Virgin Atlantic Airways is a British airline owned and managed by Singapore Airlines and the Virgin Group. Virgin Group has created over 300 branded businesses worldwide, with a workforce of around 50,000 in 30 countries. Established almost 28 years ago by Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Atlantic has grown to be Britain’s second largest airline. The airline has a staff of around 9,000 people and flies over 4.5 million passengers every year to major world cities (Murkerjee & Verma, 2010). Virgin Atlantic has an especially strong brand that is crucial for brand maintenance that all workers understand and live Virgin ethos. Human resources are significant for Virgin Atlantic to realize a competitive advantage. …show more content…
Financial incentives remains the major employees’ motivational tool at all levels and Virgin Atlantic management recognizes this. The compensation the company won from for libel suit was shared with all Virgin Atlantic staff. However, Virgin Atlantic is not a paymaster although people still love being part of the company since it empowers them to use their imagination and openly share their opinions. According to Murkerjee and Verma (2010), the company offers a high job satisfaction that leads to high workforce motivation. Virgin Atlantic Airlines offer rewards and recognition to staff and believe in encouraging workers to leadership positions. Fairholm (2009) states that the use of Needs hierarch model helps better comprehend the needs and future prospects of the staff and offer them with positions that can assist in achieving their …show more content…
Moreover, tools of workforce motivated used by Virgin Atlantic Airways include providing various charitable benefits. For instance, 60 members of the company staff climbed Mount Kenya, an event that contibuted over £35,000 for a charity organization (Murkerjee & Verma, 2010). Communication and employee participation is a strategy Virgin Atlantic uses to motivate its workforce. The brand founder, Richard Branson, involved in writing to his employees what he considers as ‘chatty’ emails and letters to inform them on the activities in the company and encourage them to reply with comments and/or ideas. In 2009, Virgin Atlantic gave its staff two-week bonus when celebrating the 25th anniversary of the airline. Further, the company gave its employees free tickets to fly wherever they wanted on Virgin Atlantic’s airline as the birth bonus for their loyal service to the company. Besides, the company’s permanent staff gets up to seven concessionary reserve flights per year to any of the global destinations. Other employee benefits and rewards include Virgin Atlantic Group’s pension plan, life assurance, spouse and dependants’ packages, private medical plan, income protection, childcare benefits,