HR and Legal

In the People Department, we're aware that the way people in British Airways behave towards each other has a direct impact on the way they behave towards our customers. So creating an environment where everyone is treated with respect and the utmost professionalism is one of our highest priorities.

We also know that the way people feel about the company they work for has a big influence on the levels of motivation they apply to their individual role which is why ensuring good staff morale is vital for us.

As a team, our role is to ensure the business has the right people with the right skills to help us achieve our corporate goals. Think about how large our operations are - the varied locations around the world, the vast numbers of people employed in centres like Heathrow and Gatwick - and you begin to realise the size of the task. We need to ensure that everyone operates as part of a team with a clear management structure to lead and support them.

And in an industry as competitive and susceptible to change as this, we have a constantly evolving range of issues to address, not least of which is ensuring that our managers have the leadership skills to deliver change through the involvement of their people. We also need to focus on more efficient ways of working, through simplifying and transforming our people processes and using them to help us manage individual and organisational performance.

Our services range from Recruitment to Training, from Reward Management to Diversity and Inclusion and from Change Management to Employee Relations. Look at the variety of activities in which we play a leading role, and it's clear that a proactive and progressive human resources function is vital to the continued success of our business.

Ours is a complicated business, in which commercial activities are increasingly based on a web of relationships with different airline and commercial partners.

At the same time there has been a substantial increase in the amount of regulation to which we are subject, producing a constant demand for legal advice.

In recent years we have brought much of British Airways' important legal work in-house, and the department now has lawyers specialising in everything from employment law to aircraft finance.

There are a number of advantages to having a dedicated Legal Department. Because they know the company well, their advice is tailored to the business. They are accessible to those who need their advice and support, which in turn encourages people to seek help quickly and efficiently.

Our in-house lawyers are effective managers of external lawyers. They can direct them in such a way as to ensure the company receives a high standard of advice in a cost-effective way. What's more, in-house lawyers are in a better position to identify the need for legal advice. They can be proactive in dealing with issues before problems arise.