BRITISH AIRWAYS

British airways

British airways

Contrast the changes in employment relations

Past 3 years: British Airways

British Airways (BA) is one of the world's largest international airlines and carries over 49 million passengers on 535,000 flights annually. To ensure that an operation of this size functions as smoothly and effectively as possible, BA needs to attract talented individuals for a wide range of disciplines. With 65,000 staff spread across the globe, and a need to recruit thousands of people each year, it is essential that BA has in place a streamlined process to quickly select the best people. Most importantly, the company has to be able to identify and attract the exceptional graduates that will form the leaders of the future. (Behan, Rosemary 2002, 63-78)

Woman face beside hand written http The company recently decided to begin a thorough review of its approach to graduate e-recruitment. As an organisation that prides itself on being a leading player in the graduate recruitment marketplace, BA was determined to maximise the opportunities offered by the Internet, stay ahead of the competition and increase value for candidates, recruiters and line mangers. To address these issues, BA decided to implement a bespoke on-line application system that would quickly screen applicants and identify a high potential pool of candidates for further assessment. A key element within this system would be an on-line core capability (or competency) assessment questionnaire. To ensure that this was designed correctly, BA called upon the advice of Cubiks, a specialist HR consultancy with a proven track record in e-selection. (Behan, Rosemary 2002, 63-78)

Developing an on-line capability assessment for graduate recruitment. Of the two trial groups, it soon emerged that BA graduates produced significantly higher results in terms of:

* Analysing data and making decisions

* Communicating clearly

* Giving clarity of direction

* Influencing and convincing

Young professional woman working on her laptop With the final data captured, Cubiks set about a definitive assessment questionnaire and then once complete, adapted this for internet use. The responses to the on-line questionnaire would indicate which individuals closely matched BA's core capability requirements and should proceed to a rigorous Assessment Centre, the next stage in the graduate selection process. (Behan, Rosemary 2002, 63-78)

Once the on-line assessment questionnaire had been thoroughly tested, it was integrated into the recruitment section of the BA Web site. As soon as the new system was activated, BA began receiving applications from graduates via the Internet. With the new on-line application process in place, the responses from individuals could be quickly captured and passed to BA's graduate recruiters and assessment team, saving vital administration time.

On-line approach delivers clear benefits

The on-line system has already been used by thousands of applicants to BA and has significantly accelerated the company's graduate recruitment process. Assessment costs have reduced dramatically and the reliability and validity of BA's assessment methodology has further improved. Feedback from candidates who have used the on-line system has also been very positive.

(Behan, Rosemary 2002, 63-78)

In 1980's

With consistent improvement at the forefront of its thinking, BA is now exploring how ...