right, they will also treat the customers right. In return, the customer will come back for business again and the employee is satisfied which means optimum performance of the organisation. These three parties involved are interrelated and they contribute to the overall performance of the organisation as shown diagrammatically below. Mind map Problem (issue) statement The major problem facing JetBlue is that of attempting to provide superior service at low cost which affects its viability. Actually, JetBlue was designated as an LCC but was positioned as a value player where the company would combine low fares with value added services that improved customer service without adding operating costs. Essentially, the main purpose of being in business is to satisfy the needs of the customers profitably. This entails that after satisfying the customer needs as well as covering all the operating costs, the airline should be able to get a fair share of the profits. In this case, it can be noted that JetBlue is mainly concerned with satisfying the needs of the customers without taking into consideration what it takes to reach that stage. In other words, JetBlue is operating above its capacity which makes it difficult for the organisation to be profitable though it can rake in a lot of revenue. The other problem is related to the recruitment strategy employed by JetBlue. Basically, recruitment can be described as those activities in human resource management which are undertaken in order to attract sufficient job candidates who have the necessary, potential, competencies and traits to fill the job needs and to assist the organisation in achieving its objectives (Swanepoel 1998). Ideally, the purpose of recruitment is to select the best candidate from those available. However, the main problem here is that the method used by the organisation is too costly and it takes a long period to complete. Indeed, it is a noble idea to be rigorous but the expenses incurred in this whole exercise are just too much such that they are not proportional to the revenue generated. For instance, if it takes $30 000 to train just one pilot, then it costs a fortune to train 100. This strains the fiscus of the organisation and it can negatively impact on its profitability. The other problem is seen in the JetBlue culture which tries to eliminate differences in wealth and status and providing an opportunity to serve others on the basis of equality. This philosophy is counterproductive in business. Socialist ideologies have no room in a business which is operating in a free market economy. The law of demand and supply is supposed to determine the course of action that can be taken by the organisation rather that it detecting all the conditions of meeting the needs of every person. Unfortunately, the airline industry is different from charity organisations given that in involves a lot of operational costs that have to be covered and the organisation will have to get profit as well. The other problem is that all the employees were treated equally regardless of position held in the organisation. It becomes difficult to implement the decisions in the organisation. Some decisions made by individuals may be disastrous to the organisation hence the need to have clearly defined leadership which gives direction in the organisation. Essentially, leadership is defined as the ability to influence a group of people towards the achievement of organisational goals (Robins S.P., Odendaal A.& Roodt G. 2001). Basically, leadership is concerned with the vision of the organisation and there are different leadership styles that can be implemented. There ought to be someone who will lead the group towards the attainment of the vision of the organisation otherwise there might be confusion. Identification of the alternatives Instead of concentrating on providing superior service at low costs every time, the airline should find other manageable and effective ways of adding customer value that are sustainable. At the end of the day, it seems absurd for the organisation to be generous to all the customers while it does not benefit in terms of money. It defies logic for an organisation to offer services at a cost which is next to none. Alternatively, the airline can choose to discount some of the airfares at particular periods and special services should be made available on certain periods as well. This will be more of a promotional incentive which will appeal to the needs and interests of the customers. In most cases, the customers know what they want hence it is the duty of the organisation to have strategies that are cost effective while at the same time appealing to the needs of many people. JetBlue must put measures in place that are meant to ensure that it employees a recruitment method that is within a manageable range in terms of cost. Whilst there are various methods of selection of the potential candidates, the organisation should mainly rely on qualifications of the applicant as well as experience at first glance. Since there are measures to train the employees once they have been hired, the organisation does not need to be very rigorous in its preliminary stages of recruitment which will be costly to it. Instead, it should embark on a drive to identify people with the desired qualities and these will receive on job training which will help the organisation to cut unnecessary costs though it is important to be thorough when recruiting. JetBlue must also put measures in place that will ensure that its services are affordable to meet its goal than to completely do away with aspects such as wealth and status which entails that all workers are treated as equal. Indeed there is need to customise the services offered but this should be done within the limits of the organisation. On the other hand, there should be a clearly defined organisational structure which defines the role expectations of all the employees whereby a leader will be identifiable. It is difficult for an organisation to be vibrant when there is no leadership given that the leader is concerned with giving direction of the organisation towards its vision. Basically, the most appropriate alternatives are centred on business principles as well as leadership in an organisation. JetBlue should adopt principles which allow it to run on the notion of business philosophy. Indeed, customer service is a basic tenet of success in business but JetBlue should not overemphasise the needs of the customers at the expense of generating profits. Secondly, JetBlue should ensure that it puts in place a clearly defined organisational structure whereby leadership positions will be clear. There is every need to have leaders in an organisation who will be responsible for giving direction in the operations of the organisation. Without clearly defined leadership where everyone is treated as equal, it may be difficult to effectively implement the vision as well as goals of the organisation. Evaluation criteria Having implemented the suggested alternatives above, monitoring progress will be ideal. In the first instance, a business being run on the model of the dictates of the free market economy will show through its performance if there is any change. Evaluation in this case will be solely based on comparing the financial results of the airline for the current period with the result of the past during the same period. Suppose there has been a positive growth in the profits for the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, it will mean that the organisation has improved in its operations. Under normal circumstances, the performance of the organisation should show signs of growth compared to the previous records which is one good measure of evaluating the alternatives. In a bid to cut costs in terms of the recruitment and training criteria, there should be notable changes in terms of the costs incurred whereby there should be a decline while at the same time retaining the same purpose of selecting the best candidates. Other methods such as on the job training can be implemented which will minimise the costs given that the new recruits will be learning while at the same time working instead of offering training services separately which can strain the organisation’s financial resources. In order to evaluate the employees’ performance, there will be need to directly observe their performance and note if there is any improvement. Positive improvement in the performance of the employees is a good sign where there is increasing profitability for the organisation. Analysis of the alternatives If properly implemented, the suggested alternatives above will go a long way in improving the performance of both the organisation as well as the employees. The organisation will improve in terms of profitability in that it will be better positioned to minimise the costs incurred particularly in training and development of the employees. The organisation will also be better positioned to generate more profits if it is run on the philosophy of business where the aim will be to satisfy the needs of the customers profitably. The organisation should be better positioned to generate enough revenue to meet its operational costs while at the same time remaining viable. A proper implementation of the suggested strategies can also show that there is employee satisfaction in the organisation which will also entail customer satisfaction. The above alternatives ought to play a complementary role to each other whereby none should be overemphasised at the expense of the other so as to create a balanced situation in the functioning of the organisation. This will ensure growth with equity in the organisation. Recommendations It is recommended that JetBlue should adopt a business model that is balanced whereby it has to take into consideration the needs of the customers as well as the employees while at the same time generating enough revenue to meet the operating costs as well as the profit needs. This action should be taken so as to ensure that there is a balance environment prevailing in the organisation which is a healthy situation to any organisation that is concerned with fulfilling its vision as well as goals. The responsible authorities should restructure the functions of the marketing department such that they will be better positioned to fully implement business principles which will ensure that the organisation satisfies the needs of the customers profitably. Contingency measures such as allocating supplementary budgets will be recommended so that the organisation will be able to remain viable should there be signs of decline in business. Implementing this strategy requires the efforts of the top management who will suggests the goals for the organisation as well as measures that can be put to ensure that there is compliance with the stated goals and objectives. It is also recommended that JetBlue should design an organisational structure that will clearly define the role expectations of each employee so that they will fully know what is expected from them. Treating the employees as equal is tantamount to duplication of duties and it may not be possible to fully implement the vision of the organisation. Indeed, there should be some form of authority lines in the organisation whereby particular leaders will be entitled to implement the goals of the organisation. It is the function of the human resources department to ensure that they implement measures that are meant to define role expectations of each employee while at the same time ensuring that they are satisfied to work for the organisation. The contingency plans should include a supplementary budget set aside to give incentives to the employees for them to be motivated all the time. This emanates from the widely belief that a motivated employee is productive and will put optimum performance in his or her duties. References Kleynhans R. et al (2007), Management: fresh perspectives, Pearson Education, SA Grobler P. Et al (2006). Human Resource Management. 3rd Edition. London. Thompson Learning. Porter M.E. (1985), Competitive Advantage; Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. New York: The Free Press. Robinson W (1997), Strategic Management and Information Systems, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall, UK Rossouw D (ED), 2003. Strategic Management. Cape Town. NAE. Schultz et al (2003). Organisational behaviour. CT. Van Schaik Publishers. Strydom J. (2004). Introduction to marketing.3rd Edition. CT. JUTA. Swanepoel B.J (Ed) (1998). Human resources management: Theory and practice. Juta. Wener et al (2003). 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