as an academic essay, without numbering the points and As comprehensively as possible, write a “potential solutions (not recommended solutions)” section for the following report, using proper in-text citation
Introduction:
Green Air (GA) is the second-largest airline in the United Kingdom. The airline, which has its headquarters in London, operates short, medium, and long-haul flights all over the world, with most of its flights departing from Heathrow Airport. GA was founded in 1980 to compete with National Airways, the then-state-owned airline. Beginning with a fleet of only 12 planes, the firm has grown to a fleet of 272 planes and travels to an impressive 191 destinations. In addition, GA was a founding member of the OneStar alliance in 1997, when it decided to work closely with four other worldwide airlines.
Historically, GA was seen as a highly appealing job that provided competitive pay and benefits, particularly when compared to other UK airlines. However, the growth of the business in the United Kingdom, as well as increased worldwide rivalry, has altered the nature of work and leadership strategy. Nonetheless, GA has a dedicated client base and is one of the most recognised UK companies.

Overview of HR issues:
Staff acted in 2005 when the contracts of 780 employees were not extended, and they were replaced with agency employees. Strike action was narrowly avoided in 2007 as the corporation reversed suggestions for pay freezes. Although these issues were formally settled, they appear to have had a long-term detrimental influence on employee morale and public perception. In 2018, a strike was called in reaction to poor working conditions for flight attendants.
Flight attendants have always worked in a defined group or team, with the same contracts and awards. However, to be more flexible, several flights began using’ mixed fleet crews,’ which meant that flight attendants were frequently working with different colleagues with different tenure and, as it turned out, separate employment contracts. Prior to 2015, employees were discovered to be on contracts with substantially better remuneration packages and shift arrangements. According to Unite the Union, some flight attendants employed after 2015 on newer contracts are on ‘poverty wages,’ with many sleeping in their cars between shifts and struggling to afford gasoline, housing fees, and food. Another concern has been the rigorous sick policy imposed on all flight attendants. Employees do not receive sick pay over the legal minimum. Because they cannot afford to take time off without compensation, flight attendants have been forced to work while unwell. The strike action launched in 2018 did not settle these concerns and is one of the longest ongoing contentious in recent times in the UK.
There is also a broader issue of low morale within the firm. Even though many of the conflicts have been resolved, employees continue to express unhappiness in the most recent annual employee survey. Sick leave policies, a lack of authority over working hours, and poor compensation are listed as major motivators. The leadership team is afraid that if they do not adjust, they would have employee shortages throughout the firm, reducing the number of flights that can be flown and eventually preventing them from recouping the losses of the previous years.
Another issue that the leadership team has noticed is the company’s negative public impression. Many consumers have complained about extended delays, bad service, and a lack of customer assistance. While this isn’t exactly a people management issue, it might be influenced in part by low morale. A negative public reputation is also likely to hinder their capacity to recruit persons to apply for GA jobs. They have never had problems recruiting people to the organisation and, as a result, do not have a solid recruitment plan.

Understanding Contemporary People Management:
According to the case study, In the past, especially in comparison to other UK airlines, GA was thought of as a very attractive company that offered excellent benefits and employment contracts. Nevertheless, prior to 2015, the employees were discovered to be engaged under contracts that offered significantly more favourable compensation and shift patterns. But nonetheless, the growth of the sector in the UK and the increase in global competitiveness have altered the nature of work and leadership tactics at GA.
However, there are three trade unions representing the employees at GA, the company might need to place a higher priority on effective communication and negotiation with these groups in order to preserve positive work relations. Stakeholder theory highlights that any group or person has the potential to have an impact on or be impacted by the company’s goals (Thornock, 2016). Nonetheless, in the case of GA, Due to the dissatisfaction of one of the stakeholders which is the workforce, the company may have to negotiate with these unions on various employment issues, such as pay and working conditions, and there might be potential for confrontation between the unions and the management.
Moreover, the ‘mixed fleet crews’ concept which was designed for extra flexibility faced a strike in 2018 due to unfair working contracts of flight attendants. Additionally, it is mentioned that after 2015 these contracts started to drive their holder’s pay states as described by Unite the Union as ‘poverty pay’ which means that employees in GA are currently suffering from the current living expenses situation, and according to both Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow and Lewis, 1987) and the described situation of the employees in the case study, even the psychological needs are not being met as Many were discovered sleeping in their cars in between shifts and having difficulty paying for food, accommodation, and petrol.
It has been suggested as well in the case study that due to the pandemic, many employees’ contracts have not been renewed and the company is suffering finically, resulting in a lack of flight attendants as flights resume their pre-pandemic levels and they might not be able to provide the same rewards and advantages for employees as in the past even if they want to start recruiting now, which could make it more difficult to recruit new employees. As an HR consultant, I would recommend applying the expectancy theory which is based on the idea that individuals are driven to act in a particular manner by the belief that their efforts will result in a desired consequence and that this outcome will be rewarding (Fudge and Schlacter, 1999). GA can benefit from this theory for a while until they regenerate high profits again to offer the workforce better contracts.
Lastly, Poor employee morale and a poor image of the company among the general public are two serious issues that the GA leadership team must deal with. The low morale is a result of several things, including the sick leave policy, a lack of autonomy over working hours, and low compensation, which led to employee dissatisfaction. Labour shortages could result from this, which would hinder the business from recovering its losses from the previous several years. However, a poor reputation can make it more difficult for the business to recruit candidates to fill open positions.

Connections between Organization and People Strategy:
Green Air (GA) is an airline that operates short, medium, and long-haul flights worldwide, with a majority departing from Heathrow Airport in the UK. The airline flies to 191 locations worldwide and operates a fleet of 272 aircraft. As one of the original OneStar alliance members, GA works closely with four other international airlines. GA offers air travel services to a variety of clients, including vacationers and corporate users. Customers are not the only stakeholders in GA; moreover, there are shareholders, employees, trade unions, regulatory authorities, suppliers, and the areas where the airline operates.
As mentioned above, when GA started operating back in 1980, they used to offer their employees worthy rewards and employment contracts and that used to be a very attractive offer for many candidates. This strategy might be the employee-oriented strategy which is a management philosophy that places a high value on the satisfaction and well-being of employees as a way to achieve organizational success (Ludwikowska, 2022). However, now the situation has changed, and the employees are not satisfied at all with the company due to the reasons mentioned above. Meanwhile, the workforce shortage during the pandemic period has likely had a significant impact on the organization’s people strategy.

Critically Assessing Core Concepts and Contemporary Practices in HRM: