Developing Manager: A Comprehensive Guide to Management Skills and Career Development

This assignment explores the principles and practices of management behaviour, focusing on the hospitality industry. It compares management styles and leadership characteristics in Thomas Cook and TUI, analyzes communication processes, and examines organizational culture and change. The assignment also includes a self-assessment of managerial skills, a SWOT analysis, and a career development plan for a prospective manager in the hospitality sector.

The
Develop
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Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Task 1....................................................................................................................................................4
LO1: Understand principles and practices of management behaviour...............................................4
Introduction...................................................................................................................................4
P 1.1 Compare different management styles..................................................................................5
P 1.2 Discuss leadership characteristics.........................................................................................7
P 1.3 Evaluate communication processes in selected businesses...................................................8
P 1.4 Analyse organisational culture and change in selected businesses........................................9
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................10
Task 2..................................................................................................................................................10
LO2: Be able to review own potential as a prospective manager.....................................................10
Introduction.................................................................................................................................10
P 2.1 Assess own management skills performance......................................................................11
P 2.2 Analyse personal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats....................................12
P 2.3 Set and prioritise objectives and targets to develop own potential......................................14
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................14
Task 3..................................................................................................................................................15
LO3: Be able to show managerial skills within a business and services context..............................15
Introduction.................................................................................................................................15
P 3.1 Lead and motivate a team to achieve an agreed goal or objective......................................16
P 3.2 Justify managerial decisions made to support achievement of agreed goal or objective and
recommendations for improvements............................................................................................17
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................18
Task 4..................................................................................................................................................18
LO4: Be able to create a career development plan for employment within a business and services
context.............................................................................................................................................18
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Introduction.................................................................................................................................18
P4.1 Explain how own managerial and personal skills will support career development.............18
P 4.2 Review career and personal development needs, current performance and future needs to
produce development plan...........................................................................................................19
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................20
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................21
References...........................................................................................................................................22
Introduction
In today’s competitive world, the development of managers as well as employees of the
organisation is very important for the success of the business. With the increasing
competition, the managers also need to develop professionally as well as personally in order
to cope with the changes occurring in the environment. The following assignment will
compare the various management styles used by the managers of the two hospitality
organisations i.e. Thomas Cook and TUI, both the leading tour operators of UK. We will also
discuss the various leadership characteristics and the organisational culture within these two
organisations. Various managerial skills will be discussed and we will produce a future
development plan for the individual in the end of the assignment.
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Task 1
LO1: Understand principles and practices of management behaviour.
Introduction
The following report aims to describe and compare the various management styles used by
the Thomas Cook as well as the TUI. The report will also discuss the various characteristics
of leadership in these two hospitality organisation. In addition to this, we will also discuss the
communication processes used in Thomas Cook as well as in TUI and then the organisational
culture will be focused on.
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P 1.1 Compare different management styles.
The style adopted by the managers of the organisations in order to manage the employees of
the organisation and to control them is called the management style. Mainly there are four
types of management styles as described below:
 Authoritative Style: The main responsibility of the decision making in the authoritative
style is on the shoulders of the leaders, managers as well as the supervisors and there is no
role of the employees of the organisation in the decision making process. They just need
to follow the guidelines and the policies framed by their supervisors. This leads to the
lack of confidence in the employees which in turn affects their productivity (Bolman &
Deal, 2014).
 Participative Style: The participative or democratic style of management leads to the
creation of healthy working environment by developing friendly atmosphere at the
workplace. It encourages open discussion between management and employees which
leads to the birth of many innovative and creative ideas from the subordinates. It also
gives much importance on the feedback from the employees.
 Free-rein Style: This style is popularly known as Laissez-Faire Management style. In
free-rein style, there is not much for the managers to contribute in the decision making for
the organisation as the decisions regarding the tasks are taken by the staff on their own
and they only supervise and manage their own tasks. But during certain complex
situations, the inexperience of the staff may lead to harmful consequences (Bolman &
Deal, 2014).
 Affiliative Style: In Affiliative style, the managers focus on the various concerns of the
employees in order to increase their productivity. They keep interacting with their staff on
regular intervals in order to make sure that the environment are carrying out their duties
in effective manner and the environment of the workplace is healthy and strong.
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Comparing the Management style of Thomas Cook and TUI:
Thomas Cook is known for its high quality services and products which it provides to its
customers. Therefore, it needs to maintain the effectiveness in its services and for that it
adopts the participative management style. Thomas Cook uses this style of management for
motivating its employees and regularly takes the feedback of their employees in order to
improve their services and increase the profit margin for the organisation (Thomas Cook
Group, 2017). On the other hand, the management style used by the TUI, one of the leading
tour operators of UK is Consultative management style. Using this style, the management
tries to meet the requirements by collecting important information as well as feedback from
the employees to develop the plan. TUI motivates its employees by providing proper training
to them in order to fulfil their needs and enhance their skills (TUI Group, 2018).
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P 1.2 Discuss leadership characteristics.
In order to motivate the employees and to lead the team, a leader should possess certain
characteristics and skills. This includes various interpersonal skills as well as communication
skills. The various characteristics of the leaders of the Thomas Cook and the TUI are as
explained below:
 Innovation: Innovation is the most important characteristics required in the leaders of the
hospitality industries as it encourages them to always look for something new and better.
Innovative leaders always gives preference to quality over quantity and are always ready
to the initiative in order to improve their services. In addition to this, these leaders always
welcome new and creative ideas whether from superiors or from subordinates.
 Interpersonal Skills: Interpersonal skills are the most important in order to become a
good leader. These skills help the leaders to build trust and strong relations with the
employees which in turn leads to greater productivity.
 Vision: In order to achieve organisational goals and success, every organisation must
have clear goals and objectives. Therefore, leaders need to set clear vision for the
employees to achieve the organisational goals. Good leaders provide full support and
guidance to their employees to achieve goals (Carter, 2012).
 Inner Values: In order to become good leaders, an individual should have strong inner
values. Leaders of Thomas Cook as well as that of TUI recognise the value of work and
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family and therefore maintain balance between work-life and family which is very
important in order to achieve success.
 Inspiration: Great leaders are those who are the source of inspiration for others including
their employees. They share their vision as well as goals with their employees and help
them in achieving them. They also allow their employees to make mistakes so as to gain
experience and learn new things.
 Communication: Communication skills are the most important in hospitality industry as
leaders as well as employees need to interact with the customers directly. Strong verbal as
well as listening skills are the most important characteristics of the good leader in order to
give directives as well as listening to the issues and concerns of the customers and the
employees (Mujtaba, 2013).
 Team Spirit: Successful leaders are always the team players. They know how to work
effectively with others and they value the contribution of other team members as well.
P 1.3 Evaluate communication processes in selected businesses.
Both Thomas Cook and TUI are part of the hospitality industry and therefore both the
organisations have many things in common. In hospitality industry, communication plays a
very important role in deciding the success of the organisation. Communication is of many
types like formal and informal communication, upward, downward and horizontal
communication and verbal and non-verbal communication. The communication processes
followed by Thomas Cook and TUI are as below:
Email: Email is the most commonly used method of communication used by the Thomas
Cook and TUI for communicating important information to staff at various levels. The
various information as well as guidelines for performing work are provided to the employees
through Email. This is a kind of downward communication through which organisations
achieve their organisational objectives by making important information available to low
staff through Emails (Evans, et. al., 2012).
Meetings: Meeting is another form of communication used by the Thomas Cook and the TUI
in order to interact with the other employees of the organisation. This is a kind of formal
communication which in turn helps the organisations to get the instant reactions of the other
staff members regarding a particular project or issue. Meetings are conducted by Thomas
Cook and TUI with the objective of interacting with other staff members so as to provide
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guidelines for work, evaluation of performance and discussion about improvement measures
that needs to be taken.
Written: Thomas Cook and TUI are also using the traditional method of communication that
is providing information and guidelines in written form through letters, notices, office
memorandums etc. The written communication process is effective but at the same time it
requires a lot of time and fund for sharing the information among all the staff members
(Wood, 2015).
P 1.4 Analyse organisational culture and change in selected businesses.
Organisational culture as well as structure defines the level of employee motivation as well as
the organisational behaviour. Organisational culture defines the way the various beliefs,
vision, mission, language as well as habits are followed by the employees of the particular
organisation.
Thomas Cook is one of the largest tour operators of UK which offers its services and
products across the world. The organisation structure of the company is hierarchical in nature
which is used by the organisation for allocating the resources as well as for collecting the
feedback. The organisational culture of the Thomas Cook helps the organisation in attracting
customers as well as reducing the staff turnover. The organisation has been able to maintain
the culture of friendly and supportive environment at its workplace which helps the
employees of the organisations in achieving the objectives in the more efficient manner. The
senior staff at Thomas Cook encourages its staff as well as support and guide them by
providing various guidelines in order to achieve a particular task. The healthy working
environment and strong employee-management relationships helps the Thomas Cook to
maintain its organisational culture. On the other hand, the organisational culture of TUI is
customer centric. The most important asset for the company is its people whether it is
customers or the employees of the organisation. The organisation considers its people to be
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its driving force. The action and attitude of the organisation are based on its vision and values
as well as customer proposition. Every action of the TUI aims at achieving customer
satisfaction and to end with the customer smile (Alvesson, 2012).
As both the organisations are part of service sector, changes are bound to occur in the culture
as well as in the processes of these organisations. There are various demographic as well as
economic factors that impact the processes of these organisations and therefore force them to
make changes in their culture and processes. The increasing competition also requires for
change in the organisations in order to provide more effective and improved services.
Conclusion
Thus, in the above report, we have discussed the management style followed by Thomas
Cook as well as TUI. We have also discussed the various important skills that must be
possessed by an individual in order to become a good leader in the hospitality industry in the
above report.
Task 2
LO2: Be able to review own potential as a prospective manager.
Introduction
In the following report, I am supposed to be the assistant manager of the Clayton Crown
Hotel, London which is a brand of the Dalata Hotel Group. Therefore, in order to review own
potential, I have to assess my own managerial skills in the following report.
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P 2.1 Assess own management skills performance.
In order to carry out the managerial tasks in the efficient manager, a manager must possess
several skills. In order to be effective, self- evaluation is very important as it helps in
analysing the self-strengths as well as weaknesses. Therefore, I also need to conduct an
assessment of my own managerial skills which is as below:
Leadership Skills: In order to be effective, a manager needs to be a good leader and
therefore must possess effective leadership skills. I have analysed my leadership skills and
concluded that I am a good leader. Although, I have never faced any difficult situation at
workplace during my till date career, but I am able to lead others and motivate them to
perform better. I am capable of handling major responsibilities which shows that I can be a
good leader (Holten, et. al., 2015)
Personal Skills: Personal skills include interpersonal skills, motivational skills as well as
communication skills. I am a very good speaker. However, lack of patience is my weakness
and therefore I cannot consider myself a very good listener. I have very strong interpersonal
skills which make me connect myself with others very closely. This makes me a good
manager as others can easily share their issues and thoughts with me. My verbal
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communication skills are excellent but I need to work on my written communication skills
which I am not very good at.
Planning Skills: I am a very good planner which is an important managerial skill. I develop
my plans in advance and make efforts in order to make sure that I achieve them on time with
full efficiency. I follow the plan so as to make sure that everything is going in accordance
with the plan. Therefore, I can easily guide others also in achieving their tasks on time.
Qualification and Technical abilities: I have all the capabilities and abilities to carry out the
managerial tasks. Besides, the role of assistant manager at Clayton Crown Hotel is also
adding to my current abilities. In future, I am planning to enrol myself in the process of
obtaining higher degree so as to refine my capabilities (Holten, et. al., 2015).
Decision Making Skills: In order to become a good leader, a manager should have excellent
and quick decision making skills. My creative abilities make me a good decision maker. I can
make quick and faster decisions which are very important in today’s business scenario. Me
creative abilities enable me to find a quick solution to very problem and therefore make a
quick decision.
P 2.2 Analyse personal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
I order to become an effective manager and to review my own potential, I need to analyse my
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats so as to work on my weak points. The
analysis of my own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is as follows:
Strengths:
 My biggest strength is my strong communication skills which is very helpful in building
my career as a prospective manager in future. I am a very good speaker through which I
can easily share my thoughts and ideas with others.
 I am a very good motivator. I can motivate my employees very well and encourage them
to perform even better in future so as to achieve organisational goals and objectives.
 Self- motivation is yet strength of mine. I believe in leading by performing.
 I am also a very good learner which is an added advantage.
 I can make decisions really fast for the better functioning of the organisation.
 My creative thinking, risk taking ability and strong willpower are my additional
advantages.
Weaknesses:
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 Lack of patience is my biggest weakness. However I am working on the same and trying
to be a good listener in addition to a good speaker.
 I am also very short tempered. I tend to lose my temper very easily and on very smallest
of the things. I am trying to improve this weak point of mine by joining yoga classes and
meditation classes.
 My intolerant nature is yet another weakness of mine.
 My hesitant nature is also my weakness.
Opportunities:
 Being a part of hospitality industry which is part of travel and tourism sector, which is
one of the most growing sectors of UK, I have ample opportunities to grow in this market.
 Being an assistant manager in one of the leading hotels, I get to learn lots of skills and
techniques which will help me in building my career in this industry.
Threats:
 My biggest threat is my competitors who are the managers in the similar organisations.
Their popularity can hinder my growth in future.
 The growing competition and the increasing difficulty in getting into the corporate world
is another threat for me (Graves, 2013).
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P 2.3 Set and prioritise objectives and targets to develop own potential.
In order to develop own potential as a manager, I need to set different objectives and targets
which needs to be achieved by me. The same are as follows:
Deadline: In order to enhance the productivity of the organisation as well as to build the
strong reputation of the brand in the mind of customers, it is essential for me to achieve my
targets within the deadlines set by me. In order to develop my own potential, I have set the
next 6 months as the deadline for completing all my pending tasks.
Research: Research is the other important target which I have set for myself in order to
enhance my capabilities. Research will enable me to get better knowledge as well as expertise
of different fields which will provide me the right direction. Better knowledge and research
will enable me to take new initiatives which can prove to be beneficial for my organisation.
Practising: In order to carry out the managerial tasks in an effective manner, learning
through practising is very important. Regular practising will not only help in learning new
things but also enable me to grow in my career. Therefore, regular practising is another
important objective that has been set by me for myself (Anca & Dumitru, 2012).
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded from the above report, that in order to become an effective
manager, it is very important for me to review my own potential and assess my own
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managerial skills which I have done in the above report. I have also analysed my strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities as well as threats in the above report and have set objectives for
myself.
Task 3
LO3: Be able to show managerial skills within a business and services context.
Introduction
In the following report, I am supposed to show my managerial skills as the manager of the
Frankie and Benny restaurant. I am supposed to lead another restaurant in Stratford in order
to achieve its organisational objectives. We will also provide recommendations for the
managerial decisions taken.
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P 3.1 Lead and motivate a team to achieve an agreed goal or objective.
In order to encourage the employees to perform their best and increase the organisation’s
productivity, motivation is a very important factor. The organisation can adopt and
implement various motivation theories so as to motivate their employees and staff members.
The proper implementation of the motivation theories will also help me as a manager to
develop strategies for proper motivation of employees. Therefore, as a manager of the
restaurant, I can use the following methods in order to motivate my employees:
Employee Recognition: One of the strongest method of motivating the employees and
increase their morale is the employee recognition. A feeling of inner satisfaction takes birth
inside the employees when their hard work gets recognised in front of other staff members
and this encourages them to perform even better in future. The employee recognition can be
made through public announcements (Cook & Marqua, 2014).
Friendly Environment: In order to boost the confidence level of the employees, it is very
important for the managers to maintain a friendly and supportive environment at workplace
so that all colleagues can share their ideas and thoughts among themselves. This motivates
the employees to perform better and complete tasks on deadlines.
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Monetary Rewards: In order to enhance the morale of the employees of the organisation, a
manager needs to provide monetary rewards to those who have performed well in the tasks.
This creates a feeling of satisfaction and inner happiness as they are able to fulfil their
personal needs by this hard earned money. This leads to their better performance in future so
as to earn more rewards. The organisation needs to provide rewards on the basis of
performance only (Cook & Marqua, 2014)
Non-monetary Rewards: Non-monetary rewards are also the kind of rewards which are
provided to employees for their outstanding performance in the organisational tasks. As a
manager, I can boost the morale of the employees by providing them proper training as well
as flexibility in their timing schedules. I can also provide growth opportunities to them so as
to provide them the job satisfaction. This will also increase their productivity.
P 3.2 Justify managerial decisions made to support achievement of agreed goal or
objective and recommendations for improvements.
From the above discussion, it can be understood very well that the managerial decisions taken
above aims at achieving the objectives of the organisation by motivating employees and
increasing their morale for higher productivity. However for the achievement of my goals and
objectives, I need to work on my listening skills which will enable me to increase my
patience and therefore get better and more innovative ideas from my subordinates and staff.
Being a part of the hospitality industry, the employees need to be motivated so as to provide
excellent services to the customers. This can be done by increasing their morale by providing
several rewards either monetary or non-monetary. Both will increase the productivity of the
employees and their willingness to perform better. Also, I need to involve my staff more in
the decision making process of the organisation so as to make them feel valued. This will
make them to contribute more in the profitability of the organisation by enhancing their
services. In this way, I can make sure the effective utilization of various resources of the
organisation for the achievement of the organisational goals. Training programmes can also
be conducted for enhancing the capabilities of the employees. Also, I need to evaluate the
performance of the employees at regular intervals in order to know their performance and
provide proper guidance to improve further. Performance evaluation can be made on the basis
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of meeting deadlines, points earned, successfully completing the projects etc. In this way, I
can help my organisation in the achievement of its organisational goals (Briggs, et. al., 2012).
Conclusion
In the above report, I was supposed to lead a new restaurant in Stratford. For the same
purpose, we have discussed various methods that can be used by me in order to motivate my
employees so as to achieve organisational goals. The justification for the same has also been
provided and recommendations have been made.
Task 4
LO4: Be able to create a career development plan for employment within a business
and services context.
Introduction
The following report will focus on the importance of the various managerial as well as
personal skills in the career development of an individual. We will discuss the various skills
and how they add value in the career development in the following report.
P4.1 Explain how own managerial and personal skills will support career development.
In order to build my career in the hospitality industry, I need to possess few managerial as
well as personal skills which will help me in my career development. Therefore, following
are the various skills which I need to possess to support my career development:
Communication Skills: The most important role of the managers and leaders in the travel
and tourism industry is to interact with the customers effectively. Therefore, one needs to
have effective communication skills. Communication skills help in the personal as well as
professional development of an individual.
For Example: Effective knowledge of speaking different languages
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Leadership Skills: I order to get on the higher position; I need to possess effective leadership
skills (Courtney, et. al., 2013).
For example: I have completed many projects on time with effective leading and motivation
skills and that has helped me a lot in my career development.
Time Management: In order to satisfy the customers, the services in the hospitality industry
need to be delivered on time. This helps in the achievement of organisational goals as well as
in the personal and professional development of an individual.
For Example: Customers expect to get the room services and food and beverage services to
be delivered quickly.
Adaptability: A good manager needs to adapt to the changing environment in the current
scenario of increasing globalization. He or she might need to change the way of operating in
accordance with the changing environment (Courtney, et. al., 2013).
P 4.2 Review career and personal development needs, current performance and future
needs to produce development plan.
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Name: John
Smith
Education:
Master’s Degree
in Hotel
Management
from reputed
University
Employment
Status:
Currently
employed as an
assistant
manager with
Clayton Crown
Hotel, London
Date:
15 May 2018
Career Development Plan
My Goals and Objectives:
 Professionally build my capabilities and skills to become an
effective leader.
 To be seen as someone who inspires others to work hard and
with whom other want to work with.
Current Skills and Competencies:
As a manager currently my skills are:
 My knowledge and experience
 My strong communication skills
 My will-power and strong determination

Skills required for future development:
 To develop my coaching skills in order to get the best from my
staff.
 To push myself to delegate more rather than always being the
problem solver for staff.

Conclusion
Thus, in the above report we have discussed the various managerial skills in order to support
the career development and we have also developed a future development plan with clearly
defining goals, skills and action plan needs to be implemented for future growth.
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Action Plan:
 I am planning to participate in the training opportunities in
order to become a more effective leader with in the next 6
months. Will also track my performance with my employees in
the next 6 months.
 I am trying to identify a peer coach for me in order to guide me
and support me in staying focused on my tasks
 I will conduct regular meetings with my staff in order to find
out their expectations from me as a coach and their leader and
to have the knowledge regarding how I can help them in
performing better in their tasks for the increased productivity
of the organisation.

Conclusion
From the above assignment it can be concluded that in order to survive in the competitive
market, continuous development is very important for the managers as well as the employees.
The above assignment has provided us the understanding of the various management styles as
well as the managerial and leadership skills. In addition to leadership characteristics, we have
also analysed one’s own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in order to review
own potential as a prospective manager. We have also developed the future development plan
for the individual with the skills acquired and required in future and actions that needs to be
taken in order to achieve organisational goals.
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