THEME 1 - The key Factors Influencing Employee Engagement in

the
Airline Industry in the United Kingdom

Table 2 - Analyzed the key findings of the Factors influencing employee engagement in the
airline industry in the United Kingdom

Year Author (s) Country/ Factors

Region
2015 Ganguly UK  Engage cabin crew in work life balance
 Motivation
 Job satisfaction
 Using Rewards to Lead Engagement and
Increase Performances
 Compensation

2021 Gillet and Tremblay UK  Job satisfaction

 Influence on the Organization
 Leadership
 Work life issues/balance
 Organizational Culture

2019 Jung UK  Employee satisfaction in the industry

 Appraisal
 Compensation

2013 Shuck and Reio UK  Good leadership

 Motivation

2019 Rupasinghe and Morais UK  Work life balance

 Leadership
 Work engagement
 Reduction of employee burnout

2019 Lee UK  Job satisfaction

 Turnover intention

2021 (Ko et al. UK  Employee satisfaction

 Team work
 Motivation
2020 (Görlich and Stadelmann, UK  Rewards

The theoretical factors illustrated in theme 1 suggest how influential they are when it comes
to employee engagement. Work life balance deals with employees’ personal priorities and
having to balance them with their job. In the airline industry cabin crew work long tenuous
hours and are responsible for a variety of tasks (Barry,2010). These duties usually lead to
burnout from the excessive tasks they perform leaving little or no room for personal
obligations. The airline industry is a service industry, and its profitability is entirely
dependent on the services provided by its employees and should therefore be managed by
strong leadership traits that will allow employees to become more engaged. On reference to
theme 1 important one important factor is motivation of employees whereas implementing
additional incentives that may have them inclined and more passionate about their work.
Further, the authors suggested that the strongest factor for cabin crew intention to be retained
within the industry was an increase in rewards and compensation. According to a study of
the British airline sector, organizations share their profits with their employees in order to
inspire them to provide better services to their customers (Görlich and Stadelmann, 2020). In
addition, the UK airline industry employees can gain from a wide range of benefits, some of
which include: above average salary, extra holiday entitlements, and cycle to work schemes
all of which can motivate the employee which can ultimately lead to job satisfaction.
Furthermore, employees' social experiences at work can lead to increased levels of
enthusiasm and energy, which in turn leads to increased levels of productivity and motivation
(Rana, 2014) . The findings of the study appear to show that the UK airline industry has a
variety of factors with employee engagement. For great performance, it is critical that the
organization concentrate on employees and on how engaged they are within the organization.
As much as culture and work life balance can lead to bad employee engagement, they can
also lead to great employee engagement.

Further, the authors suggested that the strongest factor for cabin crew intention to be retained
within the industry was an increase in rewards and compensation. According to a study of
the British airline sector, organizations share their profits with their employees in order to
inspire them to provide better services to their customers (Görlich and Stadelmann, 2020). In
addition, those who work overtime or harder than any other employee in the organization can
be offered incentives.

Rana, S. (2014) ‘A theoretical model of antecednats and outcomes of employee engagement’

Journal of Workplace Learning. 26(3/4): pp249-266.
THEME 2 - The Current Strategies of Employee Engagement in the
Airline Industry in the United Kingdom

Table 3 - Analyzed the key findings of the current Strategies of employee engagement in
the airline industry in the United Kingdom

Year Author (s)

2015 Ganguly  Empowerment of Employees
 Looking out for employee well-being
2021 Gillet and Tremblay,  Employee well being

2019 Jung  Greater autonomy

 Looking out for employees wellbeing
 Empowerment of employees

2018 Santana et al  Employee feedback

 Clear, consistent and constructive
Communication
 Formal and informal communication at all
levels
 Empowerment
 Employee well-being
2020 Geydar  Keeping communication open
 Promoting employee’s mental health and well
being
 Freedom of action

 Consistency of feedback

2021 (Ko et al  Social interaction through messages

 Interactive and effective communication

2015 (Tckhakaia, et al.  Internal communication and knowledge

sharing
 Intranet and newsletters

Employee autonomy plays a crucial role in the UK airline industry. By Promoting employee
autonomy at work would allow employees to be self-starters, granting individuals ownership
and control over their workplace, and offering support rather than asserting power.
Employees who feel trusted are much more likely to produce high-quality results whereas
cabin crew have more power and autonomy at work, as well as greater flexibility in their
employment, are more likely to be committed and absorbed in their profession (Jung, 2019).
Cabin crew, according to Ganguly (2015) need to feel empowered in order to make
independent decisions about various situations on board and so provide their best at work.
No doubt that the constant strain caused by the covid 19 pandemic has led to an
incapacitation of employees health and well-being. The UK airline industry however, is one
of many beneficiaries, of the COVID-19 Aid Bill where they will benefit from a 15 billion
dollar funding for airlines which will allow them to provide support for employees for a four
month period (Rietsima,2021)
https://matchr.com/hr-resources/employee-engagement/employee-autonomy/ . This shall
encourage employees (or cabin crew) to feel appreciated on the job knowing that they have
the support of the hierarchies within this industry. Communication serves as a major
contributor to employee wellbeing as general feedback on employees job performance tends
to generate confidence in employees towards their employer thus making them efficient in
the job role.
The study's findings were better explained when the relative importance of all parameters was
compared. According to Santana et al, (2018) the biggest priorities in the airline industry
were empowerment of employees, physical well-being of employees, and communication
frequency. Employee feedback has a lower priority, implying that airlines in this industry
should focus more on developing a healthy and value-adding feedback system that will
improve employee commitment and engagement (Diaconu, 2012). Significant to the findings
and as evidence by Santana et al, (2018) they suggest that because empowered and confident
cabin crew members are more engaged in their work, the airlines' human resources
management support empowerment in such a way that employees are not only rewarded and
empowered when they achieve something but are also inspired and motivated to take the lead
and be creative. According to the findings by Geydar (2020), cabin crew will be more
satisfied at work if they have more autonomy, participate in decision-making, and have some
freedom of action.