One impressive aspect of BA’s cultural change was the extent to which other employment policies and practices were changed toHuman Computer Interaction fit the ‘new’ culture and the continued emphasis on these practices and programmes throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Not only were team briefings and teamworking introduced, but these were developed and refined, with TQM, autonomous teamworking and multi-skilling introduced in many areas. Direct contact with all staff was considered so important that ‘down route’ briefings were developed to ensure that mobile and isolated staff were not neglected, and in 1996 BA became the first company to make daily television broadcasts to its staff (Colling, 1995).

‘Families’ of cabin crew were created to work the same shift patterns to provide mutual support, make cabin crew feel happier about their work environments and, as a result, facilitate the production of emotional labour (Barsoux and Manzoni, 1997). The importance of emotional processes was also reflected in the new appraisal and reward systems such that work was judged on the way in which it was performed as well as against harder targets (Georgiades and Macdonnell, 1998; Höpfl, 1993). Managerial bonuses were calculated on a straight 50:50 split between exhibiting desired behaviours and achieving quantitative goals. Programmes encouraged staff input. Many HR decisions were devolved to line managers and, in the first few years of the programme at least, a commitment was made to job security.

Closely following these developments, a ‘Managing people first’ programme targeted managers and aimed to bring their behaviours into line with four factors focused on Clarity and ‘Helpfulness’, ‘Promoting Achievement’, ‘Influencing Through Personal Excellence’ and ‘Teamworking’ and ‘Care and Trust’ (Georgiades and Macdonnell, 1998).